Lust Next Door - S01 E65

4 months ago

Lust Next Door - S01 E65

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 65

The Worn Edges

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"This performance is surprising. I'll tell you that. The Wolves have had a near-perfect season up until these last final games. I want to say it's the pressure of the Stanley Cup looming over them, but I'm just not convinced. There is something going on with their captain."

Clips of men in blue and yellow jerseys zipped across the screen, replaying scores, plays, and the constant reminder of all of his failures thus far. Connor watched his number pop on the screen, the footage of him being tackled down onto the ice playing in slow motion as if to spite him now.

"Yeah, I'd agree with you there, Paul. How did the season's star player figuratively and literally fall so hard? He's been favored all throughout his career, and even now, die-hard fans are convinced this is just jitters. I think it's more than that." The stupid balding bastard nodded to the other on the screen, making Connor glare.

"I mean, the facts aren't lying here. Looks like lead Coach, Parker Stetson, decided to bench Deluca immediately following their first loss, and the Wolves won that game against the Bullets on monday!" They replayed clips of that game's highlights, and it was a good game, but Connor just wasn't a part of it.

"Directly following that performance on Wednesday, Connor Deluca's first game back from the devastating loss that broke their streak resulted in another loss. It looks like we found the common factor in the Wolves' failure." The smug reporter said and smirked at his counterpart, who just offered a knowing shrug. "This ties up the two rivals. Next game is the deciding factor, next game, we will find out who is taking home the cup, and I gotta say, Paul, I don't think it's gonna be-"

Connor couldn't watch anymore. He turned his television off with his grip so tight on his whiskey glass he swore he heard the glass crack.

With the room now startingly silent, the sound of the thundering rain showering down on his house filled the empty space. He turned towards the window and saw the foggy sky filled with gray, the faintest silhouette of Serena's house barely visible through the vicious downpour outside.

The truth was Connor's head wasn't at all in his game. That woman was the only thing he could ever seem to think about, and she completely took over his mind, whether he liked it or not. She jumped in at some point and rewired him, changed the way he thought and what he cared about. Now Connor ate, slept, and breathed for Serena. So the fact he was this upset with her was creating a nasty storm inside of him.

He was angry someone was doing this to her, exposing her. Connor could barely get in and out of their community because of the mob that was posted up outside. He was empathic to how scared she probably felt right now, and he wanted nothing more than to comfort her.

But he was reminded every time of how she thought this was all because of him. It drowned out all those warm feelings and made them taste unsavory next to his anger. A scowl filled his face, and he turned away from his window. He was trying his best to find out how she got exposed, not for her anymore but for him, but it was proving more difficult than he thought.

Connor had only ever cared about hockey, so he didn't have the best investigating skills.

Everything led from dead end to dead end, and he couldn't even manage to get through to the important people with access to the video at New York Times. They shut him down every time.

Connor could feel the weight on his chest pulling him down into the sofa, and the anger never seemed to last as long as he liked it too. It was easy to be mad at her; missing her felt so much worse. She was just within his reach, literally maybe thirty steps away, but everything kept him away. She had kept him away, always with an arm's length of space between them, and he didn't even realize it.

He got up from the couch and trudged into his room, his heart heaving with every painful beat in his chest. His eyes immediately caught the bookcase in the corner of his room, and it had remained mostly untouched since he moved here. He had been too distracted to read. But recently, he's felt like he's had all the time in the world, and it was wasting away.

He walked up to the vast shelf filled with worn books that he could pinpoint exactly which version of himself read it. Purely based off the condition of it, the worn edges, the name, all of it lent to his memory and pulled up a specific iteration of Connor. When his eyes fell over the most worn ones, they were all Serena's works. A gentle chuckle filtered out of his lips. Never did he think he would actually be saying the author's real name tied to these books, let alone hers.

He could barely see the worn whisps of her pen name on the spine anymore. When Connor read, he always braced his fingers right where Skylyn Voss was printed. It was just how he held the book. So now, on nearly every copy, he could only see the large swirl of the S.

The irony made longing tears burn his eyes, and a defeated laugh filled the empty air. The answer was staring him right in the face.

The doorbell rang before he had a chance to start becoming enraged with the heavy weight of missing her on his heart.

His eyebrows knit together, and he skeptically looked out his bedroom door and to the stairs, trying to ignore how excited his heart got as it immediately assumed, hoped, it was Serena.

He walked up to his front door, making sure his eyes were dry and his face was stoic before he swung it open.

When he saw Josh standing there, however, his face fell a bit. A piece of him was hoping it was the hot-tempered brunette.

"Josh, what are you doing here?" Connor said after a minute, stepping aside to let him in out of the rain.

Josh thanked him and shed his dripping coat, hanging it on the rack next to him, "I just wanted to come to check on you...I know this past week has been rough." Josh scanned around his house, taking in the utterly wrecked state of his house.

