The Perfect Spiral - Book cover

The Perfect Spiral

Ashley Constantine

Chapter 2

“Wes?” I managed to choke out through the phone, my voice thick with tears.

“Alex? What’s going on? Are you crying? Why are you crying? Did Drew hurt you? Did he touch you? I’ll fucking kill him! Wh—” Wes’s voice was a panicked jumble of words, his concern for me palpable even through the phone.

“Wes... he... he cheated on me,” I sobbed, my words punctuated by hiccups. I was exiting the elevator, my head bowed low in an attempt to hide my tear-streaked face from anyone who might see.

My phone buzzed against my ear, signaling another incoming call. I pulled the phone away to check the caller ID, half-expecting it to be Andy. But it wasn’t. Drew’s name flashed across the screen, causing me to stop in my tracks.

“Alex? Alex? Are you still there? Where are you? I’m coming to get you... ALEX!” Wes’s voice, filled with worry, snapped me out of my daze. I brought the phone back to my ear.

“Wes? I’m at his apartment complex, I’m inside and I just—” My words were cut off by a fresh wave of tears, the hot streams flowing unchecked down my cheeks and neck. I tried to wipe them away, but they just kept coming.

“Walk outside the doors, sweetheart. Walk back to where I was talking to you earlier, shhhh, sweetheart, it’ll be alright,” he cooed, his voice a soothing balm against my raw emotions.

I needed him, but I didn’t want him to see me like this, a complete mess.

“Alex, I need you to answer me, sweetheart. Stay on the phone with me until I reach you, alright?”

To an outsider, it might have sounded like I was in physical danger or losing consciousness. But no, I had just been cheated on and had seen it with my own eyes. Not as dramatic, I know, but it hurt like hell.

“ALEX!” I heard a faint shout in the distance. It was hard to see in the dimly lit street, but I recognized Wes’s voice. The sound of his footsteps grew louder as he approached, and then I was enveloped in his arms, my body colliding with his solid frame.

He pulled me in tighter, one hand cradling the back of my head, the other wrapped securely around my back. “Shhh, I’m here for you,” he whispered into my hair. I clung to him, my tears soaking his shirt, not caring who might see.

“I caught... h-him... cheating, Wes,” I managed to hiccup out against his chest. He just held me, offering silent comfort, until a distant shout of “Alex!” broke the moment.

I looked up at Wes, my eyes wide with fear. I knew it was Drew, searching for me.

“Wes, can we go? I really don’t want to face him! Please!” I begged. Wes’s arms loosened around me, and he started to move past me, heading in the direction of Drew’s voice.

I grabbed his arm, pulling him back. “I need to beat the shit out of this guy on your brother’s behalf! He deserves it, he can’t be doing this to any girl, especially not to you, Alex!” His expression softened when he saw the pleading look in my eyes.

“Wes, he doesn’t need a beating, please, I just want to go home!”

“Alex, you can’t keep defending him. Something needs to be done,” he replied, his gaze shifting back towards the direction of Drew’s voice.

Just tell him, Alex!

“I hit him, Wes!” I blurted out. Wes turned back to me, his eyes wide with surprise.

“You what?” he laughed in disbelief. “That’s my job, Al, not yours,” he chuckled, a small smile tugging at my lips despite the tears still streaming down my face.

“Well, I slapped him—” I began, my gaze shifting to a nearby street lamp.

“Sweetheart, that doesn’t count as hi—”

I cut him off. “Then I punched him. Right in the nose. Made it bleed. Now my hand hurts like hell,” I confessed, my words causing his eyes to widen even more.

He let out a loud laugh and hugged me again. “I’m so proud of you, sweetheart. Your brothers will be too when you tell them—”

“Proud?!? I’m not proud of it, Wes! I’m always the one that says violence is never the answer. You should know that by now.”

He chuckled again, the vibration of his laughter against my cheek comforting. He pulled away, cupping my face in his hands and looking deep into my eyes.

