Chapter 15
Over these last two weeks, we’ve lived and breathed the same air in this house, but other than using the pool in the garden and going for long rides on my motorbike, I hardly have a life outside these walls.
Not that I had one in London, but going to the pub for a pint is what I do, and Los Angeles doesn’t have that kind of vibe for me.
So, being a bit of a hermit also means spending time with everyone else who lives here.
Especially with Eden.
There’s no point trying to hide how all four of us lads see her.
Bloody, breathtakingly attractive.
As a teenager, I fancied the socks off her, I was probably in love with her, but I hesitate to use that word because it was over ten years ago and my feelings for her are slightly altered. But when I first met her, I was only thirteen, and I went to sleep every night just thinking and dreaming of her, creating alternative scenarios of us talking in my head because I was a scrawny little kid back then, and she was on her way to stardom.
We all were, but Eden was born with a natural star-like quality that everyone instantly fell in love with. I, on the other hand, needed work. Sure, I had the perseverance, the high musical skills, the passion, and the creativity, but I didn’t have that unique charisma or persona that she did. She shined on stage and could have easily captivated an audience as a solo artist. As a drummer, I preferred blending in the background behind a frontman.
I spent most of my teenage years with a magazine photo of Eden, learning to wank myself off. In fact, other than Eden’s photo, I never had any intimate relationship with a girl. Jagger, Callum, and Haze were sexually more advanced than me and shagged whatever bird offered herself to them.
Eden was the first person I had an intimate relationship with because no other girl came close to her level. Maybe I became so obsessed with her that I couldn’t see anyone beyond her. Unfortunately, I was also cursed with that obsession because even after her, any woman I had a relationship with never measured up to the one I fancied for years.
I’m not in any relationship and haven’t been for almost a year, but I wish I was so I could put a mental barrier up between Eden and me. Of course, I’m no longer that scrawny teenager who had to wear makeup in public to hide my acne, who would sit and dream about how my first time would be with her.
I’m a 28-year-old man with enough sense and experience to know that anything I start with Eden would be a mistake.
Regarding that video leak ten years ago, which led to our career meltdown, I used to be a hundred percent sure she had an ulterior motive. Out of the five of us, she hated the fake blonde persona they forced on her, and over the years, it just got worse. She tolerated it at first because, like all of us, she was desperate to have a career in the industry, but after six years, I don’t blame her for what she did.
What I hold against her is doing it behind our backs, and when it went south, she fled. I find myself perplexed by the depth of bitterness she harbors against us, as if it”s our fault everything crashed on her.
She insists that she had nothing to do with the video.
If that’s the case, then who the fuck did it?
Someone must have planted a camera in our room and sent it to the most notorious tabloid news organization. It wasn’t just the tabloids that hounded her. There was a public outcry from parents who threatened to sue the label and her for marketing her image as America’s sweetheart and influencing teenage girls while she led a lifestyle which, I quote, “insin and debauchery.”
Eden went from America’s sweetheart, setting a record as the youngest female artist, to top the Billboard charts with her band, Sugar Vixens, and their debut album, to become America’s pop embarrassment. People forgot that underneath all that candy floss was a teenager who wanted to be known for her music and not which dress she wore at some event.
So, I understand why she did it if she was responsible for the video.
For which I’m not sure anymore.
Except, I want to believe it was her because if it wasn’t her and it wasn’t us, someone fucked us over.
But all that shite is in the past, and my biggest problem now is being around her all the bloody time. She still holds the title of the most beautiful creature my eyes have ever seen, and this look she carries around, which I know is a hundred percent her, is sexy as fuck.
“Popcorn?” she asks, and the way the end of her mouth curls up in this sexy grin makes my knob twitch.
“Sure,” I say, averting my eyes elsewhere because she’s wearing an oversized band T-shirt. I don’t think there’s anything else under it besides her knickers and a bra. The bra for sure because I caught the outline of the lace through the thin cotton fabric. She must be wearing knickers, too. I mean, why the hell would she not be wearing them?
