Chapter 34
chapter
thirty-four
Gemini
S even fucked Stella. It was painfully obvious from the moment they arrived home from their photoshoot. Her lips were puffy and pink, her cheeks colored, and her eyes glassy. I knew that look extremely well because I took great joy in causing it. But the smug-fuck smirk on Seven’s face and the stiff way she was moving got my blood pressure rising.
“Gem, you’re back early,” Stella gasped when she locked eyes with me. I was in the kitchen, halfway through reheating a meal that our chef had delivered earlier, and the moment our gazes met, she flushed with guilt. “We need to talk.”
My jaw tightened as Seven slapped her backside and she visibly flinched.
She. Flinched.
“What… the fuck …did you do?” I snarled, fists balled as I considered actually murdering my brother.
Panic etched across Stella’s gorgeous features, and she physically stepped between my twin and me like she could stop me from killing him for whatever he did to hurt her.
“Stop! Gem, he didn’t hurt me!” she exclaimed, holding her hands up like she was trying to break my stare down with Seven. “Or, rather, he didn’t do anything I didn’t enjoy,” she amended with gritted teeth.
Seven’s grin curved his lips again, and he gave me a pointed look. Our twin link said everything I really needed to know—he liked her a whole fuck-load more than he was ever willing to admit out loud. This had been brewing since the minute the two of them met—it had just been a matter of time. I knew it; Ollie knew it; Seven knew it . The only one who seemed surprised was Stella herself.
I narrowed my eyes, my jaw tight, but I calmed down somewhat. She’d enjoyed whatever Seven did…and I found it extremely hard to maintain a grudge when I could feel the calm satisfaction radiating from my twin. He wasn’t using her for a quick fix to toss her to the curb later—he was giving in to his undeniable desire.
And she was reciprocating, it seemed.
Jealousy was a totally new emotion to feel between Seven and me, and yet there it was, bitter and acidic as he bent to brush a kiss over her cheek.
“Now I know why Gem calls you Slick ,” he murmured, then chuckled as Stella threw a hard elbow into his abdomen. She wasn’t messing around—she actually wanted it to hurt—but Seven just patted her backside again and walked away laughing.
Once he was gone, I eyed Stella more carefully. “Are you okay?” I asked with dread. What if she said she wasn’t? I trusted Seven as much as I trusted myself. More. But if Stella felt?—
“I’m fine,” she grumbled, her cheeks pink again. “Seven’s just a dick, that’s all. Nothing new…except, uh…”
“You had sex.” I wasn’t going to make her flail around searching for the words to tell me what I already knew.
Her eyes widened, but she nodded.
I sighed, running my hand through my hair. “Do you… Does this change us? You and me? Ollie?”
She shook her head violently. “No. God no. Unless this changes things for you? Seven was… That was a one-time thing. Never to be repeated. We still hate each other, if that’s any reassurance.”
I couldn’t help but smile at that because I knew perfectly fucking well once wouldn’t be enough for Seven—not now that he’d had her for himself. He would already be hooked, just like me and Ollie.
“This changes nothing for me, Slick. I’m perfectly happy to share you with my best friend—hell, I enjoy sharing you with him. Why would my twin be any different?”
The relief that washed through her was visible, her shoulders sagging, and I reached out to pull her into my embrace. Her arms wound around me, and I held her tight—right where she belonged, except that her hair smelled of Seven. I needed to get her in the shower and fix that.
I said as much, and she groaned. “As much as I want to take you up on that…I think I need to put some ice on my backside before I can engage in any more fun.”
Motherfucker. Acting on impulse, I flicked open her button, spun her around and yanked her jeans down to see what he’d done with my own two eyes. All over her perfect ass were raised red welts in the shape of Seven’s hand, some already turning purple with bruising.
“Seven’s a fucking asshole ,” I growled as she giggled and tugged her pants back up.
“I know,” she agreed. “That’s what I keep saying!”
Scooping her up into my arms, I let the uncertainty slip away. So long as she still wanted me even after having Seven, that was all that mattered. “Come on, Slick baby, I’ll take care of you. Wanna watch some Netflix in bed with me? I’ll be on my best behavior and provide ice packs for your backside.”
She snuggled her face into my chest, her fingers linked behind my neck as I carried her up the stairs to my room, my dinner totally forgotten. I set her up in my bed—lying on her belly and propped up with pillows so she could watch TV—then ducked back downstairs for supplies: popcorn, drinks, and frozen gel packs.
“Oh my god, Gem,” Stella laughed when I returned. “You’re too much.”
“Or just enough,” I countered, getting cozy beside her and placing the ice packs on her backside. Seven had really left a mark—no doubt exactly as he intended.
She sighed as I settled in beside her to watch the movie she’d picked. It was one of Ollie’s newer ones, and he’d love to know she was watching it. After a while, her eyelids started drooping, so I dimmed the lights and lowered the TV volume so she could drift off if she wanted.
