Addicted: A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance (26 page)

As I stepped into the spartan interior of the apartment, I knew. I had to tell Krystal the way I felt about her, that was for sure. However, she wasn't supposed to be filming until later that day, so I didn't want to tell her before the taping. I knew the sort of emotional bombshell I had was not the sort of thing to tell someone right before a competition. Instead, I picked up my phone, and saw that the battery was dead. I'd left the stupid thing on for too long last night, and had forgotten to charge it the night before. Plugging it into the wall, I went into the bathroom that Krystal had said was mine and showered and shaved.

It felt good to get clean, and afterwards I looked into the mirror for a long time, wondering just what it was that was making me look so damn young and refreshed, considering I'd slept like hell.
You're happy, dumbass
, I finally whispered to myself when the realization struck me like a lightning bolt.
Now go make things right.

I knew exactly what I needed to do while waiting for Krystal to finish her taping. I went back into my room and changed into some fresh clothes, and looked at my phone. It had some charge, but more importantly the cord stretched enough I could do what I needed to next. Opening the phone's memory, I found the number I was looking for and called. "Yes, Castelbon Manor."

"Hello Yuki," I said, a smile on my face. "Is Jo . . . is my father around?"

I could hear the surprise in Yuki's voice when she answered. I hadn't referred to Johnathan Castelbon as my father vocally in years. "Mister Julian . . . uhm, no he's not, but Mrs. Castelbon is here today. Would that be okay?"

"No, thank you though. I really need to talk to my father. Also, Yuki?"

"Yes, sir?"

"I . . . I just wanted to apologize for being a tremendous jerk to you for so many years. I know there's a lot to make up for, but I want to turn over a new leaf. Just . . . I'm sorry."

The silence on the other end stretched out for a minute, then Yuki replied. "No offense Mister Julian, but have you been drinking or taking drugs?"

"Not at all, Yuki. I'm clean and totally sober. Just sorry for being a jerk."

"Well then, apology accepted. I see Krystal has been a good influence on you. She called a week ago and spoke to her mother, told us you'd been staying in Chicago with her. Your father was worried."

"Krystal is great, Yuki. She's helped me a lot. I'd love to tell you more, but I'm going to call my father now. He has his cell I assume?"

"Most likely, Julian. He's supposed to be out doing some grocery shopping, he insisted on doing it himself for some reason."

I laughed, a sound that surprised me when it came to my father. "I'm sure he has his reasons. Thanks, Yuki . . ."

"Okay. Thank you, Julian. Good-bye."

The line cleared, and I smiled as I reflected on the fact that for the first time since a week after she'd been hired by my father, Yuki had called me Julian. I guess things were looking better already. Flipping through my phone's address book again, I found my father's cell phone number and dialed. It only rang twice before he picked up. "Julian, are you alright?"

How could I have been so stupid for all these years? I could hear the concern in his voice, the love and patience as I spent over a decade throwing tantrum after tantrum at him, cursing him and treating him like the lowest form of scum on the planet. And all the time, he'd been there, concerned and loving me, hoping his prodigal son would return to him some day. "No, nothing's wrong. I just . . . I just called to say I'm sorry, Dad."

The next sound I heard was a sharp click, and I thought the call had been cut off before my father's voice came over the line again. "Sorry Julian, I just dropped the phone. You caught me off guard, son."

I looked out the window of my bedroom, across the river towards another high rise, and felt a smile on my face. "I'm sure. Is your phone okay?"

"A bit of a chip on the case, but who cares? Julian, are you sure everything is okay? I've been so worried about you."

"Not everything, not yet Dad. But things are getting better. Listen, I'm just going to put it on the table now. Dad, I read the files of your divorce from Mom last night. I've got a lot of questions, but they're ones that I'm not quite ready to ask you yet. I still need to get my head straight on all of it. I just wanted to tell you that while I don't quite understand, I know you were trying to do what is right. And that I've treated you horribly for a long time. I'm sorry about that."

I could hear the tears in my father's voice as he answered me. "Son, it doesn't matter. You don't need to apologize. Julian, I love you. You're my son, how could I not love you?"

"I know. I . . . I love you too, Dad. I've gotta go, but we'll talk soon, okay?"

