They’d walked for three blocks before Aaron realized that their discussion about what kind of beer to buy was more like a monologue. Jack had barely uttered a word.
“Jack. What the hell’s wrong with you?”
“Let’s just go get the shit and get to the party.”
Aaron had never heard Jack sound so angry.
“Okay, dude. Chill.”
Avery shivered as she and Shilah trailed after the others. Her leg throbbed where Jason had touched it, as if she’d been poisoned. Feeling violated, she wanted take a shower and scrub her skin raw. They crossed the vacant street and made their way past the dark storefronts. They were nearly to Nicole’s and as they approached her building, Shilah stopped to light a cigarette. Between the storefront under Nicole’s home and the neighboring antique shop there was a small alcove that housed an iron table and chair. He pulled her by the wrist into the alcove and out of the wind.
He took a long drag from his cigarette and as he exhaled, he offered it to her. Leaning against the brick, she took it from him and inhaled. As she passed it back, he flicked it away from them and placed his hands on the brick wall behind her. Her heart raced at the intensity of his stare and she fought to keep her composure. She could feel the heat of his breath as she studied his perfect features. He stared back at her possessively. Avery slid her hands around his neck and took the tie out of his hair. He shook his head and his long mane fell over his shoulders. Avery took a silky lock between her fingers and she admired it. Inexplicably, she felt at home being close to him, relenting to him. Her eyes shifted back to his breathtaking cheekbones and his fierce, astounding eyes. Need gripped her and she wrapped her arms around his neck and tilted his face down toward hers. His lips were warm and his taste was electrifying as they slowly explored each other. She felt his hand move to her thigh and travel up her stocking to her bare skin and under the back of her skirt. She wrapped her leg around his waist as he pressed his growing hardness against her. He toyed with her garter belt, twisting it teasingly. The tension was building when a voice from across the street interrupted their moment.
“Get some!”
They pulled apart and stared at one another, gasping for breath. Soon they were laughing at the broken mood. He offered her his hand and she took it, intertwining her fingers with his. They made their way up the stairs and saw that Jules had already built a fire in the fire pit. Lauren was bouncing from foot to foot with her trench coat wrapped around her.
“Did you get lost?” She called to them. Ignoring her, they climbed the porch steps and went inside the front door. They proceeded to the kitchen, where the sound of a whirling blender greeted them. Colin, Sean, and Trish were pouring booze into glasses and seemed to be trying to catch up to the rest of the partygoers.
“Hey! Want a Margarita?” Trish called over the blender.
“Why not?” Shilah took two glasses from Sean and held one out to Avery.
“Not now, I’m freezing and I have got to get out of these stockings.”
Sean nearly choked on his drink. Shilah gave her a devilish smile. As Colin and Sean discussed the fine art of mixing the perfect cocktail, Avery removed her heels and gingerly crept up the narrow staircase to Nicole’s room. The door was closed, so she wrapped on it lightly.
The door opened. Nicole had already changed into jeans and a long-sleeved shirt.
“It is colder than a witch’s tit in a brass bra in Antarctica out there,” Avery deadpanned.
“Word.” Nicole moved aside to allow Avery to join her in the bedroom. There was an awkward silence as Avery changed and Nicole removed her braid.
“Listen, Nic. Sorry I freaked and ran out the other day. I wish you’d come to me about Ryan a long time ago. If I had known what he was doing, I would have done something about it.” Nicole stopped brushing her hair mid-stroke and turned to her.
“What would you have done, Avery?” It was an excellent question and Avery had no reply. “It wasn’t your problem. I’m the one who stayed and let it continue.” Nic flipped her long hair and turned to face her.
“I get why you wouldn’t, but I still wish you would have told me.”
“It’s all irrelevant now. I just don’t want it to cause a rift between us.”
“I told Aaron I want to know what happened in Minneapolis. I just need to understand…” Avery zipped her jeans and fluffed her hair. Nicole stared out the window uncomfortably.
“I’d rather not be there for that conversation,” she replied after a moment. Avery nodded. They headed down the stairs. Aaron was alone in the kitchen, putting beer in the refrigerator. Avery watched as Nicole scurried outside and Aaron’s eyes followed her. He shook his head. He turned to Avery who nodded in the direction of the bathroom.
