Best of 2017

I bit my tongue, not wanting any more drama, but I had Quinn to think about. “Jillian, I’m seeing someone now. I can’t be dealing with you.” I waved my hand up and down in front of me. “With all this craziness.”

“She’s lying to you. She is trying to do and say whatever you want, just to get close to you. I heard she got the job at Wicked just so she could stalk you.”

I laughed, though I didn’t find this conversation funny at all. “Trying to dig up dirt, I see. Don’t you have better things to do with your time?”

“That’s what everyone is saying. I’m surprised you haven’t heard. She’s never bartended before. But she used her connections to get into Wicked knowing you were a regular. This has been her sick plan all along. People are talking about it. How a nobody from nowhere somehow lands with Axel Rye.”

“I don’t pay attention to petty gossip.” I did everything I could to control my temper. I didn’t like hearing Quinn talked about.

“I don’t mean to hurt you, Axel. I just thought you should know.”

The inflated attempt to sound sympathetic infuriated me. The blood curdling in my veins made me want to scream.

I glared at her. “You could never hurt me, Jillian. I’d have to care about you for that. You know nothing about Quinn, so mind your own business.”

Jillian shrugged. “She’s using you. She’s using you for your fame.”

“Using me like you?” I asked.

“There was something special between us. I didn’t use you.”

“Bullshit!” I spat. “There was never an us, Jillian. And you know it. You made up all that crap to try to gain notoriety.”

“I stood by you!” she screeched. “I was there every step of the way during your trial!”

“Yeah,” he smirked, “signing autographs and posing for pictures the entire time. Not to mention feeding the press leaks about wherever I was.”

“How dare you!”

The tears welled up in Jillian’s eyes. I rolled my eyes and backed away. “Stop with the dramatics. Don’t play the abused victim card. You manipulated me far too many times. I see through you now.”

I turned and began to walk toward Knox and Teddy.

“You lusted after me, you asshole! We had sex, over and over again! We made love into the morning hours!” she yelled. “Don’t you remember that?”

My stomach churned. I spun around and charged toward Jillian. I could see her eyes open wide in alarm, but Jillian stood her ground. I walked right up to her face and spoke through my teeth just loud enough for Jillian to hear, but my words were strong and cutting. “We never made love. We had sex: cold, meaningless sex. That’s what happens when I get high and you take advantage of the situation. You knew what you were doing. We had one fucked up mistake! You used me, you took advantage of me, and then you tried to play games with me. You are a fucking whack job. I’m done, Jillian. Stay the hell away from me.”

With her mouth half open, she stared at me. “I hope your vanilla girlfriend makes you happy. Because when I’m done talking shit about you, your career will be over. I’m going to say that you are manipulating her and forcing her to take drugs. I’ll say you are actually abusing her. Sweet innocent girl turned to the dark side by Axel Rye. Now’s she a junkie and it’s all because of you. People won’t want their names tied to you. I’m going to make you look like an abusive ass, and no one wants that around. I’ll even say how you got me hooked, but I was too scared to say no to you because of how violent you got. How’s the public going to take hearing that you beat women?”

“Blackmail won’t work either, Jillian. But nice try.”

“Fuck off!” Jillian turned and hurried away, face red with fury.

I took a deep breath and walked back slowly toward my friends, ignoring the whispers and staring faces of everyone who had just witnessed the scene. I was sure it would show up in the tabloids within the hour.

Teddy shook his head. “It’s about time you told that bitch off.”

I nodded, still feeling a little shaky. I hadn’t intended to get in a fight. It wasn’t my style, but I couldn’t take another minute of her. I stood there, still reeling from what Jillian had threatened to do about Quinn. I didn’t want my friends to notice that Jillian had gotten to me, but I couldn’t even force a smile.

Knox seemed concerned. “Are you okay?”

I shook my head. “She said that Quinn is using me.”

“Quinn? Is she?” Teddy asked. “She seems totally into you.”

“You and her are a couple, right? Jillian’s a lying bitch,” Knox said.

“Quinn’s lived a sheltered life before me. I think this whole fucked up fame thing is new to her,” I explained, still feeling slightly beaten by the fight. “But I don’t think she is with me because of the fame. I’m not even sure she really likes it.” I sighed. “She never did drugs before me, though. I fucking feel bad as fuck for that.”

Teddy shook his head, eyes closed. “Ah, Axel. You shouldn’t have got her into that shit. You know how it turns out. Are you sure she isn’t with you now because of the drugs? You know how powerful that need gets.”

I shook my head. “No, it’s not like that. It’s different between us. Quinn and I have fallen in love. It’s more than just drugs and partying.”

Teddy paused before speaking. “I hope so. I like Quinn a lot, and she seems to make you happy. I just hope this doesn’t end up destroying your heart.”

“And screw Jillian! Who cares what bullshit she comes up with?” Knox added.

I eyed them both. My buddies had a way of always making me feel better. I could act as tough as I wanted, but deep down I needed their strength in my life. Feeling exhausted, the only thing I wanted right now was to be in Quinn’s arms.

QUINN

AN EVENING at Axel’s home was exactly what I needed. I had fun at all the clubs and bars, but I really missed the peace and quiet. When Axel and I got to his place, he led me to the couch and threw his keys and phone down on the coffee table.

“I’m dying for a drink.” He walked toward the kitchen. “Would you like a glass of wine?”

“Yes, that sounds really nice.”

He walked to the kitchen and grabbed two glasses out of the cupboard. The open floor plan of the loft allowed me to watch his every move. I loved watching the way Axel carried himself. He had a level of domination mixed with casualness that made every action alluring.

“How was your photo shoot?” I asked, still watching him as he opened the bottle of red wine.

He shrugged. “The actual shoot was a lot of fun. I like doing things like that w

ith Teddy and Knox.” He smirked. “Maybe that makes me an arrogant ass.”

“But? I get the feeling you had a rough day.”

He poured the wine into the glasses and walked back to the living room with one in each hand. He handed the wine to me before saying, “Jillian showed up.”

I stared at him. The words stung.

Axel sat down next to me and slouched back against the leather couch, placing both feet on the coffee table to relax. “I’d already talked to her last night when you were at work, telling her to back off and leave me alone. I called her out on the stupid games she’s been playing. I thought that would be the end of it,” he said. “But I should’ve known better. Jillian has to make a bigger deal out of everything.”

I turned so I could search Axel’s eyes to see if there was more to the story.

He took a sip of his wine slowly and then sighed. “She made a scene after the shoot.”

“A scene?”

“A classic Jillian move. She loves the limelight.” Axel hugged me tightly with a heavy sigh and pushed me back gently on the sofa. “Quinn, it’s nothing. I wouldn’t have even brought it up, but I didn’t want you to hear about it from someone else.”

“What did she say?”

He tried kissing me, but I pulled away. “Babe, let’s not do this again. Seriously, the only thing that matters is that I straightened things out, and she won’t be bothering you or me anymore.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, she’s taken up entirely too much of our energy as it is. I’m not going to let her antics get in the way of us. Jillian is out of our lives.”

I stared at him for a moment, hoping he was right. “Okay.”

Thankful the conversation hadn’t turned into another dreaded discussion like the night before, I moved forward and buried my face into his neck. I pressed myself against the warmth of Axel’s chest. I smiled and calmed a bit. Being this close to him made my heart do flips. I grabbed both glasses and placed them out of the way on the table. I moved forward so I was inches from his face and softly kissed him.