Chapter Sixteen
Eddie
Amber left early in the morning, my mark still imbedded in her flesh, a slight reddish-purple bruising forming around it.
The thought of getting my bite tattooed permanently on her has my dick hardened with excitement.
Last night was by far the best sex I’ve ever had in my life, and if she didn’t have to work this morning, I wouldn’t have let her leave.
But alas, our night of endless sex had to end sometime, and now that she’s gone, I’m missing her like crazy. Guess the only thing I can do to distract myself is go have breakfast with my parents. The appetite I worked up over the last twelve hours would feed a thousand hungry men.
My dad’s waiting by his back door for me with a cup of fresh coffee in one hand, a delicious breakfast sandwich in the other, and the biggest smile on his damn face.
“That storm was a big one last night, wasn’t it?” he asks casually, winking at me with his only good eye.
“Yeah, pretty big,” I drawl out, unable to meet his gaze. He knows. How the fuck he knows I have no idea.
“Your mother once told me that rain was like the aphrodisiac of the weather world. By what happened to you last night, I’d say she’s right.”
Groaning, I hide my head, the embarrassment already kicking in. “Oh god. Please don’t tell me you saw—”
“It’s okay, Son. If your mother looked like Amber, I’d be fucking her every time it rains too.”
“Geez, what did you see?”
He laughs. “Pretty much everything. Your mother had a camera installed on that old tree house years ago. We had some neighborhood brats that were using it as a camp out spot. All it took was one visit from the one-eyed forest creeper for those little bastards to take off and never come back. But yeah, you two put on quite the show…”
“Dad—”
He cuts me off. “Don’t worry, the second your mother and I realized what was going on, we cut the feed to the camera off, giving you your privacy.
But color us both surprised when the feed alerted us to movement at the treehouse, and that movement ended up being our son going to pound town on his hot little girlfriend. ”
“Fiancée, Dad. She’s my fiancée. We’re getting married in a month.”
His eyebrow arches with approval. “Good. Glad to see you come to your senses. That girl is perfect for you. Your mother’s cards say so.”
It’s like my mother just knows when we’re talking about her because she floats into the room, grinning even wider than my father, giving me that motherly look I hate so much.
“Don’t you start too,” I threaten, pointing my fork directly at her. “Dad already outed you two.”
My mother holds up her hands, feigning innocence.
“I won’t say a word,” she says, buttering her bagel that dad just handed her from the toaster.
There’s an awkward silence before she turns around, her smile roasting me from afar.
“But I must ask, how in the hell did you two survive in the cold like that? It was just above freezing last night.”
“Ugh, do I have to tell you?”
“Inquiring mothers want to know,” she exclaims, winking obnoxiously.
“Body heat works wonders to battle the cold,” I mumble through my sandwich, the delicious feast suddenly tasting dryer than the Sahara Desert.
“I knew it!” she shouts, putting a hand in front of my father’s face. “Pay up, Papa, you lose.”
My father slaps a hundred-dollar bill in her hand, shaking his head the whole time. “For fuck’s sake.”
“You guys bet on my sex life?”
The way they both look at me with no remorse, shrugging like it’s not the biggest deal to have your parents basically catch a glimpse of your unknown sex tape being recorded, is deeply disturbing.
“Not exactly your sex life. Your mother bet me that you guys were going at it too hot and heavy for you to notice the cold air. I told her it was the heat of the engine keeping you guys going. But no, according to you, it’s your ability to fuck like a madman.”
My mother pats his face and grins. “He takes after his Papa.”
“Oh gross. I’m eating here. Keep your parental sex talk down to a minimum, please.” Pushing the plate away from me, I groan. “Actually, I just lost my appetite.”
They share a high five, then go straight to eating their food like this isn’t the most fucked up thing to wake up to on a Saturday.
“So, Amber left quite early. Everything okay?” my mother questions mid chew.
“She has to work this morning.”
“Ah, everything okay between you two? I read your cards this morning and what I saw wasn’t great.”
That’s never good. As much as I hate my mother doing readings on me, when she sees negative things in her cards, bad things happen. “Like what?”
She briefly meets my gaze, a look of hesitation resting in her eyes. “I probably shouldn’t tell you. You look so happy.”
“That’s ‘cause his world just got rocked. You’d be happy too if you had sex in the middle of a rainstorm.”
“I’d be ecstatic,” my mother agrees. “Rain is nature’s aphrodisiac, after all.”
My father and I share a look, both of us trying to hide our amusement.
“I’m serious,” she yells, whacking my father with her hand. “I know my stuff. I spent half a semester in college studying karma sutra.”
“Please don’t talk about that either,” I say over a groan. “I don’t want to know anything about your sex life.”
“It was more of an extra-curricular activity. An after-school club, if you will. I explored more things in that one semester than I have in my whole life. It’s when I went through my lesbian phase.”
“That was such a glorious phase,” my father says with pride. “The threesomes were amazing.”
