Chapter 22: Their Cursed

Cullen

We walked around the ballroom exchanging pleasantries with people before dinner began. Jaime gliding along next to me, playing the part perfectly. For some reason, it irritated me more how easily she was acting as if nothing was wrong, as if nothing had changed. I stirred the drink in my hand before sipping it. The small talk was not holding my attention tonight even if I recognized the necessity of networking in my position.

I looked down at my watch to see we still had another 15 minutes before it was time to get seated for the night to begin. Jaime was talking to the wife of some important hotel owner and I was playing my part, nodding along. With no warning at all, her scent drifted past me. My mouth went dry as I turned my head to see her walking with Calder towards our table.

I could not help but stare. She looked beautiful in the dark grey dress she wore. One side of her neck was exposed with her hair pulled to the side. My canines ached to sink into it and mark her.

“Cullen, sweetheart, we should be getting to our table,” Jaime’s voice came from next to me. I turned my attention back to her.

I cleared my throat. “Yes, we should. Thank Mr. Smith, Mrs. Smith. We will chat later,” I said, dismissing us from the conversation. I did not bother to hold Jaime’s hand as we walked away.

“Try not to so obviously drool over the wench,” her voice came into my head.

I did not dignify her with a response as we moved towards the table the Calder, Gentry, Amanda, and Remi were already sitting at. As we approached the table, I realized that Remi was seated in between Calder and me. I had not thought to check the seating chart to make sure she was not seated next to Jamie or myself. I could not put Jaime next to her as I didn’t trust her not to do anything underhanded.

“Amanda, don’t you look pretty tonight?” Jaime said as we approached. Amanda rolled her eyes and gave Jaime a fake smile.

“Thanks, Jaime. That dress looks fine,” she said in a fake sweet voice. Leave it to Pip to push Jaime’s buttons. Gentry stifled a laugh. We took our seats, and I did my best to look forward towards the stage where the MC would be beginning soon. Remi sat with her hands in her lap and her face towards the conversation around us. She was very quiet, and I could feel her unease next to me. I wondered if it was the event or if it was me.

When the MC finally began the evening's program, I snuck a peek at her. Maximus whined in my head. He wanted to be close to her. He was so happy last night until I left her with Calder. All day I have ached to wrap her in my arms again. Staying away from her was getting harder and harder. She peeked at me from the corner of her eyes and I immediately looked forward. This was a dangerous game that she was going to win if I could not get myself under control.

Calder looked at Remi then me. Earlier, I was sure he wanted to gloat about last night, so I shut him down, pretending I had pack work to attend to. Soon enough dinner was being served. It was enough of a distraction to keep me from looking at Remi.

Remi

This was by far the nicer than anything I had imagined. The ballroom the event was being hosted in was immaculate and beautiful. Everyone was dressed impressively. When we first arrived, Calder led us inside and attempted to steer us away from people looking to speak to him. Apparently, that wasn’t going to work because multiple still approached him. After we were able to get away from the third person to stop him, he apologized saying that a lot of this small talk was networking in a position like his. I did not mind, especially seeing as I was mostly ignored.

We gradually made our way up to a table in the front. There were name cards around all the seats. We sat down and shortly Cullen and Jaime were coming over. My stomach dropped when I realized that he was seated next to me. It was too late to do anything about it as he pulled out his chair and sat down next to me. As he sat down, I realized he smelled like chocolate chip cookies.

“Amanda, don’t you look pretty tonight?” Jaime gave Amanda a fake compliment.

“Thanks, Jaime. That dress looks fine,” she said in reply. Her tone was clearly mocking Jaime and Gentry started to laugh but quickly stopped himself. Gentry, Calder, and Amanda began talking, clearly trying to move the attention away from Jaime and Cullen. I sat there nervously wringing my hands in my lap. Cullen was stiff next to me. Had he been in Calder’s room last night? Was he the reason why this smell was there? Did he smell so good because he is my mate?

My mind was swirling with questions as the MC got up on the small stage and began the evening’s festivities. I tried to listen to the speech and pay attention, but I was too distracted. I tried to peek at him from the corner of my eye and his eyes immediately moved forward towards the stage. Had he been looking at me? My stomach was in absolute knots as the servers began bringing out each table’s food.