“It’ll be okay, sweetheart. You may not have your brothers here to protect you, but I’m as close as it gets. Now let’s get you home and put some ice on that hand of yours. It looks like it’s swelling a lot.”

He pulled me into his side, his arm draped protectively over my shoulders. He kissed the top of my head, and I wrapped my arm around his waist as he led me towards my apartment.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out, hoping it wasn’t Drew. I sighed in relief when I saw it was Andy.

“Hey! I’m just in the elevator. I’ll be there in two minutes. Wes is with me,” I said immediately, trying to keep my voice steady and prevent another wave of tears.

“Wes? Why is he with you?” Andy’s voice echoed through the phone. “Just open the door, Andy!” I responded, my words punctuated by a yawn.

Before the chaos erupted earlier, I was already tired. Now, I’m utterly drained and all I want is to collapse into bed. As the elevator doors slid open, I saw Andy waiting at the door.

The moment she saw me, she rushed over. “Al! Are you okay? What happened? You look like you’ve been crying!” Her gaze shifted to Wes, her tone accusatory. “What did you do, Wes?”

Her eyes narrowed into thin slits. Wes held up his hands in surrender, retorting, “Whoa, whoa, whoa! I didn’t do anything! Andy, calm down! It was her idiot boyfriend!”

“Ex-boyfriend,” I corrected, earning a questioning look from Andy.

I pushed open the door to our apartment, leaving Andy and Wes in my wake. Tossing my bag on the floor, I made a beeline for my room and flopped onto the bed face down.

Thank God tomorrow’s Saturday. I felt the bed dip on either side of me as Andy began to rub my back in a comforting gesture.

“You don’t have to tell me right away, Al. I’ll be here for you. I’ll sleep with you tonight if you want, doll?”

Wes’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Can I get in on that?” We both glared at him and said in unison, “No.”

“Worth a shot,” he mumbled under his breath, but we both heard him.

I slowly rolled onto my back, staring at the ceiling and brushing the hair from my face.

I could feel their eyes on me, glancing at each other from time to time, trying to figure out how to broach the subject.

Taking a deep breath, I confessed, “I walked in on him cheating on me. With some blonde bimbo bouncing on him like she was on a personal trampoline.”

I heard a gasp from Andy and a deep sigh from Wes. My heart ached as I replayed the scene in my head, remembering the look on his face when he realized he’d been caught.

“Are you kidding me?! That asshole! I will personally castrate him. Ugh! What a douchebag. Clearly, he thinks with his dick... What did you do? Did you throw the kitchen sink at him? Smash his TV? Throw his laptop out the window?” Andy rambled on.

“I slapped him in the face. Then punched him in the nose,” I told the ceiling, letting my words echo back at me.

Andy snorted, “I didn’t think you had it in you.”

“Neither did I,” Wes chimed in.

Still staring at the ceiling, I began to contemplate my next move. I don’t have Drew anymore, unless I forgive him, but that’s never going to happen.

My biological father cheated on my mother. We both caught him in the act when I was eight. I didn’t understand what was happening then, but I was relieved when my mom divorced him. He tore our family apart, and Eric, my stepdad, put it back together.

“Alex, sweetheart, it’ll get better, I promise you. If you’re still single by thirty, you can always marry me,” Wes teased, making me smile for the first time since the incident.

“My hero,” I said sarcastically, placing my hand over my heart.

We all chuckled at his proposition. Then Andy piped up, “What about me? What if I’m not married by thirty?”

Wes grinned, “Well, I’m down for having two women in my bed anytime, any place! So I guess I can marry both of you lovely ladies,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“Or Andy and I could marry each other and leave you out of the equation altogether, considering gay rights and all that,” I teased, poking his chest.

“Where’s the fun in that?” he asked, raising his hands in mock surrender.

We all laughed again. This is why I love these two. They always know how to lift my spirits when I’m feeling down.

After lounging on my bed for a while, we moved to the living room to watch chick flicks like “The Duff,” “Mean Girls,” and “John Tucker Must Die.” Wes ordered pizza and surprisingly, he actually watched the movies with us, though I caught him making faces every now and then.