"Okay son. Take care of yourself, and your sister."

"I will. And tell Sandra, well, tell her that I'd like to get to know her more too. She's raised a wonderful daughter, and well, that's pretty damn special, you know?"

"I know. Goodbye, Julian. I love you, son."

"Talk to you later, Dad. Love you too."

I hung up the phone, and lay back, trying to think about what to do for the day. I knew that Krystal wouldn't be available to call until at least seven or eight o'clock, and I wanted to be able to use a video chat anyway when we did talk. I thought some more, and what kept breaking into my mind was the comment by Kimberly that Krystal wasn't interested in my money. She was interested in me as a man, and I knew I wasn't that great of a man yet. I wanted to be, and as I thought, I realized part of what made Krystal such a great woman was the fact that she was willing to stand on her own two feet, and not depend on her trust fund like I'd done most of my life.

The biggest problem was, I didn't really have any skills. I'd dropped out of two colleges, and to be honest, I wasn't much of a student anyway. With my run-ins with the law, it wasn't like a lot of places were willing to just hire me either, even with my Castelbon name. While I was sure that my father would let me learn under him at the family business, I didn't want to just be taken under his wing, I wanted to learn to stand and fly on my own like Krystal did.

I looked down at my feet, wondering what I could do, when suddenly a twinge of cramp hit my right quad, and I unconsciously rolled to my side, curling and stretching out the muscle before it could fully harden up. It hit me, and I knew what I wanted to do. There was definitely one thing that I was good at. I let the quad relax, and picked up my phone again, this time to dial Los Angeles. "Yo Randy, it's JC. Hey man, wondering if you can give me some advice. Yeah, yeah, I know. But seriously, what would it take to become a personal trainer?"

I
got back
to my room at just after nine o'clock, following a drink with the team and a wonderful ninety-minute massage and spa treatment. The masseuse, a big boned German girl name Gretl, had worked my back and shoulders until I thought the bones would break, but she released tension and muscular knots I didn't even know I had, some of which I thought might have gone back months or maybe even years. Despite Shannon saying she'd pick up the tab, I gave the girl an extra fifty dollars for great service before changing and making my way upstairs to my room. While in the elevator, I got a text message.
How'd it go? If you have some time, give me a Skype call? Julian.

Intrigued, I turned on my laptop when I got into my room, and pulled up Skype. I was surprised to see that Julian had sent me a friend request, and I clicked add. He was listed as online, so I called. He answered quickly, and I could tell from the background that he was in the living room of the apartment. "So? Did you win?" he asked, smiling.

God he has a perfect smile. He looks happy, it's amazing,
I thought. I'll be honest when I say it caused my heart to skip a beat, and I smiled in return. "Keep it a secret, it's not airing until Thanksgiving, but yes we did. Shannon sprung for a spa treatment for me. I just got back. How was your day?"

"It's been a monumental couple of days," he said. "Last night I had dinner with Kimberly at her apartment."

I regret to say I felt a momentary twinge of jealousy, but it died as soon as it flared when I saw the look in his eyes. "How was it?"

"Kim showed me the truth about my mother . . . about my dad," Julian said simply. "It . . . it changed a lot of things inside me."

The admission was earth shaking, and I felt my hands clench in my lap. "Julian, I'm sorry. Forgive me for not telling you."

"No need, I wasn't ready at the time," he replied. "Also, she kind of clued me in on some other things too. Krystal, I think it's time for me to do something with my life, you know?"

"I think that'd be great Julian," I replied.

"Krystal, you remember a week ago when you came home late and we watched that video together?" Julian asked, suddenly looking a bit nervous. "At the end, we almost, well, we were going to kiss until I said no and nearly ran out of the room?"

"I remember," I whispered, "how could I not?"

"Well, I said no then because I didn't deserve to kiss you. I still don't know if I do, but . . . I think I'm falling in love with you. And I don't mean like family, but as a man and a woman."

The silence after he said it was deafening. I could hear something crack, and looked down, realizing I'd popped my knuckles without knowing it, I'd been squeezing my hand so hard. I could feel the blood rushing through my veins, and my heart was loud in my ears as I looked at Julian, so handsome, so open, so vulnerable and yes, even a bit scared as he bore his heart to me. There was only one answer I could think of, and it came out so naturally it didn't even seem to be my voice until I saw him smile.