"Check on me? I'm fine." Connor could feel a rise of shame, making his pride cloud his judgment, making his close-up. Suddenly he was keenly aware he hadn't touched his house since the party. But drained all the kegs.

Josh spun around till he faced him, his eyes holding a tender look of concern. He shoved his hands in his pockets and leveled a look at him, "I was there that night, I know...whatever happened...wasn't fine. You are not yourself on the ice, and that's the only place I've ever seen you be yourself."

Connor pursed his lips, trying to pick apart every word from his best friend. Trying to find some malice or ill intent in them, but he couldn't. They ended up just breaking right through him instead.

"Can you at least just tell me what happened?"

Connor sighed and took a seat on one of the stools by the island, "The guy that was there that night was Serena's abusive ex. Pedophile ex."

Josh made a disgusted face, closing his eyes for a second, "I'm glad you sent him to the hospital then."

"Yeah, trust me, me too. When Serena saw him, she automatically assumed the worst of me, that I knew him somehow, and because I parked behind her car, she just took off. I thought she was home, and when I went looking for her...I found something else."

"What do you mean something else?"

Connor tried to find the right way to say it, but regardless talking about everything that's been plaguing his mind was helping. "Do you remember that author I found in rehab? The one that wrote under the pen name?"

Josh seemed to think for a moment before nodding, "Yeah, I remember you telling me about them."

"I went into Serena's office, looking for her that night, and her computer was open-"

"Don't tell me you went through her computer..." Josh groaned, rubbing a hand over his face.

"It was open, and I found out that she was that author. And when I told her about my past and how her books saved me, she just sat there and lied to me. She made me look stupid as I poured out every detail of myself. Now, somehow, she was exposed to the world. And yet again, she's come to some conclusion I did it because I was the only person she told. It's all so fucked; the whole situation is fucked. I've been so distracted trying to figure out who really leaked it I've barely been able to function."

They were both silent for a moment. Josh just looked to the floor and nodded as he processed everything he's been told. Finally, he blew out a breath and shrugged, "I can see where she's coming from about the exposing part. It looks horrible for you."

"Yeah, but I didn't do it!"

He lifted his hands in defense, "I believe you dude! I'm just saying it really doesn't look good. And going through her personal belongings like that, she probably felt a breach of privacy along with her biggest secret getting exposed all at once."

Connor narrowed his eyes at him, feeling that swirl of rage in his chest burn like a fire, "So you're taking her side..."

"I'm not taking sides. This isn't first grade. I'm playing devil's advocate, I absolutely see where you're coming from. I'd be mad too. But Serena seems like she has a history of trust issues stemming back way before you." Josh walked over to him and leaned against the island in front of him.

"I'm sure deciding to tell anyone she's Skylyn is near impossible, let alone the guy that absolutely adores her books. You're right in saying it's all a really fucked up situation, the odds that she would move next to her number one fan." Josh did his best to lighten the mood, poking a bit of fun at Connor.

It worked. He felt his face heating up, and his eyes roll, "I'm not her biggest fan."

"Yeah, you may not be Skylyn's biggest fan. I think some of her readers out there had her books tattooed on them." Josh made a face and shivered, making them both laugh gently. He looked into Connor's eyes and held onto both his shoulders for a moment, giving him a hard shake to ground him back to reality.

"But I've known you long enough to tell that you're Serena's biggest fan and that you don't just go investigating for answers if you don't care. Even if you don't want to admit it to yourself. You care more than you want to admit. She does too."

Connor didn't want to say out loud how satisfying those words were to him. He needed to hear something level-headed. His own conscious was drunk and feeding himself deprecating thought after self-deprecating thought. He managed a small thankful smile, even if he wasn't fully convinced, even if Josh's words didn't magically fix everything. It felt nice to finally have someone there, speaking to him clearly through the fog he's been stuck in.

"So, what have you been doing to try and figure out who sent the video?"

Connor leaned back and groaned, "I haven't gotten far; I've called the publishers a million times, but I can't get past reception."

"Hm," Josh sighed and leaned back too, "Well, money talks with these people. Have you tried throwing around some numbers?"

Connor stilled for a second and stared a Josh like he just invented sliced bread.

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The whiny male voice on the other end of the phone just laughed, filling Connor's ear with the piercing sound.

"I'm serious about this," Connor said through his dark tone.

"Mr. Deluca, you can't seriously think you could buy the rights to the video. Do you have any idea how much they paid to access it? A lot of money. A lot."

Connor found the man insulting. He gripped the counter and looked over at Josh through his frustration. His best friend gave him a thumbs-up and urged him to keep going.

Clearly, this guy had no idea how much athletes get paid, "I have lots of money, and I'm willing and ready to purchase it from your people. If you'd just put me through to them."

The man was silent for a moment before blowing out a sharp breath, clearly throwing in the towel, "Fine. I'll let them deal with you."

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