Finding Ever After (15 page)

           
“So, a daughter?”
Not even he could remain unmoved by
Shane’s confession.

           
“Yeah.
Isabelle.” Then he looked at me. “Isabelle
Jaxyn Malloy.” I gasped, shocked at the revelation. It was the first time I’d
heard her full name and I was speechless.
He named his daughter after me?
I finally found my words and asked the only thing I could think of. “Why?” He
chuckled lightly at my bewildered state.

           
“When I thought about my daughter growing up the way you did and I realized I
didn’t want to be the kind of father ours was, I also realized that if she grew
up with even half of your strength, she would be alright in life, no matter
what. I don’t want to be anything like our dad, but I want my daughter to be
like her aunt.” I couldn’t believe he thought that, I was anything but strong.

           
“But I’m not strong.” I whispered.

           
“Yes you are. Through all the pain and shit you’ve been dealt, you still
haven’t given up. You’re kind and smart and determined. You refused to let Dad,
or anyone else beat that out of you. You’ve never been afraid to love and I
understand now, that love isn’t weakness at all. Loving someone is one of the
bravest things you can do. It’s a choice you make that requires you to give a
part of yourself but you become even stronger for it. You’ve always had that
strength inside of you. So when you doubt yourself or think that doesn’t
matter, know that it that matters a hell of a lot to me because if it weren’t
for you I might have made the biggest mistake of my life.” Damn it I was going
to cry again.

           
I was still wiping the tears from my eyes when we reentered the living room a
few minutes later. “You promise I can finally meet her tomorrow?”

           
“Yeah, I’ll bring her and Luce for dinner. They both really want to meet you.”
After Shane gathered his keys and phone I did something I had never done before
and I wrapped my arms around him. I could tell that he was caught
of
guard. His body tensed for just a second and then he
returned the gesture and squeezed me back. He pressed a kiss to the top of my
head before we separated. “See you tomorrow little sister.”

           
“I’m
gonna
crash at Dad’s tonight.
Ky
you
wanna
come snuggle?” Kyden
shot him a look that was far from amused. “Oh come on, I thought your rules
only extended to females.” Chris ribbed him. I was curious what he was
referring to though.

           
“Rules?”
I asked.

           
“I don’t sleep with anyone Princess.”

           
“
Hmph
.
I find it really hard
to believe that you don’t sleep with the girls from your shows.” I retorted.

           
“It’s not sleeping that we do, Princess and when we’re done I say goodbye. I
don’t spoon, or cuddle or do mornings after or any of that other bullshit.”

           
“Yes, how unreasonable of a girl to expect any decency or consideration after
giving it up to you.” His eyes darkened and a scowl covered his face.

           
“You think they come to me half dressed and lust crazed looking for a good
cuddle? They know exactly what they’re getting and I can assure you they’re
plenty satisfied when I’m done.” He growled.

           
“On that note, goodnight.
You kids try to play nice.”
Chris waggled his eyebrows and made his exit.

           
“Well Casanova,” I did nothing to try and hide my contempt for his debasement
of my gender. “Your choices are the couch or the princess bed. You can take
your pick. There are extra blankets in the closet by the stairs.” I informed
him before making my way up the stairs. I was beyond exhausted and wanted
nothing more than to crawl between my soft sheets and sink into a blissful
sleep. Bas followed me and I heard Kyden trailing behind him. I almost laughed
myself trying to picture him wrapped up in pink blankets and the sparkly gauze
canopy that draped around my old bed. That would certainly be a sight and a
good blackmail photo.

           
The next morning I woke to the sound of a doorknob rattling and the bedroom
door scraping over the carpet. I slowly pried my eyes open. The sun was already
streaming in through the curtains and Bas’ face was still buried in the pillow
next to mine. He started to stir at the same time I remembered the sound that
woke me. I heard a sharp intake of breath and snapped my head toward the door
way to see Lissa standing there staring at Bas lying next to me in the bed. Her
face was a mix of betrayal and outrage.

           
“Crap.” I muttered under my breath, but it was enough for Bas’ eyes to finally pop
open and upon seeing my face he followed my gaze.

           
“I knew it. I knew you were going to sleep with her.”

           
“Calm down Liss, it’s not like that.” He pulled the covers back and stood to
face her. I remained in my spot on the bed, but I sat up, which made me feel
slightly less vulnerable with an irate girlfriend glaring daggers at me.

           
“Don’t tell me to calm down. I caught you in bed with that slut.” Her shouting
brought Chris into the room to see what was going on. I had to assume that he
had let himself in this morning, presumably to raid my food since all his dad
usually has in the cupboards is organic, whole grain, high fiber,
super
food. He had to have let her in as well.

           
“I’m sorry.” He apologized, confirming my suspicions. “She said she was just
here to talk to Sebastian. I didn’t know she was
gonna
freak out.”

