[Found in Oblivion 01.0 - 02.0] Bedded Trouble

by Cari Quinn

  Her older sister’s voice was incredulous. “Jules? Are you okay?”

  Of course, Margo would have to ask that question. Because Juliet rarely called Margo these days, and especially not when they’d just seen each other during that shitstorm of a Thanksgiving she’d just as soon forget.

  Her parents had been cool to her as always, and more so now that they had heard she was seeing a lighting director. If Margo’s rockstar husband wasn’t good enough, Juliet’s boyfriend in the crew was ten times even worse.

  At dinner, she’d balled her hands under the table and fought every urge to scream at them that they didn’t know the half. She wasn’t just dating a lighting director, but a chef. At the same time. Fucking them in the same bed.

  And better yet? She was grateful as hell that she’d stumbled into them or they’d stumbled into her and set her world on its axis.

  But she’d remained silent, for too many reasons to count. At heart, she was still a coward. Still craved her parents’ approval in some dark, shady place. Margo had her own issues with their parents and hadn’t wanted to come to dinner at all—and had, in fact, vowed at a Christmas past never to step foot into their family home again—so Juliet had bitten her tongue so hard it still hurt.

  She’d chosen another way to speak up. Another way for the truth to come to light. A chickenshit way, truth be told. It had been an impetuous decision, and one not at all respectful of Tristan’s wishes to the contrary. But she’d been feeling angry and reckless and desperate—so desperate to finally build something real with two men who got her in a way that defied explanation.

  Her desperation and her need to finally be honest for once in her life had ruined everything.

  “Jules?” Margo asked. “Are you still there? Are you okay?”

  “Yes, I’m here.” Her voice broke. “No, I’m not okay. So far from it, and I don’t know how to make things right again.”

  “What’s wrong? Talk to me.”

  Could she? She’d spent so many years by turns in awe of and resentful of her beautiful, accomplished older sister. Too much distance had sprung up between them, and Juliet didn’t want it there. Not anymore.

  More than ever, she needed her big sister to tell her everything was going to be okay.

  “I didn’t come to your commitment ceremony with Simon in Paris,” Juliet said quietly. “I know you think I flaked out and made up a story about the flight being cancelled just because I didn’t want to go, but that wasn’t it. I mean, I made up the story about the flight, yes, but I wanted to be there. I swear I did.”

  Margo let out a baffled laugh. “Where is this coming from?”

  “I was in a serious motorcycle crash in Paris with my boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend,” she corrected. So ex that it wouldn’t have been worth talking about, if every brick in her past didn’t count as part of the whole that made up who she was.

  She was finally starting to understand that.

  “Oh, Jules. When?”

  “A long time ago. At least it feels that way, but in chronological time, not all that long. But your commitment ceremony was too soon after the crash for me to go back. I just couldn’t. I was having panic attacks at the thought of being in Paris again.” Tightly, she shut her eyes. “I’m so glad you and Simon decided to get married for real at the orchard with Nick and Lila. That you did another ceremony I could be a part of. But God, I always felt so guilty I hadn’t been there for you the first time. That’s my job. You’re my sister.”

  Margo made a sound that seemed suspiciously like a sniffle. “I’m so sorry you were hurt. I never guessed—never could imagine anything dimming your shine for even a moment. You were always the star in the center of everything. Thinking of you hurt and scared wrecks me.”

  “I made the choice to handle everything on my own. It’s not your weight to carry, but I needed you to understand. Nothing should’ve ever kept me away. Not when you needed me.”

  “I did need you, but you came to the wedding. You stood up for me there. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

  Juliet took a shaky breath. “Even without me in Paris, you had Simon. The man you love. He was more important than anyone else.”

  “It’s not like there’s a finite amount of love.” Margo let out a laugh. “I have more than enough for Simon and you, and my crazy band and—Jules?”

  “Yeah.” Juliet bowed her head, giving in to the tears she’d felt pooling in her eyes. Ignoring them hadn’t worked. Now they were being really annoying and slipping over her cheeks and all the way down her throat, wetting her shirt. “I’m still here.”