“See?” she murmured, sounding half-asleep. “This is why I love you, Gem. You’re so thoughtful.”
I froze. “Say that again?” But she was already asleep.
I’d heard her, though. Her soft voice echoed through my head over and over, getting louder and clearer in my brain. I love you, Gem .
She’d said it, and there were no take backs. Nope, not now that I’d heard it with my own ears.
Grinning like an idiot, I turned off the TV and rearranged us under the blankets so she snuggled into my arms, just how I liked. “I love you too, Slick,” I whispered, despite the fact she was fast asleep.
The next morning, she woke me up in my favorite way. With her lips wrapped around my cock and her hand cradling my balls like precious jewels.
“Do you have plans today?” I asked her sometime later, as she lay boneless and sweaty, draped over my chest. My dick was still parked firmly inside her and I’d happily just leave it there until it hardened again, if I hadn’t made other plans already.
“Mmm,” she replied, lazily tracing the ridges of my traps with her fingertip. “I did, but it’s not important. Why?”
“Remember how you offered to take me on a date?” I kissed her hair, teasing my fingers down her spine. She fit so well in my arms. “Before this arrangement with Seven, remember? You wanted to take me for a drive into the hills away from all the prying eyes?”
She lifted slightly off my chest to squint at me with those sooty lashes of hers framing her gorgeous green eyes. She took my breath away all the time. “I remember. You offered a hike and a picnic. I countered with a drive.”
I dropped a kiss on her nose. “Exactly. So do you want to? I’ll drive.”
Her smile was like a ray of goddamn sunlight. “I’d love to.” Then her pussy tensed around my cock and I started to get hard again. Her smile turned sly, so there was no point even trying to hide it. She just had that effect on me…
To save on time, we took our party into the shower, where Ollie found us, strolling into the bathroom right as I came all over Stella’s perfectly lush tits. He started to question the redness and distinct handprints on her backside, but she was very good at distraction and he quickly forgot what he was asking as she deep-throated his monster cock.
“Holy fuck ,” he moaned, gripping two fistfuls of Stella’s wet, black hair. “You’ve been working on that. Shit, Snow, you’re such a good girl taking my cock that deep.”
“Fuck,” I chuckled, grasping myself. “I can’t come again so fast. I need to rehydrate or something. Don’t take too long in here. Stella and I have a date.” Then I left them to it because I loved Ollie…and I loved Stella too. They made me happy.
Would Seven fit into this with us? It was already perfect, but maybe it could be better with him.
It was midmorning by the time Stella and I finally left the house, but that meant I had tons of time to pack a full picnic spread in the trunk of my car. Our plan was to drive up into the hills and walk to the waterfalls about half an hour from the parking lot. Then we could swim, picnic, fuck, whatever we wanted, and all without the constant scrutiny of media.
Except we barely made it ten minutes up the winding road of Angeles Crest highway when I realized we were being tailed.
“What is it?” Slick asked after I glanced in the mirror for the fifth time in a short span of time. “Is someone following us?”
I sighed. “Yeah. Probably, uh, paps.”
She scowled, shaking her head. “We don’t claim anyone who engages in risky business to get shots. Risking vehicle accidents just to get a photo? So not okay.”
Yeah. I agreed. And yet, the car behind us sped up to tailgate-level closeness and another glance showed they weren’t alone, another car seemed to be right behind them.
I needed to keep my focus on the road and driving safely, but every fiber of my being wanted to get Stella away from these leeches so even without meaning to, I sped up.
The road was winding up the side of the hill, and it was impossible to take the corners too wide or too fast, but the car following us seemed to have no regard for their safety as a man literally started to climb out the passenger window with his camera in hand. He stopped only when his entire upper body hung out in the wind, raising his camera to his face.
“Is he fucking serious?” Stella exclaimed, then stuck her hand out her own window to show the photographer her middle finger. As funny as it was, she’d probably just given him a major payday.
“How the hell did they know this was my car?” I asked aloud, shaking my head. I drove the most mundane, nondescript Honda Civic for several reasons, one of which being that it wasn’t a celebrity car and could go totally unnoticed.
Stella growled an angry sound, looking over her shoulder. “I’d bet my life savings it’s Dillon. You left your car outside my place the night it was ransacked. He probably took notice and sold the info.”
I grimaced. “He’s a real peach.”
Just then, the second car’s driver put their foot on the gas and sped up, overtaking the paparazzi guys and coming up level with us in the wrong lane. A frantic glance across showed me the car wasn’t carrying more professional stalkers with cameras but instead a bunch of girls. All with their shirts lifted and tits wobbled around as their driver kept them level with us.
“What the fuck?” Stella exclaimed with a mixture of laughter and panic. “Is this a regular occurrence for you?”
“It’s really not,” I admitted. “This seems to be your influence, Slick. The fangirls are losing their minds with jealousy like Clara never experienced.”