There was a time when she wore one of our T-shirts and nothing else around us.
“I’ll be out back,” I mutter, needing to get away before I start sporting an embarrassing stiffie and quickly open the kitchen door to meet Callum, who’s having a fag.
“Alright?” he glances at me and turns back to look out into the night sky.
The air hangs heavy with the earthy aroma of herbal cigarettes, and I watch him take a drag. The end of the fag is glowing red in the darkness as he takes another leisurely drag, exhaling wisps of fragrant vapor that intertwines with the lingering scent of what I think is burning sage.
“What exactly is in that fag?”
He grins without looking away from the sky and takes another puff.
“Los Angeles and London are two big polluted cities, but I don’t understand why the skies are so different. The Pacific coast always amazes me at nighttime.”
I remain silent.
“A bit of this, a little bit of that,” he says, referring to my question. “Medicinal.”
I stare at him, wondering if the blazing idiot is mixing his fags with weed, even though I’m sure that’s not what I smell.
“Don’t stare at me like that, you wanker,” and an amused smile plays on his lip. “There isn’t even a trace of nicotine in these. I was introduced to them by my therapist, keep my hands busy, so to speak.”
I look at him skeptically.
“Other than that dark-haired brunette inside, I haven’t got any addictions,” he says casually.
I’m not sure what to focus on regarding what he’s declared. His mysterious herbal smokes? Or the fact that he’s just as obsessed with Eden as I am?
“She does look amazing,” I admit.
He glances at me as he takes a long drag and then focuses back on the sky.
“She’s annoying as fuck.”
That earns him a raised brow from me.
“She hasn’t done anything that I would say is annoying,” I say, a little confused by his statement.
“I didn’t know what to expect when we made that trip to find her in the desert. But seeing her in her own element. We always knew who the real Eden Rivers was, but seeing her live her life as she was always supposed to be is like watching a true goddess. She’s fucking sexy and a knob teaser. Those T-shirts she wears around the house.”
“Yeah, I was wondering if she wears anything under them.”
“Black thongs and her creamy white arse is as perky as ever. Fuck that girl grew curves.”
Curiosity dancing in my gaze, I incline my head, a subtle tilt to the side.
“How do you know that? About her thongs?”
I remember there was a time when all the girls from the Vixens had to get monthly checkups, and weight management was part of it. Bloody bastards kept their figures in check with daily morning trainers. There was nothing healthy about how those teenage girls were kept.
“From her dog,” Callum stubs out his fag and kicks it into some shrubs. “I’ve caught her bend down to retrieve his food bowl or change his water.”
“Do you believe her about the video?” I ask, ignoring his penchant to be a pervert. So typical of Callum. He hasn’t changed much since he was fifteen.
“No, I don’t.” He plays with his zippo, flicking it on and off. “I also believe that crazed fan is stalking her. She called negative attention to herself when that video came out. I might sympathize with her about why she did it, but my head ain’t never going back to where it used to be with her.”
He bites the silver ring on his lower lip. “Eden might be oozing with sex appeal, but I have no plan to get my head wrapped up in her web again. She’s a femme fatale, with way too much unexplained mystery around her, and a heartless mind crusher. Thanks, but no thanks. I’ve already been trapped once by her deceit and lies. Never going there again, even if it was a joyous ride while it lasted. The aftershocks almost killed me.”
“You’ve thought a lot about this,” I gaze at him curiously.
“I’ve had ten years. Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, and I’ll probably end up killing her this time.”
“That’s a pretty strong statement.”
He flickers his eyes at me, and his entire face suddenly becomes gravely serious.
“I’ve seen the way you three stare at her. The only person who will act on their lust and not be scorned by her will be me. It would be best if you made sure you don’t fall for this desert siren’s charm. She’s like a mirage wrapped in the shimmering heat of the desert. A temptress in the sea of scorching sands. The way she swerves those hips when she sings is like a seductive dance, cloaked in a flowing gown of shifting sands leaving a trail of mystery in her wake.”
Desert siren.
That is such a good description of who Eden is now. Quiet and alluring.
