by Aliyah Burke
“I see.” She forced her fingers to relax from the fist she’d had. “And how long have you been there?”
A moment of silence before he spoke. “Four days.”
Betrayal. This was what it tasted like and she could honestly say she wasn’t a fan.
“Eva? I know what I said about coming to see you for—”
Eva cleared her throat. “Don’t worry about it. You made your choice. I think we should just end this all the way around. It was fun while it lasted but we both had to know it wasn’t going to go anywhere, seriously. Goodbye, Grant.” She ended the call before the tears began to fall.
She barely made it to her couch before her legs gave out on her. Tossing her cell away from her, she alternated between sadness and anger. Eventually anger won out. “The fuck he couldn’t tell me before he left. I spent all this time getting everything ready and now he tells me he has been out of the goddamn country for nearly a week?” She slammed her hand on the arm of her couch, wincing as pain zagged up her arm.
Beside her, the buzzing from her phone snatched her attention, but when she saw Grant’s name on the caller ID, she swore and pushed it away. Glancing around her apartment, she took in all the Christmas decorations she’d taken the time to put up, not wanting him to come and see an empty apartment. She didn’t decorate much but wanted this to be special for him. Took an extra day off work to make sure all was as nice as she could make it.
Her mom decorated and had a flair for it, making it stunning, but she, it took a lot for her to create the atmosphere she desired.
All for not—because he wasn’t coming. Not just that but he knew he wasn’t coming and didn’t believe she was important enough to give her that bit of information.
Her phone rang again and she walked away from it, only to whip back and pull it close. Going into contacts, she marked his ring tone, so she would know when he called. Temper riding high, she was close to ripping down all the merry decorations she’d painstakingly put into place.
She took a deep shuddering breath. Stalking up to the first silver tinsel garland she could reach, she curved her fingers around it, ready to yank, then hesitated. Why let him ruin this for me? I decorated, I like how it looks, I’m having my sisters over tonight. I am damn well going to enjoy this.
Perhaps not as much had he been there to share it with her, but she hadn’t let a man dictate her happiness before and she’d be damned if she started now. Determination stamped in her bones, she headed to the kitchen where she began making some Irish coffees, her sisters would be here soon, and she knew they would want one.
She even had the proper glasses to serve them in and she made a damn impressive drink. It was one of the few things she’d managed to retain from her only trip over to Ireland. Once the glasses were down, she started on the coffee. She grabbed down the brown sugar and whisky, then staged for her setup.
The door opened, bringing in her siblings, and she smiled at them as they shrugged out of their heavy coats and shook the snow from their hair.
“Cold as fuck out there. I’m ready to head back to Mexico. Who’s with me?”
Eva shook her head at Tara’s comment. “You do realize you’d have to go back out in the cold to get to the airport.”
“Stop ruining my pipe dream, you evil whore.”
Shai rolled her eyes and walked in the kitchen. “Coffee ready?”
“Making it now,” she said, grabbing the three glasses and added steaming hot water to them to pre-heat them. “Just waiting on the coffee to finish. Check on dinner, will you?”
Shai went to the oven and checked on the cheddar-baked chicken in there. “Looks good to me. So do the beans. Not much longer.”
“I love what you’ve done to the place, Eva. Care to come over and do mine?”
“No, thank you, Tara. I almost tore it all down a bit ago.”
“Why?” both siblings asked that simultaneously.
She flicked her tongue along her lower lip and sighed heavily. “I called him to see how he was and when I could expect him to arrive. He then informed me that he wasn’t coming and had been out of the country for four days. He’s hanging out in Uruguay.” She prepped the cream to its proper half-whipped state. “Apparently whatever they are offering in Uruguay is so much better than anything I could have possibly come up with here in the American Midwest.” Eva heard the hurt in her tone but tried not to make it sound worse than it was, tried to show that her heart hadn’t shattered into all those tiny insignificant pieces.
“The fuck you say?” Shai whirled around and crossed her arms as she stood before the stove.
“And he didn’t say anything beforehand?” Tara curved her hand into a fist.
Lord help her, she loved her sisters. “Nope, I just found out when I called him. So I hung up on him and that’s it, we’re done.” Hell, even saying the words hurt her heart. She’d fallen for him, hard. And as predicted, got my heart busted in the process. Oh, well, live and learn.
They both hugged her. “Thanks. It is what it is. Sucks, but I’ll move on.” Taking the coffee, she added it then mixed until the sugar melted into the brew. Next came the whiskey and she added equal amounts to each, then looked at her sisters as she waited for the brew to still. “I really liked him, too.” Tears burned her eyes and she prayed they wouldn’t fall. “But it’s better this way.”
“I know you did,” Tara said, squeezing her shoulder. “Why do you say that?”
“Because we know I can’t have children and men want to have their own.”
Her sisters glared at her.
She set her jaw and looked away not wanting to argue about that statement, plus she had more tears threatening. Picking up the hot spoon and the whipped cream, she slowly poured it over the back of the spoon. By the time she finished, she smiled at her artwork.
