Chapter 22

After I released the contents of my glass in her stupid face, everything that occurred afterwards was a total blur.

Her pulling me by the hair.

Me elbowing her in the nose.

Savannah trying to break us apart.

The whole club coming to a standstill.

A full-blown cat fight ensuing between the both of us.

Security coming to break the fight.

And finally, both of us being arrested and driven to the NYPD, downtown.

So here I was, sitting in a jail cell feeling awkward as hell. To make matters worse I was seated right next to Tatiana, along with some other delinquent women. Their presence didn't bother me, just hers.

"You know this is your fault, right?" she muttered, examining her broken acrylic nails. Let's just say I had done a lot of damage.

I subconsciously brought my hand up to stroke my aching jaw. Tatiana had somehow caught me off guard, and landed a good ol' upper cut on it. Damn her. However, I countered that with a fist to her eye and nose, giving her a black eye and probably a broken nose.

I was about to reply smarmily, but didn't end up doing it because a police officer came and told us we could each a phone call. Apparently, they were done "rounding up the troublemakers", for the night.

Tatiana shot up fast like cork from a champagne bottle, and raced to the phone. I had a very strong hunch on who she was going to call.

"Bryce," she moaned. And my hunch was painfully correct.

I tuned out her irritating voice, focusing my thoughts on whom I was going to call. I had no relatives that lived in New York. The closest thing I had to a friend was Savannah, but I knew she had run away when the police showed up. I could call Logan, but I didn't have his number. Bryce was definitely not an option.

Everyone else had already called someone to come bail them out by the time I stood up to place my call. I unhooked the receiver, and stared at the buttons. They seemed to stare back at me, slowly mocking me because of the fact that I had no idea who to dial. But that didn't stop my fingers from punching in the phone number that I had known for years now.

The person picked up after exactly 10 seconds. "Hello," came a feminine voice I recognized as my mother's.

I gulped inaudibly. "Hi mom...It's Aubrey." I croaked out, feeling some sort of remorse for bothering her so late at night.

She remained silent for a few seconds. "Why are you calling at such an absurd hour? What's wrong?" she said, not at all withholding the disappointment in her tone.

I laughed nervously. "Well, I'm actually in jail-"

"What?" my mother shrieked. "To be honest, I was expecting you to say you were coming back home with a baby like last time. Jail is certainly not as bad.

I cringed at those words. I knew I hadn't been the best daughter for the last couple of years but she didn't have to be that blunt with me. It wounded me deeply how it seemed she had no regards for my feelings whatsoever.

"Is Israel there? Can I please talk to him?" I asked softly, simultaneously masking my hurt emotions and changing the topic.

"And why would he want to speak to his neglectful mother? When was the last time you even bothered to call him, huh? It's been 2 years, Aubrey. Stop with this mother of the year nonsense. It's a little to late for that." she sliced coldly. I could feel hot tears welling up in my eyes, threatening to spill.

Just as I was about to speak, I heard his voice in the background. "Grandma, why are you yelling?" he squeaked. He sounded so adorable.

"Nothing sweetheart, please go back to bed."

"No!" I yelled a little too loudly. "Let me speak to him, mom. I'm begging you."

"No," she echoed. "Israel, go back to bed honey."

"BUT HE’S MY SON!" I screamed, before the line went dead. She had actually hung up on me.

"You have a son?" said a voice from behind me, one I had no intention of hearing tonight.

I turned back to meet Bryce immaculate face, donned with both surprise and confusion. Shit, had I said that too loudly?

I abruptly wiped away the tears that had meandered down my cheeks, looing away from him in shame. "No, you heard wrong. I didn't say that."

I heard him tsk. "I pretty sure people on the other side of the globe heard what you said. Now tell me, do you have a son?" he commanded coolly.

For a second, I was rendered speechless by his question. Maybe calling my mother was a bad idea, now I'm in a very uncomfortable position because of it. Bryce's stare didn't even falter, he kept his grey orbs fixated on me through the prison bars, compelling me to tell him.

"Ladies, you're all lucky because this kind man paid all your bails." said a cop who had come to my rescue.

