CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Kane sat in the steamy sauna wiping dime sized beads of perspiration from his brow with the back of his hand as an intense wave of steam swarmed him. This was the perfect way to start his afternoon although things would’ve been a lot better if he were alone. He and Colin had another opportunity to patch things up following their big blow out at the family meeting and after another couple hours of venting it ended with them agreeing to disagree. Colin apologized and admitted he realized they had a business to run and a family name to uphold even if he ran it through the mud. Even though things were copasetic between them now, Kane knew they would have another blowup sooner rather than later. He loved his brother to death, but they were like oil and water.
He chuckled to himself. That’s what he and Colin did. They would argue, have time to themselves for a little bit. Then they would be back to what they considered normal, although today it still didn’t change the fact that he wanted some time to himself to think about last night and the ignorant drama with Ali. They dated off and on for a few months, and enjoyed some wild and crazy sex-filled nights, but when he sat down and thought about her, that’s all it would really be between them.
Ali was super sexy, vivacious and fun but she wasn’t the type of woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with considering she’d slept with one of his best buddies. When he heard that information he vowed that he would never be involved with her. Last night, he had no intentions of sleeping with her. He wanted to make sure she made it home safely, but as usual Ali had another agenda.
“It’s hot in here,” said Kane. When his words were met with dead air, Kane twisted his ripped body to his right and instantaneously shook his head. Colin parked beside him perfectly still, lids shut, towel dangled around his neck and waist, his curls clinging to his damp forehead. “Colin?” He spoke louder jabbing his brother with a strong elbow. “Did you hear me?”
“It’s hot in here,” Colin uttered, lids never fluttering.
“Oh, I assumed you were sleep.”
“Stop assuming things.” He barked. “I was just thinking.”
“About?”
“David. My kids.” He exhaled noisily disenchanted. “That’s what.”
“What about Rowan?” Kane inquired through wide eyes. “You know your wife of fourteen years?”
“I tried reaching out to Rowan,” he waved a hand, “I’ve begged her to meet me for coffee, talk to me, allow me to explain…” Colin threaded his fingers through his thick blonde curls. “Then she could see how truly sorry I am. I never meant for my affair with David to go public.”
“You need to give her time. It’s still too fresh. Rowan has a lot to process. You were her best friend and you hurt her.”
Colin flashed Kane a look that said, yeah right. “Know what? I’ll let you have the whole ‘Rowan needs time thing’ but let’s not pretend Rowan is innocent in all this. My wife knew what she was getting involved in when she agreed to marry me, plus she’s had affairs as well.”
Rowan Sutton knew Colin Parker was gay when they met fourteen years ago, but she didn’t care. She let him know she wanted a piece of the Parker pie, mainly prestige, while Colin wanted to keep up with appearances regarding his sexuality. He didn’t want them to know he lusted after the strong scent of Issey Miyake cologne and the strong touch that only a man could give. Both with their own motives, Colin and Rowan concocted a marriage out of convenience and the contract consisted of Rowan having his children, and the couple being the oh so affectionate and loving couple in public, while living under the same roof in separate rooms. The only stipulation was that their post marital affairs never go public.
Kane met his brother’s eyes, “You’re right. I can’t argue with you.” He watched as the tension drained from his brother’s body.
“I screwed up but I couldn’t help it. David and I just wanted to record our moment of passion and—”
“Spare me the details.” Kane raised a hand while shaking his head.
Colin slapped his thigh, the sound ricocheting through the airy sauna piercing the silence. “I just wish at this point everyone would stop rubbing it in.”
“‘I agree. We’ve all made mistakes and done our dirt, and I do see you really trying to move forward,” Kane admitted.
“I really am.”
Kane felt sorry for his brother. He knew all along that Colin was gay and even gave him and Rowan hell for entering their crazy contract, but the two had been careful all these years – until now.
After several silent seconds passed, Colin spoke, “I miss my family.” His voice was solemn. “I miss my kids.”
