“Then text her,” Jace said.
Yeah, text her. He couldn’t put his foot in his mouth in a text message.
I’m really sorry, baby. I’ll call tomorrow when I have my head on straight. Love you. He sent the message and sank back into the recliner, holding the phone loosely. Within a minute, his phone beeped with a message.
His heart dropped when he read it. Fuck you, ass**le. I never want to see you again. Isaac asked me to marry him, and I said yes.
“What?” he sputtered. They have one fight, are out of each other’s sight for two hours, and she’s already agreed to marry Isaac? “No f**king way.”
He dialed her number. The call connected, then disconnected.
“She hung up on me,” Eric grumbled. He dialed her again.
“Hello?” a man answered her phone.
“Who is this?” Eric growled.
“This is Rebekah’s fiancé, Isaac.”
“Bullshit. Put her on the phone.”
“Look, loser,” Isaac said. “She doesn’t want to talk to you. Don’t call her again.”
“Put her on the f**king phone.”
“Take a hint. She doesn’t want to be with you.” Isaac hung up.
“Son of a bitch.”
Eric dialed her number again. This time it rang, but no one picked up.
“What’s going on?” Jace asked.
“Rebekah is marrying Isaac.”
Chapter 25
Rebekah came out of the bathroom drying her hair with a towel. A shower had made her feel almost human again after an hour-long crying jag. She found Isaac sitting at the end of her bed fiddling with her phone.
“Did Eric call?” she asked hopefully.
Isaac shook his head. “Nope.”
Her heart sank, and the tears she’d finally managed to suppress filled her eyes again. “He must be really upset. I thought he’d be cooled down by now. I hope nothing happened to him. He drives like a maniac.”
She sat on the bed next to Isaac, and he wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. “I’m sure he’ll call, angel. Give him time to realize he was in the wrong.”
“Maybe I should call him.” When she reached for her phone, Isaac hid it behind his back.
“He’s the one who needs to apologize, not you.”
“We both need to apologize. Actually, you need to apologize too. Why did you kiss me like that?”
“I’m not going to apologize for kissing the woman I love.”
“But I’m in love with Eric, Isaac. Why can’t you understand that?”
Isaac brushed her hair back and tucked it behind her ear. “Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t love me.”
She looked into his gentle gray eyes, opened her mouth, but couldn’t say it. She did love Isaac, but she wasn’t attracted to him. With Eric, she had both. Her love for Eric was still growing, but her attraction was there in full bloom. Her love for Isaac was strong, but she would never be attracted. It wasn’t the kind of love you had for the man you want to spend the rest of your life with. Was it? She felt like crying again. Why did Isaac insist on confusing her?
“You know we’re good together,” he said.
“Eric and I are good together too,” she insisted. “I’ve never been happier. Every minute with him is exciting and fun.”
“But how long will that last? He’s a rock star. You’re not stupid, Rebekah. It’s only a matter of time before he falls to temptation and breaks your heart.”
“He would never break my—”
“I would never.”
“But you did, Isaac. I was devastated.”
His brow crinkled with confusion. “You broke up with me.”
“Because you couldn’t stand to have sex with me. I disgusted you.”
“I told you I was sorry about that.” His hand slid across her back. “Your body has had more time to heal. We can try again.”
“No, Isaac. I love Eric. Why is it so hard for you to understand that?”
“I love you too much to watch you throw your life away,” he said emphatically. “He’s not right for you, Rebekah.”
“He’s perfect for me, Isaac. You just don’t know him.”
“I don’t think I want to know him. He’s crass. Low class. Violent. I worry for your safety. He punched me without provocation.”
She shook her head at him. “Without provocation? You kissed me, Isaac. I’m his girlfriend. I don’t approve of him punching you, but I understand why he reacted that way.”
“Like a mindless thug?”
“I’m not going to sit here and listen to you insult him. I think it’s time for you to leave.”
Isaac hugged her tightly, reminding her how safe he always made her feel. “I don’t want to leave. I’ve missed you so much. Let’s talk about something else. Tell me about your new job.”
Rebekah really didn’t want to sit by herself while she waited for Eric to call. But she didn’t want to be alone with Isaac either. He was confusing her. Nothing new about that.
“Yeah, okay.” She climbed from the bed and headed toward the door. “Let’s go hang out with Dave. He could probably use the company.”
Chapter 26
Eric had lured the guys to his house with promises of a huge turkey dinner and football, so they weren’t too pleased to find out they were actually being put to work.
“Did you seriously sign us up for kitchen duty?” Trey grumbled.
“Yeah,” Eric said. “It’ll be fun.”
“Fun?” Brian said. “What’s fun about shoveling food on the plates of homeless guys?”
“You’ll see,” Eric promised.
“It’s great publicity,” Sed said in his deep voice. “Jerry is getting a news crew to cover it.”
“Aggie wants to join us. Is that okay?” Jace asked.
“Yeah, I signed up the ladies too,” Eric said.
“And Rebekah?” Trey asked.
“I don’t know if she’ll show up or not.” Eric secretly hoped so. “She’s the one who suggested it originally. Her family does it every year. I kind of got carried away on the sign-up list and volunteered everyone.”
“So we’re supposed to give up our Thanksgiving dinner and football because you were trying to impress a girl?” Trey said.
“I wasn’t trying to impress a girl,” Eric said. “I thought it would be good for us.” Impressing the girl was just an added bonus. And she hated him now, so it didn’t really matter anyway. He’d called her like a thousand times, and she never answered. When he drove past her parents’ house, her car was never there. He checked his messages every twenty seconds. She was obviously avoiding him. Probably busy planning her wedding with Dr. Perfect. Fuck!