That One Moment (Lost in London #2) Read online

  His face screws up in contemplation as he stares into the lanterns. “Neither,” he teases while shooting out from beneath me and dashing away just as I make a swipe for it.

  “Oh Christ,” he moans, scrolling through the list.

  “What?” I ask, already certain I know the answer to my question, but needing confirmation before I start defending myself.

  The tone of his voice rises into a comedic shrill panic. “Oh Christ! Vi, Vi, Vi. This is worse than I expected.”

  “Just tell me you cheeky bugger!” I exclaim, resting my head on one of the pillows and preparing myself for the definite mockery coming my way.

  “You have…One Direction on here.” He walks over to me with a pained look on his face and falls backward onto the cushion beside me. He wields my phone as a knife and acts as though he is piercing it through his chest. “And Bieber. And…Christ, I can’t even say it.” He covers his eyes with his arm. “Miley Cyrus. Fuuuuck, Vi.”

  Without warning, and before he uncovers his eyes, I sock him hard in the stomach. He explodes a breath of warm air and curls up into the fetal position, laughing and groaning in unison.

  “I didn’t give you permission to look through it,” I chastise, laughing at his ridiculous face. “Judge all you want, but their tunes are bloody catchy.”

  He sits up and looks at me pensively. His long leg is bent with one elbow resting on it in the most relaxed way I’ve ever seen him look. “How did your tough footballer brothers ever let you get away with this?”

  I bite my lip and it does nothing to conceal my huge shit-eating grin. His knowing eyes turn wide.

  “They like them all too,” he guesses.

  I nod, bursting into a fit of giggles. “You should see Gareth’s pre-match playlist. He’s got Taylor Swift!” My laughs really take off as Hayden sighs heavily and falls onto his back in complete defeat.

  “I feel like a kid who’s just been told there’s no Santa,” he whines.

  “Oi, it’s all right, love,” I say in a proper mother hen voice while leaning over him so he can see into my eyes. “Father Christmas still lives in our Beiber-loving hearts.”

  The crinkles around Hayden’s eyes as he laughs are enchanting. Every individual line is an expression of his heart. As if he sees something similar in me, his hand moves to touch my face. He drags the backs of his fingers down my cheek and then brushes my nose affectionately.

  “I think I’ll find a way to forgive you,” he whispers in a quiet voice.

  My heart swells and I bite my lip, battling away the incredible urge I have to lean down and kiss him. He’s right there…He’s right fucking there! But it’s he who needs to guide this ship…Not me.

  I swallow hard and sit up, moving off his chest and into a more proper sitting position. “Day two, right?” I ask, attempting to shake off the heady desire rushing through me.

  He sits up and I catch sight of his happy eyes draining into pools of anxiety. He clenches his jaw and nods stoically. I’m unsure if his mood shift is because of my abrupt change of subject, or because of what we’re about to discuss. Either way, he begins informing me that day two was the day he wrote his suicide note.

  Suicide. Note.

  Those two words alone cause my heart to thunder beneath my chest. I find myself nodding repetitively. Hayden reaches out and touches my hand. “I have it here with me, and I want you to read it…But only if you think you can handle it.” His grey eyes are wide and haunting as he waits on bated breath for my answer.

  The severity of his request is not lost on me. I’ll never be able to unread something like this. But I can’t say no. I need to read it as much as he wants me to read it. For whatever reason, Hayden Clarke has chosen me to walk this journey with him and I can’t turn off his path now. I nod again as he pulls out a tattered piece of yellow legal paper and hands it over to me.

  My hands tremble as I unfold the note. Watching me must be too painful because he stands up and strides over to the edge of the rooftop. The city lights pop on one-by-one as the London skyline turns more and more black…

  To My Family,

  People write letters like this to tell you why, right? Why did I do this? Well, I hope I’m clear because the last thing I want to do is leave you all with any shred of doubt. I need you all to know that what I did to myself was something I chose to do on my own. It wasn’t something that anyone pushed me into, and I don’t want any of you worrying over the idea that you could have done anything to prevent this.

  The truth is my heart has been aching and deteriorating every single day since Marisa’s death. Scraps were all that was remaining. And now, at last, those scraps have also crumbled.