  “My God, you’re crying. You.”

  “What do you mean, me? I cry.” Not often.

  Okay, basically not ever.

  “Not in years. Not for real. Oh, sure, you can turn on the waterworks when you want to get your way, but this isn’t about that. What happened? Tell me who made you cry so I can go kill them.”

  Juliet laughed through her tears. “It’s been a long time since you’ve threatened to beat someone up for me. I didn’t realize how much I missed it.”

  “Was it Mom and what she said about your boyfriend at dinner? You know how narrow-minded she is. You can’t let her stop you from being with him, if he’s really the guy you love.”

  A sob worked its way out of Juliet’s throat and she choked, dropping her head back on the couch. “I do. I do love him. And I love Tristan, and I made a huge mistake and ruined everything.”

  “Wait, wait, hold up. Who’s Tristan? I thought your boyfriend was Harper’s brother. Randy, right? You call him Sparks, though Mom thought it was funny to call him Sparky.”

  Despite everything, Juliet let out a watery laugh. “So does Tristan, but he’s just messing around. Mom wasn’t. She disapproves.”

  “Yeah, well, she disapproves of Simon too, and I married the guy twice. So what does that tell you about the value of her opinion?” Margo paused. “Okay, technically once. The first time was a commitment ceremony.”

  “So that’s like a thing.” Juliet wiped her eyes. “Where you don’t get married, but you pledge to love, honor, and make them obey you and all that?”

  Margo chuckled. “Not sure about the obeying part, but I think you have the right idea there. Yeah, it’s a thing. For some people anyway. People who aren’t quite ready for marriage, or are in a poly relationship—oh, shit. Jules?”

  Juliet swallowed. “Yeah.” That was all she could say.

  “Okay. Right. Like a threesome. I had one of those. Well, mine was sort of a foursome, but same concept.”

  “What?” Juliet sat up straighter on the couch. “You did not. Four? Three guys? Damn, get it, girl.”

  Margo’s laughter ripped through the phone. “Actually, no, the fourth was a girl.”

  “Wow. Yeah, still. Get it, girl. That’s awesome.”

  “You’re so open-minded. That’s such a good trait. I’m trying, and I’m way better than I was, but yeah, I didn’t get it from anyone but Simon that night. I was too freaked to go any further and Simon shut it down in any case. But you…two guys.” Margo cleared her throat. “So now it’s time for me to say ‘damn, get it, girl’ and to be a little jealous. But only a little because I have my own stallion in the stable.”

  “That you do.”

  “But two. More than one night, obviously.”

  “Yeah. Many nights at this point. Some mornings and nooners too.”

  “I just bet.” Margo cleared her throat again. “So what happened? I’m assuming you’re not crying from the chafing.”

  Somehow Juliet laughed, and kept on laughing right through a fresh onslaught of tears. “We got together at Owen and Callie’s wedding. You know, wild wedding hookup. It was a little wilder for me than them because it was my first threesome and I was a virgin, but—”

  “Stop. A virgin to what? You had backdoor sex the first night?”

  “Oh, no. I did that years ago. I mean to regular sex. I was a virgin until that night.”

&nbs
p; When silence reigned over the line, Jules frowned. “Margo?”

  “I’m here. I’m on the floor, but I’m still here.”

  Juliet smiled. “I sort of let you think I was banging everyone. I wasn’t. Well, there was the anal, but that was really a form of birth control and I did that sparingly in recent years anyway.”

  “Sparingly. Right. Okay. I’m with you now, I think. Please continue.”

  Juliet took Margo through a brief—very brief—rundown of what had happened to get her, Sparks, and Tristan to this point. She left out a few salient details.

  Like double penetration, because that was implied, right? At least it should be. What was the point of having an extra set of tires if you didn’t ride them down the road?

  She also didn’t mention a certain phone call she’d made to a certain tabloid to inform them about a certain new threesome that may or may not be occurring.

  A move she would forever think of as possibly her worst, ever.

