by Kasey Krane
I wasn’t sure what Tate meant by that exactly, but it definitely didn’t sound good. He narrowed his eyes on me.
“You did a good job. You tried your best. You really shouldn’t blame yourself.”
“I didn’t do much.”
“It was a good plan. It was working. I guess we should’ve encouraged him to keep you around for a while longer. You somehow managed to keep him on the right track for a while there.”
At what cost? My brother’s mental health? I wanted to snap at Tate but it wasn’t his fault. Everett was the one who didn’t know how to manage his life. He was the one who was willing to use people for his benefit.
“Maybe I should talk to him,” I blurted, before stopping myself.
Tate looked at me like he had the same thought as me—it wasn’t going to work. Nothing was going to work with Everett. However, he nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, maybe you should. I’m running out of ideas.”
I felt my stomach tighten with excitement and nerves at the thought of seeing him again, even though I knew it was a bad idea.
Twenty-Six
Everett
I woke up because I sensed bright sunlight hitting my eyes as the screen on the windows were raised. Slowly but surely, my consciousness returned and I didn’t want it to.
I didn’t want to wake up. Back to the world where I had nothing. I didn’t have my parents in that world. I didn’t have any respect for myself. I didn’t feel like life would be worth living, especially without Keira in it. For a few days, while she was around, everything had felt normal and steady. Like she’d given me a reason to wake up. Just to prove myself to her.
And in my dreams, while I slept, I imagined she was still with me. In an ideal world she wouldn’t have cared about her career and success. She would’ve put her brother above everyone else. She would’ve wanted me. But in the real world, I was wrong about her. I thought she was a different kind of woman than the one she turned out to be.
Besides the sunlight, I heard footsteps on the carpeted floor. Someone was walking around my bedroom. I remembered there’d been some kind of a party here last night, but the details didn’t come to mind. I didn’t know what I did. But I was sure I didn’t fuck anybody. I didn’t want to fuck anybody. Keira was the only one and she was out of the picture.
So I dreaded opening my eyes and seeing who else was in my room.
“Get out,” I growled, stuffing my face into the pillow. I decided I didn’t want to know who was there. I wanted to be left alone to wallow in my own fantasies and dreams.
A female voice cleared her throat.
I figured it was one of the housekeepers, or maybe some chick from last night who thought she could sleep in here. In my bedroom. What the fuck?
“I said, get the fuck out!” I shouted this time.
“I’m not going anywhere until you’ve explained yourself to me. There are a lot of people looking for some answers from you, Everett.”
I would’ve recognized that voice anywhere and I sat up in my bed like a bolt. I felt the heaviness in my head, the throbbing ache behind my eyes. I didn’t know how long I’d been asleep but it wasn’t enough.
Keira stood at the foot of my bed with her hands on her hips. Her long blond hair was like a sleek curtain around her face. She wore a smart navy dress, showing off her legs. She was dressed for work, but somehow she was here in my bedroom.
Was I still dreaming? Had I made this up in my head?
It was a strange deja vu moment like the first time I found her here, sitting on a chair, waiting for me to wake up. The only difference was this time there weren’t any naked chicks in bed with me.
She didn’t know what she was doing to me. She made everything worse by reminding me of what my life could have potentially looked like if everything hadn’t gone to shit. I wanted her to leave so I didn’t completely lose my mind.
“What makes you think you can keep showing up in my bedroom while I’m asleep?” I growled at her.
Keira looked unperturbed. She had thick skin.
“It’s the only place I find you time and time again. It’s one in the afternoon and you’re still in bed. I would’ve loved to chat with you in your living room, but this is where you are.”
She had a point.
She always had a fucking point.
I forced myself to throw the sheets off and get out of bed. I was still fully dressed. Clearly, I was too out of it last night to even get out of my clothes before passing out.
“Everett, we need to talk,” she said while I avoided looking at her.
The more I looked at her, the more fucked in the head I’d get.
“Just leave me alone,” I mumbled.
“Your brothers are really worried. Everyone is really worried for you. What happened?”
She’d followed me to the bathroom door. Once again, we relived the same scene as the first time we met. It was kinda pathetic this was the sum total of our relationship.
“Everyone is constantly worried about me for some reason. Like I’m some kid who doesn’t know what they’re doing. I’m a grown man. My choices and consequences are all mine. Maybe you all should just back off a little.”
“Have you seen the videos and photos online? Of course you haven’t. You’ve been passed out all morning.”
“What is it? They ripping me to shreds again? It’s not new. I’m almost used to it by now. Maybe if you would’ve gotten your brother to join the party with his other wheelchair buddies, everyone would’ve given me a standing ovation for making them feel included.”
I glared at her and Keira looked like she’d been slapped. Her nostrils flared. Her hands slid down from her waist. I hoped it was enough to get her out of my room and out of my life.
She said nothing. It was like she’d been dumbstruck.
Good.
That was exactly what I wanted.
I opened the bathroom door and stepped in.