“Eden makes a good fuck,” Callum adds, snapping me out of my thoughts, “but as long as you don’t let your feelings get in the way, you’re good.”
“That’s a bit much. Doesn’t she deserve the benefit of doubt?”
He sighs. “It’s complicated. I feel sorry for the girl; she’s got some unwarranted psycho fan trailing her. It’s clear she’s here for the music, and I can respect her for that. But after we’re done, she’s going back to her desert. She’s found peace there, and she’ll choose that over any of us. I’ve seen the way she looks at us, it’s pure lust, and I think at some point, we’ll end up fucking her. But it won’t be like before. There’s no pot of gold at the end of her rainbow. Don’t go thinking, you’ll find it.”
Callum’s being harsh with her, but deep down, it’s all a front. He still feels burned by her betrayal, and this close proximity doesn’t help. Old feelings are resurfacing, and new feelings are emerging.
Was it a good idea to invite her to live with us?
“Hey guys, popcorn’s done,” Eden pops her head out the door. “I may have made a bit too much.” She sees Callum and smiles, “We’re going to watch a film in the movie room. Would you like to join me and Asher?”
He shrugs his shoulder. “Sure, why not,” he says casually.
Eden nods and asks if I could get the sodas and meet her there. I watch her go back inside, and Callum is about to follow, but I pull him back.
“Just a heads up, it’s a girlie flick.”
“I’m here to make sure you don’t fall in love with her.”
“What?” I look at him in disbelief.
“You’re eating popcorn, drinking soda, and watching some female drama. Mate, you’re a goner.”
“No, I am not!” I insist.
He sniggers. “We’ll see.”
I stand there wondering how much he’s said is true about me.
Could my subconscious know more than I do?
“What time did Jagger and Haze say they’ll be back?” He asks as he opens the door.
“They didn’t.” He nods and goes inside.
Both are with Oliver Jones, who is meeting with the CEO of one of the big music labels based here in LA. Technically, Jagger is our alpha in the band, but since Haze said he has a financial interest in us, he wants to be present at all the important talks and negotiations. So Haze tagged along with him this evening, leaving us three to our own devices.
The movie has been playing for the last twenty minutes, but I have no clue what it’s about. Eden’s sitting cross-legged between Callum and me with a massive plastic bowl of popcorn in the middle of her thighs, and the only thing I can think of are those black thongs she’s wearing and how close I am to them.
For fucks sake, she’s got that t-shirt on, and it’s pulled up against her hips from the way she’s sitting. If I lean a bit forward, I can probably see everything, and all I need to do is reach for the popcorn and have my hand slip and slyly brush it against her smooth, tanned thigh. My knob is painfully hard against my trousers, and it needs to be released.
I keep making side glances at her, and she’s so fixed on the movie I hardly doubt she’s having the same thoughts as me. Her chest rises up as she breathes in. I can tell she’s wearing a bra, and Eden’s always had a great pair of tits. I wonder if they match her tan on the rest of her body.
She never went nude sunbathing as a teenager, but I have no idea what she does as an adult. There’s not a person within a fifty-mile radius of her property in the desert, so she could.
Dammit, now I’ve got this image of her sprawled out naked by the pool of her home. I know every detail of her body, every mole and every scar.
That was Eden Rivers as the pop star.
Eden Rivers as the desert siren, is fuller, darker, and inked. It’s like she possesses a whole new body. Sexier and all woman.
I side-eye her without tilting my head again because the last thing I want is for her to notice my gawking. Callum’s right, I’m so totally fucked. All those teenage scenarios of obsessing about her suddenly flooded my mind.
Her eyes suddenly close, and I look at the screen, wondering what happened for her to do that, but I don’t get it. I look back and see that she’s biting her lower lip.
My eyes travel down, and Callum’s hand is hidden under her shirt, and I’m sure he’s fingering her. When the fuck did this wanker slip his hand there?
My heart is racing because Eden seems to be enjoying this.
I look at Callum, and he grins at me playfully.
Are we really doing this?I silently ask him.
