His Eternal Flame

by Layla Valentine

  “Like you’d do it any different?” I counter. “Are you going to call Violet?”

  His face falls. “No.”

  “I thought she was an old friend.”

  “She is, but…that was a long time ago.” He looks away, his chest slowly rising. “We’re not friends anymore. And today wasn’t about us.”

  With the cryptic way he’s talking, now I really know there’s something juicy going on.

  “Come on, dude. Just spill it.”

  His eyes dart across my face.

  “It wasn’t a regular hookup. I’m helping Violet get pregnant.”

  The words ring in my head, making less sense the more I try to process them.

  “Wait…you…uh… Come again?”

  “She wants to have a baby without a man involved.” He nonchalantly shrugs. “Her insemination clinic or whatever fell through, so I’m helping her.”

  “You’re having a kid,” I slowly say.

  Nope. Still doesn’t make sense. There must be something wrong with my hearing.

  Sean’s eyebrows push together like he’s annoyed.

  “No. I’m just getting her pregnant. I’m her sperm donor, you know. I won’t be involved at all.”

  “Wait one second.” I hold my hand up, afraid he’s about to leave after dropping this gigantic bomb. “You’re not going to, like, know the kid at all?”

  “No.”

  “Huh.”

  “It’s fine. I don’t need to. I don’t want kids. I’m just helping Violet out.”

  I try to imagine what it would be like to know there was a kid with my genes running around the place. Someone I’d never meet, but who would be like me anyway.

  It doesn’t take long for me to decide I wouldn’t mind it. Family is the people you choose, and all that stuff.

  “So, you’re gonna bang until it happens.”

  “Well…”

  “Uh-huh?” I nod eagerly.

  “I told her I could get her pregnant in one shot.”

  “Nice.” I hold my hand out for a fist bump, and he pounds it. “But you might not have gotten it done today.”

  I can tell by the way his face hardens that he doesn’t like that. “I probably did.”

  “Yeah, but you might not have.”

  Sean crosses his arms. “What’s your point?”

  “She’s gonna need some more work done.” I wiggle my eyebrows.

  “If that’s the case, I’ll take care of it.”

  “Or I can.”

  He glowers at me. “Violet doesn’t even know you. We’ve been friends for years.”

  “You told me you haven’t seen her in a decade.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” he snaps. “She asked me to do it.”

  “Really?”

  His tough-guy exterior cracks a little. “Well, I offered…and she said yes.”

  I can’t keep my grin back. “Maybe she’ll say yes to me as well.”

  Sean opens his mouth, looking like he wants to argue, then shuts it. We both know the truth. She’s not his girlfriend. He can’t tell her what to do.

  “Let’s make it a competition,” I say. “I bet I can get Violet pregnant first.”

  Sean guffaws and rolls his eyes. “You’re joking.”

  “Dead serious, man.”

  He studies my face, seeing I’m not kidding. “Like I said, Violet doesn’t—”

  “She doesn’t have to know me. I saw the way she watched me.”

  Sean’s jaw ticks. All he has to do is tell me to back off, and I will. If Violet is a girl he wants all to himself, he can have her. I may do a lot of questionable things, but I won’t ruin a friendship over a woman.

  A long moment passes.

  “I’m going out,” Sean announces. He turns around quick, storming out before I have the chance to say anything else.

  “I’ll be here!” I shout at the closed door, not sure whether he hears me or not. But it doesn’t matter.

  I’ll be right in this living room when he gets home.

  And my dick will be ready to go the second Violet is.

  Chapter 9

  Sean

  Each step only makes my blood boil more.

  Who does Frank think he is? He can’t just take every woman he sees, like Honolulu is his personal candy store.

  Even as I’m mentally ranting, I know something’s not right. I shouldn’t be getting angry at him.

  Just like Violet isn’t Frank’s, she isn’t mine.

  And I don’t want her to be.

  I mean, the sex we just had was amazing. The best I’ve had in a long time. There’s no getting around that. But I’ve had great lays before. It doesn’t mean I suddenly want the woman to stay around and cook me breakfast.

  “Excuse me,” someone suddenly says.

  I look up just in time to avoid bumping into an old lady.

  “Sorry, ma’am,” I tell her, stepping out of the way.

  Shaking my head at myself, I go into the corner grocery store. My brain is still so scrambled, though, I have to walk up and down the aisles several times before finding the coffee beans. Grabbing a bag, I tuck it under my arm and gather the other few regular supplies.

  I didn’t really need anything. Not immediately. I just had to get out of the apartment for a while. Being interrupted before I got the chance to screw Violet a second time really messed with my head. Now, she’s all I can think about.

  And Frank prattling on about her only made it worse.

  I can feel the tension entering my jaw as I take the goods to the counter and wait for the salesclerk to ring them up. Frank and I have slept with a few of the same girls before, but this…this is just different. It’s Violet.

  I know her. Frank never will.

  “Thanks,” I tell the clerk, taking my change and hoisting up the single plastic bag.

  The electric doors slide open, and instead of going straight back to the apartment, I head to the block over, opting to take a long route home.

  I should tell him to take his stupid bet and shove it up his ass.

