Love Is Only an Illusion

After the Horsemen were released, they bounded into the awaiting cars Tressler had sent for them. Danny held the door open as Sutton and Henley climbed in. As Merritt tried to slip past Danny, Henley stopped him.

“Sorry, boys, but can I have a minute alone with my cousin?” she asked. Puzzled, the boys nodded and followed Jack to the other car.

“What’s up, Hen?” Sutton asked as the cars pulled away from the curb.

Henley let out a long breath. “Those agents. I know they were just saying things to pit us against each other, but it got me thinking.”

“Wait, what did they say?”

“They just said things about trust, if I really could trust you all.”

“Henley, that’s ridiculous,” Sutton laughed. “Of course you can trust us.”

“I know, but that’s not the point, Sutton.” She turned to look her young cousin in the eye. “Since we formed the Horsemen, we don’t have our nightly talks. Remember? We would stay up until midnight every night just talking.”

Sutton frowned. Of course she remembered. Those were some of the best conversations she had in her life. “Hen, we can still talk every night, if that’s what you want. I love you, and those boys certainly aren’t going to take away the relationship we have.”

Henley gave her a smile. “Promise me that we will tell each other everything. No secrets.”

Sutton swallowed. “I-I don’t know if I can do that.”

Henley grimaced. “Why would you say that?”

“B-Because I have secrets with the boys that I promised not to tell,” Sutton blurted. It wasn’t exactly a lie. She did have secrets of Jack’s and Merritt’s, and of course there was her secret with Danny. If she told Henley what happened, there was no telling how she may react.

Henley sighed. “Yeah, that’s fair enough. As long as you never tell them my secrets,” she smiled.

Sutton smiled. “I promise never to tell them about our Braless Mondays before they moved in.”

Henley rolled her eyes. “Oh, God. It’s not like we weren’t wearing t-shirts! But they would still get a kick out of it.”

Sutton giggled, leaning over to hug Henley as the car came to a stop in front of the MGM Grand to collect their things from the show. “I love you, Hen.”

Henley kissed the top of Sutton’s head. “I love you, too, Sut.”

“Oh, my God!” Merritt exclaimed as soon as he had opened the girls’ car door. “I just keep walking in on the greatest moments of our lives.”

The girls quickly maneuvered out of the car, chasing Merritt as he ran for the safety of the building.

~~

Sutton rubbed her temples slowly, her eyes closed. “Is something bothering you?” Danny asked concerned as they sat across from each other on Tressler’s plane later that day.

“Yes, Jack’s snoring,” Sutton explained. “And, well, their laughing.” She pointed back toward Merritt and Henley as Danny took a quick peak.

“There’s something else bothering you,” Danny told her, leaning over and placing his hands on her thighs. “What’s wrong?”

Sutton huffed. “Aren’t I supposed to be the mentalist?” Danny chuckled lightly. Sutton bit her lip in an attempt to keep her mouth shut, but she knew there was no point. “The Interpol agent Alma Dray.”

Danny nodded, moving to sit next to her. “Yeah, she was, um, I don’t even know h-“

“What did she tell you about me?” Sutton blurted, reading his eyes.

Danny took in a deep breath, not knowing whether to tell her the truth or not. “The same thing she told you, I’m assuming. That we’re more than just working together.”

Sutton looked down at her lap, playing with the ring on her finger. “A-Are we?” she stuttered, afraid of the answer but even more afraid of asking Danny to his face.

Danny sat for a moment, puzzled by her question. “I, um, I’m not sure I understand your question, Sutton. I thought you said this was a mutual thing. You know, helping each other let out our sexual frustrations.” He wanted so badly to tell her that wasn’t what he felt during their night together. What he felt was so much stronger, so much deeper than just sexual frustration.

Sutton’s eyes grew wide under her curtain of red hair. He was right. It was her idea to have a “friends with benefits” night. Was that it, though? Didn’t he feel more, like she did? Did she set herself up to be one of J. Daniel Atlas’s one night stands?

Sutton heard Danny shift in his seat, uncomfortable by the silence filling the space between them. “No, no, you’re right. That’s what I said. That’s what I called it,” Sutton told him. “That was the idea, just releasing those frustrations.” Standing up, ignoring any eye contact with him as she looked back at Henley and Merritt. She watched as Jack lazily opened his eyes and stretched.

“Where are you going?” Danny asked as he grabbed her hand.

“I’m just going to the back to sit,” Sutton explained as she caught Henley’s concerned eye.