“Mate, you need to feel this. It’s heaven,” he says, answering my unspoken question.
I hesitate.
“Eddie?” Having a mind of its own, my hand removes the bowl of popcorn from her, and when I turn back, she leans forward, grabs my neck, and plants her lips on me. She captures my lips with a fervor that speaks of a shared history and a longing for connection.
And just like that, she hooks me in.
I take over the lead, devour every bit of her, and push my tongue through to invade her mouth. The tip of mine teasing hers.
This kiss is so familiar yet so different. Like a rediscovery, the deeper I go with her sparks a cascade of memories. My hands cradle her face, my fingers tracing the lines I once knew so well. The taste of her lips is a bittersweet blend of nostalgia and the present, a potent elixir that momentarily eclipses the world around us.
Her moan reminds me that I’m not the only one pleasuring her. I feel her pressing against me as Callum lifts her T-shirt off.
I momentarily break from her lips to allow him to remove her garment. And I glance at her body, so soft and her round breasts just begging for release.
As if reading my mind once more, Callum unclips her bra, and I pull it down her arms to release her of it, and those tits make my knob do a dance of joy. So incredibly ripe I can’t resist and lean down to take one in my hand and lift it to suck on her nipple.
She leans her head back and takes Callum”s lips while I work her nipple. My hand slides down the side of her tiny, inked waist and plump hips. She’s almost a different woman from the girl I once knew. My hand slips to her front, and she accommodates me by moving herself into Callum, giving me better access.
As soon as my hand reaches that barely there piece of thin cloth that covers her slit, I feel how wet she is. I slip my hand inside, and through her warm folds, she accommodates and opens herself up to me.
“You want this siren?” I hear Callum moan into her mouth. His hands have taken over where my mouth was on her tits. He cups both and massages them with his palm as she grips the inside of his thigh.
“Yes,” she breathes in heavily. “I want you both.”
Repositioning myself on the floor in front of her, I grip the thin straps of her thong and pull down the last of her clothing.
Damn, she’s a beauty, sitting here nude for us, and all I want to do is get between those thighs and worship her cunt.
I position myself where I need to be and take one of her legs, planting tender kisses on the inside of her thigh until my lips reach her folds, and I glance up to momentarily watch Callum practically fuck her mouth with his. He remains behind her, his arm wrapped to her front and rolling her nips between his fingers.
Leaning my head down, reach out and cup my hand under her arse and pull her towards the end of the sofa, where I hook her legs over my shoulders to get better access to her. My tongue traces the entire length of her slit, and she moans once more as soon as my finger makes contact with her clit.
“Ohhh,” she groans, arching her back in delight.
“You like that siren? Open your eyes, darling, watch Asher feast on your cunt.”
I dive my face into her pussy, my tongue taking the place of my finger on her clit, the tip of my tongue teasing her as I flick it left to right. I plunge two fingers mischievously inside her warm pussy.
When I look up, she’s watching me, biting her lower lip, and begins grinding against my mouth.
“That’s good, darling,” Callum whispers deeply. “Fuck his mouth.”
My knob is about to burst through my trousers. The carnal need to free it is driving me mad.
“Yes,” she gasps. A possessive growl unfurls deep inside me as I pump three fingers within the tight, hot walls of her body. My tongue continues to flick her clit, and then I bite slightly on it, and hell breaks loose as her body convulses and she cries out her release.
Callum lifts her up, and I take her in my embrace as he begins to undress.
“Do you want to take us both, Eddie?”
She nods and remains silent. Callum quickly gets up and dashes out of the room. I lean in and take those sweet lips of hers once more. She shivers in my arms as I kiss her, her mouth parting for me, and I lick her lips before moving into caressing her tongue.
Right now, I’ve fallen under her spell and have no desire to break free of it. Whatever happens will happen, and I’m fully prepared for it. I nip her bottom lip before sucking it into my mouth.
Feeling another body join us, I release myself from her to find Callum behind her. He quickly takes over, handing me the lube, and I quickly undress.