  But if I do that, I’ll look like a coward.

  My sharp inhale burns. There’s only one option. I may not like it, but it’s what I have to do.

  “Let’s do this,” I announce the second I’m in the apartment, letting the door slam shut behind me.

  Frank sits up from where he was laying on the couch. He takes off his headphones and stares at me.

  “What?”

  “I said let’s do this.”

  Nodding to myself, I put the grocery bag in the kitchen and take a seat on the edge of the coffee table. Frank’s face practically glows.

  “You’re prepared to lose?” he asks. “That’s brave of you.”

  “Eat shit,” I mumble. “For all we know, Violet is already pregnant.”

  “Or she’s not.” He points purposefully at me.

  I roll my eyes just as there’s a knock on the door.

  “Who’s that?” I ask.

  Frank jumps up.

  “It’s Violet. You left your phone here, so I got her number from it and sent her a text. She said she’s DTF.”

  “What?” I roar, rage bursting through me without any warning.

  “Chill. I’m kidding. It’s delivery.”

  Frank opens the door, revealing a shaggy-haired kid with two bags of food. I drop my head in my hands, aware of my pounding pulse.

  “You really know how to get under my skin,” I say once Frank has closed the door.

  He sets the food on the coffee table next to me and reclaims his seat.

  “Isn’t that why you love me?”

  “Uh…No.”

  He cracks open the Chinese food.

  “Plate,” I remind him.

  The use of simple dinnerware was something we agreed on before moving into this place. That, and no falling asleep with beer in our hands. It will be nice if we can keep this apartment decent-looking for at least a little while.

  Frank retrieves two pla
tes, as well as a fork.

  “Where’s yours?” I ask when he hands me a plate and the solo fork.

  “I like chopsticks.”

  He cracks a pair of them and attempts to pick up some noodles, which slip through the chopsticks and fall back on his plate.

  “Dang.” He frowns.

  “You really think Violet is interested in you?”

  He looks up at me, the food forgotten for a minute.

  “I mean, the way she looked at me…”

  I nod, looking down at my plate. “All right.”

  If she is into Frank, I don’t like it. I have to be honest there. And it’s not because I want Violet or I don’t want Frank to have what he wants. I just hate sharing. I’ve never been good at it, and never will be.

  “Are we gonna do this?” he asks.

  “Will you try to screw her even if I say no?”

  “Probably,” he answers with no hesitation.

  I nod. “Then let’s do it.”

  “All right!” He puts his food down so he can clap his hands together. “What are we going to bet?”

  “This is a bet? I didn’t say anything about—”

  “You scared?”

  I snort. This isn’t second grade.

  But I’m also not a pussy.

  “Fine,” I agree. “Let’s bet. We’ll see who can get Violet pregnant first. If you lose, you own me your gun collection. The whole thing.”

  Frank’s eyes go wide. His gun collection is extensive, the most important thing he owns. Not only is it worth a lot of money, it’s his pride and joy. Losing it would kill him.

  And make me very, very happy.

  “Well?” I push.

  His mouth sets into a hard line. “Okay. But if you lose, I get your motorcycle.”

  My stomach flips. No, what’s probably the most rational part of my brain screams. I saved up years for that thing, and dreamed about it for years longer. It’s part of my whole life plan. I can buy the house in the country with the giant wraparound porch, but that life won’t be half as good without my custom-made baby there to enjoy it with.

  “Clock’s ticking, Sean.” Frank grins. He knows he’s got my heart in a vice grip.

  Just because I want to wipe that cocky look off his face, I stick my hand out.

  “Fine.”

  He gives me a firm shake, and I resist the urge to squeeze his hand tight.

  “May the best man win.” Frank grins.

  “I will. Don’t worry.”

  Violet may not be mine in the traditional sense, but I had my eyes on her first. When compared to Frank’s position in her life, she’s most definitely my woman.

  No other man can step up to the plate, because no other man knows her like I do. Yes, I’m going to be the one to give her what she wants and needs.

  The only one.

  Chapter 10

  Violet

  I add up the numbers again, coming up with yet another new sum. Huffing, I drop back in my chair.

  “I give up. Can you do this?”

  Kaila looks up the paperwork she’s flipping through.

  “Are you using the calculator?”

  “Yes.” My face burns in shame.

  “Oh.”

  She blinks in confusion but comes over to my desk and does the math anyway. I sit silently, waiting for her to finish the simple job an eight-year-old could do. For some reason, my brain just won’t work today.

  “Did you pay the electric bill yet?” she asks. “Wasn’t it due today?”

  “Crap!” Grabbing my laptop, I do some quick clicking. “I completely forgot.”

  With the bill paid, I sit back once more, feeling even more tired and worn out than I did a minute ago.

  “You okay?” Kaila asks.

  “Just tired. Maybe I’m pregnant.”

  I wryly smile, but Kaila’s lips don’t so much as twitch.

  “Have you talked to…” She clears her throat. “Sean…at all?”

  I can feel every one of my muscles tense up.

  “No. It’s only been a day. Why would I?”

  She shrugs. “I don’t know.”

  My fingers fiddle with one of the strings hanging from my top.