  No matter what I do, I just can’t find a way to forgive myself. I can’t let it go. In the wake of her death, I am drowning and I can no longer see the shore. I’m stuck here in the depths with the weight of her dead body pulling me further and further into the darkness. So much so, the darkness has become my only way of life. It’s where I’m at while I’m living, and it’s why I yearn for the nothingness of death. Death feels like a break. Like a relief. Like a blessing. Like the only place I can find peace.

  I don’t know why I’m taking Marisa’s passing harder than everyone else. Maybe because I was driving. Maybe because I felt the force of the quad against her body. Maybe because I loved her so much and am not sure I ever properly told her. How could I have never told her I loved her? She was the best sister anyone could ever ask for and I was oblivious. Ridiculous. Foolish.

  It seems everybody but me is moving on with their lives. And I refuse to continue to be the sad son, angry brother, disappointing friend, or jilted lover who holds everyone back. I despise being the charity case. When living hurts this much, what kind of life is it? So instead of wishing every day that it was me who died in that accident instead of her, I’m going to do something about it.

  My one final request for all of you, my only request, is to be happy.

  I’m only sorry that I can’t be.

  Love always, -H

  Tears stream down my face and onto the paper. Shaking, I quickly turn it over on the cushion to pat it dry. A huge knot aches in my throat, so I attempt a painful cough to relieve the pressure. I let out a frustrated and somewhat garbled cry. Then I feel his firm arms wrap around me. I curl up into a protective ball, failing miserably to stop my tears.

  “Shhhhh,” Hayden whispers against my hair and presses his lips to the top of my ear. “Shhhhh. I’m sorry, Vi. I’m so, so sorry.”

  “I’m sor—I’m sorry,” I choke out painfully around the lump and bite down on my kneecap to stave off my cries. I shake my head. “I’m sorry for not being stronger right now. I just want to wish that time away for you, Hayden. I want to wish it away with everything inside of me.” I wipe the tears from beneath my eyes and sniff loudly.

  I turn my head and watch him exhale a shaky breath. His expression is grave as he taps the face of his watch mindlessly and replies, “You have no idea how many times I’ve wished the same thing. Still to this day.”

  “That’s not you anymore, is it, Hayden? Is that man still inside of you?” Terror courses through me from the absolute fear I have of that darkness returning inside him. The Hayden I’ve been getting to know for the past week is nothing like the man in that letter. That man was a broken, shattered, semblance of a person who truly just wanted out.

  “That darkness will always be inside me I think. But as you can see, I’m changed now. I told you before that deciding to kill myself felt brave. But, now deciding to live feels braver.”

  I exhale at his important and meaningful proclamation. “I’m glad, but…wow. I can’t imagine how your family reacted after reading that.” I shudder at the thought. If I was his mum…If that was a note Booker had written…

  “I’ve never shown that note to anybody, Vi.” My eyes fly to his just as he pierces me with a gravity in his gaze that, quite frankly, scares me.

  “How?” I clench the note in my h
and as if the reality of it is somehow different now. “Surely your family found it.”

  “I never set it out. I never even told my doctor I wrote it.” He shakes his head, his eyes looking downward as if he’s embarrassed by this admission. “I’ve never told anybody. Not even Theo or Leslie.”

  I shake my head in disbelief. “Why me? Why did you choose to share this with me?” My voice cracks at the end in a panicky fear that the meaning behind all this is more than I can handle.

  His grey eyes lift and stare into mine with an unspoken answer that I feel like a strike straight through my heart. The vulnerability and connection in this one look blossoms beneath my chest and brings tears to my eyes.

  “Why me, Hayden?” I repeat again. My body moves closer to him as if operating with a mind of its own.

  His jaw clenches as he leans toward me as well, inching himself further and further into my air space. His warm breath touches the skin on my shoulder. I reach my hand out and delicately touch the leather cuff on his left wrist. He hisses softly and his eyes fixate on my hand, but he does not pull away.

  Hayden Clarke has just entrusted me with the deepest, darkest part of his soul. In that moment…In that second…In that briefest flicker of time ticking away on the watch around his wrist, I do exactly what my soul is screaming in agony for me to do. What my heart is pounding beneath my chest in anticipation for.

