Page 80 of Secrets in Love
Despite the happiness and laughter surrounding me, a darkness I fought valiantly to repress every day consumed my thoughts.
I was twenty when my mum and dad—whom I had always scoffed at when they declared their soulmate status—drove to Sydney to pick up a gift for Finn’s birthday and to enjoy a rare night alone together in the city. They never came home.
The years of grieving that followed shaped me, and I’d always joked that their sudden, tragic death stunted me not only emotionally but physically. But it had done much more than that. My loss hardened my heart and reinforced the already steely belief I, for some reason, always had. I was cold, and I was going to end up alone.
I wondered if that was why I had clung so fiercely to Jocelyn and Finn, and why Iris had become my whole world. Frigid Evie could only rely on her family, and even they could be taken away in a heartbeat. But as memories of my sweet mum and her beloved flower garden below the kitchen window, and dad with his hideous jokes and constant, embarrassing public affections toward his treasured wife coursed through my veins, I was not alone. A warm hand was holding mine, and loving, soft eyes that seemed to read what I was thinking checked on me silently and constantly.
Was this my chance?
Was the boy who grew up down the road—the one who followed me around like a stinky, lost puppy while winking and flirting with every girl he saw—mysoul mate?
It was a thought that would normally induce an ironic snort laugh, but looking down at his thumb sweeping back and forth over my knuckles, I was overwhelmed by a wave of feelings I was too scared to put a name to as it swept me away.
I stretched up, planted a kiss on Nate’s cheek, and whispered in his ear, “I don’t know how long this will last, or where it will end up, but I’m in.”
That night, I lay in bed, regretting my decision to keep Nate at bay in his own room. As soon as Iris had gone to bed, he’d smugly waltzed into my room, kicked off his socks, and lay down, but I wasn’t having it. Fooling around while no one was in the house was one thing, but doing what I wanted to do to him…what I wanted him to do to me while my niece slept down the hall was another.
“Damn my prudishness.” I tossed to my side and his stinky socks, discarded on the floor, caught my attention. “I wish the rest of you was here.”
BANG!
What the fuck is that?
BANG BANG SCREEAACCHH.
It was my window. Someone was banging on my window.This is just fucking great! I just lost my virginity, and before I can practice some more, I’m going to be murdered in my bed. Bloody typical.
Squeaky glass told me the damn thing was being slid open. My curtains parted.
I saw a foot.
Then a leg.
Paralyzed with fear, I held my breath and tried to scream, but nothing but a pathetic whimper Superman couldn’t hear came out.
More scraping followed, more bangs, then grunting and laughing, and a large head covered in messed-up hair popped through. White teeth shone like a beacon through the dark, and familiar, dangerous eyes met mine.
“Nate! You fucking idiot. You scared me half to death.” The rest of his body comically fell through, and he collapsed onto the ground with a thud, but I was too angry and kinda traumatized to laugh. “Shhhh, you idiot. You’ll wake the entire house, and I don’t want anyone to hear the sounds you make when I freaking kill you!”
Rising to his feet, he scoffed and stalked toward me, removing his shirt and pants as he went. With no underwear to rein him in, his cock sprang free, immediately standing tall and true, bobbing with each step.
“That’s nothing compared to the noises I’m about to get out of you.”
The noises he’s gonna get out of… My vagina pulsed in time with my heart.Wow, that’s new.
I ignored my treacherous, hungry body and a good portion of my brain. “How the hell did you even get in here? We’re on the second floor.”
“Not gonna lie, it wasn’t easy, but nothing comes between me and my girl.”
“Your girl,” I whimpered, trembling with want as his finger swept over my bottom lip. “I’m not your girl.”
“You are, Gidge. I know it. You know it. And now, you’re going to take off that silly scrap of clothing you call a nighty. I’m going to lay you down. You’re going to spread your legs like the good girl I know you are, and I’m going to eat your pretty little cunt till you come so hard and scream so loud that the whole world will know it too.”
Evie
One day rolled into another, and before we knew it, Thanksgiving had come and gone. It was the first time our collection of traveling freaks celebrated Turkey Day, and it most definitely showed. It was also my first time at Scarlett’s house, and it was a gorgeous, colorful, chaotic mess when we arrived and remained that way the entire time. A nervous, what-the-hell-are-we-doing excitement buzzed through the air. A lot of that was due to my idiot brother who, after begrudgingly apologizing for his outburst, accepting, and saying he was semi-okay with my relationship with his best friend, still gave us filthy looks every time we touched, and also because his love for Scarlett was finally out in the open—and I mean open. The two of them spent the morning mauling each other in a manner he would have throttled me and Nate for.
Predictably, the kids were thrilled and squealing shrieks of delight as they watched the parade, ate, staged a mini food fight, and played till they fell asleep on the couch. The food was amazing—excluding Scarlett’s disgusting Banoffee pie—and the company was even better. The only things that weren’t top-notch were poor Teddy, pining for Asher after they broke up, and the other all started with a giant…W.