  “It was a one-time thing,” I state.

  “I know.”

  “He’s not expecting a call from me.”

  “Mm-hmm.” She eagerly nods.

  “And I don’t need him to call me, either. There’s nothing we need to talk about. We’re not…friends…anymore.”

  I pull up my email, busying myself with chucking promotional fliers and targeted ads in the trash.

  Kaila is still standing next to my desk. I can feel her eyes on me, but I keep my own set squarely on the computer screen. Sean and I are done. There’s nothing to be said about him.

  Or his cute roommate.

  I clear my throat, hoping doing so will also take care of the heat between my legs. It doesn’t, of course.

  “What if you didn’t get…”

  I know what she’s saying. Leaving my email alone, I turn to Kaila.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Are you going to wait until you can go to California?”

  “No,” I immediately answer. “I don’t know when I would be able to make it to that clinic. Whatever options I have, they’re all on this island.”

  Rather, the one option is on this island. I could look for another donor here, I suppose, but without a clinic that can inseminate me sometime in the next few months, that leaves just actually having sex with someone.

  Doing it with Sean is one thing, but with a stranger?

  The thought makes a shudder run through me.

  “So how was…it?” She winces over the last word.

  My cheeks puff from an exhale. “The best I’ve had in years…maybe ever.”

  “Oh.” Kaila’s cheeks turn pink. “Then it wouldn’t be awful if you had to do it a second time.”

  “I don’t know.” My hands twist in my lap, the gallery’s morning number-crunching forgotten. “It was so good that I don’t think doing it a second time would be a good idea.”

  “You mean you might fall for him?”

  I have to think about that. Fall for Sean?

  Years ago, I was probably in love with him. After he left, I compared every man I met to him—with the womanizing part being the exception.

  After the way he rocked my world in his bedroom, I was a breath away from falling head over heels for him again. But I couldn’t.

  Because I remembered what he’s like. That bro-pad. The salacious gaze of his roommate—whether I liked the attention or not being beside the point.

  Those guys probably have girls coming in and out of there all the time.

  “If I fell for him, it would end in disaster.” I give Kaila a serious look. “There’s just no way around that.”

  She frowns. “That’s so sad, Violet.”

  “Stop. Please don’t.”

  The last thing I need is someone else suggesting I’m doing things all wrong. I already have my mother to perform that task, thank you very much.

  “What next?” Kaila asks.

  “This.” I gesture at the mess of papers on my desk. “I go on. Work. And hope that one time took.”

  Kaila bites her bottom lip in excitement. “It probably did.”

  She’s just being sweet, but I appreciate it nonetheless.

  “Thanks, Kaila. What’s new with you?”

  “Um…” Her eyes drift to the side. “I got Mr. Mochi a new toy. It’s the rubber kind, so that it doesn’t fall apart when he chews on it.”

  Mr. Mochi is Kaila’s terrier. He sleeps curled up next to her and has a whole wardrobe of sweaters and hats. I can’t make fun of the situation, because you know what? Kaila and Mr. Mochi have each other—someone to spend each and every evening with. That’s more than I have. Sad, but true.

  I’m actually jealous of a scruffy little dog.

  “Just think,” I say. “Soon, we might have
a baby joining the three of us at the dog park.”

  Kaila squeals in excitement.

  “I’m going to start knitting a newborn sweater tonight.”

  A knock from the front of the gallery interrupts our conversation.

  “Who is that?” I frown.

  “I don’t know.” Kaila slowly goes to the door. “I’ll go see.”

  “Tell them we’re not open till one. I’m not in the mood to deal with people right now.”

  A few seconds later, she’s back. “It’s your mother.”

  “Ugh. Again: tell her to come back at one.”

  Kaila giggles. “She has another woman with her.”

  Knowing there’s no way out of this, I haul myself from my chair and out of the office. Mom’s still outside, chatting with none other than Abigail Fletcher—Sean’s mother.

  There goes getting him out of my head.

  Both of the women wave excitedly once they see me. Self-consciously smiling, I cross the gallery and unlock the front door.

  “Hi.”

  “Violet,” Abigail coos, touching my hair. “You look so good, honey. What have you been doing new?”

  Getting the best screw of my life, courtesy of your son.

  I smile bigger. “I’ve been drinking fresh juice in the mornings. Maybe that’s it.”

  Over Abigail’s shoulder, Mom gives me a dark look. Maybe because my comment reminds her that a healthy diet is something a woman who is trying to get pregnant would prescribe to. Heck if I know. I quit trying to figure that woman out a long time ago.

  “We just had lunch down the street, and I asked Caroline if we could stop by,” Abigail said. “I hope this is a good time.”

  “Um… Yeah. It is.”

  As awkward as it is seeing Abigail, I love the lady. She’s always been so good to me, whether Sean was in my life or not. Plus, I have a feeling she balances my mom out some—tamps her wild personality down a bit.

  “I love the new works.”

  Abigail slowly walks over to the paintings on the far wall. Kaila is nowhere to be seen. Perhaps she’s saved herself from my mother and hidden away in the locked office.

  Good for her.

  Mom cocks her head. “How are you doing?”