A round of whoops erupted from all the women who were in the jail cell. The cop then opened the cell, allowing all of us to file out. I let out a sigh of relief; yes, I was out of that claustrophobic cell and the cop had saved my skin from that touchy subject Bryce had inquired about.

Tatiana was the second from last to burst out of the cell, and straight into Bryce's arms. Bryce didn't seem too pleased with the huge embrace she was giving him.

"My knight in shining amour." she purred, looking up at him dreamily and stroking his cheek.

I was the last to exit the cell. The other women who were locked up were surrounding Bryce, looking at him like he was some piece of meat. Tatiana wasn't having any of it, as she sent all six of them a glare that could have easily killed them on the spot. They all scattered like mice almost instantly.

I couldn't look Bryce in the eyes, so I just mumbled a 'thank you' with my eyes directed at the filthy ground below us. I doubt he heard me because she kept on rambling about what had happened for us to end up in the cell.

"She fucking hit me in the nose, Brycey, look at it! I think it might be broken." she whined, pointed at her now crooked nose. I couldn't help but snort at that.

We began to exit the NYPD, into the cold air that was waiting for us outside. By the side of curb was parked the same Ferrari I had seen when I saw Bryce in the coffee shop. I looked around the road, trying to spot a cab that I could hail but the street seemed to be completely devoid of the distinct yellow vehicles.

"Get in the car, Aubrey. I'll drop you off." he said, walking over to the driver's door.

Tatiana was about to open the passenger's side, but Bryce stopped her. "Aubrey, you ride shotgun." he stated, then got in the car.

The look of incredulity on her face was priceless. I strutted to the passenger's side, shot a smirk at the bitch and got in the car. I heard her release a string of profanities before joining us in car. It wasn't long before the car was in motion.

Soon Bryce pulled up to a fancy-ish apartment block, which was probably where Tarty-iana lived and quite frankly I was quite jealous. So that whore lived in a better apartment than the one I lived in before?

Tatiana brought her face in the front, attempting to plant a smooch on Bryce's lips but he looked to the side, rejecting her. I laughed kind of too loudly at that.

"Good night, Tatiana." he pronounced curtly.

She didn't even reply, but simply threw open the door and made sure to bang the hell out of it once she was out. Bryce brought the engine to life and swerved away, but not before I waved smugly at Tatiana. She gave me the bird. Can you say immature?

"Care to tell me why the hell you were locked up?" he asked.

I looked at him from the corner of my eye. He didn't look angry, but rather kind of amused. "Do you even need to ask? It's obvious that Tatiana pisses me off, so we exchanged a few blows. Nothing new." I replied nonchalantly. He laughed at my statement.

"You're welcome by the way."

I turned to look at him. "I already said thank you, Bryce. What did you want, a kiss?"

"That would also do, I guess." he smirked, glancing at me briefly.

My face suddenly felt hot. Here we are, back again at this game of flirtation. He must have noticed my sudden discomfort, because he began to chuckle lowly, sexily. For the rest of the ride, a pregnant silence engulfed us. I knew Bryce wanted to ask me a lot of questions but held himself back. I knew that one day, when he'd cornered me, they would come gushing out like the Niagara Falls.

The car stopped once again, only this time it was time for me to get out. I said a brief 'goodnight' and was about to leave, but Bryce grabbed my arm. I turned to him in bewilderment, only to see his gorgeous face inching closer and closer to mine and full speed. He halted when our lips were only a whisker apart, that if I were to move forward, they would instantly connect.

I looked into his hypnotic steel eyes; they were so near that I could see the blue specs that littered them.

"W-what are you doing?" I stammered. His hot breath tickled my face and sent the butterflies in my stomach on a frenzy.

He smirked. "Your breath smells like bloody Mary. I really didn't take you as the vodka-drinking type." I rolled my eyes at this, then immediately got out of the car. He was just teasing me.

Before I shut the door, I heard him say, "If you wanted a kiss, all you had to do was ask."

I was puzzled by his statement that even ten minutes after he drove away, I was still glued to the sidewalk with my heart beating erratically.

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