  I kiss him.

  God do I kiss him.

  I clutch his coarse jaw in my hands and press my lips to his in a fierce, passionate encounter. My mouth moves against his, coaxing and pleading. And, like the sway of a pendulum, his lips return my movement. It’s in that second that everything inside of me clicks into place. Emotion rips through me as we rock back and forth, and I allow myself to believe that he feels the intense bind between us just as I do. His hands wrap firmly around my waist and push me back onto the cushion. The weight of him on top of me is intoxicating and heady. My body is screaming to take him inside of me with every passing second. I move to wrap my legs around him, but he suddenly rips himself away from me.

  “Vi, no. Fuck!” he exclaims, sitting back on his knees. A look of agony casts over his face as he shakes his head at me accusingly.

  “What?” I ask, sitting up and looking at him in complete shock.

  “We can’t do this! You don’t get it. You read the note and you still don’t get it!” He stands up and scrubs his hands over his hair and face. He begins pacing aggressively back and forth in front of me, the backdrop of the London night sky doing nothing to distract me from his charged demeanour. “Look, when I wrote that note, I truly felt like leaving would be a gift. A relief. I don’t feel that way anymore. That is why we can’t do this.”

  “I don’t understand.” I sit up, folding my knees to my chest, feeling like I need to grip something against me for protection.

  “I’ve only been out of rehab for a year, Vi. I need to focus one hundred percent on myself. I called you a distraction for a reason. I’m sorry if that hurts you to hear, but it’s the truth. When you told me last night how much that bothered you, I instantly put you first. I kissed you in the shop because I wanted to kiss the pain from you.”

  “And that’s a bad thing?” I balk defensively.

  “Yes, because I can’t put you first. I can’t put anyone else first…ever…or that fucking darkness could return.”

  He snatches the note up off the ground where it fell and tosses it haphazardly beside me. My eyes fly wide. Does he seriously think that my presence in his life could cause him to become suicidal again?

  Hurt. Deep. Painful. Hurt. Strikes me right in the back. It’s happening again. I stand up on shaky legs and cross my arms, turning away from him but keeping my shoulders held high. “I need you to leave, Hayden,” I demand, my voice low and menacing. I refuse to let him see how much this is affecting me. How much this is shaking me to the core.

  He exhales heavily and I hear his steps approach. “Vi, you are incredible…I still want to be mates. You’ve helped me through a lot.” I recoil at the close proximity of his tremulous voice in my ear. “You’ll find better than me, and whatever we are will shift into a brief and forgettable moment in time.”

  I let out a bark of a laugh as my face screws up in pain at his dismissal.

  Once again, rejection fucking stings…even in the dark.

  STAG NIGHT

  “Hayden, can you take Marisa for a bit? I have a million wedding calls to make and I’m like…near tears right now.”

  I close my laptop and frown at Leslie as she comes barreling down the stairs with a fussy Marisa in tow. I’m in the middle of reconciling the previous month’s bank statements for C. Designs, but it’s nothing that can’t keep. And a Marisa distraction sounds perfect. I am desperate to escape my roaring internal thoughts about what happened between Vi and me last night.

  “Of course I’ll take her. Don’t cry, Leslie.” I take in Leslie’s haphazard auburn ponytail, sweat pants, and tank top. She looks frazzled and completely exhausted. “Is there anything else I can do?”

  “No…thanks,” she says, passing Marisa over. I tuck her up by my face and shush her in soft puffs while doing my quick swinging bit. “Honestly, if you could just keep her so I can go down and talk to Theo, it would be ridiculously amazing.”

  “Say no more.” I pull Marisa back to get a good look at her, which only causes her to start wailing more. After a pleading look back at Marisa, I wave Leslie off for her to go downstairs to Theo’s shop.

  “Hey now, pretty girl…Sounds like someone is ready for a nap,” I coo as I find a swaddle blanket and make quick work of turning fussy Marisa into baby burrito Marisa. “Why are you so hard on your mummy some days? Did you just miss your Uncle Hayden?” I drop a kiss on her soft head. Then I lay her across my thighs on her side. I stick a dummy in her mouth and shush her while swinging her back and forth with my legs. After a few minutes of fighting it, she passes out. Happiest baby on the block indeed.

