My Weakness Read online

  ***

  Logan

  “Hey, Shane, can you handle the club for a little bit? I want to surprise Skyler at Club Temptation.”

  “Sure, Logan, no problem.”

  “I’ll let Jonah know I’m leaving and I’ll be back in a little bit.”

  “Cool. Have fun!” he yells, running to get liquor for one of the bars.

  “Hey, Jonah,” I say into the ear wig, “I’m heading to the club to surprise Skyler. I’ll be back. I talked to Shane as well, and he said he’s got everything under control.”

  “No problem. See you in a bit!”

  I get in my car so excited to see my girl sing. I have a huge smile on my face as I’m driving over to the club. I love my girl and I really love to hear her sing. It almost killed me to be at Thrive for as long as I have, but I needed to get some stuff done. I hope I don’t miss her. I’m not sure how long Mikey has her on stage tonight because I know he has a DJ too.

  I pull up to the club and practically run to the door. I give them my name and am instantly let into the club, then am totally disappointed when I hear the DJ playing and not my girl's voice on stage. I’m bummed I wasn’t here to support her. My eyes are roaming the club because I’m trying to figure out where she is, and that’s when I spot her. What the fuck?

  I push my way to the dance floor to find her dancing with Mikey. I grab her arm, spinning her around. “What the fuck, Skyler?”

  “Logan, what’s your problem?”

  “What’s my problem? I come here to surprise you and catch you dancing with my boy, and you want to know why I’m mad?”

  “You need to stop. I got off stage a few minutes ago, and Mikey asked me to dance a few songs with him before we talked about my next gig.”

  I yank her arm and pull her toward the door. She snatches her arm away from me. “Let go of me. You’re embarrassing me and your friend. Who the hell do you think you are?”

  “I’m your fucking boyfriend, and you’re coming with me.”

  “The fuck I am. You need to calm the hell down, and when you do, call me.”

  My jaw drops because I can’t believe she said that to me and then walked away. I don’t even know where she went, but Tony and Jake have followed her so at least I know she’s safe.

  Mikey comes up to me. “You’re lucky you’re my boy or I would punch you in the face right now. Come with me.” He pulls me into his office, slamming the door shut. “What the fuck is your problem?”

  “I don’t know, I freaked out when I saw her with you.”

  “Logan, I know Lindsey did a number on you, but you better figure your shit out because Skyler is for real and you may have lost her over your jealous bullshit.”

  “Fuck, Mikey. What the hell am I going to do?”

  “If I were you, I would let her cool down and then beg for forgiveness. Have you told her about Lindsey?”

  “No.”

  “Looks like you will be, because explaining that shit may be the only thing to save your sorry ass.”

  I yank at my hair in frustration. “Mikey, man, I’m so sorry.”

  “Listen, I get it and you're my boy. Don’t sweat it, but don’t do it again either. Yeah I was dancing with your girl, but I would never disrespect you by pulling what Nate did. Got it?”

  “Yeah, I got it. Listen, I need to go make some calls.”

  I walk out to my car, and the first person I call is Jonah. “Hey, have you heard from Skyler?”

  “No, but Sadie called and said Skyler is sleeping at our house tonight. What the fuck did you do?”

  “I fucked up, and now I have to figure out how to fix it. I’m on my way back to the club now.”

  I cut the call and drive straight back to the club.

  ***

  Skyler

  I need to slow down or I’m going to get myself killed. I’m so upset I don’t even care right now. I can’t believe Logan did that to me in a club that I’m trying to build my name in. I’ll never be able to sing there again because I’m now known as the singer with the jealous boyfriend. It isn’t like I was dancing with some random guy either; it was one of his good friends. I seriously have no idea what his problem is.

  I slow down to take the exit from the freeway and hit a red light. I take a deep breath, trying to keep my tears at bay. He can’t tell me he loves me one minute, then not trust me the next. That doesn’t work.

  I stomp on the gas as soon as the light turns green, and because I’m upset, I don’t see the cop hiding around the corner. He immediately pulls me over. I punch my brand new twenty thousand dollar steering wheel, pissed because if I wasn’t driving this fucking Porsche I probably wouldn’t have been pulled over.

  Please be John, please be John, I think to myself as I wait for him to approach.

  The officer taps on the window and I roll it down. It isn’t John. I automatically hand over my license and registration.

  “Going a bit fast tonight, aren’t you?”

  “Sorry, officer, I had a fight with my boyfriend and I was upset.”

  “I can see that, but it doesn't give you the right to drive crazy. You’ll get over a broken heart, but you may not get over your injuries if you smash this car.”

  “I’m sorry. I’ll slow down. I’m right up the street from my friend’s house where I’m spending the night.”

  “I’ll be right back,” he says, walking away from my car to run my plate and make sure the car is mine. While I wait for what feels like an eternity, I send Sadie a text.

  Skyler: Got pulled over for speeding. Be there in a few.

  Sadie: Slow down and get here safe.