I tear my clothes off and toss them anywhere, not caring because right now, I need to implant myself inside her.
Taking a moment to watch Eden with Callum, my hand grips my hard arousal. She has her back to me, and I observe the ink that swirls from her lower back down her arse and finishes just above her hip. It’s bloody sexy.
Upon realizing I’m ready, he quickly guides her to the floor and onto the carpet, pulling her to straddle him.
“Wait, we need protection,” she says, hesitating.
“Are you on the pill?” he asks.
“Yes,” she says. “But—”
“He’s clean,” I jump in. “Haze made him take a blood test before we came to America. We all did.”
Actually, Haze insisted his brother get a full blood work done, including testing for drugs and other health issues, before he poured a penny into this venture. So it didn’t look like he was being ganged up on, we all undertook a drug test and then asked the nurse to take a bit extra blood to make an entire screening.
“I haven’t been tested in well over a year,” she admits. “But I haven’t been with anyone.”
I wonder how long she has been single?
But the idea of any man touching her other than us doesn’t sit well with me. I can’t help those possessive vibes that suddenly course through me, and I want to say something, but I hold myself back because now isn’t the time.
“I’ve never had sex without protection,” she adds, and I watch her entire body suddenly stiffen, and I wonder what that’s about?
“You have with us, darling,” Callum says, but that does nothing to ease her frame of mind.
I’m behind her with the tube of lube Callum gave me, but I settle it on the sofa and crawl over to Eden because I can already sense her withdrawing.
Crossing my leg over my bandmate, I straddle right up behind Eden, wrap my arms around her, move her long dark hair to the side, and kiss the back of her neck and across her shoulder, my face nuzzling in the crook of her neck. My hand slowly and gently slips across her chest, lingering over her pebbled nipples. And when I feel her gradually relax against me, I playfully bite her lower earlobe because there are certain things about a person that never change.
Like how I know when Eden becomes wary and frustrated, I would always slither up behind her and ease that tension out of her like I just did. Her earlobes are one of the many areas I discovered about her body that are her sensitive touchpoints.
Her giggle is a whimsical melody that dances through the air, a symphony of joy that plays on the strings of my heart, and her nude body against mine only relights the fire and passion inside me, reawakening my knob from its sudden dormant state.
“Babe, your giggle is a fucking tease,” Callum says softly. His hands stroke her thighs; one stops at her lower front while the other takes hold of her waist, and I release her from my embrace as his hand continues to travel upwards to her neck and tugs her down to him. Her lips crash on his, and I take the opportunity to move a little away and allow my bandmate to heat her up once more.
“Ahh,” she softly moans into his mouth, and I watch his right-hand run circles around her clit.
A memory pops through my mind as I hear her sweet voice of arousal. Music to my ears.
“Oh god, yeesss, yes, yes, don’t stop,” she cries out, and she’s coming close as she releases herself from his mouth and arches her back.
A moment later, she relaxes in bliss and lifts her hips to take Callum”s knob and position herself over him. I watch them with interest as they lock eyes, and a familiar moment passes between them. A silent language is spoken between them. One I haven’t seen in a decade.
Are we really doing this?
Despite discussing with Callum earlier, I don’t see that hard-arsed shell on his face. I see one of worship and adoration. Eden Rivers has cast her spell on him, the one she’s always had me in, and slowly, all those layers that built up over the years, the ones of pain and burn, have slowly peeled away.
The teenager who was once infatuated with a girl is suddenly no more.
I’m an adult male looking at a girl who morphed into this incredibly stunning woman, and I grip my knob to give it a couple of hard pumps.
Eden slowly lowers her body over him, taking him gradually inside herself, her walls adjusting to fit him. And when she’s done, she slowly takes him in a light rocking motion, and he rests his large hands over her hips and grips them hard.
“Fucking’ell, you’re gorgeous like that,” he breathes out. “Stay like this forever.”
Her light laugh stirs my cock as it twitches with excitement.
The woman is a witch.
“Mate, you’d better come and join us as I have no idea how long I can hang on with this beautiful creature moving the way she does over my knob.”