  Just as I reposition her sleeping body in the crook of my arm, my phone rings. An unfamiliar number illuminates the screen and, thinking it could be an appointment rescheduling, I answer.

  “C. Designs, Hayden speaking.”

  “Hey, Hayden, it’s Liam Darby,” he says with a certain level of edge to his tone.

  “Liam?” My brows lift in surprise. My last meaningful memory of Liam and I replays in my head. I’m certain I was pissed, it involved a lot of puffed-up chests, and me making a crass remark about being inside of Reyna. The bastard actually had the gall to hit me.

  Okay, I probably deserved it.

  But still, we are far from matey blokes who call each other.

  “Listen, sorry to bother you, but Finley called me. She is putting together a last minute hen night for Leslie tomorrow night and I’d like to throw Theo’s stag party on the same night. I’m calling to see if you have any objection to that, or if you want to be a part of the coordinating and such.”

  I pause, trying to determine how to tactfully answer this. “Look, I’m not really into the party scene anymore. I mean, I can attend. But as far as planning, I’d rather you handle things if that’s all right.”

  “Sure, sure. But…you will still be there?” his voice is hopeful.

  “‘Course I’ll be there.” As long as I can manage it.

  “Good. It would be really important to Theo to have you there. And look, Hayden,” he sighs heavily. “I know we don’t have the best history, but Theo’s my best mate and I’d like to think eventually you and I could be mates too.”

  I stifle a disbelieving chuckle. I can’t help but think that Liam’s olive branch has more to do with keeping his enemies closer. Shortly after rehab, Reyna essentially ripped my heart out and threw it in the River Thames after I told her I was in love with her. I knew deep down she was with Liam, but it was still fucking painful. If I would have had that conversation with her prior to my attempt, I’m not sure how I would have reacted. But seeing the two o
f them together, engaged and happy at The White Swan Pub a couple of weeks ago, wasn’t as bad as I had feared it would be in my head.

  Although, truthfully, it probably had a hell of a lot more to do with the fact that Vi literally swept me off my feet just before I walked in. Or Bruce did, I should say.

  “Sure, Liam,” I reply stiffly, not able to bring myself to be overly kind to him. He did wallop me in the face, after all. “Regardless, I appreciate you taking the lead on all this for my brother.”

  “No worries. All right, I’ll text you the details for tomorrow. Cheers, Hayden.”

  “Cheers.” I hang up and hope that a night out with a bunch of blokes will be just what the doctor ordered to get me over my Vi fixation.

  SENDING OUT AN SOS

  “Hey, Vi, it’s Finley!” An excited American voice trills through the phone line as I sit at my desk at Nikon.

  At the same time, Benji stumbles over with a tray of Starbucks and hands me my latte. He’s been a bit quiet and sheepish around me since his drunken evening. I wonder if he remembers kissing Hayden, but I can’t bring myself to ask him. I lift my eyebrows and nod a silent thank you before he shuffles over to Hector next.

  “Hiya, Finley, nice to hear from you.” I close out the leather satchel design I’ve been messing with all week, grateful for a break. “How are you?”

  “I’m great, thanks! I’m calling because we’ve decided to throw together a last minute bachelorette party for Leslie tomorrow night. Or hen party I guess is what you Brits call it, isn’t it? I’m really hoping that works for you because I know Leslie would love it if you came. She is so crazy stressed with wedding business. Theo thinks she needs a night out, so it feels like now or never.”

  “Oh sure, I totally understand. I’m sorry to hear Leslie is so stressed. Being a new mummy is a lot of work I’m sure.”

  “Exactly. I’ve been trying to help her with the wedding stuff, but I’ve been traveling for work a lot, so ugh. It’s just been hard. And Leslie’s family is pretty much not in her life anymore, so we’re doing our best to fill those shoes and not let Leslie dwell on that too much. Frank has been popping over there a lot. Anyway, it’ll be fine. We’ll catch up and get everything done for the wedding one way or another.”