He made typical guy comments about the girls in the movies, like “I would so do her,” “I wonder if she would date an athlete. I mean, who wouldn’t want to date an athlete?” and “Damn! Eight out of ten, definitely! Borderline nine!” Meanwhile, Andy and I sighed over the guys in the movies.

Wes particularly liked “The Duff” because the hot guy in the movie shared his name.

He kept asking me, “I’m definitely hotter, right? I mean, he’s Abercrombie and I’m Calvin Klein. There’s a huge difference... if you know what I mean,” emphasizing the word ‘huge.’

I just rolled my eyes at him while Andy giggled and shook her head. I rested my head on Wes’s chest while Andy used my butt as a pillow. We watched the movies in peaceful companionship, stuffing our faces with pizza.

“Well, ladies! It’s been a pleasure. Not exactly the threesome I had in mind, but I’ll take it! I better head out. I have to get a rub down from the trainer tomorrow morning,” Wes said, winking at us.

“Are you certain you don’t want me to stay over, Alex? It’s no trouble at all. It’ll be just like our time in Savannah,” Wes suggested, his eyebrow arched in a silent plea for an explanation.

“No, Wes, I’ll be fine. I’ll just bunk with Andy tonight, but thanks! Maybe some other time?”

“Again, I really don’t mind sharing a bed with you two ladies at all,” he said, his eyebrows wiggling suggestively.

“Goodnight, Wes!” we chorused, nudging him out the door.

“Fine! Goodnight, ladies! Oh, and call me if things start to heat up between the sheets,” he teased, puckering his lips in anticipation of a goodnight kiss. We exchanged a glance and closed the door on him, giggling from our side of the barrier.

“Goodnight, my lovely ladies,” he called through the door separating us. With that, he disappeared down the hallway.

“So, what happened between you two in Savannah?” Andy asked, her eyebrows mirroring Wes’s earlier wiggle. I rolled my eyes at her.

“We used to sleep in the same bed together, but nothing like that happened. So, get your mind out of the gutter! I used to have trouble sleeping and he would cuddle me until I fell asleep. Sometimes he would sleep in my bed with me, other times he would get up and wander back to his own room. It wasn’t a big deal,” I explained nonchalantly.

“He’s awfully flirty, though!” she observed, turning down the volume on the TV.

“Yeah, but he’s like that with all girls, even you!” I laughed, and she shrugged while nodding in agreement.

“Yeah, he was quite flirty with me tonight too,” she giggled, shaking her head. Andy loves a good flirt.

Yawning and stretching, I triggered a contagious yawn from Andy. “I think it’s time to hit the hay!” Andy nodded and left for her room to change. She was going to sleep with me in my bed.

I reached for my phone, remembering Wes had put it on silent so I wouldn’t be distracted. I clicked the home button to find numerous messages and missed calls from Andy and Drew. Mainly Drew. Turning my phone off vibrate mode, I skimmed through the messages.

DrewBabe, please talk to me!
DrewI love you so much!
DrewThis was a big mistake! I love you so much!
DrewI miss you, please come back! Don’t give up on us. Please give me another chance. I’m willing to fight for you, for us! Babe please answer me! I love you too much to let this all go.
DrewFine! Be like that and don’t answer me!
DrewBaby, I’m sorry I know I messed up, but please know I love you more than anything! Take me back!
DrewI won’t give up!

I gave up reading them when Andy reentered the room and headed straight for my room, turning around in surprise when she didn’t find me there.

She smiled shyly and asked, “Were you reading his messages?” I nodded and released a long breath, passing her to enter my room and change.

Andy has seen all my lady bits, plus she’s got the same ones, so it’s not really anything new.

I slipped into my sheets, glancing over at Andy who was engrossed in this month’s issue of GQ magazine.

My brother’s best friend, Knox Carter, was plastered on the cover of the magazine, a football strategically covering his modesty while sweat trickled down his abs... mmmm.

