To Love Jason Thorn

“You need to wake up, man.”

Was that Devlin? What the hell was he doing at my house? “What?” I croaked, trying to push through the fog and open my eyes. “What are you doing here?”

Fingers snapped in front of my face, and then I heard Alvin’s voice. “Do you think we should call a doctor?”

“Alvin? What the fuck?”

I forced my eyes open and had to close them right back when the bright lights pierced into my brain. I groaned and covered my face with my hands. “Somebody shut off the fucking lights!”

“It’s daylight boss, I don’t think we can shut that off.”

Shielding my eyes with my hand, I squinted up at Alvin’s worried face, then looked around. I was lying on a couch… I jolted up and that brought all kinds of pain to my head.

Jesus! How many drinks did I have last night?

“Where are we?” I croaked.

“In my suite,” said Devlin with a suffering sigh as he handed me a bottle of cold water.

“Thanks,” I mumbled. I drank the whole thing to the last drop and dropped the bottle on floor. When I was done, I cleared my throat and looked around at my surroundings again. “Why are we in your suite?”

Devlin glanced at Alvin.

“Fuck,” I cursed, dropping my head into my hands. “My head is pounding. What time is it, Alvin? Am I late to set?”

“Jason,” Devlin said in a serious tone.

“Yeah? Didn’t you ever heard of blinds, you little bastard?”

“How do you feel, Jason?” he asked instead of giving me an answer. Shit. I was seconds away from vomiting all over their shoes.

“Brutal. I suggest you point me in the direction of the bathroom. Right now.”

When I was done puking my guts out, I felt worse than I had when I’d woken up, if that was even possible.

I stumbled out of the bathroom. “Alvin, what time is it?”

“Sit the fuck down for a minute,” Devlin barked.

“Keep your damn voice down for fuck’s sake. What the hell did you give me to drink last night anyway?”

“I didn’t give you a damn thing, Jason.”

I plopped down on the couch again and started massaging my temples. Alvin was still hovering around, but Devlin sat right across from me. He didn’t look any better than I did.

Frowning, I turned to Alvin. “Where’s Olive?”

“Look,” Devlin cut in before Alvin could say anything. “Look, Jason. You’re in trouble. Hell, I’m in trouble.”

“Explain,” I ordered, steeling myself. If he had done anything to Olive, if he had said anything to upset her—

“I’ve been questioning my staff, the ones that came in contact with you in the club. And— ”

“Why?”

“Shut up and listen. We think someone spiked your drink.”

“What?” I thundered and scrambled up to my feet. “Where is Olive, Alvin?” I yelled, ignoring my brain cursing me for the quick movement.

“We don’t know, boss,” Alvin answered quietly.

“What the fuck do you mean you don’t know? Her friends? Where are they? Ask them.”

“Look,” Devlin started again, and I took a step forward. If he said look one more time, I was punching his goddamned face.

“I was late last night. When I finally made it to the club and Devlin escorted me up to your private room, I found you being a little too friendly with one of Olive’s friends,” Alvin explained, stealing the words from Devlin’s mouth. “I don’t know what happened, but I know you wouldn’t cheat on Olive. Not like that.”

My eyes widened in shock. I raked my hands through my hair and turned to Alvin. Devlin was sitting with his head bowed, quiet.

“Are you fucking with me? Fuck! I wouldn’t. Never. I didn’t. Damn it!” I growled as I picked up a vase that was on the table close to me and threw it at the wall, bleakly watching it shatter into pieces.

“What did you see? What was I doing?” I asked through gritted teeth. I was trying to speak calmly.

“She was in your lap, man.”

Goddammit!

I started pacing and when the wall was right in front of me…I just punched it.

It seemed like a good idea in that moment. With the fury building inside me, I could’ve brought down the whole building down just with my hands.

Ignoring my bloody knuckles, I slowly walked back to the couch and sat down. My heart was racing out of my damn chest.

“Please explain,” I finally said when my breathing was under control and I didn’t feel like killing anyone and everyone.

Alvin sat down on the other end of the couch, keeping his eyes on me the entire time. “I don’t know much, Jason. That’s how we found you. Don’t you remember anything? She was in your lap and you were making out, I assume. I don’t know, man. Maybe not? Her hands were all over you and you were just sitting there dazed.”

“Which one?”

“Which one, what?”

“Which one of her friends?” I gritted between my teeth.

He glanced at Devlin so I lifted my head to look at him, too. “Lily,” Devlin said after thinking about it for a minute. “I remember Olive introducing her as Lily. One of the blondes.”

“No one was in the room?”

“Just you two. Could she be the one who spiked your drink? Because none of my staff would do something like that. I handpick them, you know that. And even if they could, why would they?”

“She is Olive’s friend for fuck’s sake, why would she do something like that?”

“Exactly how much do you remember?” Alvin asked again.

I thought about it. What the hell did I remember? I remembered going up to the private room with Olive. I remembered kissing her, wanting to do much more to her than just kissing. I could still feel her lips on mine, her hands in my hair. She always trembled when I kissed her, as if my touch sent small shock waves into her body, and I loved drinking it all down. I simply loved being near her, touching her…

I shook my head.

“Not much. I don’t remember Olive leaving. I remember talking to Lucy and Lily, but that’s it. Did you call her?”

Alvin grimaced, and I hated it. “We couldn’t find your phone, but her handbag was next to you, and her phone was in it. But,” he added hastily before I could explode all over again. “I called Lucy. She isn’t answering right now, but I’ll keep calling. Don’t worry, Jason.”

“Tell him the rest,” Devlin said darkly.

“What rest?” I glanced between them.

Another grimace. This one was worse. If I never saw Alvin grimace like that ever again, it would be too soon.

“Someone leaked photos of you and the girl. Every media outlet is running with the story of you cheating on Olive.”