           
“On what planet would any girl not freak out when finding her boyfriend in bed
with someone else?”

           
“The one where they’re not actually screwing each other.
It’s really not a big deal. They used to sleep over all the time together in
high school.” Chris’ attempt to rectify the situation had the opposite effect.

           
“Even better.”
She glared at Bas. “You’ve been
sleeping with her for years and you lied to me about it.”

           
“Wait, no. I didn’t mean like that. I meant they just slept in the same bed.
Key words being
just slept.
”

           
“Right.
I’m not that naïve so you can quit trying to
cover for them.” Chris just put his hands up in surrender and took a step back
from her.

           
“Liss we’re both still in our clothes for fuck’s sake. If you would just stop
being so damn emotional for five seconds you’d realize I’m not lying to you.”
Oh
no.
Wrong thing for Bas to say.
Apparently I
hadn’t taught him anything about dealing with ticked off females, because you
definitely don’t accuse them of being emotional.

           
“I. Don’t.
Fucking.
Care.
You
were in
bed
with
her.
” She said the last part like I was some
kind of disease she was afraid of catching. “You should have been home. With
me, but you weren’t. You were here, sleeping next to another woman.”

           
“And I just told you nothing happened. When I told you I was coming over here
to check on her last night, you told me not to come home, so where did you
expect me to be?”

           
“Not in bed with her.” She yelled.

           
“She’s my sister, Liss. Why are you making a big deal out of it?” Chris and I
made eye contact and silently agreed to give them their space to work this out
or yell it out, without an audience. Chris turned and quietly left the room and
I got up and started to move toward the door to follow, but she stopped me in
my tracks.

           
“Don’t you move you home wrecking whore!” There was so much acid in her voice,
I almost felt a physical sting. She turned back toward Bas. “She’s not really
your
sister. You should have slept on the couch!”

           
“She is my sister and I don’t know how many ways I can explain it to try to
make you understand that. But you’re not going to stand here, in Jaxyn’s house
and verbally assault her.” She huffed, taken aback by Bas asserting himself
like that. I’m not sure what she had been hoping for, but whatever it was she
didn’t get it. She redirected her anger back on to me. “Are you happy now
skank
? You got what you wanted.” I started to speak but Bas
didn’t give me the chance.

           
“Enough, Lissa.
I’m done talking since you’re not
listening. If you’re just going to continue to hurl insults and accusations,
you need to go.” If dirty looks could kill, Bas and I would both be dead.

           
“Fine.”
She snapped and then stormed out of the room,
down the stairs and out of the house, slamming the door behind her.

           
“Bas, you should rethink this and go after her. I don‘t want to come between
you two.” I tried to reason with him.

           
“No! I’m done giving in to her. It’s bullshit that she doesn’t trust me. She’s
acting like a jealous bitch.” He practically shouted at me.

           
“But you love her.” I reminded him.

           
“It doesn’t matter. She’s done nothing but
attack
me
and accuse me of cheating all week.”

           
“Then go right now. Show her that she matters.”

           
“I’ve showed her that every damn day this week by staying away from you and I’m
not doing it anymore. I’m not going to leave you hanging because she’s
insecure.”

           
“Hey, we’re good, and we’re always going to be good. She’s not going to change
that. Our friendship will survive your relationship with
her,
it’s just going to take time for her to see that I’m not trying to take you
away.”

           
“Jazz, you’ve been my best friend since kindergarten. If she wants to force me
to choose, then I’m going to choose you.”

           
“Not over this. I love you Bas, which is why I’m not going to let you ruin
things with the girl you love because of your pride, or your misguided attempt
to defend me. She’ll come around to me, but in order for that to
happen,
you have to go after her.”

           
“No.” The withering look he gave me said our conversation was over,
then
he turned and walked out of the room.

           
“Stubborn mule.”
I mumbled under my breath as I threw
myself back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Things were such a mess. I
came back to repair my relationships, not destroy everyone else’s. If Bas was
planning on proposing to her before I came back, then I knew she was special
and I couldn’t let him blow it. That night in the restaurant I’d gotten the
feeling that Lissa suspected there was something more than friendship between
Bas and
I
. She wasn’t the first girlfriend he’d had
who thought I was trying to steal her man. I couldn’t blame her entirely
either. I know how hard it would be for me to understand a relationship like
ours if I was looking at it from the outside, especially if it were my
boyfriend and another girl.

           
I had no idea what to do to convince
her I didn’t have feelings like that for Bas. Our one and only kiss had been
clumsy and awkward and left us both embarrassed and unfulfilled. It was during
our eighth grade year. With all of the new hormones and social pressures to
start dating, we both suffered from delusions for a brief period when we
convinced ourselves that we felt something more and owed it to each other to
pursue it. However, after that one kiss we both knew without a doubt that we
would never be more than friends. It had literally felt like I was kissing a
relative, his reaction had been much the same and we both agreed never to speak
of it again.

