Chapter 14
EILISH
“Who’s that?”
My eyes snap from my phone to Callie.
“What?” I all-but-yell. I have to: it’s loud as absolute shit in here with the rock music thudding over the loudspeakers and so many people that the place is almost certainly over legal capacity.
Callie rolls her eyes. “Who’s the guy you’re texting?”
I swallow, my heart skipping as I put down my phone.
“No one. There’s no guy.”
Next to Callie, Dahlia smirks at me.
“I call bullshit.”
Callie snorts, turning to clink her margarita against Dahlia’s. “Right?”
I glare at the pair of them. “Okay, first of all, I feel set up.”
Callie snickers. “How so?”
“You told me we were going out for research purposes.”
She shrugs, gesturing around the crowded bar with her brows. “I mean, it is, isn’t it?”
I roll my eyes. “No. This place is nothing like our plan for The Banshee when it reopens, and you know it.”
Callie grins as she takes a sip of margarita. “Yeah, well, it’s a fun vibe, the margaritas are strong, and they have a conveniently loose stance on checking IDs at the door.”
I sigh and shake my head as she giggles.
Callie’s not quite twenty-one yet. On the plus side, it means she still doesn’t have to deal with the whole bullshit arranged marriage thing she’s got with that creep Luca Carveli.
On the downside…well, Callie likes a good cocktail, but she doesn’t have a good fake ID.
“Secondly, I feel ganged up on.”
Dahlia lifts a shoulder. “It’s two on one, love. You are being ganged up on. Spill. Who’s the guy?”
“There is no guy!”
Such a lie.
I’ve been staring at Gavan’s texts for almost two hours.
Gavan
Be available to come over tonight.
Answer me.
That should be off-putting, right? I mean, rude? I’m not at his beck and call.
Except you sort of totally are.
And you kinda totally like it.
I probably need to set some boundaries with him. I definitely need to set some boundaries with him.
Dahlia gives me a look. “No one checks their phone that much without it being a somebody.”
I wrinkle my nose. “What?”
“It’s a fact,” Callie shrugs. “So… Who is it?”
Oh, just the man who I lost my virginity to. Which I haven’t mentioned to you, even though you’re my best friend. Or even mentioned it to my sister, for that matter.
Because the man I lost my virginity to is the enemy. A man who almost went to war with both my family and Callie’s. A man who maybe didn’t give the actual order, but whose wrath lit the fuse which blew up the Banshee, almost killing Callie, her grandmother, and me.
Which did kill Sean Farrell.
But when I’m with Gavan, it doesn’t feel like he’s the enemy at all. When I’m with him, it’s more like for the first time in my life, something feels completely right. Which is maybe a bit of a problem. Or a lot of one.
I might need psychiatric help.
Because I can’t stop what I feel when I’m near him. It’s a seductive, magnetic pull that I’m helpless to resist. The anxious neediness when I’m waiting for his next touch. The throb of nervous energy and the sharp inhale of breath when I defy him, which is like taunting an angry lion.
And God do I love it when he finally snaps and mauls me.
There was that one time he didn’t, which would be that first night at his home when I told him defiantly I wouldn’t be staying over, though he clearly wanted me to.
We’ve never circled back to that, and it’s never come up again. But it hasn’t gone unnoticed to me that he’s slightly more standoffish now, even though we’ve been having sex just about every single day since that night. It’s almost as if we got too close to a line, and then both backed off.
But I do stand by my decision not to stay over. That would have been…too much. Especially on the night I lost my virginity. Too intimate, maybe, like crossing a line from being just his fuck toy, which is fun and amazing, to…something more, which I’m not prepared to be.
But as for the sex part?
Um, yeah .
It’s otherworldly. Like, I didn’t know the human body could orgasm like that. And even though the first time was rough, and aggressive and wild, and I was tied up, it was also perfect. And hot, and not at all triggering, which is always good.
“Oh my God, why are you being so weird about this?” Callie sighs, ripping me from my x-rated thoughts.
I cover the blush on my face by slugging back half of my—admittedly delicious—margarita.
Callie makes a face and holds up her finger. “Wait, it’s not that Brooks douchebag, is it?”
I stiffen, my eyes snapping to hers. I’ve only briefly mentioned Brooks to her in passing, just in reference to high school. I haven’t mentioned his ridiculous “joining of the families” suggestion.
Nor have I told her what happened back in high school. I haven’t told anyone that, actually.
I can’t.
“How did you know about that?”
She lifts a shoulder. “Ares.”
Instantly, her face twists when my eyebrows fly up and I stare at her, open-mouthed.