Not as much as I miss my privacy. Kane wanted to add, but Colin’s voice held a solemn undertone so he kept his feelings to himself. “I know you do, bro.”
“Hey,” Colin turned to face his brother, “I’m desperate. I really want to bury the hatchet with Rowan. I want to see my kids.”
“Listen,” Kane rested a comforting hand upon his brother’s shoulder. He knew at this point it would take a miracle to bury the hatchet with Rowan. So he tried to shed a little light – no matter how dim on the subject. “Let’s be grateful about the baby steps. Be glad Rowan finally agreed to allow you to have some sort of visitation with the kids,” Kane remarked referring to his nieces Kelsey fifteen, Ava two, and his nephew Dylan ten. He had been the one who had to beg on Colin’s behalf since Rowan declared she’d speak to Colin again when hell froze over.
“Yeah, but you had to grovel for me.” Colin moped.
“True,” Kane shrugged, “Plus I also mentioned you would take her to court if she did not allow you to see your children. The kids don’t have to suffer because of this.”
“You’re right. I guess you’re right.” He grumbled. A beat passed and Colin came with, “Think she’ll ever talk to me again?” his voice wavered barely audible, his eyes misting slightly.
Kane felt sorry for his brother for a moment. “I-I don’t know,” he admitted honestly.
There was no telling what his sister-in-law was going to do. She was hurt, humiliated, not to mention the degradation she had to face when her family and friends watched how her husband’s affair unfolded on the news.
“I screwed up didn’t I?”
“Yeah,” Kane nodded, tired of hearing his brother make the same admission over and over again. “You did. Now, you have to figure out how to pick up the pieces, man. That’s going to determine the man you really are,” said Kane.
“Damn.” Colin’s shoulders sagged with grief. It was as if the realization of what he had done finally hit him. “How can I pick up the pieces? What am I going to do?” he asked as he lifted his head, his green eyes resting upon the foam green-colored ceiling as if it held the key to solving his dilemma. “Rowan’s my best friend.”
“I believe she’ll come around eventually. You’ve apologized, but you can’t spend the rest of your life beating yourself up about it.”
“I know that, but if I could turn back the hands of time.”
“But you can’t.” Kane’s voice was stern. “You can’t turn back the hands of time. You can’t make Rowan talk to you. What’s done is done and all you can do is move forward.”
“Wow. That’s the same thing David said.”
“Take it one day at a time. Work on yourself. You can show someone better than you can tell them anything.”
“Thanks bro.”
“No problem, Colin.”
The next few minutes the brothers sat in silence each lost in his own thoughts until Colin said, “So moving forward, have you found someone worth replacing Steph yet?”
“Temporary Solutions emailed us the resumes yesterday. We narrowed down the list to about four candidates. Brittany interviewed two candidates this morning and texted me telling me not to bother sitting in because they were not worth the time.”
“We’re supposed to reconvene this afternoon with one more.”
“Will I be able to sit in on the inter
view?”
“Of course. But I’m telling you now. I don’t care if Brittany doesn’t approve. If I feel the person is going to be an asset, then that’s who I’m going with.”
“Fair enough.”
Colin gave Kane this weird look, then he smirked at him. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, about what time did you eventually get in this morning?”
Kane looked his brother square in the eye. “What do you mean?”
“Oh come on, don’t play dumb with me. Last night, you had that date with Ali.”
“Correction. I did not have a date with her. We attended a fundraiser; it wasn’t a date.”
“Fine.” Colin shrugged before continuing. “You stroll in around two thirty this morning. So I assumed you two had a nightcap…then took it from there.” Colin winked suggestively.
“Yeah. That’s exactly what happened,” Kane answered, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “I can’t pull one over on you, not even if I tried.”
“So, if nothing happened, why didn’t you come in ‘til the wee hours of the morning?” Colin teased.