“You. Me. Now,” she demanded. Aaron sighed, popped open two beers, handed her one and sauntered into the bathroom. She followed him in and locked the door.
“People will talk.” He joked, but Avery didn’t smile. “What, Aves? What?”
“I want to hear why you fought with Ryan and why you two stopped talking.” He sighed and his shoulders slumped. Aaron chugged half his beer and he nodded.
“We were supposed to meet at the Metrodome,” he began reluctantly. “I told him I’d be late, but my meeting got cancelled so I was able to hop an earlier flight. Since I was early, I thought I’d check in, so I got my key at the desk. When I opened the door, Ryan was in bed with another woman. They weren’t sleeping. I completely lost my shit.”
Avery folded her arms and shook her head. “You know what, Aaron? It just sickens me that this went down and no one said a word. Nicole just told me about this. What the hell?”
“What was I supposed to say? It’s not like it was new. At first I thought it was because he was drinking a lot. You know, college freshmen shit. I’m pretty sure he was running around most of the time we were undergrads at Iowa. Even after they got back together I can’t tell you how many times I met her at the dorm ‘cause he wasn’t there. I asked him more than once why he didn’t just dump her and he’d get that look. You know the one. He’d say, ‘I’m gonna marry that girl.’ He swore to me that the shit would stop when he asked me to be his best man. That’s why I didn’t say anything to anybody. So when I saw him there cheating on Nicki again, I pulled him out of that fucking bed by the hair. All the years of him treating her like that…she deserved better. I could have killed him, but the chick he was with was screaming and throwing stuff at me.”
Avery was silent, trying to reframe her world with the knowledge that her brother, the golden child of the Harper family, was not the saint she’d always thought him to be.
“I left the hotel and went directly back to the airport. I called Nicole, but I didn’t really know what to say. I got her voicemail and tried to get her to call me, but I’m sure I sounded insane. Ryan and I never spoke again. I couldn’t believe it when I heard what happened to him. Even with that fight and all his bullshit, I still miss the bastard.” Aaron looked torn between grief and anger.
Avery couldn’t help but smile. She, Aaron, and Ryan had been like The Three Musketeers before Nicole came along. It was quite possible that Aaron was the only other person in the world who understood her conundrum with her brother.
“Yeah, me too.” There was a loud pounding on the bathroom door.
“Hey, assholes! There’s only one bathroom in this house, ya know!” Lauren yelled. Avery and Aaron smirked at one another. She unlocked the door and swung it wide open. Lauren looked surprised as they walked past her and grabbed more beer from the fridge. As they proceeded outside, Avery observed that the party seemed to have taken on a life of its own. Trish and Sean were next to the fire pit, talking to a couple she didn’t recognize. They appeared to be in their 40’s and were wearing pajamas, so she assumed they were Nicole’s neighbors. It seemed Sean and Trish had finished the margaritas, and they were passing a bottle of whiskey around. Aaron made a beeline for them. Jason and Joy stumbled by on Main, accomp
anied by the Port Frank fellows and stopped to chat with Jack, who was near the stairs. Avery observed Joy subtly ditch Jason as she made her way up the stairs. She stumbled over to Aaron who was staring into the fire. Shilah called to her from the far end of the porch. He was leaning against the banister speaking with Nicole and Colin, who were cozied up on the porch swing under a blanket.
Lauren reappeared and spotted the two Port Frank guys. She jumped off the porch and sauntered over to them.
“Hey, Dave! Hey Nick! What’s going down?”
“Hopefully you, darling, in about five minutes.” Dave replied and his friend snorted. Avery sucked in a breath and she saw Jack’s hackles rise as he transformed, right before her eyes, into an alpha male. Jason stepped in front of Dave as Lauren grasped Jack’s arm.
“You’d better leave.” Jason said to Dave. Avery was glad that for once his instincts seemed to be functioning.
“He’s drunk.” Lauren explained, but Jack seemed to ignore her and yanked away. “Jack. Just let it go.”
He advanced toward Dave.
“Care to repeat that?” His southern accent seemed thicker when he was angry.
“What?” Dave shrugged.
