by L. P. Maxa
“You think things would have been different if you’d have stayed here in Texas?” Cash was rubbing his palm on Katie’s tiny bump. “If you’d have stayed in her life, in her face?”
“Maybe.” Or my presence could have pissed her off enough to do something rash and stupid. There was no way of knowing what might have been, and dwelling on it could drive a sane man crazy. “Either way, I’m here now, and I’m done letting her throw a fit about something that happened five years ago.”
“You cheated on her.” Cash sounded wary, like he wasn’t sure I remember what I’d done. “Saying ‘something that happened’ sounds like you’re making it less than it was.”
I gritted my teeth, so fucking tired of having to defend myself. “I went on a date to save her ass and yours. That chick had intel. Names, places, she had it all. I was going to tell Avory as soon as I got home, but then that bitch crawled into my lap and took off her shirt.” My stomach churned at the memory. “When I got home, I showered twice and smoked myself to sleep.”
“So it was really just a kiss.” Cash sounded relieved.
My jaw dropped at his statement. “Have you gone the last five fucking years thinking I slept with that whore? Are you serious? Why didn’t you fucking ask me?” I couldn’t imagine spending half a decade thinking my twin was capable of something so skeevy.
“I mean, I don’t know. I guess you were already so messed up over the whole thing, I didn’t want to bring it up.” Cash put his arm around Katie, kissing the side of her head. “Right after it happened I boarded a plane to Europe, and by the time we got home, you seemed so closed off, scarred.”
“She kissed me. I kissed her back because she said if I didn’t she’d name names and tell the girls we switched on what happened.” I swallowed thickly, recalling how hopeless I’d felt in that moment. “After she took her shirt off, I shoved her off me and took her ass home.”
“You cheated, but you had your reasons, and they were all pretty damn selfless,” Katie said between strawberries. “You were trying to keep your relationship with Avory under wraps so you could keep seeing her. And you were trying to right the wrong you inflicted on your brother.” Katie turned in her seat, meeting my eyes. “A wrong, I might add, that Avory was all for. Did she ever protest? Did she ever put anyone else’s needs before her own? Of course not. Avory is no angel, and it’s about fucking time all of you see that.”
Katie polished off the last strawberry and then licked her fingers. “She was a spoiled brat who wanted her way no matter who got hurt.” Katie used her thumb to gesture at Cash. “You were both in the wrong, but you,” she pointed at Crue, “you’re the only one who has owned up to their mistakes.”
Chapter Sixteen
Crue
Now
I was back at MJ Botanicals. I’d like to say I didn’t come here in hopes of seeing Avory, but then I’d be lying. I was finally working toward the rest of my life again, and I was like a fucking dog with a bone. I wanted Avory back in my arms, and I wanted her now.
“Where is everyone?”
“By everyone, do you mean Jett and Avory? The only two people who aren’t here in this building of fifty employees?” Marley took off her black-framed glasses, rubbing at her pretty eyes when I strolled into her office.
“Yes.” There was no use denying it, she’d only continue to call me on my bullshit. Marley didn’t play games, and she sure as hell didn’t put up with stupid petty lies. I’d been a lot like her once upon a time. Maybe I wasn’t so different from everyone in my family as I thought. Marley was a bit of an asshole, too. “Did you finally fire them for annoying you?”
She snorted. “Jett literally made me sign a contract stating that annoyance was never a reason I could dismiss an employee. Including him and Avory.”
“Smart.”
“I sent those two to meet with the investors we had you fly in, the ones from Ireland.” She grabbed the giant coffee mug from her desk, draining every last drop before setting it back down.
Marley was a boss in every sense of the word. She was up all night with a teething baby, and running a billion-dollar corporation between nap times. “Why did you send them? Shouldn’t it be you and Jett meeting investors?” They owned MJ Botanicals: they ran it. They had their hands in every aspect of operating the company. I presumed huge opportunities like this one would be something Marley insisted she kept control over.
“Avory and Jett are the two most pleasingly charming people we have in this company.” She shrugged. “They’re like the fucking Ken and Barbie of the medical marijuana world.”
“You expanding this enterprise to pimpin’ out family members now?” I didn’t love the idea of Avory being used for her beautiful face and banging body. And I didn’t want her spending time with Irish dudes with awesome accents.
“Says the bulked-up Hemsworth clone the family uses to be the face of our security detail.” She rolled her eyes, accurately pointing out that we all used each other for various reasons. “What are you doing here anyway? Stalking is a federal offense.” She held up a thick packet. “Or so says the handbook Avory put on my desk this morning.”
“I thought Devin was the human resources officer around here?”
“She is.” Marley blinked up at me. “Avory said I needed to read up because you were, and I quote, ‘suddenly up her ass.’”
“I’m not up her ass.” I mean, I was showing her more attention than I had in the last five years…but I hadn’t gone anywhere near that ass. Yet. “And I’m not stalking her. I work here too.”
“You’re contract labor, and we don’t currently have anything for you to do.” She tossed the papers into the trashcan. “You want to be honest with me? Or you want to leave?”