“Just leave me the fuck alone. All of you. Get out of my house. Get out of my life. I know I’m crashing and burning and I want to be alone while I do it.”
I slammed the door while she remained on the other side.
Seeing her again had done crazy things to my body and head. It reminded me she wasn’t just a fantasy, she was real…and completely out of my reach.
Keira Cunningham despised me.
I must’ve spent at least an hour locked up in the bathroom. I had a long shower. Shaved. Brushed my teeth. Then, I had another long shower. By the time I stepped out, I felt my blood boiling from all that steamy water I’d stood under.
My head still throbbed. I was still hungover, but I felt a little more human now.
I was sure Keira had left and I had no regrets. I didn’t want to be alone with her again.
But what I found in my bedroom was a tray of eggs, beans, toast and a large pot of coffee. It was on my bed. Keira was standing by the window, apparently waiting for me.
I wanted to tell her to get out again, but my stomach rumbled and I knew I needed to eat.
Neither of us spoke as I got back into bed, sliding under the sheets. I poured coffee into the cup and picked up the buttered toast. Keira turned to look at me finally.
“Don’t worry, I’m not here to stay. I just wanted to make sure you’re doing okay. I’m not going to lecture you because I’m sure you know it already. You know what you’re risking by making these decisions.”
She moved towards the bedroom door. In a few moments, she’d be gone and hopefully I’d be able to drift back into sleep. I just wanted some peace.
“Yeah, I don’t need a lecture.”
She gulped. I thought she had something to say.
“Why’d you do it, Everett? Why did you use Sean like that when you clearly don’t care about your reputation?”
I drank from my cup, glaring at her in surprise.
“What are you talking about?”
“Those photos. Did you really think he wouldn’t find out about them? Or you just
didn’t care how that made him feel?”
“Wait a minute, you think I did that on purpose?”
“You practically forced me to go to work so you could be alone with him. He told me. Sean told me the walk was your idea. I saw the photos and how posed they were. You knew those cameras were trained on you. That was the reason you invited Sean to go get donuts. You spun the story to work for you. To make you look more sympathetic.”
“You’re wrong.”
Keira shook her head.
“You should at least admit it. Just say you did it to save your ass.”
“You did it! You put him in my path because you knew the cameras were following me around. You didn’t give a shit about using your brother, while making tall claims the whole time about how he is the most important person to you. You used Sean and you used me to further your career.”
Her shoulders heaved while I barked at her. We glared at each other with flushed angry faces. Finally, it dawned on us that maybe we were both wrong. Maybe we had both jumped to conclusions.
Keira’s mouth fell open and I got out of bed and approached her. She took a few steps back. I saw her eyes water.
She shook her head.
“So you didn’t plan it?” she asked in a small voice.
“I’d never do that to Sean, and more importantly, I’d never do that to you. Okay yes, maybe at the back of my head, I knew there were cameras following me. But that wasn’t what I was thinking about while I was with him. We were just hanging out. We were just talking.”
“You know the funny thing is, despite everything they said about him on the internet, how they pitied him and worshipped you, he still looks back on it fondly. He said he had fun and that’s the memory he wants to hold on to.”
“Sean is wiser than his age. He’s wiser than all of us!”
Keira smiled a little and I went closer to her. She had no idea how much I wanted to touch her and hold her. The time we’d spent apart made me crazier about her.
“You thought I orchestrated the whole thing?”
I said nothing, and that was her answer.
“And you were disgusted by the way you thought I had used my brother to get traction for you.”
“I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I thought I knew a different version of you. A version I...fell for.”
She blinked. I saw the way her lips quivered. She reached for me and placed a hand on my cheek. Just her touch was enough to keep me going for a few more moments until I needed more.
“How could I…I would never…” she fumbled with her words. Maybe this was the first time I saw her fumbling with her words.
“I know. I was wrong. I was stupid. I couldn’t come to terms with the idea that someone like you would actually want to help me. Would like me.” I covered her hand with mine and brought it to my lips.
She drew closer to me and her perfume enveloped me. My head didn’t throb anymore. I didn’t feel sick. Somehow, just being close to her had wiped away all those bad feelings. She was like a breath of fresh air.
“I like you, Everett. Because of the person I’ve gotten to know, not the person all these strangers see in your house. I don’t know that person.”
“I do that because I don’t want to feel anything else. I feel like it protects me.”
My hands traveled to her hips and I pulled her even closer.
“You don’t need protection from me. We can be on the same team if that’s what you want,” she said.
I kissed her. That was my answer.
There wasn’t anything I wanted more than to be on the same team with Keira.
Twenty-Seven
Keira
Finally, things were beginning to make sense.
I wasn’t wrong about Everett. I wasn’t a fool for thinking I’d finally found a man who wasn’t afraid of being his authentic self. A man who I couldn’t keep my hands off either.
He held on to my hips and swung me away from the wall as he kissed me. The kiss started off warm and soft, but it grew hotter and more urgent by the second. His tongue was down my mouth and I dug my nails into his back.