“Well, let’s see…” Kane folded his brawny arms across his chest. “Ali got shit faced at the MS benefit banquet. She was puking her guts out and, instead of calling her a cab, I was chivalrous enough to drive her home where I spent the better part of the night holding her hair while her face hung in the commode. When she finished, she begged me to stay for a little bit just in case she got sick again and needed me, so she went to bed, I watched TV until I accidentally dozed off on her couch,” Kane said, satisfied with his partial account of his evening.
“Okay. That explains part of the mind-numbing story, but now I need the truth. The real truth. Did you sleep with her?”
“No way.” Kane hopped to his feet, and trotted off towards the shower, with Colin on his heels.
“Then explain that.” Colin pointed at Kane’s neck to the faint purplish bruise.
Kane rubbed the hickey and grunted. “It is not what you think.”
There was no way he was going to divulge that he spent the better part of the night knocking a sex crazed Ali from his lap as she fondled his dick and that she sucked his neck, hence the faint bruise. He applied toothpaste to it and thankfully it was fading.
“Come on. You can tell me. I promise your secret is safe with me.” Colin disrobed and took refuge under a showerhead of scalding hot water. Kane was already taking advantage of the spray two stalls down as he scrubbed his skin.
“There are no secrets.” He hollered from his stall. “We didn’t have sex.” He responded while squirting liquid Dial onto a washcloth.
“No oral? No nothing?” Colin asked disappointment peppering his voice.
“Look,” Kane cracked up laughing as he rinsed shampoo from his hair. Eyes stinging with soap he met his brother’s disappointed stare. “I’m sorry, but I can’t help you get your rocks off. Ali and I didn’t have any type of sex.” He shut off the shower draped a towel around his brawny waist and ambled in the direction of the lockers.
Colin hurriedly danced around until most of the soap was off his body. This was too good to pass up. “You mean to tell me,” he struggled to cinch the flimsy towel around his waist, “you were in her home, she was drunk probably willing to let you stick your dick anywhere, and you didn’t take advantage? Hell, I’m gay but I’d still do her.”
Howling Kane said, “You are a sick, sick man.”
Colin’s lips upturned into a sly smile. “What can I say? A hot chick probably spilling her guts, I’m so gay for her. Besides Rowan, she is the only other woman I would consider sticking my dick in, but you cannot deny she still has feelings for you.”
Kane slid his boxers up over his hips. “Not my problem.”
“At one point you had feelings for her though.”
Kane sighed. “At one point, yes, Ali and I were openly exploring the possibilities of a relationship, I’ll admit that,” he said slipping his head through his t-shirt, “but when she slept with Brent I knew there was no way she and I would ever have a future.”
Colin nodded. “She did put the nail in her coffin with that one.”
“Hey,” Kane shrugged. “It is what it is.”
“You sure though? Absolutely sure that you’ll never try to revisit the issue of having something with her again?”
“All I want from her here on out is for her to continue being the phenomenal publicist that she is.”
“Who says you have to be with her?” Colin scrunched gel through his hair. “Why not have one last hurrah?”
“What are you talking about?”
“If you had the chance to screw her brains out again, would you?”
“Wow.” Kane scoffed. “I should’ve never told you about that.”
Colin died laughing. “Be real. This is me you’re talking too.”
“There you go.” Kane shook his head.
“What?” Oblivious Colin wiped his hands on the towel.
“I’m not looking to just screw someone’s brain’s out. If I were looking for a woman to have a relationship with, which I’m not, I would want a woman full of substance, someone who’ll stimulate me mentally, not just physically. Someone I can have a deep emotional connection with. A woman I can be proud of, someone I’d have no qualms bringing around the family.” An image of Miss Congeniality popped into his head. Kane felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him as he gasped.
“You okay?”
“Fine.” He glanced at his watch. “I’ve got to get going.” He gathered his belongings and stuffed them into his duffel bag. “I have two massages to get ready for before the interviews start. We’ll talk more later.” He rushed out of the locker room away from his brother, and away from the woman who seemed to be the center of his thoughts for the past twenty-four hours.