Igniting the Wild Sparks

by Alexander, Ren

  It’s a good thing Ass Rod told me about Finn’s secret dates with an airplane. Oh, fuck. I’m so thankful for Greg Rodwell’s big mouth, as is every gay man within a 50-mile radius, I’m sure. If he hadn’t blabbed about the skydiving, I wouldn’t have the full ammunition I need to hold Finn’s balls to the fire.

  Consequently, I’m going to take Nim Rod’s suggestion and give Finn the benefit of the doubt. My way. However, I won’t tell Rod of my plan. Shit. He’d run right to Hadley.

  I only want the best for Hadley. She’s my best friend and my soul sister. She doesn’t have a mother to look out for her, or even an older sister. Yes, I know I’m younger than her, but Hadley is the type of person who needs guidance. She’s a follower. She has her friend Bethany, but she’s not here to see her suffering through this. She has me. I take my role in her life very seriously. Hadley has a fragile heart and I will protect her at any cost.

  Therefore, if Finn Wilder truly wants to win back Hadley Beckett’s freshly mutilated heart by his own hand, he’s going to have to fight for her. Really fight, with every ounce of breath in him. I’m going to give him an obstacle course that he’s going to have to ace with flying colors in order for me to believe he’s worthy. If he succeeds, only then will I step out of the way of him collecting his grand prize.

  This is his final chance. The bonus round, I’ll call it. The conceited bastard has made mistakes. We all make them. I never said I was perfect. I cheated on two past boyfriends. The first one was because I was blasé about him. The other because I felt it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I’ve never cheated on Ivan. And won’t. He’s different. As I know Hadley and Finn were different. Nevertheless, sometimes love isn’t enough. He wouldn’t commit to her the way she needed him to. Why couldn’t he have married her? I don’t get it. She’s such an amazing person. I know he has his issues, but he couldn’t overcome them for her?

  If Wilder fails this test, I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure Hadley will be done with him once and for all.

  “How’d you get a key, Morgasm?”

  “I have my resources.” We walk out of the elevator and go down the hall to her apartment. He nervously glances around us and I roll my eyes.

  “Did you sleep with the building manager or something?”

  “Get serious, Ass Rod.” I look at him, unsure if I should twist his nipple or ignore him. Tough decision.

  He raucously whispers, “You get a warrant. You can’t just break into her apartment!”

  “I’m not the police, dipshit. I also have a key so I’m not breaking and entering.” No, but it could be an illegal entry or a home invasion, but those details aren’t important.

  We walk past Hadley’s neighbor coming out of the apartment across the hall. She gives us an odd look and I kindly say, “Hi. We’re Hadley’s friends.”

  She smiles with a nod. “Yes, I remember you.”

  “She’ll be gone for the weekend, if she receives any packages, will you save them for her?”

  “Sure, no problem.” I return her smile before I put the key into the handle, opening the door. On my way to Hadley’s bedroom, I stop short and Rod runs into me. I shove him and order, “Stay here. I’m going to pack her clothes.”

  “Why the fuck am I even here?”

  “As in existential? On this planet? I can’t answer that one,” I tease as I go to her room. I know that jackass is flipping me the bird.

  I quickly get Hadley’s things together, since Finn could show up here at any time. I need to hurry because I don’t want to get into an argument with him in front of Dick Rod. No. Rod can’t be a witness to what I’m going to say to Finn. Nobody can be.

  We make our exit and go back to the office where I drop Rod at the curb.

  “Okay. Get out.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I have a meeting.”

  “With a counsel of witches regarding your haunted house timeshare?”

  “Fucking get out!” I take a swing at him, but he jumps out in time. Ass.

  All of my ducks are in a row. Time to take aim.

  I watch Rod dash into the building and I dial Finn, who groggily answers, “I’ve been wondering when you were going to call.”

  “I’m glad you’ve been expecting me. We need to meet.”

  “You can scream at me over the phone.”