I move back down and position myself close to her, my arousal digging itself into her back, trying to find a way inside her. She leans into me, and I find my way to her neck and kiss it, my tongue sliding against her skin. She smells and tastes so sweet and addictive.
“You want me too, babe?” I whisper in her ear, taking in her scent.
Sugared almonds.
That’s what she reminds me of, and I want to devour her.
“I want to feel you both inside me,” she says softly, and I take her cue and lean away, opening the tube in my hand and sliding the cool gel over my stiff cock.
Gently, I coax her to lean forward. Callum reaches out and uses the opportunity to pull her onto his lips, and I squeeze some of the gel onto her crack. She jerks slightly from the sudden cool liquid on her, but I slide my hand down her back, throw the tube to the side, and take hold of her two plump globes. I worship her arse momentarily before positioning myself better.
Holding my rock-hard knob, I tease her entrance, and she groans out her pleasure in Callum’s mouth. Using two fingers, I slide them into her hole and feel her jolt from the pinch.
Callum pulls away from her and uses the opportunity to slide his hand between them, and I can estimate he’s found her clit by the way I feel her suddenly relax. My fingers slide in and out with ease, and I hold my knob to guide it to her hole, slowly push myself inside her, careful to stretch her slowly, and I feel her tightness wrap around my cock, and it feels incredible.
She gasps at my size. I’m all the way in, and it feels like home.
Fuck, it feels amazing. As if I’ve been gone a while, and my dick found its way back where it belongs.
As I begin to slowly pull out and push back inside her, Callum counters my movement with his hips. The flap and slap of skin only adds to my arousal, and whatever he’s doing to her clit is driving her mad.
I hold onto her hips to steady her as she begins to lose control, and I feel her convulse against me.
“More,” she cries out. “I need more.” She gasps loudly as I pull out and thrust back inside her.
“Yes! Omigod, yes!” she moans out.
I glance down at Callum. Our eyes meet, and there’s an amused smirk on him as we begin to take her apart.
Except I almost stiffen when I catch both Jagger and Haze silently entering the room. Haze picks up the remote and shuts off the movie.
If Eden notices them, she doesn’t stop. Neither do Callum and I.
Jagger looks at us angrily; there’s no missing the disapproval on his face as he storms off, but Haze takes a seat at the end of the sofa and watches us with amusement.
I carry on fucking Eden, and there is no sign from her that she wants us to stop.
My eyes go back to Callum, and he’s so lost in the moment he doesn’t care his brother is watching us as if he’s watching porn on the telly.
Refocusing myself on my current task, I ignore him and go back to grinding and slapping my pelvis against her juicy arse.
The three of us groan with pleasure, and I feel that telltale sign where every muscle in my torso tightens and my mind darkens as I shudder and release my load into her. I keep grinding against her until my movements slow down to nothing and reluctantly pull out and flop to Callum’s side as I watch her fuck him.
Her breasts bounce, her nips pebble, and her lips are red and salacious.
“Mate, take over,” he says, removing his hand from her pussy and gripping either side of her hips, beginning to counter her thrusts.
I sit up and reach out to find her clit, and lean towards her to catch her lips on mine. Her moan goes straight to my knob, but I don’t think it’ll resurrect itself anytime soon. I’m spent.
My tongue licks her lower lip before invading her mouth, and shortly, mine dances and teases hers.
When Eden comes, it’s a full-blown scream, and I wonder if it has to do with Haze in the room, watching us. I caught him earlier, his eyes wide open and his thighs spread apart.
I let go of her as she and Callum frantically ride each other as if their lives depended on this fuck, and when he groans out his release, hers is another full-body shudder, and she collapses to the side.
Catching her in my arms, I roll her to the side between me and Callum. I move her hair to find the back of her neck sweaty, and I kiss her skin, taking in that beautiful, intoxicating scent of hers.
Callum turns to face us. His hand grips her thigh.
“That was some kind of wonderful,” Haze says, but the obnoxious tone in his voice makes Eden stiffen.