  Dumb times infinity.

  “So you called in that blind item, and Tristan freaked out. Jesus, Jules, what do you expect? He told you he was worried about his reputation, and you basically just threw his worst fear in his face.”

  Juliet blinked. “Are you reading minds now?”

  “No. I just know you. And I know me too. We’ve had so many years of living in lockdown that another lie must’ve been unbearable for you. I saw you at dinner. You were holding back so much, and I didn’t even guess the half.”

  “I couldn’t stand what they were saying about Sparks. Diminishing him that way. Tristan would be more acceptable in their narrow-eyed view, but not what we were doing. Not that we were all fucking together.”

  “No need to brag. I drew the mental pictures just fine.”

  Juliet’s lips curved. “Fucking was an adjective in that case rather than a verb. But if the condom fits…”

  “There’s my Jules. You had me worried.”

  “That’s just it. I’m not. I’m not the same as I was. Not the same as I was a month ago, or last year. It sounds so clichéd and God knows I usually think most romance is worth a dollar and a dream, but I feel different.” She swallowed over the ever-present lump in her throat. “I am different.”

  “I get it. Love is as much about being changed by it as falling for another person. Or two people. Or three. When it’s right, it makes everything new again.”

  “Yeah. I guess I didn’t realize. I mean, I thought I might be on my way to loving my ex, but—”

  “But it wasn’t right.”

  “No. Not just because of the accident, but because of me. I didn’t feel like this with him. I wasn’t this way.” Annoyed with herself, Juliet rubbed the heel of her hand over her cheeks. “I feel like I’m talking New Agey gibberish. Like I don’t even know who I am anymore. I was so anti-romance. So anti any of this.”

  “That doesn’t keep you safe, you know. It just keeps you alone. I should know. I was alone for a damn long time.”

  Juliet sniffled. “But you took the risk and it was worth it.”

  “So worth it. So scary and so huge, but so, so worth it. You know how it is. The bigger the climb, the—”

  “Steeper the fall?”

  “I was going to say the more exciting the summit, but pick your metaphor.”

  “I’ll pick yours.” Juliet smiled. “I like it better.”

  “An optimistic Juliet rather than rebellious. Yes, there are changes in the wind. Though you’re still pretty wild, because um, two guys. Right.”

  Juliet laughed. “You’re making me blush.”

  “You’re making me blush, and I have Simon. Nothing should be capable of making me blush anymore. Seriously nothing. And yet, you always one-up me. Two-up me in this case.” Margo paused for a moment. “I’m really happy for you, Jules. Honestly. I’m so glad you found the right guys for you. It isn’t easy to do. It’s a gigantic world out there, and there’s a lot of bullshit.”

  “Did you miss the part where we’re broken up?”

  “No. I also didn’t miss the part where you have one of your guys in your apartment, and you’re not in there talking to him and making sure he understands he’s not a runner up or just the guy who stuck around. That you love him too, just as much as Tristan.”

  “You’re absolutely right.” Juliet rubbed her fingers under her eyes and scooted to the edge of the sofa. “I was giving him space, but maybe neither of us needs that right now.”

  “No. You need each other. Let him know how you feel. Don’t leave him wondering about you too.”

  “When did you get so smart?”

  “When I made every mistake of my own and lived to tell the tale.” The smile in Margo’s voice came through the line. “You’re going to be fine. I promise you, this will all work out. Just be honest with them. Be honest with yourself. If you are, you’ll all be okay.”

  “Okay,” Juliet whispered, rising unsteadily. “I can do that. I can try.”

  “You can and you will. You’ll call and let me know when the commitment ceremony is?”

  For the first time, Juliet smiled for real. “Let you know? You’ll be my matron of honor. If those are allowed in commitment ceremonies.”

  “Baby, we make our own rules. We’re Reeces, aren’t we?”

  “Yes.” And for once, that name didn’t make her cringe. Instead, it was something she shared with her big sister. “I love you, Margo. Thank you.”

  There was a long moment of silence and then Margo sniffled. “Thanks, wench. Now I’m crying too.”