“Okay, before you blow up, he didn’t knowingly tell me anything. I was over at his and Neve’s place and heard them talking about it when they thought I was in the other room.”
“Who’s Brooks?”
I ignore Dahlia’s question and look into my margarita, something cold and sharp twisting inside of me. Callie answers for me.
“Old high school boyfriend. He’s a douche. Dad’s a congressman or something.”
“He’s a senator,” I say coldly. My eyes raise to Dahlia’s. “It…didn’t end well. His father recently reached out to my uncle about Brooks and I marrying as some sort of political move.”
She makes a face. “ Wow . Medieval much? Who the fuck even still gets arranged—”
She winces, whipping her gaze around to a glowering Callie.
“Shit. Sorry.”
Callie shrugs as she polishes off her drink.
“Don’t be. That is not happening, anyway.
I’ll flee the country and buy a new face and change my identity before I marry Luca fucking Carveli.
Gross.” She shivers. “But we’re getting off topic.
We’re supposed to be ganging up on Eilish about the identity of her mysterious text-messager. ”
“True.” Dahlia swivels back to me. “Well? It’s not this Brooks wanker, is it?”
I groan, rolling my yes. “ No ! It’s not Brooks, okay?”
Shit. I realize I’ve slipped when I see the Cheshire Cat grin spread across Callie’s face.
“Aha! So you are chatting with someone!”
“ No ! C’mon, you know me. When would I have the time or interest for anything like that?”
Dahlia grins. “I mean, you could make time. You’ve got someone staring holes in the back of your head right now.”
I frown, turning to see a dark-haired, built, somewhat swarthy guy in an out-of-place suit leaning against the bar. Staring at me. He immediately glances away when I spot him, but I shiver.
I don’t think he’s an admirer.
There’s a good chance he’s one of Gavan’s men. Which is both an alarming and electrifying thought.
“Yeah, pass,” I mutter. When I turn back and see the insistent looks on their faces, I know this isn’t going away.
I sigh. Fuck it.
“Ugh, okay. Yes . Maybe I’ve been…seeing someone.”
That’s one word for it .
The two of them squeal.
“ Oooo ,” Callie giggles. “Tell all. Now.”
My face heats.
Not a fucking chance.
“It’s…just a guy. It’s nothing, really.”
Callie glances at Dahlia before smirking at me. “Nothing like nothing , or nothing like you’re just casually banging?”
My face goes crimson. Callie’s eyes instantly bulge.
“ Hold up ,” she breathes, staring at me. “I was kidding, but… Oh my God, are you seriously sleeping with someone?!”
My throat bobs up and down. “No.”
“Because if you went out and had sex for the first time and didn’t tell me, that’s fucked up.”
I frown. “Or, that’s private?”
“Dude, have you met me ?”
I snort.
“Yeah, I’m going to need to see your phone.”
“Not happening.”
“C’mon!!”
“No!” I laugh nervously.
“My brother saved your sister’s life.”
I stare at her flatly. “Okay, that’s cheating.”
“Don’t worry,” Dahlia grins. “We won’t snoop. Just show us what’s had you staring at your phone like you don’t know what to say back.”
Jesus, these two are fucking relentless.
“Hang on.”
They both grin as I pick up the phone and click on my text exchange with Gavan. There’s nothing really that bad in the text history. Mostly just demands like “Be here at 8, sharp”, or “My place, right now. Do not wear panties.”
I flush, mortified at the idea of these two seeing those. But they already basically know I’m seeing someone. And I mean, I’m twenty-one. I’m allowed to have sex.
Quickly, I delete any older texts where I mention his name, and then change his contact name to “Tyrant”. Then, I take a shaky breath, slug back the rest of my margarita, and slide the phone toward my gleeful friends.
“ No snooping. Seriously. Please.”
“Cross my heart,” Callie chirps before catching the attention of our waiter. “Hi, yeah, we’re going to need two more of these, please. Each.”
I groan. “You’re trouble.”
“Guilty as charged. Okay, let’s do this.”
I tense as she and Dahlia pick up my phone and focus their attention on the screen. Callie instantly explodes into fits of giggles.
“’ Be available to come over tonight?’ ‘Answer me’? ” she blurts. “Is this guy fucking for real?”
I groan. This was a horrible idea.
“No, it’s…it’s not like that. It’s like a joke—”
“I’m going to tell him to chill the fuck out.”
“CALLIE!”
I grab the phone out of her hands, deleting “be polite, douchebag” before she can send it.
Except another message instantly pops up.