“That’s my wife you’re talking to.”
As Jack moved in closer, Avery saw Shilah move out of the corner of her eye. He seemed to be watching them closely, ready to pounce.
Lauren looked over her shoulder, pleading for help. Shilah swung his legs over the porch and dropped five feet to the ground.
“Your wife’s hot.” Nick chimed in. This seemed to make Jack snap and he pushed his way past Jason, who lost his balance and stumbled awkwardly to the ground. Shilah replaced him instantly. However, the two guys were already running down the street. Jack broke away and ran after them. Shilah caught Jack’s arm mid-swing. Jack kicked out a foot and sent Dave sprawling on the sidewalk. Dave jumped to his feet and ran full bore.
“Nice assist, bro. Thanks a lot,” Jack’s drawled at Shilah with anger lingering in his voice.
“You need to think about your kids, Jack. You can’t spend the night in jail,” Shilah reasoned. Jack nodded. Just as it seemed things were smoothed over, Lauren shoved Jack.
“That was really stupid, Jack.”
“So I suppose I should just stand by and let my wife blow some guys she said would ‘do in a pinch.’” Several people gasped in unison, and Avery was one of them. It was so out of character for Jack to display anger, it was freaking her out.
“Paige is such a bitch.” Nicole said in a loud whisper behind her and Avery glanced back to see Colin snicker, throwing his arm around her.
“You’re a complete bastard.” Lauren sounded more hurt than angry as she headed up the stairs.
“Guys, come back up in the yard. Let’s have some fun.” Aaron slurred the command. As everyone complied, a police car approached and flashed a light on the party. Jason was standing in the spotlight, his white costume was now gray with dirt from falling and Avery burst out laughing when he put his hands in the air and his gloves were now black.
“Everything under control here?” A voice called over a loud speaker. The group stayed silent. Out of the corner of her eye, Avery saw Nicole cover her face. Colin scooted closer to Nic and stroked her hair.
“You need to keep it down. We’re getting some complaints.”
“You need to move along if you want to keep getting breakfast for free, Merle,” Lauren slurred. There was a pause and the spotlight shifted to her.
“Turn that shit off!” Lauren called and the light disappeared.
“Just keep it down. Okay, Lauren?” The voice mumbled into the loud speaker and the cop car pulled away.
“Why are you giving them free breakfast?” Jack spat.
“Well, it’s either that or oral pleasure, so breakfast seemed simpler.” Lauren’s rage was obvious and Avery headed in her direction for moral support.
Jack shot Lauren a disapproving look and rolled his eyes melodramatically.
Avery touched Lauren’s shoulder, but Lauren shrugged away from her.
“Shilah, can I bum a cigarette?” Lauren asked.
“Of course,” he replied.
“You don’t even smoke. Can we just go home?” Jack pleaded with her, sounding exhausted.
“I’m not going anywhere with you.” Lauren glared at him.
“Fine!” Jack blurted and turned to Jason, “Know of any other parties going on tonight?”
“Hell yeah. Let me change first.” Jason nodded and disappeared in the direction of his car. Jack hung behind by the fire. Aaron approached Jack, but Jack held up a hand and shook his head. Aaron shrugged and returned to his seat. Joy sat down by him shivering, and Aaron took off his coat and handed it to her.
“I’m too sober for this,” Avery said out loud. She returned to the house, enjoying the warmth as she pulled another beer from the fridge. Jason entered the kitchen with a duffle bag that he tossed on the floor. He smiled at her coyly, and pulled his shirt over his head.
“There’s a lot of drama here tonight,” he commented. Avery looked away as he dropped his pants. She turned to leave the room, but he caught her wrist and spun her to face him. He was in his underwear and caught her by surprise as he backed her into the wall.
“I can’t get those stockings you wore tonight out of my mind.”
After all their time together, Jason knew how to push her buttons. He kissed her, pulling out all the stops as his hands traveled her body. Though they’d always been compatible in bed, Avery screamed at herself that he was a dead end road. She pushed him away forcefully.
“You had your chance with me, but you chose cards instead.”
“It wasn’t like that, cherry.” His nickname for her made her blood boil.
“You never cared about me until I dumped you.”
