King of Masters by Brynn Ford
CHAPTER 12
Stella
“JUST SPEAKING MY truth here, but I think it’s safe to say that you’ve taken this obsession to an unhealthy level.”
“Cora.” I tilt my head, giving her an admonishing look. “I don’t want to go there right now.” I lift my glass to take another sip of my margarita.
I turn my body so my back is nestled in the corner of the booth at the back of The Jaded Wingman, the bar next door to my shop. I put my legs up on the seat, pulling back my knees. Cora and Josh share a look of frustration with each other and anger prickles through my spine. I know my face does nothing to hide that. I’m sick of this conversation.
“You never want to go there.” Cora rolls her eyes at me. “I’m just trying to help you see what I see.” She gives Josh a nudge with her elbow. “What we see.”
“Oh, she’s got you convinced now, too?” I glare at Josh. “Are you going to tell me I should block his number and forget about him?”
Josh raises his palms. “I’m not gonna tell you to do anything. And this isn’t just coming from Cora.” He lowers his hands. “I’m worried about it, too.”
My shoulders shrug with tension as I wrap my arms around my legs, hugging them to my chest. “Why? What are you worried about?”
“You’re falling hard, Stella. Which is…great.” I roll my eyes at the way she says great. “But you’ve only seen this guy in person twice since you met him. And that was what, four months ago when you first met?”
“What’s your point?”
“You don’t know anything about him.”
I push my legs to the floor and sit up with a snap, leaning forward with my arms on the tabletop and my hands folded in front of me. “I talk to him every day, Cora. Literally, every damn day. I know him.”
“Yeah, but he could say anything over the phone, right? He can paint whatever picture of himself he wants you to see because you never actually spend time together in person. You don’t even know what he does for a living.”
“He runs his family business.”
Cora snaps, raising her voice, “What business? What is the family business, Stella?” She huffs out a frustrated breath, leaning back in her seat. “It’s so obvious he’s lying to you.”
“It’s not obvious to me.”
“That’s what I’m worried about. You don’t see it!”
“Because there’s nothing to see!”
Cora crosses her arms, looking over at Josh with a shrug, though she still speaks to me. “I don’t know what else to say about it. You’re not listening to me. That’s the problem. You’re so obsessed with him that you can’t even see what’s wrong with the situation.”
“Because there’s nothing wrong with it.” I sit back and cross my arms, mirroring her.
She tosses up her hands, rolls her eyes, and shakes her head.
I’m so over this.
From where it’s placed next to my drink, I see my cell phone screen light up just before it starts ringing.
“Is it him?” Cora asks.
I glare at her. “Yeah, it’s him.”
She starts moving, scooting toward Josh until he gets the hint and slides out of the booth. “I’m tired anyway, and I don’t want to fight with you anymore. Do what you want. Let it drag out another six months.” She gets to her feet. “I’ll be here for you when you get your heart broken, but I can’t keep watching you fall in love with this liar.”
My eyes are hot, tears threatening to slip out from the corners. Cora and Josh leave the bar together, leaving me alone after making me feel so shitty. I don’t understand why they can’t see what I see, why they have to be such assholes about it all. I just want their support, and I don’t understand why they can’t give it.
I sniff back my tears as I reach for my phone and answer Murphy’s call. “Hey, stranger.”
I hear him sigh. “There she is.”
God, I really am falling for him.
“Where are you?” he asks. “It’s noisy.”
“I’m at the bar next to my shop. Cora and Josh wanted to take me out for a drink.” I sigh. “It didn’t go so well.”
“They’re with you now?”
“No. Cora got upset with me and they just left.”
“So, you’re alone at a bar?” I hear the agitation in his voice kick-up.
“Technically, I’m surrounded by people.”
“Stella, go home.”
“I need to finish my drink.”
“Fine, finish your drink but stay on the phone with me until you get home.”
I lift my glass to take another sip. “Well, my day sucked. How was yours?”
He goes quiet for a few breaths and the passing silence makes me nervous. “I’ve been traveling for work. Long day.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I can’t tell you about it. I wish I could tell you about it.”