I knew Marley wasn’t bluffing. If I didn’t tell her the truth, she’d throw me out of her office and slam the door in my face. “I told Avory I was done letting her punish me for something that happened five years ago. She’s still in love with me, and I’m not going to let her pretend like she isn’t.” I sighed, sitting down on the small leather loveseat. “I’m not stalking, I’m simply not going to avoid places because she might be there.”
“Well, it’s about time.” Marley stood, going to the coffee station in the corner and pouring herself another cup. “I was wondering when you were going to put an end to Avory’s epic tantrum. You’ve been letting her treat you like shit for the better part of a decade.”
“You’re not team Avory? She’s your sister.”
“My sister is a straight-up selfish brat most of the time, and the only person who’s ever bothered to put her in her place, other than me, is you.”
She wasn’t wrong. Marley didn’t let Avory act up, and neither did I. I loved Avory Connor, worshiped her. But I’d always refused to bow down to her moods and whims. “You think she’s still in love with me?”
“I’m not answering that, she’s my sister.”
I scoffed. “You just said—”
“I said I agreed that she treats you like the only person who has ever fucked up in the history of this ridiculous family.” She held a hand up, letting me know she wasn’t finished. “We all know that’s not true. Avory is no angel. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to put myself in the middle of whatever is going on between the two of you.”
“She didn’t leave.” She didn’t move, she didn’t choose a new life with another man.
“Doesn’t mean it was because of you.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “It was partly because of me, and we all fucking know it.”
“Well, there’s only one thing you can do now.” She sat the stainless steel coffeepot back in the warmer.
“Yeah? What’s that?”
She blew on the dark black liquid, making the curling steam move closer to me. “Try to get your girl back.”
Try to get your girl back. Wasn’t that what I was doing? Wasn’t that what I’d been doing all along? “Easier said than done.”
“Don’t
be such a fucking pussy, Crue.” Marley leaned against the edge of her desk, clutching her newest cup of coffee. She seemed to be mainlining caffeine today. “You’ve always been a bit of an asshole. I admired that about you, and Avory was drawn to it like a moth to a damn bonfire. Be a dick, don’t back down. Be the guy she fell for, not the sap that’s been paying her undue penance for the last five years.”
“That really what you think? That I’ve been walking around with my tail tucked between my legs, waiting for Avory to forgive me?” I hurt her, and I deserved her anger. Granted, five years was a bit much.
“Yes. We all do. But I’m the only one bitchy enough to tell you to your face, pretty boy.” Marley sat back behind her large messy desk. “Avory fucked up too. Your problem is you decided to stop calling her on her bullshit the day she broke up with you.”
That was pretty much the same thing Katie had said the other night. Avory wasn’t innocent, and it was time I stopped letting her punish me for a mistake that took two people to make. Or three if you include Cash. He should have told us to fuck off from day one.
“How did you get so smart?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” I raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to tell me all her secrets. “I spent years studying all you idiots while you made your epic mistakes.”
Chapter Seventeen
Avory
Now
I was back in my loft, thank god. Being at the compound was too close for comfort with Crue. I wasn’t sure why all of a sudden he’d decided that we needed to be back together. It was fucking ludicrous. Did he really think I’d ever be able to trust him again? Did he really think we’d ever work after what he’d done to us?
Not a fucking chance.
And those texts last night…what the holy hell was that? I didn’t want to keep taking these stupid walks down memory lane because I knew exactly where they’d lead. Right to the worst moment of my life, the moment I found out in front of my family that the guy I revered had cheated on me like it was nothing. He’d cheated. He’d pushed me away. He’d broken me.
I wiped the lone tear that decided to roll down my cheek, no doubt leaving a black trail of mascara in its wake. Crying over him after all these years. I was pathetic.
“I’m pathetic.” I smiled through the waterworks still falling from my eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“You never need to apologize to me.” Crue wrapped his arms around my neck, drawing me in close and kissing the top of my head. “My last game means my senior year is almost over. It means soon we won’t be at the same school.” He pushed me back, wiping my tears with his thumbs. “I want to cry too.”
“Promise nothing will change, promise you won’t fall in love with an insightful English major.” I knew he loved me. But he was Crue Matthews. He was temptation wrapped in a sinful package. All the girls at school lusted over him, and they weren’t subtle about it. What would happen when he was around older girls? Girls he wouldn’t have to sneak around with? Girls who weren’t complicated?
“Look at me, baby spawn.” He held my face in his hands. “There isn’t anything that could take me away from you. Anything. Anyone. I’m so fucking in love with you.”
“I love you too.”
“Yeah?” He smirked, wickedly handsome. “Prove it.”
I couldn’t help but giggle, the last of my tears vanishing in an instant. “What’d you have in mind?” In that moment I believed him, I believed that we’d be together forever because no one else would ever understand us.
“How ’bout one more round in the dugout?”
I jumped into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist. He was already hard, knowing that I’d never turn him down. I was game. Always waiting with bated breath for the next time he’d hold me.
The sound of my cell phone ringing brought me out of the past. I needed to book an appointment with a shrink as soon as possible. These were like terrible acid flashbacks or something. Made sense. Crue had been like an addiction at one point, a drug. Either way, these memories were completely unwanted and unwarranted.