“I proposed to you, didn’t I?”
“Yeah. And then you tried to bring another woman into our bed the night of the engagement party. Not to mention you’re fucking trip to The Palms.”
She pushed him away and was out the door before he could reply. The memory of Jason ditching her as she recovered from a miscarriage to go to Las Vegas still made her feel worthless.
Shilah had resumed his spot on the porch again. As Avery neared him, he reached out and offered her his hand. Jason exited the house, pulling on his shirt. He glared at Shilah and Avery.
“Let’s go, Jack,” Jason called. As they both stomped down the stairs, Aaron shouted after them.
“Jack, you’re being stupid!”
Avery heaved a satisfied sigh at Jason’s exit. Shilah’s arms felt so right around her, and her knees felt weak as he nuzzled her neck from behind. He shoved his hands into her hoody pocket and pulled her back into him. She glanced self-consciously at the couple on the porch swing, and was relieved to see Colin and Nicole sitting dangerously close, involved in their own conversation.
“Avery.” His voice was hushed. She instinctively arched back toward him.
“Hmm?” Warmth spread from her scalp to her toes. Her head still spun after speaking with Aaron, and following the altercation with Jason all she wanted was escape. Escape from the fighting, her delusions about love, the pain of her brother’s untimely death, and the reality of the destruction Ryan had left in his wake.
“Let’s go inside.”
Avery allowed him to lead her into Nicole’s dining room. He glanced around to make sure they were alone, and then turned to her. Avery gasped as he grabbed her by the shirt and pulled her into him. A small smile crept across Shilah’s face, titillating her. She wanted him badly; thoughts of his body sweaty, naked, and intertwined with hers made her head spin. Avery reached out for his shirt and began unbuttoning it.
“Let’s go upstairs.”
Avery looked deeply into Shilah’s eyes and waited for his response. He reached out and touched her face gently, then moved in for a kiss. His touch was tender; their mouths open slightly as if teasing one another. They pulled away
and Avery led him to the bedroom. Shilah shut the door behind him and locked it. Anticipation humming inside her, Avery finished unbuttoning his shirt, her eyes never leaving his. Once finished, she pushed it open revealing a very well toned chest and six-pack abs. She ran her fingers over his chest, and Shilah quivered visibly.
“Your turn.” His tone was hushed as he pulled Avery’s sweatshirt over her head. She watched apprehensively as his eyes hungrily took in her breasts. He traced a finger down her cleavage. Avery closed her eyes and moaned softly. She opened her eyes and realized he was watching her reaction. Their lips met again, feverishly this time. Shilah backed her up to the bed and laid her down. He stood before her and removed his pants. To Avery’s surprise and delight, he wasn’t wearing any underwear. Her eyes roamed him, taking in his features as he took off her jeans. Shilah leaned down to kiss her and she eagerly wrapped herself around him, the heat between them escalating.
He slipped a finger under her panties and slid them off.
“I want you so bad.” Shilah moaned in her ear. The need in his voice excited her as he fumbled with the condom wrapper. Avery opened herself up to him and he entered her slowly. Waves of euphoria crashed over her. He moved skillfully inside of her and she couldn’t suppress her moans. Feeling her orgasm building, she reached up to him with a shaky hand and brought his face down to hers, wanting to have his mouth on hers as she climaxed. She cried out, the sound muffled by his eager lips and tongue. He pulled his mouth away from her and threw his head back. His black hair was wet with sweat, a look of rapture on his face. He groaned aloud, his release overtaking him. Avery watched the blissful ache etched on his face. Once recovered, he leaned down and gently kissed her. They lay tangled in the sheets, meshed in blissful silence.
Nicole rested her head on Colin’s shoulder and closed her eyes. Her day was catching up with her, and being close to Colin’s warmth was comforting. He took her hand in his. Opening her eyes, she turned to him and saw him looking down at her, a smile tugging at his lips. She looked away self-consciously, and was unable to stop looking toward the fire. Aaron sat on the glider with Joy. They appeared to be chatting, and his hands were on her calves, which were draped across his lap. Nicole noticed Joy was wearing his coat. She felt a knot forming in her stomach and looked back at Colin, actively battling the growing jealousy within her.
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