It was extremely hard to focus on the delicious smelling food in front of me. I could not stop fixating on Cullen even being perfectly content with Calder. I tried to focus my attention on the dinner conversation as we ate. Gentry and Amanda started quarreling and Calder just chuckled at them. While they continued, he turned to me. “How is dinner?” he asked.

I gave him a smile. “It is amazing, Calder. This whole thing is,” I said. It was genuinely impressive.

“I am just glad you came with me,” he said smiling warmly. His smile gave me the best kind of butterflies. He reached under the table and grabbed my hand. As we finished up our meals, the servers cleared the plates. Soon the MC was back to auction things off, all the proceeds going towards the hospital. Jaime left halfway through the auction and Cullen seemed to relax slightly when she did. His face was still cold and disinterested, but he seemed relieved at her exit.

Once the auction was over, everyone was free to move about and dance. Cullen left the table and disappeared into the crowd. The rest of us got up and made our way over to the bar. The boys got drinks while Amanda and I opted for water. We were both underage anyway. It was not long before there were more people coming to speak with Calder. I could not understand most of the things they were talking about. I was happy to stand by his side with a small smile while he worked though. This was all a little overwhelming and I was afraid to embarrass myself or Calder.

Amanda got bored quickly and pulled me away with her to find the restroom. “These things are always so boring. Usually Gen and Caldy at least let me drink a little,” she said as we walked away from the boys.

“It’s not that bad at all,” I said.

“Wait until you’ve been at too many to count,” she said rolling her eyes. “The only plus is getting to dress up.”

We found the bathroom quickly. Amanda touched up her makeup in the bathroom mirror while I washed my hands. I waited for her to be done and we headed out again to find Gentry and Calder. When we walked out of the bathroom, Jaime was walking in. I accidentally bumped into her as the door swung open.

“I am so sorry. Excuse me, I didn’t know you were there,” I said quickly. She stood up with her shoulders back and gave me a dirty look.

“Look, don’t get comfortable, little girl. Calder will be done with this little phase soon. He will get bored of you and toss you aside like all the other little flings he has had. You might as well go home before he throws you out,” she said nastily.

“What the h*ll is all that for?” Amanda shot at her. I stood there stunned.

“She doesn’t belong here, and she doesn’t belong with them. It is only a matter of time so she should just save us all the effort,” Jaime said.

Amanda paused for a moment. I found it momentarily odd seeing as she was always quick to respond. Jaime just looked at me with disgust written across her features. “If she is on her way out the door then why was Cullen in her bed last night?” Amanda said fiercely. I turned and stared at her wide eyed. What did she just say?

Jaime’s cheeks went red, and I could see the rage brewing behind her eyes. With no warning, she threw her drink at me, covering me in a glass of red wine. Someone stepped in between us. I realized it was Cullen. His hard, grey eyes looked me up and down. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief and held it out to me. I took it as he turned and looked at Jaime.

“Let’s go, now,” he said. His voice was low and dangerous. He did not look back as they walked away.

“Rem, are you okay? I am so sorry. I never thought she would throw her drink at you,” Amanda fussed as I watched them walk away. I could feel tears welling up.

“I-I’m okay,” I said looking at the handkerchief he handed me. Calder and Gentry came rushing over.

“Pip! What happened?” Gentry said as Calder stopped in front of me. He started looking me over, like I would be hurt.

“That skank threw her wine all over Rem. Then Cullen marched her out of here,” Amanda said, giving me a sad look.

Calder put his finger under my chin, tilting my eyes up to meet his. “Are you okay, baby?” he asked softly.

“Yea, I’m fine. I just need to wash this off,” I whispered. He nodded his head then looked at Amanda. “Why did she toss the wine on Remi?” he asked.

“Pip, did you do this?” Gentry asked.

“Jaime was the one being rude telling Remi that Calder was going to get bored with her. I simply pointed out that it was her boyfriend that was in bed with Remi last night,” Amanda said trying to defend herself.

Calder’s eyes went wide as he looked back at me. I just stared at the ground, wanting it to open up and swallow me whole. I turned around and went into the bathroom, wanting to get the wine off my face. Everyone else clearly did not want me to know that somehow Cullen ended up in bed with me last night when I was unaware.

A few warm tears ran down my cheeks as I washed the wine off my face. Why would he get into bed with me? Why was everyone trying to hide it from me? Why did I care what Cullen did? Why did it simultaneously make my chest ache while also make me warm inside to know that he was with me last night?