“But, I need you for the-“

“No, you don’t. You really don’t need me, Danny,” she whispered, breaking free from Danny’s grip. She strode into the small section with Henley and Merritt, who quickly sat up to let her sit down.

“Sutton,” Henley spoke, “honey, what’s wrong?”

Sutton pulled herself together quickly, plastering a smile across her face. “Nothing, Hen. I just have a headache and since you guys will be talking to Tressler soon, I thought I’d come back here.”

Henley and Merritt exchanged a knowing look. Before Merritt had time to say anything, Jack verbally stated the signal for the plan to go into action.

“Oh, hey, Danny. Can I talk to you about my role in the show real quick?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure,” Danny replied, tapping Jack’s cheek with his hand. He popped his head into the small compartment. “Hey, guys. Uh, we got a show to prepare for.”

Sutton looked down at her hands. Swallowing, Merritt leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Lay down, baby girl,” he whispered. Turning toward Danny, he replied, “Oh, do we now?”

“No, no, no, don’t do that. You’re not doing that thing to me. No,” Danny told him as they made their way up toward Tressler.

“What thing?” Merritt questioned him. “I’m just looking at you.”

“No, you’re not. I’ve been watching you for a year. I know all of your little tricks.”

“Is that what they are to you? Tricks?”

“Yes, it’s gimmicks. It’s Barnum statements. It’s reading the eyes. Body language. I get it.”

“If it’s such an easy thing, why don’t you do Sutton?” Merritt asked, knowing Danny was the reason Sutton was truly upset.

Danny froze, swallowing hard. “S-She doesn’t feel well right now,” he choked out. “I’ll do, uh, I’ll do Jasmine.” He placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder who gave him a smile.

“No,” Tressler called. “Do me.”

“Oh, yeah. Yeah. Do Art,” Merritt encouraged him as he continued to read Danny’s eyes.

“Okay,” Danny said, breaking their stare-off.

“Even better.”

“But I warn you, I can be difficult to read when I want to be,” Tressler stated.

“Just, uh, stay with me, okay?” Danny instructed, pretending to link their eyes together with his fingers. “So, Art, you were a tough kid. You know, kind of a real rapscallion. You had a dog. A real tough dog. A brutish breed. Like a real, I want to say, Ben the bulldog.”

“Actually, I was a prissy little tot. I had a fluffy white cat called Snuffles,” Tressler explained.

The group laughed as Merritt “wha-wha”ed Danny’s act. Faking his frustration, Danny hit the wall of the plane, apologizing.

“Okay, I got it,” Jack boasted. “Let me try one. I can do way better than that.”

“Let him do it,” Henley smiled.

“Come on, give me one more time. One more time.”

Pointing to Jack, Henley said, “He can do way better than that.”

“Family. Let’s do family,” Danny said, glancing up at Henley who quickly looked toward the back at Sutton who was thankfully not watching this awful act. “You had an uncle on your mother’s side. He had a real, kind of, a real masculine name. A real, kind of, salt-of-the-earth. You know, a real stick-it-to-you, like it was some kind of Paul. Thompson? Was it a Paul…” Danny huffed, giving up. “Okay. You know what. I got nothin’.”

“Nearly though,” Tressler stated.

“Was I?”

“Yeah. My uncle’s name was Cushman Armitage,” Tressler laughed.

“Really? Snuffles and Cushman Armitage? That was your childhood?”

“I certainly hope tonight’s show is gonna be better than this,” Tressler prayed as the others laughed.

“Don’t worry. Just you wait,” Danny said as they all went back to their seats.

“Still awake, girly?” Merritt said as he spotted Sutton on her phone. Sutton nodded in her lying position as Merritt took the seat Henley once occupied. “I know you don’t want to talk b-“

“Please don’t push,” Sutton begged. “You’ll find out when the time is right.”

“Sutton, I just hate seeing you upset.”

“I know,” Sutton told him, “but it isn’t my place to tell this alone.”

“I know it’s Danny, Sut.”

Sutton looked at him. “It doesn’t matter who, Merritt. I still can’t tell you the truth alone. It’s not right or fair.”

Merritt stared at her for a moment, attempting to read the girl who was once so aspectabund for him. “Since when did you become so hard to read?”

Sutton let out a small giggle, making Merritt smile. “Since you found out Danny tried to kiss me and I may have wanted him to.”

Merritt chuckled. “I liked it better when I could tell exactly what was going on with you.”

“It’s not like you let me read you,” Sutton reminded him with a smile.