“So, are we back to fucking each other? What is this? Inappropriate behavior among bandmates?” he asks with irony laced in his voice. I look up to see him, but his eyes don’t match his tone.
“Fuck off, Haze,” Callum beats me to it.
Eden pulls herself away from us and gets up.
“I’m a huge fan of inappropriate behavior,” she says, standing over him. “Jealous much?” She’s not even bothered by her nudity with him.
His eyes drink her in with a kind of unspoken, primal desperation. There’s a subtle yet unmistakable shift in his gaze, a smoldering heat that ignites from within. The lines on his face take on a sculpted, chiseled quality as tension builds around the inner conflict between restraint and surrender.
Abruptly, he switches off, and that moment seems to dissipate as he takes his mobile out.
“I’ll switch to camera mode to save you the effort and post it myself online if you prefer.”
I don’t have to look at Eden to see the fumes erupt from her.
“That’s going too far, arsehole,” my brows shoot out at him, urging him to stop this charade. “Eddie, don’t listen to the wanker. He’s only trying to rile you up.”
“I’m only stating the truth of what this is. Pure dumbfuckery.”
I stand up from the floor, but Eden holds her hand against my chest to stop me from pounding my fist into Haze’s face.
“I used to think you took my breath away,” Eden directs her statement to Haze. “Now, I realize I was just suffocated by all your bullshit.”
He chuckles as if her words haven’t just stung him like a swarm of angry bees.
“Haze is right,” she adds. “This was stupid. I came here to make music. This was just a mistake. It won’t happen again.” She glares at him and turns to collect her clothes from the floor, avoiding eye contact with me and Callum.
I could just kill Haze right now.
I’ve never had any real tension against the lad, but I could ring his neck right now. I shoot him a warning look. It’s enough to ensure he shuts his mouth and doesn’t say whatever the fuck his tongue is itching to retaliate back at her. I’ve had my fair share of pub fights with Callum, who is like a tempest in a teapot and tends to attract conflict as much as he does birds, so I’m no dancing fairy and won’t back away from socking one in Haze’s face.
Callum’s quiet, but there’s a smirk on his face, and it’s not aimed at his brother.
We all watch her gather her things, and I go to help her, but she pulls her T-shirt from me.
“I can manage just fine,” she mutters.
“Eddie, it wasn’t stupid for me,” I plead with her to stop for just ten seconds, but she’s frantically looking around.
“Desert siren,” Callum blurts out to me. “I told you, fuck her with no emotional attachment. She’s not capable of returning any.” He holds up her bra, and she snatches it from him.
“Fuck you, Callum.”
“I think I just did, luv.”
“You were just a dick,” she turns to him, and for a split second, I see the pain, but she covers it well with venomous eyes. “Nothing but a temporary dick to fuck until I get myself a new vibrator.”
She avoids looking at me. Because I know that’s nothing but a front she’s put up. One look at me, and she’ll crack. Haze and Callum made it easy for her to hate on them.
Upon hearing the basement door slam, I turn my attention to Callum.
“Stand up, mate,” I say to him.
“Why?”
“Just do so,” I say, and he rolls his eyes and goes to get up. Just as he’s about to stand straight, my fist finds his jaw, and he crashes against the floor in a loud thump.
“What the fuck, Ash!” both brothers exclaim.
I turn to find Haze standing up, so I sock him one, exactly like I did with Callum.
“The Evans brothers had it coming,” I say, shaking out my fist. “Both of you will apologize to Eden tomorrow. She’s not some cheap slut, and if none of you can’t respect her enough to fuck her, then you keep your knobs in your pants.”
“I don’t even want to fuck her, you twat!” Haze spits out, holding his jaw.
“Then tell that to your knob that almost split the seam in your trousers,” I say, collecting my clothes and leaving as Eden did without putting them on.
I don’t know what happened tonight, but I do know that I can no longer turn off my lust for the only woman I’ve been in love with for almost two decades, and it will be my mission to have her whether the others want to be dickheads and ignore the desire they crave for her or not.