“You know what? On second thought, don’t tell me what your cards say. I’m gonna get the hell out of here before you start talking about your love of bondage and whips.”
My mother smacks my father again. “I thought we weren’t going to tell him about our freaky Fridays?” she mumbles through the side of her mouth, unable to hide her evil grin. She knows exactly what she’s doing, and I hate it.
“Yup, I’m definitely out of here…”
They both laugh. “We’re just kidding, Eddie. It’s not every day we get to gross out our son. If you really want to know, I’ll tell you, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Reluctantly, I sit back down, unsure if I want a bulldozer to demolish this happy place I’m living in.
“I used two of my decks, doing my daily affirmations and blessings. Randomly, I’ll sometimes ask about you and your father.
After what I witnessed last night, I thought it be fun to run some cards on you.
” Her playful smile slightly dwindles. “But what I saw wasn’t good.
I used a Celtic Cross. Right at the center, I pulled The Lovers, reversed.
That caught my breath. It usually means disharmony and misalignment, like two people wanting different things but trying to force it. ”
“So, you’re saying that Amber and I are in disharmony?”
“If that was the only card, then yes, but it wasn’t.
Crossing it was the Three of Swords, the one with a bleeding heart and three swords stabbing through it.
It means pain and betrayal, Eddie. Other times it can mean a third party.
That’s what I felt when I read them. Someone’s going to interfere with your relationship, I’m not sure if it’s emotional, physical, or intentional, but the aftermath is going to be catastrophic, you’ll feel the wound like you’re always bleeding. ”
My father sits stoically in his chair, refusing to say a word, only judging me with his one good eye, studying me for a reaction. He knows I don’t believe in this shit, but for some reason, her words make me worry.
“I can see the pain in your eyes already. That’s why The Devil card laid in the foundation. Temptation and obsession are holding you back, Eddie. It’s not love if you’re tethered to a chain.”
“Are you trying to say I’m trapped in my relationship?”
“Or she is. Hell, maybe you both are. Sometimes it can be as simple as hanging onto something that isn’t real anymore.
I only say that because The Tower was in your near future.
It means sudden upheaval, and that bitch of a card doesn’t lie.
Truths are going to come out, Eddie, and they’re going to devastate and destroy you.
But you gotta look at the bright side. Sometimes things have to fall apart so we can peel back the layers and see what’s actually real. ”
“I don’t see how that’s good news, Mom.” A knowing shiver crosses through me. I’m holding back so much from Amber, truths that I know will destroy us and tumble the tower we’ve tried to hideaway in. But fuck me for wanting to save us—for protecting her from the truths that I know will break her.
She shakes her head. “I know you don’t believe in this stuff, but I believe in you, Eddie.
I know that you’ll figure out what’s best for you.
It’s why the Seven of Swords was hanging out in your environment placement.
Someone’s hiding something. It might not even be about you, but it’s definitely affecting your relationship.
That’s what leads to your outcome… the Ten of Swords. ”
“Is that the card where the dude has a bunch of stupid swords in his back?”
She nods. “Those stupid swords symbolize an ending. A very painful and final one. It won’t be easy, and even though I hate telling you this, I don’t think you two are going to make it past your wedding day.
There was no Ten of Cups in your spread to show me a positive outcome for the two of you. At least not now.”
Fuck. It has to be Pippa. There’s no other explanation for my mother pulling the worst possible cards for us.
“So basically, you pulled every negative card for me?”
She gives me a soft smile, shaking her head in response.
“No, I did pull The Star card in one of your positions. That’s a good card.
It means renewal and healing. But it only comes after a great loss.
It doesn’t promise a fairytale ending, but it means there’s still a path forward for you two, I just don’t know how long after the tower crumbles that the star will start to shine on you two again. ”
“No hope. Got it.”
“The Star card is all about hope, Eddie. I just don’t want you to ignore the warning signs. Please don’t shut yourself off to the light, even when it hurts to look at it. Sometimes it’s hard for us to look at things that uplift us when we’ve already been dragged through the mud and dirtied.”
“I think I’m done with my tarot reading,” I mumble, unable to shake the feeling that my mother is absolutely right. I knew this high I was riding wouldn’t last long, and this only proves it.
My mother reaches across the table and cups my cheek.
“Have faith, Eddie. If you truly love Amber and actually believe in your relationship, things will work out. Just remember to be open and honest with her.”
If she only knew how dishonest I’ve been.
How one secret would shatter everything we’re working towards.
The second Amber finds out about what happened with Pippa, the tower will fall, and the devastation my mother predicted will be the only thing I’ll have to keep me company.
There’s no way in hell Amber will ever forgive me for fucking her best friend behind her back.
It doesn’t matter if we were broken up at the time.
Betrayal is betrayal,
I’ve laid down this fucked up foundation, and those ten swords she predicted are already carving up my backbone. It’s only a matter of time before they sever my relationship completely.