  “Don’t be a pussy. Tell the guard at the gate to let me in.”

  “I’m not alone.”

  “Cara still there?”

  He growls, “No! My sister.”

  “Well, get alone.”

  “She leaves in 15 minutes. Don’t make this long. I have to work.”

  “I won’t.”

  He sighs. “Okay.”

  I slide into the empty spot next to Finn’s ostentatious Mustang. Hadley’s space. It was.

  Marching up the steps, I firmly knock on the door and look around. This is supposed to be Hadley’s home, too. I glance down at the front lawn where their fight was said to have happened. I can imagine it, but then again, I can’t. Was she screaming at him? Was he yelling right back at her? I wish I could’ve seen him beg her not to leave him. His crying. I hope she gave all she had, even though he deserves so much more than that.

  The door opens and the man who was supposed to also be Hadley’s, stands in the doorway. Finn fatalistically sighs as he opens the door wider, knowing I’m here to serve him his ass on a silver platter.

  I examine him as he shuts the door. He looks nothing like the Finn Wilder I know: arrogant to a fault, always smirking like he’s in on some damn joke, and his brown eyes sparkling, dragging you under. None of that. Now, his posture is drooped, he hasn’t shaved in days, he’s wearing glasses, has bandages around fingers on both his hands, and he’s not smiling. He looks tired and homeless. Even dead people have more life than he does.

  I should feel bad for him, but seeing him for the first time after what he did to Hadley, I don’t.

  As he turns, I dive at him, heaving him against the door, taking him by surprise. Reaching down, I roughly grab his dick and balls through his black, nylon pants.

  Whoa. I never thought I’d be this up close with Finn Wilder, or my best friend’s boyfriend—ex-boyfriend. It’s somewhat awkward, but effective in getting my point across. I do have to note that Hadley was a lucky woman from what I can feel.

  He grunts and curves inward, pushing on my arm. I have to be fast. “Did you have fun mouth surfing that whore? Was it worth losing the best thing that ever happened to you?”

  His yell is strangulated, “Fuck! Let go!”

  I viciously grin. “Why? You let Cara play with it. I was just taking my turn.”

  “He gasps, “I made a mistake!”

  “Really now? I wasn’t sure if you had.”

  “Yes!”

  “I imagine you had told Hadley that this,” I squeeze and he stridently groans, “was hers. Yet, you let that cunt Cara use it as a pacifier. Why is that?”

  “Let go!”

  “Why? So you can get it hard again and find another trouser troll?”

  “No!”

  I release him and he exhales in relief, bending and shouting at the floor, “Fuck, Morgan!”

  I step back and flagrantly laugh. “I heard Hadley kneed you in the balls. That’s classic.”

  As he slowly stands straight, he curtly replies, “Yeah.”

  “So you made a mistake?” I ask him as I pull my phone from my pocket.

  He sighs and tosses his hair with his fingers, while using his other hand to soothe and/or hide his cock from another assault. He wouldn’t dare report me. He says, “Yes. A monumental one. Look, you literally had me by the balls. I know you’re pissed off, and you should be. Can you just leave it at that and go?” Nope. I haven’t even begun to squeeze.

  I don’t answer him, but ask, “Did you love Hadley?”

  He frowns and glumly says, “You know I do.”

  “No, I don’t. If I have to gauge it off you
sticking your cock into Cara’s mouth, then well, I’m a little bit dissuaded.”

  “I thought Hadley and I… Fuck. I don’t have to explain it to you. I’m sure she already did.”

  “No. She gave me her side, which is not the side that made you cross that line. She didn’t trust Cara! She thought you might’ve had a thing for her, and then for Hadley to see you getting blown by her, that kind of ruined her life!”

  With one hand still clamped over his crotch, he waves his other around erratically. “I don’t know what to say! As I’ve told everyone else, I’m a fucking asshole for doing that!”

  “And you lost the best thing that will ever happen to you.”

