Two Different Worlds Collide

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Jared

“Hey, where’d Cheyenne go?” Justin asked as I sat down hard at our table. She’d looked ready to fall apart at any moment, and when she’d insisted that she’d be fine without me I wanted nothing more than to take her back to my place and hold her until she felt better. Tasha had finally left after I’d blown up at her, losing my cool a bit and telling her that she needed to leave before she managed to screw up anything else in my life. I’d felt like a huge douche when she left, because I was more than a little harsh, but not knowing how Cheyenne was doing was literally eating me up inside right now. She wouldn’t be feeling like this if it wasn’t for me.

“Um, Alice and Liza left with her,” I replied, finishing off another beer. I didn’t want to talk about it, and I sure as hell didn’t want to be here right now.

“Oh shit, is she okay? Was it Tasha?” he asked, and I nodded. Jordan and Eric were soon in sight, having gone to get another beer, and as soon as they were closer I could see the confused looks on their faces.

“Hey, why the long face?” Jordan asked, and I sighed.

“Cheyenne left,”

“What? Why?” he asked, and realization dawned on Eric’s face.

“Shit, you’re kidding. Tasha?” I nodded, and Jordan's expression fell as well. They both sat down quietly, not sure what to say. Brett joined us, looking a little dejected without Liza by his side.

“Is she okay?” he asked, and I shrugged, feeling worse every time somebody asked.

“I don’t know Brett, she looked like she’d been crying before she left,” I answered, and he ran a hand through his hair.

“I don’t get it, she handled Tasha so well the other night…” he started, and then the light bulb went on. When we’d talked a little about our exes and she said about a rough breakup with whatever his name was, and…

“Oh God,” I groaned, letting my head fall to the table. This wasn’t just about Tasha, this definitely had to do with whatever damage that asshole had done to her that obviously still affected her. How could I be so insensitive?

“What? Jay, are you all right?” Eric asked, his hand on my shoulder.

“I think I know why she got so upset, shit I shouldn’t be here, I should be with her,” I moved to stand up, but my brother’s hand kept me in my seat.

“Whoa, you need to explain that mess you just called a sentence,” he insisted, and I blew out a long breath, not sure if she would want them all to know.

“It’s about that guy, isn’t it?” Brett asked. Liza must have told him, because they hadn’t spent any time together alone where she could have mentioned it. Somewhere I was unsure about saying anything, but if Brett already knew it wasn’t that bad, and I knew my brothers wouldn’t tell a single soul, except maybe their wives, but Tanya and Heather would take a secret to the grave.

“I think so… he… he hit her,” I managed to choke out the words, and the looks of shock that registered on his and my brother’s faces were painful. Jordan shook his head, and Eric grimaced, Brett paling as if he’d seen a ghost. I was glad Justin was too caught up talking to some girls at the far end of the table to have heard.

“No,”

“Yeah… we’d talked about our exes, and when they’d broke up she said it got really bad – the things he’d said and then that,”

“Well no wonder Tasha made her cry then – that really messes with a person’s head Jay – you sure she’s okay to be by herself?” Eric asked, and I swallowed hard.

“She’s with Alice and Liza,” I told him before standing up and pulling out my cell phone as I made my way to the back door. The security guard recognized me, and when I told him I just wanted to make a phone call he opened the back door for me to stand in the alley where it would be quiet, telling me to knock when I wanted back in. Sometimes being well known had its perks.

I dialed her number but it immediately went to voicemail. I had no clue what to say, especially not to her voicemail, so ended up hanging up, but texting her to call me when she could. The air was brisk, making me shiver when I realized just how cold I actually was through the haze of alcohol I had going – my T-shirt was nowhere near thick enough for the temperature. I called once more, getting the same results, before going back inside the bar. I needed to go and make sure she was okay, and while I knew she’d wanted me to stay and celebrate with the team, there would be other games, other wins; I might not have another chance with her.

“I need to go check on her,” I announced when I returned to our table. Judging from Jordan, Eric and Brett’s expressions, none of them figured that was a good idea.

“Jared, you’re a little drunk,” Eric pointed out, and I sighed, pulling my keys out of my pocket.

“Well then you can take my truck home and I’ll get a cab to Riley’s – I’m pretty sure that’s where the girls went,” I decided, holding them out to him. He didn’t take them, and I felt my temper flare slightly.

“Look, if you don’t understand, that’s fine. I don’t expect you to – I don’t really get it myself. But Cheyenne means a lot to me, and she’s not okay, and it’s my fault, so I need to go and make sure she’s okay,” I told him, dropping my keys on the table and grabbing my jacket off of the back of my chair before turning to leave. I didn’t get far before Jordan, who looked like he was caught between a rock and a hard place, turned me around.

“Jared, I get it, I do. She’s important to you, and she’s a great girl. But if that guy had fought with her and roughed her up or whatever happened, I don’t think that a drunk you is exactly what she needs right now,” he gently explained, knowing I was prone to blowing up when I was drunk. Marc and I both had the same problem, and we both attributed it to the red hair.

“Jordan, she left crying, that’s not okay. And I’m not that drunk,” I insisted, but he shook his head.

“First of all, yes you are that drunk. Second, the girls will take care of her Jared; Liza’s her best friend, she knows what Cheyenne needs right now. I’m sure she’ll call you first thing and you can spend the day with her, but right now you either need to stay here or go home.”

“Jordan—”

“No, Jared,” he put his foot down, and suddenly the anger washed away and was replaced by guilt. If it wasn’t for me Tasha wouldn’t have attacked her like that, and then she wouldn’t be feeling so bad.

“But Jord it’s my fault,” I quietly told him, and even though he shook his head continued. “If it wasn’t for me she wouldn’t have gotten attacked like that by Tasha and then she wouldn’t have thought of him and then she wouldn’t have felt so awful and left.”

“Okay, we’re going home,” he decided, dragging me behind him back to the table to get my keys before Eric stood up and followed us out. I hesitantly got into the passenger seat of my truck, knowing that I could plead and beg as much as I wanted but Jordan wouldn’t drive to Nash’s place so I could check in on Cheyenne.

“I think it’ll just be better if you go over in the morning – she might be feeling a lot better by then and then you can be all mushy and talk about feelings,” he explained, and while I knew the mushy comment was supposed to get me to smile I still felt too shitty for it to have any positive effect. I trudged along behind my brothers up to my apartment, and as soon as they’d got settled – pulling out the loveseat into a bed and getting comfortable on the oversized couch – I retreated to my room, calling Cheyenne again and still getting no answer.