Calder

“Jaime was the one being rude telling Remi that Calder was going to get bored with her. I simply pointed out that it was her boyfriend that was in bed with Remi last night,” Pip told us. My mind stopped. I looked at Remi, worried. She just looked down at the ground and sniffled.

Oh Goddess, I did not want her to know Cullen had done that. I did not want her to feel more conflicted. I clearly failed as she quickly turned and disappeared through the door to the restroom once more.

“Pip, why would you say that in front of her? How did you even know?” Gentry asked.

“I came out of my room last night to grab a snack and when I walked by Calder’s room, I saw the door was open. I peeked in and Calder was walking into the bathroom but someone else was laying on the bed. I could smell Cullen and Remi too, so I just connected the dots,” she explained.

“But why would you say it to Jaime or in front of Remi?” I asked her.

“I’m sorry. I do not really get this whole sort of accepting her thing. Jaime was being a grade-A b**ch and I just wanted to put her in her place. Remi doesn’t deserve that!” she defended. Gentry shook his head.

We both sighed. “Let’s get Remi and go, we stayed for most of this,” Gentry said. I nodded my head. He pulled Amanda away, hopefully going to get the car. I cracked the restroom door and looked inside. Remi stood at the counter, cleaning her face off with a towel. I could see her lip tremble as she looked at her own reflection.

I quietly slipped inside and approached her. She turned to look at me and took a steadying breath. “Baby, I am so sorry,” I said. She just shook her head. I could see unshed tears in her eyes. I closed the distance between us and wrapped her in my arms. Her arms came around my waist and she laid her head against me. I stroked the back of her hair as I held her to me. She was far too polite to blame me or Amanda for not telling her about Cullen.

After a few minutes, I said, “Do you want to leave?” She nodded her head. “Okay, let’s go.”

We broke apart. I placed her hand in the crook of my elbow and led her out of the bathroom. We moved along the outside of the ballroom as we exited and luckily, I didn’t catch anyone’s eye. She had been the perfect date all evening. She smiled sweetly and nodded her head as people talked. She did not talk much but I had expected this to be out of her comfort zone. I even got a few compliments about her when her and Amanda left us to use the restroom. The evening was going well until this.

Amanda was waiting near the doors with our coats. I helped Remi into hers before pulling my own on. We went outside where Gentry had the car waiting. The drive back to the apartment was quiet as well as the elevator ride upstairs. As we all walked into the apartment, Amanda stopped and turned to Remi.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think she would do that,” she said with tears brimming in her eyes.

Remi gave her a small smile. “It's okay, Amanda. I’m alright,” Remi said in a small voice.

“You aren’t mad?” Amanda asked, hopefully. Remi shook her head. Amanda flung her arms around Remi and hugged her tight.

“Let the poor girl go,” Gentry said. Amanda released Remi and waved a good night to us. Gentry and Amanda went upstairs. Remi looked up at me as they disappeared. Her eyes were red and a little puffy from the unshed tears.

“I would understand if you wanted to go home,” I said softly. Her eyes went wide for a second and I thought she was going to cry again. “No, no, no. I don’t want you to,” I said pulling her close to me. “But I would understand if you wanted to…”

“I want to stay with you…” she whispered.

I leaned down and placed my lips over hers. She kissed me back earnestly. Her arms came up and wrapped around my neck. I continued to kiss her soft mouth as I bent down and picked her up bridal style. I carried her upstairs to my room and shut the door behind me. I took us right into the bathroom where I placed her on the counter. I cupped her face in my hand and looked into her eyes.

“I’m going to run you a bath, okay?” She gave me a shy nod. I turned to run the bath for her. Once the water was warm, I added some bath soap to the water and let it fill up. I quickly went back out to the bedroom and grabbed her bag from inside the closet. I brought it back into the bathroom where she was pulling the barrettes from her hair. I helped her down from the counter before moving to leave the bathroom.

“Calder?” she stopped me. I turned around. “Will you, um, unzip me?” she asked hesitantly.

“Of course,” I said. I could not help the smile on my face as I dragged that tiny zipper down, exposing her soft perfect skin to me. I leaned down and kissed the back of her neck lightly sending a trail of goosebumps across her skin.

“I’ll be waiting for you. Take your time,” I told her.