“Perfect,” she said. Sliding a glass to each sister, she lifted hers by the stem. “Drink up.”
They all hoisted their drinks.
“To family,” Eva said.
Her sisters echoed her and they clinked glasses.
She took her first drink and moaned as the concoction streamed down her throat, warming her from the inside out.
“You make a killer drink, sis.”
“Thanks, Shai. It’s the one thing I remember from Ireland. Learned from an old man in the back of a small pub.”
Her sisters kept up small talk during the meal, avoiding any mention of the man who was no longer coming for the holiday.
Eva made them each another drink after they ate dessert then they sat around her fireplace, classical music in the background, and just enjoyed the company they provided.
“So,” Shai said, after she took a big drink of her coffee. “What are we telling Mom and Dad about the rat bastard who now isn’t coming?”
Eva loved their unwavering support. “I’m going to tell them the truth, he’s out of the country, doing what he does.” Even as the calm words fell from her mouth, her fingers clenched around the stem of her mug. “I’ll let them know later tonight.”
Tara finished her drink and slumped down in her oversized chair, looking almost like a child in an adult’s seat. She dangled her legs over and moved them back and forth, not at all appearing like the cutthroat ADA she was. Recovering from a gunshot wound or not, she still looked like a little kid. “Stop laughing at me,” Tara demanded. “I know what you’re thinking.”
“If you did,” Eva said, trying her best to contain her mirth, “you wouldn’t be sounding like a petulant brat.”
“She is a brat,” Shai chimed in.
“Fuck the both of you.”
“Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?” Eva teased.
“I do, thank you very much,” she sassed back.
“And the bastard when he calls back, again?” Shai ground out her question.
“Let it go, Shai.”
“I would but your phone keeps lighting up with his name in the display. You shouldn’t have left it by me, if yo
u didn’t want me to speak on it.”
Grumbling at her sister, she slid off the couch, swiped her phone from the end table and tossed it to a seat no one was in, or by. “Happy now?”
“Not really,” she said. “But this isn’t about me, it’s about you and Mr. McHottie-Asshole.”
Eva had been lucky throughout dinner but now the gloves were about to come off. She settled in for the imminent grilling session.
* * * *
Grant swore again, as he tried Eva back once more. Nothing, all he got was her voicemail. Not even a pick up, then hang up. She wasn’t even accepting his calls.
It’s not like I didn’t want to be there with her. But it’s more than that. She said we were finished for good. Over. Finite.
“What’s up, man?” one of the other doctors popped their head in the room and asked. Daniel Horowitz was an amazing doc but not at all the person he wanted to discuss his relationship issues with. Hell, he wasn’t sure he had a relationship anymore.
“Calling home,” he said, waving the phone before him.
“When you’re done, a few of us are in the front playing poker if you’d like to join us.” He backed out and vanished from view.
Poker, not exactly the act he wanted to partake in, either. Still, it was thoughtful to be invited and he did get along with this group of doctors.
Regardless, he tried to get through to Eva once more. The just like all the times before it went straight to voicemail. “Eva, please call me back. I know I should have handled this better but don’t make it be the thing that comes between us. Let’s talk about this.” A moment’s pause. “Please. I don’t want this to end.”
He dropped the phone and cradled his head in his hands. “I’ve fucked up the best thing to stroll into my life.” His fault, he ran when he was too close to something. Using his need to help others as an excuse.
Yet for the life of him, he couldn’t explain why he had chosen to head to South America instead of Iowa.
“That’s easy.”
He jerked his head up and found himself staring at Denise Carter another of the doctors with them.
“Excuse me?”
She walked in and sat on one of the empty chairs as if she owned the place. “You were muttering about you weren’t sure why you came here, instead of going to Iowa.” She shrugged. “I said that’s an easy answer.”
“No offense, Denise, but I’m really not in the mood.”
She shrugged easily. “Of course not, men never are. But then, you’ll sit there and wonder until it gets to anger then it starts to be her fault and you’re never with her again, because you’re both angry and you refuse to accept the simple reason as to why you avoided going there in the first place. So fine, sorry for disturbing you.” Denise rose and walked back to the door she’d just entered through moments prior.
“No, wait.”
She gazed back at him over her shoulder. “What?”
“What exactly do you know that’s so easy I’m overlooking it?”
She faced him, eyebrows raised.
He beckoned to her, inviting her closer. “I mean it, I want to know.”
Denise strode to the nearest chair and straddled it, putting her arms on the back. “You came here because while it’s still a coward’s way out from progressing your relationship, you’re still doing something helpful. It’s simple. You’re scared of taking this next step with her, so you back out of spending the holidays with the woman and her family. That’s a big thing to do, no denying it. But you didn’t want to remain in the States and just be like, well, I decided not to come, so you volunteered for this last minute, because it’s still a worthy cause. And you can give yourself so many different excuses as to why you did. They needed your help because they were short doctors, or whatever. Bottom line is, you’re not in the country, so your family can’t push you to go and you can’t just up and show up. Then again, neither can she just jump on a plane and come to you.”
Those words hit the truth mark with unerring accuracy. Shit.