  Finally releasing his junk, he sounds repentantly sincere. “I know. Hopefully she can forgive me and maybe we can…” Still self-assured, I see.

  I laugh. “What? Get back together?”

  “I want to marry her, Morgan.”

  “Oh. Now you do?”

  “I always have. I’ll take her to Vegas. I begged her to marry me.”

  “After she begged you, right?”

  His hands go into his hair and he shouts, “I know I fucked up! I can’t say that enough! I want to fix it! I’ll take her to Vegas tonight if she wanted or I’ll wait for her to plan the wedding of her dreams! Or, we can do both! I’ll marry her as many times as she wants! Whatever Becks wants!”

  “She’s not your Becks anymore.”

  “She’ll always be my Becks.” He’s determined. That’s good.

  “Would you buy her a ring and propose to her first?”

  He immediately answers, “Yeah. If she takes me back, that’s the first thing I’m doing.”

  “You think she’d say yes now? You should’ve done that a long time ago.”

  “You’re right.” Bonus point for Wilder.

  Time for the true test.

  “Well, you don’t have to worry about buying her a ring.”

  He’s restrained. “Why?”

  “Because she already has one. From Shane.” I hold up my phone and show him the picture of Shane and Hadley at my wedding rehearsal. He’s carrying her bridal style in his arms. “They eloped this morning.”

  He looks closer at the picture and then scoffs at me in disbelief, “No, they didn’t.”

  “They did. She wants to move on and he’s willing to give her what she wants. A marriage. Children. Fidelity. You didn’t. What did you do? You cheated on her! Twice!” I flip through more pictures of them together in the hotel. He can’t tell from the picture where they were taken. I made sure to get plenty where they were looking cozy. I wanted backup if Finn turned down her proposal. I was only going to spook him before. I never thought the answer would’ve led to him cheating on her.

  Now, I’m out to scare the living shit out of him.

  He argues, “She wouldn’t just move on like that. She needs time.”

  “You would never cheat on her like that, either. Would you?” His mouth drops open and he looks at the pictures more intently. “Cut to the core, she was desperate to forget the pain you caused her. She and Shane have been friends for some time now. She thought he was the most logical choice to help her forget.”

  He shakes his head as he stares at my phone. “No.”

  “They’re having a reception later. I’m sorry you’re not invited.”

  Finn glances at me, and I can tell I’m seriously rattling his cage. “Please, tell me you’re joking.”

  “No. It’s too late. You lost her. You really thought she was going to take you back after what you did to her?”

  He anxiously bites his lip and says, “I’m calling her.”

  I shrug and laugh. “You do that!” He grabs his phone off the bar, hits a number and puts the phone up to his ear as he glares at me. Seconds later, his eyes widen when he hears her number is no longer is service.

  “She changed her phone number?”

  “Yeah. She didn’t want you harassing her. Neither did Shane.”

  Lowering his phone, he peers around his kitchen. “I need to talk to her.”

  “Well, she’s kind of busy at the moment, getting married today and all. You’re more than welcome to send her a card telling her congratulations. That would be nice. I believe they’re registered at Macy’s.” That was low, but he’d never check.

  He’s still clinging to denial, but he’s wavering fast. “She wouldn’t. No.”

  “She did. Now leave her the fuck alone. She’s trying to move on with her life, like you did without her.”

  He fiercely asserts, “I wasn’t moving on without her! I don’t want Cara! I want Hadley! I love her! I won’t live without her! Fuck! She’s all I’ve ever wanted!”

  “Could’ve fooled her! She’s gone now!”

  “No!” He grips the counter edge and his eyes flash, giving him more life than he had when I first walked in here. Come on, Wilder. Fall for it.

  “It wasn’t just the cheating. It was the lies, your rejection of commitment, and the refusal to have children with her! Hell, you kept her a secret for three years from everyone!” I wonder if amid my lies he’ll figure out which are the truths.