  The cop walks back to my car and hands me a ticket, my license, and registration and tells me to have a great night.

  I roll up my window. Wonderful. I fought with my boyfriend and now I have a seventy-five dollar ticket. Thank God he didn’t catch me on the freeway.

  I pull up to Sadie’s, and as soon as I ring her buzzer she lets me in. I go running up the stairs and she’s waiting with a hug for me.

  I burst into tears. “I can’t believe him. He was like a raging lunatic, and it was so embarrassing.”

  “Aww, sweetie, it’s okay,” she says, rubbing my back to soothe me. She hands me a tissue and a glass of wine she has already poured and pulls me toward the couch. “Tell me what happened.”

  “I went to the club to sing like I was supposed to. When I was done, Mikey asked me to find him so we could talk about my next gig with him. He was on the dance floor with some friends so he asked me to join him. I was off the clock and figured it was no big deal.” I dab my eyes and take a deep breath. “All of a sudden I feel someone yank on my arm and when I turn around it’s Logan, livid that I’m dancing with Mikey. He screams at me, ‘What the fuck are you doing? You're coming with me!’ That’s when I told him the hell I was, that he needed to calm down and call me when he did.”

  I take a sip of my wine. “That’s when I got my stuff and called you. I do not want to go back there. I don’t even know how I’m going to face him at work tomorrow. I don’t want to be unprofessional and call out sick because that will make it worse.”

  “I agree. You need to go to work so you can show him that you two can work together, not to mention you don’t want other people at the club to start thinking every time you two fight you’ll disappear.”

  “Would you mind going shopping with me tomorrow so I can get an outfit for work? I don’t want to go to the house unless he has called me much calmer to talk things over.”

  “Me? Have a problem shopping? Come on, girl, really? Of course I’ll go shopping with you. I also think you should call him though. I know he screwed up, but I do believe he loves you.”

  I shake my head. “He screwed up, so he should be calling me.”

  “I partially agree with that, but this is a relationship, and if you love him, give him the chance to explain.”

  I finish off my wine and ask if she has more. I want to get drunk and not think about it
tonight. I’m disappointed because for the first time in my life I allowed someone in and didn’t screw up. Yet here I sit on my best friend’s couch, heartbroken and not knowing what Logan is doing or how he’s feeling.

  Chapter 14

  Logan

  I sit in my home office trying to work on ideas for a new club, and I realize the only thing I’m doing is trying to block Skyler from my mind. Why, I don’t know. I love her, I know I do, but I don’t know how to fix what I’ve done. I’ve been debating texting her all night, but Mikey said I needed to let her cool down, and I’m not sure how long that takes.

  I don’t even know what to do about work tonight. I keep playing over in my head the events of last night and what Jonah said to me when I got back: “Dude, you fucked this up. You need to fix it. For the first time she has let someone in and you hurt her.” He even told me Sadie texted him that she was at their house a mess over what I did. My phone pings and I check it; it’s a text from Jonah.

  Jonah: Skyler plans on working tonight, what are you going to do?

  Logan: Fuck! I figured she would call out.

  Jonah: Nope wants to prove to everyone that she won’t run because you two had a fight. She’s even going shopping for clothes so she’ll have something to wear.

  I pick up the phone and call Tony. “Hey, man, Skyler is leaving her friend Sadie’s to go shopping. Make sure to keep your distance but follow her.”

  “You got it.”

  Logan: Sky hates shopping.

  Jonah: I know.

  Logan: How do I fix this?

  Jonah: The hell if I know. I think you need to start by figuring out why you were so mad and then talking to her about it.

  I take a deep breath while I try to figure out how to respond. I know why I freaked. Can I tell her what happened with Lindsey? And will it make it worse that I basically compared her to my ex without even meaning to?

  Logan: I’ll talk to her tonight.

  Jonah: Don’t piss her off before her shift. We don’t need her running out tonight.

  Logan: Good point. Talk to you later.

  I text her next to see if we can talk tonight after our shift. I need to fix things with her or it’s going to be a long healing process. It has only been one night and I’m exhausted because I couldn’t sleep without her in my bed.

  Logan: Can we talk after work tonight?

  Her response is immediate.

  Skyler: I don’t know. Heading out with Sadie right now to drop off the Porsche and pick up my car.

  Logan: That is your car. Please don’t do this. I know I fucked up and I want to fix it.

  Skyler: Well texting me isn’t going to fix it and I don’t want the car. I’m not with you for your money, I was with you because I love you and I thought you loved me.

  Logan: I do love you, which is why I want to apologize and fix this.

  Skyler: I’m not sure how you plan on fixing this but trust is a deal breaker. Figure out whether you trust me or not and call me when you do.

  She’s right. I have to trust her, and I thought I did right up until I saw her dancing with Mikey. I try to shake it off and go back to looking at more locations for another club. At least if I open another club, I can work out of the other one while I figure things out with Skyler.