“So you understand?”
She narrowed her eyes slightly. “Don’t get it twisted. I think you’re a prick for what you did. I just said it was easy to point out the reason. But, no, I don’t understand why you did it. Especially, if you didn’t give her any warning you were coming out to this location until you were here, which from the expression on your face, you didn’t do.” Denise scuffed her feet on the floor a few times. “Listen, I dated a man like you once. Good man, no denying it and we had fun together. For all intents and purposes, I thought we were moving in a certain direction, but he continued bailing during certain things we planned. Oh, sure, when we were together he would say all the right things and do them as well, but I couldn’t help but wonder. And he pulled something like what you’re doing.”
“And did you give him another chance?”
“Me? Fuck, no, that was the end of it for me. But he’d done it several times before. He called after that wanting to talk, wanting me to forgive him. I did. I forgave him, I let go of the anger.” She narrowed her eyes. “I also let go of him.”
His heart plummeted. “She’ll talk to me.”
Her smile didn’t offer him a single shred of comfort but then neither did the blank expression she leveled in his direction.
“Sure, she will.” Denise left him alone.
Grant thought about her words and realized she had him pegged. He always thought about a future with Eva but when this got there, he ran. Cold feet.
“I’m such a fucking pussy.” He headed for his room and flopped back on the bed, all the while cursing himself into the next century. Grant lay there for about five minutes before he got to his feet and went to join the poker game.
The guys welcomed him and got him a drink.
They played into the night and he headed back to his bed, buzzed and horny. Closing the door behind him, he took care of his needs then flopped into bed, still horny and still feeling the effects of his drinking. Fumbling for his phone, he pulled up pictures of him with Eva.
“Eva,” he muttered, stroking his thumb down the image.
So full of life, so vibrant. So his.
“At least then.”
He pulled up her contact information and pressed the call button. It rang and rang then went to voicemail again. Buzzed, yes, drunk enough to leave a rambling message on her phone? No. He hung up and let it fall to the mattress beside him.
Falling asleep on this narrow cot wasn’t ideal, not when he knew he had a queen-sized bed he could have been in…with a willing woman.
His frustrated groan was dragged out from his chest as he gripped his balls and tugged gently. Far too long since he’d had her touch on him. And that’s what he wanted. He ran his hand over his cock and balls, increasing the pressure as he did it over and over again, never once picking up his dick, yet just using the flat of his palm. Over the shaft then down along his sac and back up again.
Grant closed his eyes and pretended Eva lay there with him, her touch, her hair skimming along his chest. He tugged on his balls once more before actually curving his hand around his shaft. He drew down and away from his body as more blood pumped through to gather in his cock. Once it grew fully erect, he sped up his strokes, short fast pumps as he massaged his balls with his other hand.
He focused on the blonde before him, with the blue tips in her hair as she played with her wet pussy while he jerked off. This act turned her on so much, she’d told him that more than once. He loved watching her masturbate, watching her show him what felt good to her, letting her tease herself as he was having to do right this moment.
Adjusting his grip so his thumb was up and not down toward his groin he fisted faster, pinching the head to extend his pleasure. His balls drew tight and he yanked harder, needing the release, craving it so he could then relax and possibly get some sleep.
His cum shot out of him some hitting his abs and some leaking down over his hand. It would suffice for now, but not as much pleas
ure as when Eva was with him. Grant cleaned himself up all the while thinking about how he was going to go about getting her back into his life.
He had a lot of work to do once he made it back Stateside. But this time he wasn’t going to be running away like a coward. He would get his woman, claim her and keep her.
Grant didn’t get much sleep for about two hours after he lay down. Then they woke him for an emergency that had arisen. As he shrugged into his shoes, the thought once more about the surgeon he’d left behind in Iowa.
The hell he was giving her up without a fight.
Chapter Eleven
“Dr. Monroe you have a call on line four. Dr. Monroe, line four.”
She smiled down at the boy whose room she was in at the moment. “Excuse me, Taylor, I have a call to take. I’ll be right back.”
“What about our game?” He watched her with those big brown eyes.
“Well, it’s your turn, so you figure out your next move and I’ll be right back in.”
“Promise?”
She cupped his face, his dark brown skin soft and still a bit clammy. “I promise.” She exited his room and went to the nearest phone, grabbed the receiver and pressed the proper button. “This is Dr. Monroe.”
“Dr. Monroe, this is Archibald Quintero down at the Santo Domingo Children’s Cancer Society in Orlando. We spoke earlier this year about you coming down to give a talk on some of your procedures done at your facility.”
“Yes, sir, I recall that conversation. Good to hear from you.” That had happened before her vacation to Mexico and Grant. She shook off that memory and focused on the man at the other end of the call. “How can I help you today?”
“We were wondering if you had some time to come down in January. I know it’s not a lot of advanced notice, but we were just able to get everything in order. Is this something you think you would be able to do?”
She pulled out her phone and called up her schedule. “Let me take a look. What dates were you considering specifically?” While she didn’t think it would be an issue, she wasn’t positive.
