CHAPTER 33
Tate
I ground my teeth together when I heard Eve come home. She didn’t come over right away and it just set my nerves on edge. I wanted her to run to us right away even though it was a bad idea. I wanted lots of things I had no business wanting.
I was sitting on the couch, waiting for her, when Nash came out of his room and sat across from me. Aiden was right behind him. We were all waiting for her.
“I’m sure she just has to shower before coming over. I saw some of the shit they were doing in the park today and some of it got messy.” Nash ran his hands over his hair and nodded, reassuring himself. “I didn’t mind the dirt last night, though.”
I shook my head. “It took everything in me not to bitch at her for how she drove out of here. The way she came back here covered in dirt…who fucking knows what they got up to.”
Aiden checked his watch and stood up. “I could just go get her.”
Before we could embarrass ourselves, the sound of her cabin’s door slamming shut echoed through the early evening. I held my breath, nervous she might’ve been leaving again. A few seconds later, the sound of her steps on the porch soothed that panic, though.
We all sat there like lions waiting on dinner to show up. When Eve did come inside, she had an electric energy which felt so unusual that none of us moved. She seemed happy with that as she moved to stand in front of us, her wet hair swaying as she bounced on her tiptoes.
“I have to tell you about today! It’s crazy what those crazy women pulled off!” She let out a happy laugh. “They’re playing matchmaker. I didn’t get it at first, but they totally are. It’s bizarre, but sweet in the way only they could be sweet while being total pains. They’re pairing off the couples and pushing them together. Billie and her guys were paired up. I was supposed to race with Billie, but Margaret gave me this look and it was somehow clear I wasn’t supposed to race. I just sat back and watched as Billie raced against the Hellstone brothers alone. Billie still won the battle but those men were staring at her like starving alligators. She’s definitely not coming over tonight. Same for Joanie. I don’t know how Margaret did it.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Sounds like a big day for Harmony Valley.”
“I don’t even know how many pairs were made today. It was wild. I’m happy for Joanie and Billie. They deserve their happy endings.” She sank into the chair across from us with a happy sigh. “There are two more days of this. It’s like one of the books I edit in real life.”
Nash grunted and leaned forward. “Come here, Eve.”
Her cheeks darkened but she got up and moved towards him. “Sorry. I’m just excited for everyone. Did you guys see any of it today? I saw some firemen and paramedics there but I didn’t see you.”
Nash pulled her into his lap and took her mouth in a hard kiss. Shutting her up. It wasn’t hard to see what he was doing.
Eve pulled back with a laugh and patted his chest. “I think there’s something going on with Margaret and Mayor Stevens. Is that crazy?”
I tilted my head back and stared up at the ceiling. Things were too precarious. I felt too tense, too on edge. I didn’t want to talk about love matches and I didn’t want to see how excited she was by other people’s love. It made me feel even worse about everything.
“I have to compete tomorrow, too. Not that I’m doing much. It’s really just the matches battling it out. I think I’m just a distraction. Not that I mind. I’m so excited for Joanie and Billie. Did I say that already? I’m rambling but I can’t help it. It was crazy today.”
I reached out and clamped my hand over her mouth. “Do you want to come to bed with us, Eve?”
Aiden shot a hard glare at me. “Tate.”
Eve’s eyes showed a flash of hurt but she blinked it away. When I thought she’d tell me to fuck off, she nodded into my hand. She stood and stared down at me with an expression I couldn’t place, but it made me feel like shit.
She pushed her pants down and then tugged her shirt over her head. Standing before us, completely naked, she held her hands out. “Take what you want.”
I stood up and walked around to the back of the couch, putting some distance between us. My head throbbed as a headache came on suddenly. “I’m so—”
“Shut up, Tate.” She rounded the couch and stood in front of me with her shoulders back and her chin tipped up in a beautiful display of defiance. “Take what you want because I’m going to take what I want. Even if we don’t say another word to each other, I’m going to take this until I can’t. So, just shut up.”
A better man would’ve called it off. He would’ve seen the woman in front of him for who she was and he wouldn’t have taken from her again when it was so clear he was going to hurt her. A better man would’ve apologized for being an asshole and walked her home.
I already hated myself for how things would end with Eve so one more sin didn’t matter. I wasn’t a better man. I was just a man desperately clinging to a woman who’d never be his. I was cutting myself as deeply as I was cutting her but I couldn’t find the strength to care.
I picked her up and carried her to my room with Nash and Aiden at my heels. I needed to be inside her in every way I could. Full of frustration, need, and so much desire that I was choking on it, I lost control. I was rougher than I should’ve been but Eve met every hard thrust and raked her nails down my back to match every bite I left on her. I left handprints and marks which would fade but as she came for me with her heart in her eyes, she left marks all over me that would scar for life.
She didn’t stay the night. When we were all exhausted and stretched out across my bed, she stood and slipped out of the room. The sound of the front door closing a minute later was as loud as a shotgun blast. Nash and Aiden sighed and went to their own rooms. The divide felt bigger than the walls separating us. Still covered in sweat and Eve’s come, I felt a chill settle over me and a bitter loneliness that was as sharp as it was unwelcome.