           
Again I thought of how different kissing Kyden would feel. There would be
nothing awkward or brotherly about kissing him.
Ugh. Knock it off.
That
was the last thing I needed to be thinking about. His lips wouldn’t be coming
anywhere near mine no matter how tempting they were, but I couldn’t resist
taking a peak into the princess room to see if he was still asleep. He hadn’t
appeared at all when Lissa was yelling.

           
If I was in danger of being attracted to Kyden in all his arrogance, then I
knew I was precariously close to falling over that ledge when I looked down at
him tangled in my hot pink sheets. Asleep there was
a
gentleness
to his face that I hadn’t noticed beneath the smug expression
and crooked grin he usually wore. He always looked devastatingly handsome but
right now, he was more than that. The peacefulness and vulnerability of his
rest made him beautiful in a way I never thought a man could look. There was no
furrow in his brow or tension in his jaw. He wasn’t trying to reign in his
every thought and emotion and bury it behind a cocky exterior.

           
Suddenly I found myself wondering about his past and what he had to hide. He’d
mentioned his mother but was he close to her, were his parents still together,
did he have any brothers or sisters? What had happened in his life to make him
the unattainable bad boy? These were questions I couldn’t afford to dwell on
lest they push me right over that edge. They were the things that would make
him more . . . human; more . . . attainable.

           
I needed to put a stop to that line of thinking. It wouldn’t do me any good to
try and unravel his story. He wasn’t a puzzle for me to solve. He was
heartbreak waiting to happen.
Really adorable heartbreak,
snuggling with my Beauty and the Beast pillow.
I slid my finger across
the screen of my phone and opened the camera. I made sure the flash was off and
as stealthily as I could manage I leaned over the bed to get a picture of him
surrounded by pink, his head resting right next to Belle’s face. One second I
was snapping the picture and the next I was on my back pinned beneath a hard,
warm, nearly naked body.

           
“Good morning Princess.”

           
His body covered mine and his hands pinned my wrists on either side of my head.
Every inch of my body hummed with an acute awareness of all the places our
bodies connected. With nothing on but his boxer briefs, our hips were aligned
and his strong thighs pressed into mine. His bare chest hovered just inches
above me and I breathed in his distinctly male scent; a seductive combination
of his body wash and natural musk.

           
“I think I’ll take this.” He shifted my wrists into one hand and held them
above my head while wriggling the phone out of my grasp. He slid his fingers
across the screen and I can only assume he deleted the picture I had taken.
“That wasn’t very nice Princess.”

           
My heart rate was beating so quickly. I was sure he could hear it. My thoughts
were such a jumbled mess that I couldn’t focus enough to form a coherent
sentence. All of my senses were on overload because of his nearness. He
chuckled softly and lowered his upper body until every part of him was pressing
down on me. With his nose he traced the outline of my jaw until his face was
nuzzling my neck. He inhaled deeply and let out a sigh.
“
Mmmm
.
If this is what I’m missing out on waking up
to I may have to reconsider my stance on sleepovers.”

           
I felt the briefest touch of his lips, and his tongue darted out to taste my
skin on a path from my shoulder up my neck to my ear. I let out a gasp, as
every neuron in my body fired off and I was lit up in a frenzy of need. With his
weight still pinning me to the mattress, I could do nothing to escape his
tantalizing assault on my flesh. He pulled my earlobe between his teeth and
nibbled before abruptly releasing my arms and lifting himself off the bed. I
was still stunned in place as I watched him throw on his discarded clothing and
saunter out of the room without
sparing
a second
glance. It was a full two minutes before my breathing slowed down and I could
process the signals from my brain to my body telling me to get up.

           
After a lengthy shower I dressed and went downstairs to find Chris and Bas
lounging in the living room and an enticing aroma wafting from the kitchen. My
stomach rumbled and I followed the delicious breakfast smells. Kyden was standing
barefoot in my kitchen over the stove wielding a spatula, flipping omelets and
stirring fried potatoes. There was something intimate about the whole scene
that made butterflies take up residence in my stomach.

           
“Hungry, Princess?”

           
“Not really.” I tried for indifference but my traitorous stomach chose that
moment to let out another fierce growl. He chuckled and turned to pull four
plates out of the cupboard. He obviously felt at home in my kitchen.

           
“Sit.” He commanded and I obeyed. He dished up a plate and set it on the table
before me.

           
“Umm, thanks.”

           
“Smells good.
Food done?”
Chris asked joining us. He immediately grabbed a plate and piled it high with
food before taking the seat next to mine. He was closely followed by Bas who
dished up equally daunting portions and claimed the seat across from me.