He lifted me up and threw me on the bed and we laughed as our bodies bounced gently on the mattress.
“Are you going to tell me what happened last night?” I asked as he snuggled into me. He had no idea how much I’d missed this…missed being this close to him, feeling his muscles surround me like a weighted blanket.
“Nothing happened. I didn’t sleep with anyone else, Keira. There’s nobody else but you. You are the only thing on my mind,” he replied.
“I know that. I’m asking about the party. Those videos and pictures look pretty bad. I mean…I get it, it was just a party.”
“But it got out of hand, I guess. As it always does here. Maybe I’ve just surrounded myself with messed up people.”
“Who want to take advantage of your big house, your money they have at their disposal, wrecking this place, when they know it’s you and your reputation that’ll take the fall for it all.”
Everett dug his nose into my hair while I slipped my leg over his waist. We were tangled up in each other, just the way we should’ve been for the past two weeks. So much wasted time just because neither of us wanted to confront the other.
“I know all that, I just…missed you I guess. I just didn’t want to feel anything. I knew having those people here would help me go numb.”
I kissed his neck while his fingers weaved my hair. I laid my head on his chest.
“I can fix this. I’m going to fix this. I’ll come up with something.”
“Keira, I don’t want you to fix me. That’s not your role in my life. I don’t need you to spin a tale,” he said.
I looked up at him and he stared into my eyes, framing my face with both his hands.
“I want to fix this myself. I want to prove to you and my brothers I can do this. I don’t give a shit what they say about me online, or even what the shareholders think. I’ll step away from the business if that’s what it takes. I’ll do anything, as much time as it takes, to show you I can do better.”
I had tears in my eyes when he kissed my cheek. I clung to him, breathing in his scent, thanking the universe for making this happen.
“Show me now,” I whispered in his ear.
His mouth was on mine, tasting my tongue, exploring my mouth. I clung to him while he moved me, putting me in position the way he wanted me.
He had me on my hands and knees with my face up against the cushioned bedhead. He crept up behind me, sliding my dress up my thighs till it was bunched up around my waist.
“You want to see how I worship you?” he asked. His voice was deep and strong. I nodded, moaning with pleasure when he pulled my panties down. I couldn’t wait to see what he’d do to me next. I needed to know how he’d take over my body.
Everett leaned forward and I gasped when his tongue dipped in my wet throbbing pussy. I reached for the bed, placing my palms tightly on it while his mouth worked its magic.
I couldn’t stop gasping and trying to catch my breath. Even he had never made me feel like this before. Like I didn’t care about anything in the world.
Everett had the unique ability to make my mind go complete blank. Just with the power of his body.
His tongue was deep inside me and then his fingers found my clit.
My knees wobbled on the bed while I tried to hold on fast. His mouth was on my pussy, he licked and purred and sucked every last drop of my cream. While his fingers worked my clit, stroking in delicious circular motions. When he slid them inside me, I thought I’d explode right then, but he kept up a steady soft rhythm. He wasn’t too hard on me. He wanted me to just slide into the rhythm of it and enjoy every beautiful moment.
The way he touched me and made me feel—encouraged me to fall in love with myself and my body all over again. If he wanted me like this. If he made me feel like this, why shouldn’t I have done the same?
I clung to the headboard, dropping my head down
between my arms while Everett took complete control of me.
“Please…don’t stop…I’m going to come…please…I’ll come…” I couldn’t even hear my own voice. I didn’t know what I was saying.
I only heard Everett say, “Yes, come for me, babe.”
Then my orgasm took over me and I shuddered with pleasure as I exploded. His mouth was on my pussy while my juices streamed from me. He wrapped his arms around my waist, pushing his fingers deep in, thrusting and pumping until he was satisfied I was done.
I dropped down on the bed and he tumbled on top of me, turning me over so he could kiss me again.
“I’m convinced,” I said with a laugh. “But I don’t want you to feel left out.”
His eyes glowed with anticipation as I moved over and got down between his legs. I helped him pull his track pants down to his knees. His cock was already hard. Rock hard and throbbing.
I took him in my hand and stroked him. He stared at me and I couldn’t look away. In those moments, I saw everything. I saw how much he actually cared about me. I saw he truly wanted to change and be a part of my life. I couldn’t believe we both wanted the same things.
“I’m in love with you, Keira,” he said. Completely taking me by surprise. It was like he’d read my mind.
“I’m in love with you too,” I replied.
He clenched his jaws and I went down on him, opening my mouth wide and taking him in, inch by inch, until I couldn’t go any further. He was too big and wide and I started sucking. My tongue swiped over his shaft and roof, making him groan with pleasure. He arched over, grabbing a fistful of my hair and controlling the way I bobbed my head up and down on his cock.
Then, just when I thought he was going to come in my mouth, he pulled me away. My mouth was streaked with his precum. I knew how much he wanted me. His cock throbbed and eaged with desire.
“I want your pussy,” he growled like a command.
I jumped up on top of him, straddling him. He curled an arm around my waist, squeezing my breasts and then kissing my neck.