  My agent sends me three different locations to look at for potential clubs. One is a club that is struggling and looking to be taken over, and the other two are abandoned buildings that would need to be constructed into clubs and given new identities and need a lot of promoting. I email the agent and tell her I want to see all three as soon as possible.

  The good thing is I can work on all of this stuff from outside of the club, so if I need to stay out of the club for the night I can and then see her tomorrow, or maybe she’ll come over with Jonah and Sadie for dinner on Monday.

  My email pings and it’s the agent.

  Can show you the abandoned ones whenever you want and I’ll work on an appointment for the other one.

  I send her a message back telling her to meet me at the first one in one hour.

  I run upstairs and quickly shower and dress. I’m out the door in thirty minutes and on my way to the first location. While I drive there, I tell myself this is what I need, a project to work on so I can clear my head. I know Sky loves me and isn’t Lindsey. Now I have to figure out how to stop myself from overreacting. Maybe if I tell her what happened she’ll understand and we can move past this. I turn up the radio, and I instantly think of Skyler and her singing, so I shut it off. A few minutes later I pull up to the first location. I jump out of the car when I see Ally waiting for me by the door. She punches in the code number on the lock box so she can pull out the key.

  “Hey, Logan, good to see you!”

  “Hey, Ally, good to see you too.”

  “Is the club doing that well you're ready to buy again already? I didn’t think we would be doing this for about two years.”

  “The club is doing amazingly well, and if I want to be ready to expand, I need to start looking. It took me a while to find the perfect location last time.”

  “Yeah, it can be hard sometimes. This one isn’t in the best location, but the area is on the rise, and a good club could be what it needs to help push it along.”

  “I’m not too sure I’m happy about this location. It’s in the middle of nowhere.”

  “There are ups and downs to that, and you know that as well as I do.”

  I walk into the building. It’s a good thing it’s daylight or you wouldn’t be able to see a thing in here. There is no electricity and the place is one big empty room. I walk through looking around to see if the place would work, and to be honest it isn’t a bad set up. I could make the VIP rooms up above like at Thrive to give them a connected feel but probably only have room for one bar as opposed to two. There could be a small catwalk for the ladies opposite the VIP section which would give the guys a show.

  “Okay, I’ve seen enough. Let’s move to the next location.” I get into my car and head in the direction of the next building. I pull up and wait for Ally because I left without her. I know I’m being a dick, but I’m in a shitty mood. There’s only one person who can improve my mood and she won’t talk to me.

  Ally pulls up, and I get out of my car to follow her to the entrance. She unlocks it, and it’s worse than the first one. “Come on, Ally, this place is a piece of shit.”

  “It’s in a great location and you can expand on it. There is plenty of room around it.”

  “If I’m going to expand, I might as well knock the thing down and start over. There is no room to do anything here. Call me when you find something for real or when you get me an appointment to check out that other club.”

  I shake my head and walk out. I head to the florist to send Skyler some flowers before she gets to work tonight. When I pull in, I ask the girl if she can deliver two dozen red roses to Jonah’s address by 5:30. I pay for the flowers and pick a card to write her a note.

  Skyler,

  I’m sorry I was a fool! I do trust you and want to be with you. Please help me figure this out.

  Love,

  Logan

  I hand the woman the card, and she shakes her head. “I see more apologies written on these little cards than you can imagine. If you want to fix things take the flowers to her yourself. Don’t have them delivered. You need to talk to her.”

  “Why does everyone keep saying that to me? I want to talk to her. She’s the one who said she isn’t sure if she’s ready yet.”

  “If you deliver them, she has no choice but to listen, right?”

  I shake my head. “Who am I kidding? She isn’t going to care if I have flowers delivered. I bought her a damn Porsche that she dropped back off at my house. What the hell are flowers going to do?”

  “Baby, want to start out fresh? You can buy me a Porsche.”

  I laugh at her bluntness.

  “I’ll deliver your flowers,” she says, “but you’re right, they’re no
t going to fix your problem. I’m willing to bet you know what you have to do, so how about you do it and get your girl back? If she’s willing to give back a Porsche, I bet she’s worth keeping around.”

  “You have no idea.”

  ***

  Skyler

  “I can’t believe you’re giving up the Porsche. Why don’t you drive it? You know you want to,” Sadie whines.

  “Because maybe he’ll realize that I’m not with him for his money or whatever his issue is, and we’ll be able to get past this problem. If I continue to drive it, then it looks like I only wanted him for his money and that’s not the case.”

  I pull up to the valet and ask him to bring my Honda around. He looks at me like I have ten heads and says, “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Miss Jones!” Greg calls.

  “Yes?”

  “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to intrude, but I overheard Mr. Michaels talking last night about your situation and, well, I want you to know he’s a good man. He has lived here a long time and has been through a lot. You have made a very positive impact in his life. I hope you two can work it out.”

  “That’s sweet, Greg, thank you. I hope we can work it out too.”

  “I’m sorry if I overstepped. I don’t usually get involved. I wanted you to know he was a bit of a mess both last night and when I saw him leave earlier today.”

  “Do you have any idea where he went?”