I take another sip and set my glass down, leaning back in my seat. “Talk to me. You can tell me anything.”
“You know I can’t.”
I feel my forehead crease. “I know that you always say that. What’s the worst that could happen if you told me about your job, your family business?” I chuckle. “Are you a hit man? An arms dealer? An international spy?”
“I just needed to hear your voice, Stella.” His voice cracks—something I’ve never heard before—and my heart starts pounding.
“Murphy, are you okay?”
“No. I’m not okay. I fucking miss you.”
I take a final swig of my drink as I start moving, sweeping my purse strap up onto my shoulder and pushing my way through the crowd. “Talk to me. I’m on my way home now. We can get on a video call.”
“No,” he says sharply and without hesitation. “Sweetheart, I can’t do that right now. I told you I’ve been traveling.”
I push through the door and step out onto the sidewalk. “So what? I want to see your face.”
“I can’t do that here. Our work is private.”
“I’m not interested in your work, Murphy. I just want to see your face.”
My feet move quickly beneath me, as if walking back to my apartment could carry me straight to him. There’s a sinking feeling in my stomach as I remember that I’m not walking home to him. I’m walking back to my apartment, alone, with hopes I can comfort him through a screen.
“I’m not going to be able to see you for a while.”
I stop dead in my tracks. “What do you mean by that?”
“Don’t make assumptions. There’s nothing to read into. I’m just stating a fact.”
“It’s a stupid fact. One you didn’t need to remind me of.”
“Then let me follow up with a better fact.”
I move forward again, walking at a more reasonable pace than before. “What?”
“I’m making plans for us.”
I can’t stop my eyes from rolling. “I’ve heard that before.”
“It was never untrue. I want you to remember that my decisions are always made with us in mind. Every choice I make is for us and for our future. I need you to remember that, even if you’re angry with me.”
What the fuck is he talking about?
I stop and someone who was walking behind me bumps into me before circling around. “Watch where you’re going, bitch!”
My face scrunches in irritation and I hold up my middle finger to her back as she and her friends continue down the sidewalk.
“What the fuck was that?” Murphy demands.
“Forget about it. What do you mean if I’m angry with you? Why would I be angry with you?”
“Forget about it,” he repeats me.
“No. What the hell are you talking about?”
“Stella. All I want you to know is that things are coming together, okay? I’m doing everything I can for us.”
“Us?” My shoulders shrug in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
“Certain things have to be settled for you and me to be together. And it will be a while before I can come visit you again, but when I finally do, it will count.”
“Are you telling me there’s,” I pause to swallow a dry lump in my throat, “maybe a chance we can be together…as in, more than this?”
“You want that, don’t you, sweetheart?”
“I do. I do want that, Murphy, I just don’t know how—”
“Don’t worry about how. I just need to know you’re not going to be impatient.”
I chuckle. “Me? Impatient? Never.”
He laughs a little and I feel relief to hear it—his voice was rife with stress when he called, and it was killing me. “I know, it’s like asking the Pope not to pray.”
“Exactly.”
“Just promise me you’re not fucking around with other men.”
“Murphy, you’re the only guy I’m fucking around with. I haven’t wanted to fuck around with anyone but you since I met you.”
He lets out a long breath. “Good girl.”
“Babe, don’t say that to me in public.” I start moving. “Wait until I get home.”
“I can’t do that with you tonight.”
“Why not?”
“Stella, I told you, I’m away on business. I can’t do that with you right now,” he says with a note of finality.
Frustration wraps around me, but there’s nothing I can do about it. “Okay. Fine. I understand.”
He sighs. “I hate denying you what you want.”
“It’s fine…We’ll just do it another time. Okay?”
“I will make time for you later this week. I promise.”
He’ll make time for me.
It’s such a minimal promise for normal relationships, but something I’ve never been given without having to put up a fight for it. I’ve never had to fight for time with Murphy because we talk every day. He’s never missed a phone call. Cora and Josh can call that obsessive all they want, but I don’t see it that way. I see it as commitment.
“You always make time for me,” I praise him.
With sincerity that pricks me like a needle, he promises, “And I always will.”