Eyes on Me (Salacious Players’ Club)

Mia

It’s dark when I wake up, and next to me the bed is empty, but there’s a buzzing coming from somewhere in the apartment. I stretch as I roll out of his bed, stumbling to the door. It’s a good thing he gave me his sweats, and I’m not stuck walking around naked.

“Garrett,” I call, but there’s no answer. Where the hell did he go? Maybe he had to go to work.

The door buzzes again, and I jog over to answer it.

“Coming!” I call, and when I pull it open, I’m struck speechless by the six-foot blond masterpiece I’ve seen walking around the club once or twice. “Hi,” I stammer awkwardly.

“Hi,” he grins, “you must be Mia. Isabel and Hunter sent me over with dinner and flowers for Garrett. Is he here?”

“Um…no.”

“We heard your dad was in the hospital, so we just wanted to do what we could.”

“Oh,” I reply, stepping out of the way to let him in. “That’s really nice of you. I don’t know where Garrett went, but you can put it in the kitchen.”

As he brushes past me, I get a whiff of his cologne, subtle and masculine at the same time.

“How is your dad?” he asks after setting a pasta dish and a bottle of wine on the counter.

“He’s recovering. Should be home tomorrow,” I say with a smile.

“Good. I’ll let the others know.” He leans against the counter casually, looking far too handsome as he smiles at me.

“I’m sorry. I don’t think we’ve met,” I say. “Are you one of the owners?”

He laughs. “Oh, fuck. That was rude of me.” As he puts out his hand, I reach for it. “I’m Drake, a friend of Hunter’s and the general contract—”

My hand pauses before it reaches his. “Drake?” I ask, interrupting him.

“Yeah. God, you haven’t heard of me already, have you? If so, what did you hear?”

The tunnel vision sets in and nothing makes any sense. It’s a different Drake. It has to be. This isn’t my Drake. At the very least he’d recognize me and say something, but still…just the mention of his name tilts my world off its axis.

“No, I haven’t…I mean,” I stammer. “Did you say you’re the contractor?”

“Yeah,” he replies with a smile. “We did the building renovations for Salacious.”

“Construction,” I mumble. It’s a coincidence. It has to be. There could be a million Drakes who work in construction.

“And we definitely haven’t met?” I ask, feeling like an idiot. I just need to be sure and other than outright asking, ‘Have you ever watched me get naked on your phone screen?’ there’s really no way to be sure.

He chuckles, sounding uncomfortable. “Not officially, but I’ve seen you around the club, and Garrett’s talked about you. A lot.”

When I don’t respond, staring blankly at the window across the room, Drake steps closer. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah,” I quickly reply, shaking my head. “I just woke up and it’s been a long day.”

“Of course. Do you need anything before I go? Isabel said to just put the lasagna in the oven for about thirty minutes to warm it up.”

“Thank you,” I say, forcing a smile.

Behind him, the front door opens, and I watch as Garrett steps into the apartment. His eyes latch immediately onto the tall construction worker standing in his kitchen.

“Drake…” he mutters nervously, his eyes dancing between me and him.

As the man turns to greet Garrett and explain why he’s here, I feel a slow tingle of dread coursing up my spine. Like a fear I’ve had for longer than I care to admit. A fear that I’ve been tricked again.

Duped. Played.

No. I shake the thought away. He wouldn’t do that. We’re good now. He’s finally opening up and committing. We made promises to each other. I finally have everything I’ve ever wanted.

When I look up, Drake is waving goodbye from the front door and I shoot him a fake smile and a curt wave. Then, Garrett and I are alone, and the tension is thick. So thick it presses on my chest, making it hard to breathe. Hard to be normal and look at him and smile.

Is it just me? Can he feel it too?

I’m overthinking this, aren’t I?

“You okay?” he asks, and I glance up into his face. It’s the same face I’ve kissed a hundred times in the past two weeks. But it’s also the face of the man who used to find my misery amusing. Who I was sure would never truly love anyone because he was too caught up in himself. It’s like I’ve started to see him through a new lens, and I’m just now remembering who he truly is.

“Yeah,” I mutter, turning toward the bedroom to get my phone. “Where did you go?”

“To take my mom something to eat.”

“How is she?” I ask, making small talk as I retrieve my phone from the nightstand.

“Good. They’re keeping your dad for an extra day, just to keep an eye on him.”

Shit, my dad. I should really be focusing on him, not panicking about something like this. Because I’m probably wrong anyway.

Garrett isn’t pretending to be Drake. I’m being delusional.

But I have to know for sure.

So, as I walk back out to the living room, where he’s standing and staring at me with a hint of worry in his eyes, I pull up the app. Seeing Drake’s username sends a wave of anxiety through me.

I’m the one talking to two men at once. If I text Drake right now and it’s not Garrett, then how am I any better? I’ve been lying too, haven’t I?

Hi, I type into the box, my thumb shaking before I hit Send.

Please don’t be him. Please don’t be him. Please don’t be him.

From across the room, I hear the unmistakable sound of his phone chiming with a notification.

And everything stops. The tension is now suffocating. My cheeks grow hot with rage and my breath trembles as my gaze lifts to his face, but he doesn’t move.

“Mia,” he whispers, a pleading sound, and tears spring to my eyes.

I resist the urge to throw my phone at him, squeezing it so hard in my hand, it hurts.

“No,” I mutter as I turn away from him, “no, you would not do that to me.”

“Please listen to me,” he begs again, this time stepping closer, but I quickly put up a hand to stop him.

“No,” I say again, repeating myself, because it’s the only word that I can muster at the moment.

No, no, no, no, no.

“It started as a mistake, and I just couldn’t stop…”

My mouth falls open as I glare at him. “A mistake? You watched me… I heard your voice!”

“I know it was wrong, but everything I told you was real. You have to believe me.”

Suddenly, my mind goes back to that night. The first time Drake and I chatted, and I remember everything. “That’s why you came to the lake.” It all makes sense now.

“I had to see you.”

“Was this just one big joke to you?”

“No, Mia. Please listen to me…”

“I can’t!” I yell. “I can’t even look at you. The whole time you were just lying to me…manipulating me…making me fall in love with you.”

He reaches for me, and I act on instinct, my hand flying and landing hard against the side of his face. It feels good, the burning sting against my palm and the anguish on his face. I want him to hurt and feel half of what I feel right now.

“I feel like a fool. You made me feel like a fool. You were just using me.”

Suddenly, he crowds me toward the wall, his face close to mine as he whispers, “I’m the fool. I was never supposed to find your camgirl video, but you were so beautiful, I couldn’t help myself. Then, I fell in love with you, and I’m so sorry, Kitten.”

“No!” I scream, struggling against his arms. “Don’t call me that.”

Storming across the room, I snatch my purse off the counter and fish my keys out as I rush toward the door.

“Please don’t leave,” he begs, the emotion thick in his voice, and when I get to the door, I almost falter. For one split second, I almost stay.

But I can’t. Instead, I turn toward him, tears streaking across my face as I look him in the eyes. “I always wanted you more.”

When I close the door behind me, I take the expression on his face with me. I couldn’t forget that look if I tried.