Although he looked hot as hell on the cover, his personality ruined the rating I’d give him. His family and my family are very close, too close in fact.

His mom and my mom are best friends and grew up in Savannah, Georgia, but never knew each other until we moved to the Upper West Side in New York.

My brothers are best friends with his older brothers, and his family is very, very wealthy.

His mom was so proud of him that every time he was on the cover of a magazine, she would send it to all her close friends and family. She sent me three copies of each cover he was on, cue the eye roll.

She also sent me one of his jerseys with his name and number on the back, which I actually wear to bed because it’s super comfy and warm, and it’s what I’m wearing right now.

Nobody knows that I actually know him, not even Andy, and I plan on keeping it that way. Once girls know I know him, they try to befriend me to get to him. Which I see right through.

“He is just so fucking hot! I would gladly let him do whatever he wants to me. Ugh, I’m wet just looking at him... Fuck!” she moaned, turning to glance at me.

I tried to not roll my eyes for the one hundredth time today so I just went with a “Riiiight.”

“Here,” she passed me the magazine. I shook my head and pushed my hand out to return the magazine to her side of the bed.

She looked at me like I had five heads while I shifted downwards in the bed to make myself comfy.

“You can keep it, I have two more of those.” Realizing what I had just said, I turned on my side, praying that she wouldn’t pick up on it. Thankfully, she didn’t.

I sighed loudly when I heard my phone vibrate from an incoming message. It was probably Drew again. I hesitantly checked my phone to be pleasantly surprised to see Wes’s name on the ID.

WesGoodnight sweetheart! Sleep well, I’m counting on seeing you at the party tomorrow night, and you two better behave in that bed of yours ;) xx

I laughed out loud and rolled my eyes again. I need to stop doing that! Typing out my response to him.

“We going to a party?” Andy asked as she read the text from over my shoulder.

“Do you want to go?” I asked, turning slightly to her.

“Hell yes, I want to go! I think it will be good for both of us! Chat up some random cute college guys older than us!” She gave me a nudge on my side while resting her chin on my shoulder.

“Fine, I’ll tell him we’re going, and to message us the details.” I think it’s a bit too soon for me to be chatting up any boys. But I’ll go for Andy’s sake.

AlexGoodnight Wes! Andy is up for it, message us the details and try not to dream about us too much ;) love Andy and Alex xx
WesExcellent, don’t forget the dress! You’re such a tease ;)xx

I swiveled back to face Andy, but instead, I was met with Knox’s chiseled physique and his alluring smirk on the magazine cover. He was undeniably handsome, but his awareness of it was the issue.

As she continued to daydream about him, a realization dawned on me. I was newly single. I could do whatever I wanted now. Holy shit... I could do whatever I wanted now.

“I’m thinking about dyeing the ends of my hair blonde, you know, the ombre look that’s trending,” I blurted out.

Andy lowered the magazine to her lap and gave me a surprised look. “Really? That’s quite a departure for you. Little Miss Comfort-Zone wants to dye her hair all of a sudden?” She raised an eyebrow in question.

I’d always harbored a desire to go blonde, but Drew had insisted it wouldn’t suit me, so I’d never taken the plunge.

“I’m not planning on going full blonde, just the ends. I want to get it done tomorrow morning at a salon, so I can flaunt my new look at the party. Do you think they could squeeze me in early in the morning?”

She shrugged, “I’ll call for you in the morning to see if they can accommodate an early appointment, but don’t get your hopes up! And make sure you have some pictures ready of what you want it to look like, so you don’t end up in tears! I learned that the hard way.” She mumbled the last part, picking up the magazine again to resume reading Knox’s article.

I rolled back over, not giving a damn about his thoughts in the article. “So, he’s sexy, talented, and smart... Is he the fucking messiah too?”

I chuckled at her words. If only she knew! After enduring a while of Andy’s incessant chatter about Knox, my eyelids began to droop, and before I knew it, I was fast asleep.

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