Tyrant
I saw that.
Crap, he saw her typing.
Me
And?
Tyrant
Come to my place. Now.
The phone is suddenly gone from my hand again. I pale as my eyes snap to a grinning Callie, who is now in possession of it.
“ Callie— ”
“I’m not going to be a bitch about it. But seriously, this dude needs to calm down with the possessive macho shit. What are you, his slave?”
I blush fiercely.
“Can you just give it—”
“Hang on.”
I groan when I see her typing and then sending something.
“No stress,” Dahlia giggles. “She just told him ‘no’, and then ‘lol’.”
I cringe.
Yeah, to a normal person, that’s a simple response. To Gavan, it’s an act of rebellion that needs to be crushed.
I grab the phone back.
Tyrant
Excuse me?
Me
Sorry.
The phone is snatched from my hand again.
“Callie!”
I grab it back, paling as I read what she wrote.
Me
Did that text not come through before? I said “no”.
After that, there’s a freaking winky face.
He’s going to lose it.
Tyrant
I think you might have forgotten the nature of our arrangement. I want you at my house, naked, on all fours on my living room floor, in twenty minutes.
My thumbs dance across the screen.
Me
I can’t tonight.
Boundaries. We seriously need boundaries.
Tyrant
Once again, I’m not sure if you’re remembering our arrangement. Be at my place in twenty or there will be consequences.
“Mother fuck ! Callie!”
I lunge for my phone again after she grabs it. But she’s faster.
“Oh my fucking God !” she blurts, giggling as her face goes red. “Eilish Kildare! Who the fuck is this guy?!” She laughs, with Dahlia staring at the screen in shock. ‘ I want you at my house, naked, on all fours on my living room floor’ ?! Who even talks like that?!”
Dahlia flushes and grins. “I mean, I wouldn’t be mad if someone talked to me like that—well, depending on the someone, of course.”
Callie cracks up. “ Yeah , same. Now I’m super curious who the hell ‘Tyrant’ is.”
“He’s nobody ,” I mumble through a throbbing face.
She stares at me. “Wait. You’re totally fucking this guy, aren’t you?”
I swallow thickly but don’t answer, chewing on my lip.
“What the fuck , Eilish!?” She glares at me. “You don’t keep something like that from your best friend!”
You do when it’s a man who almost went to war with both our families.
“I…” I look away just as the waiter arrives with our obscene number of margaritas. Which we all instantly dip into.
“Look, I was going to tell you, I swear. I’m just…” I shrug. “Figuring it out, I guess? It’s not anything serious. Really.”
She glares at me before sighing. “ Fine . I forgive you.” She waits a beat for emphasis. “Dick.”
“Thank you.”
Callie gives me a look before giggling again. “But seriously. ‘ Or there will be consequences’ ?” She shakes her head. And before I can stop her, she’s typing rapid fire responses, mumbling them out loud as she does.
“El-oh-e lll, ” she giggles. “Like what?”
I groan. He’s going to make me pay so hard for this.
Except you’re not super upset about that, are you?
Callie keeps going. “Ruh-row. The tyrant is mad! Watch. Out,” she types, “World!” She instantly laughs. “He just asked if you’re drunk.”
“Not nearly drunk enough for this,” I mutter, slamming back three large gulps of my margarita.
“I told him it was none of his beeswax, and that you weren’t an on-call surgeon.”
I groan. “Will you please give me back my phone?”
“Not until you tell me who I’m texting on your behalf.”
“Not happening.”
“Well then, I guess this is my plane to pilot then, huh?”
I lunge again, but she pulls back, typing away.
“Night night, mister grumpy pants,” she giggles, sending a text. Her eyes bulge when she reads his response. “Dude, this guy is insane. ‘ Get your ass to my goddamn house right now or else’ ?!” She glances up at me. “Okay, seriously. Should I be worried? Honestly?”
Maybe .
“Just about me killing you to get my fucking phone back!”
“Okay, okay. Hang on. One more.” She sends something and then slides the phone across the table to me with a flourish. “I hope the sex is fantastic, ‘cause this guy seems like a complete psycho.”
“At least he’s not a phone thief,” I mutter darkly, picking up my phone and glancing at what she said.
Jesus. Christ .
Me
lol this is getting pathetic. Go jerk off if you’re that hard up. Byyeee.
My head jerks around, my eyes searching for the guy who was at the bar before, who I’m still convinced was one of Gavan’s guys, spying on me, ready to pass along exactly where I am. When I don’t see him anymore, my core clenches.
Yeah, I’m fucking screwed.