“Avory Connor.” I answered my phone like a professional now. Marley insisted after a client called about a glitch with the website and I answered by saying, What?
“Avory, hello, this is Sean Ryan.”
“Oh hello, Mr. Ryan.” Jett and I had been sent to meet with these new investors, like a couple of prized ponies. It wasn’t all terrible because Sean Ryan was lovely, and his accent was like music to my ears. “What can I do for you?”
“As we speak, Emmet and I are signing the contracts your office had drawn up.” There was a brief pause, the sound of pen scraping against paper. Marley was old school, wanting everything in hard copy as well as digital. It drove Talon crazy because he was the most environmentally cautious person I knew. “Let’s celebrate tonight when we bring them by your office, with some good Irish whiskey. How does that sound?”
Emmet and Sean Ryan were brothers from Ireland, and their family had been in the whiskey business for generations. As the two youngest, they wanted to diversify the wealth. And cannabis was the direction they’d gone. “That sounds fantastic, Mr. Ryan.”
“Sean, please, just Sean.”
I made sure he could hear the smile in my voice. I couldn’t stop wooing the Ryan brothers until the ink was dry on those contracts. “All right then, Sean, we’ll see you tonight.”
After I hung up, I did a happy dance in my living room. Marley wanted to be in Ireland. She wanted their soil, their air. She wanted to see what the magic of that country could do to her plants. I pulled up my texts, wanting to let her know the good news.
Avory: The Ryan brothers are signing our contracts! They’re bringing them by the office this evening along with some top-shelf whiskey to celebrate.
Crue: Thanks for the invite.
I jerked back, blinking rapidly, trying to understand why Crue texted me back when I’d meant to text my younger sister. Dammit. He was the last person I messaged last night. Fucking technology.
Avory: That was supposed to go to MVP. You’re not invited anywhere.
I closed out of that mistake of a text chain and sent one to the correct spawn instead.
Avory: The Ryan brothers are signing our contracts! They’re bringing them by the office this evening along with some top-shelf whiskey.
I checked and double-checked that the chain I’d opened was to Marley. Then I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone and add Jett as well.
Marley: Great job you two! I’ll see if mom can watch the baby so T and I can celebrate.
Jett: Well, now we know what it takes for Marley to use an exclamation point. Multi billion dollar contracts, Irish soil, and top shelf whiskey.
Avory: And successfully pimping out her family members.
Marley: One Ryan brother is gay, one is straight. I made the right choice sending you two, and we all know it.
Avory: Jett was flirty with both.
Jett: I wasn’t flirty, I was charming. Avory rubbed herself on Sean like a cat in heat.
Marley: Sean is the gay one.
Jett: Oh.
Avory: Hahahahahahahahahahaha
Jett: Then yes, it might have seemed like I was flirting.
Marley: Doesn’t matter. Contracts are signed and I’m proud of both my little whores.
Avory: Do we have a human resources department?
Marley: Devin. Good luck.
I hadn’t been rubbing myself on him like a cat in heat. He was gay, and I was enjoying the male conversation. I loved listening to him talk. Sean was handsome, and his brother was gorgeous. They were funny and charismatic. I’d stayed away from Emmet because he was engaged, and the last thing I wanted anyone to think was that I was making a play for someone who was taken. That would shed a terrible light on me, as well as MJ Botanicals.
Crue: What time are drinks?
Ugh. He was like a bad rash that wouldn’t go away.
Avory: You’re not invited.
Crue: You�
��re such a child.
Avory: You’re such a delusional douche.
Crue: See you tonight, baby.
Chapter Eighteen
Avory
Now
Contracts were filed, the ink was dry, and the whiskey was delicious. Jett, Devin, Marley, Talon, and I were in the lobby of MJ Botanicals. The Ryan brothers brought a case of their finest whiskey, and Devin had appetizers catered in from Austin. It was a small party, but it was a good time.
“So, love, tell me what it’s like growing up with rock stars for parents?” Sean sipped from his glass, leaning toward me in a way that didn’t put me on edge.
I laughed lightly, the sound honed to perfection over the years: kind and self-deprecating. “It was less interesting than you’d think. How was growing up with whiskey flowing like water?”
“It was fucking fantastic.” He winked, his grin taking over his whole handsome face. He had dark brown hair that was styled to absolute perfection. “For the most part at least. I’m sure you can relate though. There’s good and bad with being born into a famous family. People always want something from you. Can’t trust who your true friends are.”
I polished off my first glass, nodding when Sean offered me another two fingers. “Our parents kept us out of the public eye, at all costs.” I pointed to the glass doors. “We grew up on that compound across the road. And we were pretty much sequestered there.” Although I’d never complained about it. I had my family. I had Cash and Crue. I didn’t need anything else. And if I did, I simply snuck out and found it.
“How many of there are you?”
“There were ten of us kids: Landry, Beau, Halen, Evie, Cash, Crue, me, Jett, Marley, and Emmie.” His eyes went wide. “But now Landry has three sons, Halen has a daughter and one on the way. Cash’s wife is pregnant, Marley has Co, who you met the other day, and Emmie has a baby girl.”