Stella started to say something, then gasped sharply. “Gem! Look out!” She screamed her warning right as a semi-truck came around the next corner, headed straight for the fangirls. I steered as far over as possible, dropping my foot hard onto the gas to give them space in our lane to pull in, but the paps remained hot on our tail.
There was no other option for their driver but to swerve the other way, and a split second later, the most almighty crash rang out on the side of the hill.
“Holy fuck,” I exclaimed, braking as fast as I could without endangering ourselves. A glance in the mirror showed a thick plume of smoke already rising from the trees where the car had disappeared over the ledge and a sick feeling of dread curled in my gut.
The paparazzi car had stopped too, and both men were already out with cameras in hand. One ran toward the crash scene, camera raised and, presumably, shutter clicking like mad while the other approached my car. Fucking hell. That was the last thing Stella or Seven needed—so I made a choice I knew would haunt me forever.
I stepped on the gas and reversed back the way we’d come, passing close enough to the pap that he actually flung his camera as he threw himself to the side. I’d never have hit him. The camera though? I experienced a bit of glee as I ran right over it.
Once we were at the side of the road closest to where the girls went off, I was getting out of the car. “Call rescue services.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Get down there and see if I can help.” I circled to the back of the car and flipped open the trunk. Thank fuck I’d left my climbing gear packed in there.
Stella was getting out of the car, phone to her ear as she described where we were. The truck had stopped some way down the hill and the driver was hurrying up to us.
Three things happened at once: the pap whose camera got broken—so sad, moving on—charged toward us; the other photographer was yelling, “They’re alive”; and the stroke of helicopter blades echoed in the distance. Hopefully that meant rescue efforts were already on the way.
“You bastard,” the pap said as he reached us. Then Stella literally put herself bodily between us. The pap shoved her, and before I could punch him, she slammed her knee into his junk and he went down howling.
“Yes, I’m fine,” Stella continued. “The man tried to assault me, but he’s going to be too busy getting his dick out of his throat to do it again.”
That was my girl.
“You got more of that?” the truck driver asked when he saw what I was doing. He also had a fire extinguisher in hand. I slung the first-aid kit over my shoulder and then handed him some rope.
“Be careful,” I told Stella, and gave her a kiss. I pressed my keys into her hand and then eyed the guy on the ground who was still groaning. “You think about touching her again and you won’t have a dick to hold on to.”
Turned out the truck driver—Dale—was a decent enough climber himself. The route down was steep, but we made it swiftly.
The girls were somehow still alive.
The other photographer had also taken a tumble trying to get down there and had broken his leg. What a shame. We had most of them stabilized as the ambulances and cops rolled in.
One girl had to be airlifted. I was pretty sure she’d broken her pelvis. Another girl had a lot of lacerations; some were pretty deep. I gave one of the paramedics a number for a plastic surgeon we knew. I’d call him too. She might need some help with the scarring.
The fact no one died was a fucking miracle. We had to answer questions. The pap Stella had kneed was in handcuffs and in the back of a cop car when I got back up there.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Harrison,” a fresh-faced cop that looked like he still used pimple cream and was going to be late to his third period in high school said. “He got verbally abusive with Miss Charles. We put him in the car to cool off. Once my partner gets everyone’s statements, we’ll make the call on what to do with him.”
Fine by me. I slid an arm around Stella, and she hugged me tight. “That’s fine. We’ll be right here to make the statements when you’re ready.”
We never got to the waterfalls or to the picnic, and I found myself filing another police report. The whole time, there was a helicopter circling overhead. This story was going to go viral.
Dipping my head, I kissed Stella and soaked in the connection. She dug her fingers into my nape, and when I lifted my head, I studied her fierce expression.
“You okay?” In all the excitement, had I missed something? “You weren’t hurt with the sudden deceleration were you?”
“You’re a damn hero,” she said, and I blinked. “I’m more than fine. Just wish…” Then she glanced to where there was tape keeping people back. The full rescue effort had closed off this section of road, and we’d gained more than a few lookie-loos.
Pressing my lips to her ear, I whispered, “Seven and you are going to get all the credit. I’m more than okay with that, Stella. I might make him look good, but I don’t want that attention. I never have. But those girls were foolish and who I am or want to be isn’t their fault.”
“I know,” she said, then smoothed her hands down my shirt. “You’re amazing.”
“Right back atcha, Slick.”
It took another two hours before we were able to give our statements. At least I could feed Stella from the packed picnic we had. That said, when we were free to go, I was more than happy to get her back in the car and away from all of this.
“You might have a hard time topping this date,” she warned me with a sly grin. “Unless I can convince you to do the lifeguard routine and save me when I get a cramp.”
I snort laughed. “So you have fantasies about men in red board shorts?”
“And out of them,” she hummed. “I’m not fussy.”
My dick stiffened obediently. “It’s a good thing we have a pool.”
“Oh,” she said with a little smile. “Feel like rehearsing until we get it just right? Might take a while.”
The rest of our lives if I played my cards right.