Page 119 of Crash & Burn

“Fuck,” he grits out and his hips still behind me. His grip on my waist tightens, and I know I’ll have bruises tomorrow. I feel him release inside of me, his upper body going limp over mine resting on the counter.

He leaves a line of kisses on the back of my shoulder, but we don’t have time to enjoy these post-coitus moments because there is a knock on my apartment door, and our friends are here.

“Get your pants on.” Eddie says against my skin. He stands up straight, so I can too. Eddie’s pants didn’t even make it all the way off, so he tucks himself back in and buckles his jeans. Me, on the other hand, my underwear is nowhere to be found on my kitchen floor, so I quickly put my shorts on as Eddie turns on the light, and I pretend that I’ve been picking up the living room this whole time.

I hear Eddie open the front door, and voices fill my entry way as our friends make their way in.

We go about our night, showing everyone my pictures from the band shoot I did, sneaking glances at my man who has a pink to his cheeks for the rest of the night and a slight mess to his hair.

His eyes hold the same secrets as mine, and my stomach flips at the thought of them.

Drew and Emmett head out after about an hour, and Annie and Luke stay for a little longer. The four of us shoot the shit about random stuff, Luke and Eddie comparing stories on what it is like to be dog owners of two sister golden retrievers.

It isn’t until I walk the three of them to the door, giving a hug to both Luke and Eddie, Eddie’s lingering just a bit longer, that I see Annie snatch something from Eddie’s pocket. He doesn’t notice and keeps walking with Luke looking over his shoulder to wave goodbye to me, not missing his chance to make my heart stop with a wink.

“I assumetheseare yours,” Annie says before she hands me my pair of underwear that was nowhere to be found two hours ago. She smacks me on the ass before kissing me on the check. “I’m expecting a full report tomorrow at lunch with Drew.”

With that, she is running to catch up with Luke and Eddie leaving me flustered, embarrassed, and like I was just officially caught in the act.

Chapter 39

Mia

Lunch with Drew and Annie is spent planning the final details for the wedding now that we are officially two months out from their October date.

I tried to keep the conversation surrounding Drew, but Annie did not let me out of that full report she mentioned last night. I spared all the dirty details, but I did admit to Drew and Annie that this thing between Eddie and me is real. Realer than anything else I’ve known, and I want it to be, which means telling my brother.

They both were supportive, agreeing to keep my secret until I told Mateo, which leaves me feeling conflicted. While I have definitely grown closer to them this past year, Mateo is still their friend too. I can’t ignore the guilt of making them keep a secret from their friend just because he is my brother.

I head home to work on my website, calling Mateo on the way because he has been helping me with the updates. The more bands I work with, the more my name gets thrown to other bands, widening my network, and allowing me to add more to my online portfolio.

I’m still planning on going on tour with Cross My Heart the week after the wedding, even though their label has a photographer for them. I was happy Mateo wanted me for this first official tour, and it will probably be my last one with them as their photographer.

“Yeah, I can do that.” Mateo says as we talk on the phone. I’m on my couch with my laptop in my lap, discussing the changes I need him to make to my website, but I find myself moving the conversation in a different direction.

“Great. Also, there was something I wanted to ask you.”

“And what is that?”

“Anything new with you?”

Silence.

“Mateo?”

“Did Eddie tell you?” There is accusation in his voice, and my attempt to begin a conversation to catch up, maybe open the door to talk about my dating life ends up doing the exact opposite.

He is on edge.

Does he know?

Did Eddie tell him?

“What? No. Tell me what? What are you talking about?”

“Well, he is the only one I told, and I specifically asked him not to tell you. Glad to see I can’t trust my best friend with my fucking sister.”

“Whoa, where is this anger coming from? I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

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