  Juliet laughed, clutching the phone as if it had saved her life. In a very real way, it had.

  She had her sister, and that was a hell of a lot.

  “I love you too. Now go get ‘em.”

  “Aye, aye. Talk to you soon,” Juliet said before she clicked off. For once, she meant it. She wasn’t going to allow space to grow between her and Margo again.

  Now she had to face the lights. Corny, but she was the music. Lights were pretty damn scary when they were shining everywhere and revealing all her secrets.

  All the things she’d tried so hard to hide. Including herself.

  Before she could take a step, West’s ringtone went off in her hand. She loved the dude, but now really wasn’t the time.

  She also couldn’t ignore his call, since he opted to speak to her on the phone approximately never. He was all about texting.

  “Okay, Weston, what’s up? If it’s about Molly, no. I’m still on vacation until noon tomorrow.”

  “Not Molly this time.”

  “If it’s about Mal, same thing. Call back tomorrow.”

  “Not Mal either.”

  Juliet bit her lip. “Hmm. Going third tier here, but Michael? You, Ryan, and Elle don’t really cause much drama.”

  “Nope, this time we’re just the witnesses. Guess who got nabbed about three minutes ago peeping on our rehearsal?”

  “Wait a minute, what rehearsal? I didn’t know about one.”

  “Molly claimed she texted you earlier to let you know we were coming back early from our break.”

  “Oh, her. Her texts go right into a special folder labeled ‘Shit I don’t have time for’.”

  Still, Juliet didn’t blow off band business. She’d just gotten involved with Tristan and Sparks and forgotten. And then depressed and morose and yeah, that was enough of that.

  West laughed. “You and me both. No big. It was the usual chaos, and you’re flawless anyway, so it’s not like you need another practice. If anything, we all wish we could be you.”

  Juliet teared up again. God, she was becoming so very lame.

  “Thanks,” she whispered.

  “Hey, you okay?”

  “I will be.” Juliet dashed away her tears and pulled herself together. “So who got nabbed?”

  “No names yet, but she was caught hovering near the rehearsal room door with a notebook and a recording device. Lila flipped her shit. I’ve never seen her go that ballistic. She was sur
e the chick was going to sell the bootlegs and reveal all our little bandling secrets.”

  “A notebook? That’s weird.”

  “Very. A few fans were outside too because someone,” West cleared his throat, “happened to tweet our location today and that we were working on top secret stuff for our fans. You know, because we need fans. Like desperately.”

  Juliet laughed. “We have a few. I think we’re doing okay.”

  “Yeah, but press never hurts. Speaking of, someone’s getting a lot of sex. Dude, I wouldn’t be answering my phone either if I had two chicks giving me all I need. Way to go, you.”

  Juliet flushed from her hairline to her knees. Maybe all the way to her toes. “You heard about that too, huh?”

  “Yep. As did Lila. I’d expect a phone call if you haven’t gotten one already.”

  “Goody. That will make my evening complete.”

  But she wasn’t going to let dealing with Lila rattle her. She’d earned her spot in Warning Sign, and they weren’t going to kick her out.

  Finally, she fucking belonged somewhere. In the band and with her guys. Both of them. Assuming they could figure stuff out.

  First, she needed to start with Sparks.

  “I gotta go, but thanks for the update. And let me know if you hear anything more about the chick.”

  “Oh, I will. I think they took her to prison or something. Shame too, because her tits were legit works of art.”

  Juliet laughed. “You are a perv.”

  “You know it. Don’t think Mal was enamored though. He looked as if he’d seen a ghost as soon as the word ‘groupie’ was mentioned.” West huffed out a breath. “Anyway, see you at rehearsal tomorrow?”

  “Yeah.” Life would go on, no matter what happened. “See you then.”

  She clicked off and pocketed her phone, then walked down the short hallway to her closed bedroom door. On the other side, she heard nothing but silence.

  Knocking on her own bedroom door felt weird. It felt even weirder for Sparks not to answer. She knocked again, then cautiously opened the door.