"Julian, I think I'm falling in love with you too."

I
hadn't been back
to Chicago O'Hare Airport since flying in, but as luck would have it, my cab driver was the exact same guy who'd given me a ride from the airport my first day in Chicago. "Hey, how's it going big man?" he asked as I slide into the back seat of his cab. "How's Chicago treating ya?"

"Chicago's been great," I replied. "Gotta say, it's a lovely city."

"You're tellin' me. You get down to Wrigley yet?"

I shook my head, chuckling. Did this guy have a memory that filed away every conversation with customers, or did he just say the same thing to everyone? "Not yet. I was down in the neighborhood the other day to check out a gym, but the Cubs were on a road trip."

"Ah, that's a shame. When you get a chance though, you should go. I can tell by your look, you've found yourself a lady. Congratulations."

I blinked in surprise. "Is it that clear on my face? Damn, people in California say I'm one of those unreadable types."

The cabbie laughed as we pulled onto the Interstate heading to the airport. "Maybe in other things my friend, but love . . . I've been driving a cab for twenty years, and love is one of those things that is easy to see. She's high quality, I take it?"

"Very. Best in the world, in my opinion. Going to O'Hare to pick her up from a business trip."

"That's the only opinion that counts, ain't it?" the cabbie said. "Well, congratulations. I'll get you to the airport as quick as I can."

The cab driver was true to his word, and I was outside the terminal a half hour before Krystal's flight was supposed to come in. I stood at the curb, not sure what to do, when suddenly it hit me. I turned to the driver, who was waiting for his next fare. "Hey man, does O'Hare have a flower shop or anything like that?"

"Yeah, Terminal 1, there's a Hudson's right before the security gate. They might have what you're looking for. How much time do you have?"

"Half hour. Hey, thanks for the help. You mind another tip?" I asked, taking out my wallet.

The cab driver waved it off. "If I'm still here when your lady friend comes out, you just catch a ride home with me, okay? That'll be tip enough."

I nodded my thanks and ran across from Terminal 2 down the concrete walkways to Terminal 1. I found the Hudson's, which was your basic airport convenience store and gift shop. There wasn't a lot in there, and I didn't think Krystal would need a coffee mug that said "I love Chicago," but near the back there was a tiny little refrigerated section with flowers. I found a white rose that looked perfect, and I picked it out, paying and hurrying back to Terminal 2. I waited right outside the Delta baggage carousels nervously, almost hopping from side to side. I'd dressed up even, wearing a button down shirt and slacks that I'd bought just that morning as soon as the stores were open. I figured picking her up in a t-shirt and jeans wasn't going to work.

With each buzz of the baggage carousel, I felt my nerves increase, until I was almost hopping from foot to foot in a panic. I controlled myself a bit when a couple of airport cops walked by, but I could still feel nervous sweat trickle down the small of my back.

Even with all my nervousness, I didn't see Krystal until she already had her bag and was leaving the area, heading for the doors. She was talking happily with two other people, one of whom I'd seen at Alinea the night I visited. I assumed it was her co-workers. "Krystal!"

She turned, and like a scene from a movie, we ran to each other, embracing and holding each other in the middle of the sea of people. I could feel the thorns from the rose I'd gotten her bite deep into my palm, but I didn't care, as finally she was in my arms, and I didn't feel guilty about it at all. "I missed you," I said, my voice muffled slightly by the curve of her neck.

"I missed you too," she said. I set her down, and let her go. I handed her the rose, only then noticing that I was bleeding from the thorns. "You're hurt."

"It's nothing," I replied. "I just . . . I wanted to give you something, but like an idiot I forgot until I was already here."

"It's lovely," she said, taking the rose and smelling it. In that instant, with her dark eyes and slightly tanned skin contrasted by the pure white of the rose, I knew that I wasn't just falling in love with her, I was
in
love with her. Her long, dark eyelashes framed her face perfectly, and the lush bow of her lips twitched in a smile as she inhaled the flower's scent. "Thank you."