  “I wasn’t anymore! I introduced her to people! I told her everything!”

  “Everything? Really? The skydiving? The kiss with Cara?”

  “What’s that matter now? How’s a kiss compare to what we did?”

  “Because you were carrying on a long-term affair with that bitch!”

  He’s approaching hysterics. “No I wasn’t! It was that one kiss and it meant nothing!”

  “But the blow job meant something?”

  “No!”

  “Did you tell Hadley about the kiss?”

  He throws his hands up. “I was going to! Her proposal kind of threw me! She then took off! I forgot to mention it when she walked in on us! After that, it flew to the bottom of my to-do list!”

  I calmly say, “You don’t have to worry anymore because I already told her.” Just a little more.

  He’s taken by surprise, it seems. “You told her about the kiss?”

  “Yeah, and that you were fucking Cara for a while.”

  He doggedly yells, “I wasn’t!” He grabs his keys off the bar and hurriedly puts his shoes on. “Fuck, I have to talk to her.”

  I step in front of him on his way to the door. “You think she’s going to believe a fucking word you say? All you do is lie to her!”

  We’re in each other’s face. “I’m not lying about this!”

  “She won’t believe you!”

  “I have to make her believe me. I’m telling her the truth! I was not having an affair!”

  “You’re nothing but a lie and a cheat! You lost Hadley Beckett forever because you are a fucking pussy! You didn’t man up and marry her, or could’ve told her the truth if it saved your sorry life! She’s with a man who’ll give her what she wants!”

  “I will!” His hands go to his hair again and I know I’m almost there. “I’ll marry her! I’ll give her a baby! I’ve been trying to get her pregnant! I want her to have our baby!”

  What?

  Temporarily confused, I regain my composure. “It’s too late! You had the world in your hands and you lost it! She’s gone!”

  He yells up at the ceiling, “No!” He leans against the entryway wall and in his already-weakened state of mind, I go in for the easy kill.

  “I wonder if he’ll knock her up tonight.”

  “No!” I watch as Finn Wilder sinks to the floor in a defeated heap. Now I do feel cruel, but he has to believe he’s truly and permanently losing her. After I leave, he needs to get up and openly fight for her. We’ll take her away for the weekend, and while we’re gone, he should have shown up at the firm or at her apartment, demanding to see her. He should keep doing it until he can see her, wanting to know if she married Shane. When she says she didn’t, he should then declare his love for her and again beg for her forgiveness. He needs to be actively showing her he wants her back. He should broadcast h
is mistakes on The Wild Side, declaring his love for her, even proposing to her on the Air. I know she would be so embarrassed, but it’d be the good kind.

  I dare you, Finn Wilder, to fight to the death for Hadley Beckett.

  Rod thinks we should leave them alone to work it out themselves. No! Finn needs to prove his love for her! Make him pay the toll. He needs to walk through fire for her, and if he doesn’t, then she’s better off without the coward. I know I’m going to catch a lot of shit from Hadley for doing this, if Finn accepts my challenge, but she’ll hopefully understand that I did this to protect her from another heartbreak, courtesy of Finnigan Wilder.

  “Yes. Now leave her alone to be happy. You owe her that much.”

  Tears streak his face and I’m taken aback, almost forgetting what I’m trying to do. I thought he’d get mouthy with me and blow me off before the seed of doubt took root. This was almost too easy. I never thought I’d cut him this much to the quick and now that I have, it feels almost wrong, but not as wrong as what he did to my best friend.

  He clutches his head and yells at the floor, “I love her!” He hangs his head and his shoulders forcefully tremble. “Becks! No!”

  I softly clear my throat and say, “Let her go.” I turn and leave his apartment, hearing his sobs as I close the door. Letting out a big breath of air, I hurriedly go to my car.

  One thing I don’t have covered is Rod’s phone. I know he’s still talking to Finn. Shit. I need to get to the office and get his phone before Wilder calls him.