“Um, excuse me, but Ellie is my date, and
I’d like it if she came back to the table now.”
We all turn to look at my date. He has his
chest puffed out, and he’s trying not to look intimidated by the
guys. He gets an “A” for effort, but we all know he wouldn’t last
five seconds with any of them.
“I’m sorry about my friends. Of course I’ll
go back to the table with you. Goodnight, guys.”
I link my arm with his, and lean over to
kiss his cheek as I hear Aiden growl behind me. Good, let him be a
jealous prick. I did what I did to help him, and if he can’t accept
that, then we both need to accept that there’s no future for us.
Ever.
I act like I’m having a great time for the
rest of dinner, but part ways with my date once we get outside. I
tell him he’s a great guy, but just not the one for me. He waits
while I get a cab, and then drives off.
Once I’m back at the Corrigan townhouse, I
change into one of Aiden’s t-shirts and grab one of my last pints
of ice cream. I really need to stock up tomorrow. Actually no, what
I need to do is go home tomorrow. Back to Vegas, and my life. I
gave Aiden a chance to change his mind about us tonight, but he
didn’t. Yeah, he got angry and jealous, but he didn’t want me back.
I have to accept that he’s never going to want that, and just get
on with my life. Maybe buy a cat or two. There’s nothing wrong with
being a spinster, right?
I throw a couch pillow across the room. Fuck
that, I’m no spinster. If I can’t have a man, I’ll just be like
Helen. She is technically my mentor after all, even though things
have changed in the Society. I’m sure she has an extra boy toy or
two lying around that she could let me borrow for a few hours. Not
yet, but in a couple of months. Then I can just go back to the
mindless hookups I had before Aiden finally gave in to me.
Although, I should’ve known from those circumstances where he
admitted it that it wouldn’t last. Having the guy you love buy you
in a human trafficking auction really isn’t that romantic. But then
again, it really is.
I’m just screwed, while not getting screwed.
And why am I even thinking I can get it on with someone else. My
vagina’s not going to go for that, and neither is my heart. Back to
the cats and the spinster life for me.
* * *
Aiden
I’m back at the scene of the crime, also
known as my cabin. Ainsley had the entire place swept, and my
liquor all re-stocked, while everything was happening in D.C. I’ll
have to send her a thank you card for that, or some flowers. I
could thank her in person, but I’m too much of a coward to go back
to Corrigan & Co. Those women would take me down without
batting an eye. I hurt one of their own, and never mind that she
betrayed me, I’m definitely the enemy in this situation.
I take a swig of the vodka in my hand as I
try to decide which of my friends to ask about sending me my stuff.
I’ve never been attached to things, but I have some things in my
Corrigan apartment that I’d like to have back. My dog tags, some
pictures, and yeah, some things Ellie gave me. I shouldn’t want
them, but I do.
The cabin door bangs open, and I reach for
the gun I put on the coffee table. I turn, and then sigh as I see
who it is. Matt, Nate, Jake, Theo, and my dad are walking in. “I
could’ve shot you guys.”
“Nah. You don’t shoot without looking.
You’re too good for that,” Nate says.
“What are you doing here?”
“Trying to talk some sense into you,” Matt
tells me.
“If you’re referring to Ellie, you might as
well save your breath.”
My dad walks over and smacks me on the back
of the head. “I used to always brag about how smart my son was. I
wished I’d realized just how stupid you were years ago.”
“She betrayed me.”
“So did I. And your mother. And your
friends.”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“I-I didn’t love any of you the way I loved
Ellie,” I say, swallowing hard.
“You still love her, so stop using the past
tense,” Jake reminds me.
“How can I love someone who lied to me? She
kept things from me that I needed to know.”
“Because I asked her to,” my dad reminds
me.
“And let’s not forget that she protected
you, and took down the person who was trying to destroy you. But
then again, that right there is the big problem, isn’t it,” Matt
says.
“Yes,” I admit quietly. Matt, Nate, and my
dad know me well enough to know the truth, and the other guys have
probably guessed it by now.
“You have to let go of this
stupid code of yours that says no one can help you while you help
everyone else. That’s not the way the world works. It’s not the
way
love
works,”
my dad says.
“What if I don’t want it to work that way? I
want to be the one to protect her. I can take care of myself.”
“Really? And how’s that working for you
right now?” Theo asks.
“I’ll find someone who just wants to be
taken care of.”
“You think you’ll be satisfied with that?
With some woman who just sits back and lets you take care of her?
That’s going to be enough for you after Ellie?” Jake asks me.
“It will have to be. I can’t change who I
am.”
“Bullshit. We’ve all had to
change, and evolve. Not just for our women, but for ourselves. To
be the men we are destined to be. Any man would be lucky to have
Ellie, and she chose you. She put her life on the line for you. She
put her recovery on a fast track to
be
with you. If you can’t be man
enough to appreciate it, then walk away. But don’t spout off some
crap about how you can’t let her help you,” Nate tells
me.
“It’s not crap. I don’t need help.”
“I seem to remember helping you out of a
trench that was being attacked,” Matt says.
“And I carried you down a mountain when you
got shot in the leg,” Nate reminds me.
“I held your hand on your first day of
school,” my dad says in a quiet voice.
“I haven’t done anything that monumental for
you yet, but I would,” Jake says.
“Me, too,” Theo adds.
“I’m an asshole,” I tell them, realizing
that I’ve accepted help all my life from people, without even
thinking about it. Without giving it the importance it deserves. I
just focused on who I could help instead. Wanting to be the hero of
the story every time, and not understanding that the hero always
has someone to help him. Bruce Wayne has Alfred, and I have my
guys. And Ellie. Or at least I had her until I screwed it all
up.
“I blame myself for setting you on your
path,” my dad says. “I always told you that a man needed to be
honorable, and give more to the world than he took. I didn’t
realize you would take it so literally. I’m so proud of the man you
are, Aiden. You’ve done great things, and while I can’t condone
some of your actions, I know they came from a good place. I hate to
see you give up on Ellie just because she kept some things from
you.”
“You kept things from her, too,” Nate
reminds me. “You didn’t tell her about your nighttime activities.
Yeah, she knew. But not because you told her.”
“I’m a hypocrite.” I realize it, and now
that I’ve gotten past my pride, I own it.
“Yeah, I hate to say it, but you are,” Matt
tells me.
“I don’t know how to make this right. I
can’t just knock on her door and tell her I’m wrong.”
“Well, you could,” Theo tells me.
“Or you could just surprise her at her
birthday party,” Jake says.
“Shit. Her birthday’s this weekend.”
We’ve never spent one of
her birthdays together. I mean, I’ve been to her parties, but I’ve
never been
with
her because I fought my feelings for her for so long, and now
I’m about to miss my chance again.
“Yep. Her family’s throwing some big
barbeque at one of their lake houses in Wisconsin. It should be
epic,” Nate tells me.
“If you guys can help me out with something,
I can guarantee that it will be.”
“All for one,” Matt says.
“And one for all,” I finish.
There’s more than just the three of us now,
and I really like the idea of that. Of expanding my group of
friends, and letting more people in. Ellie’s friends are almost all
paired up, and the guys they’re with are pretty awesome. I hang out
with them sometimes, but I’ve kept my distance. I’m not going to do
that anymore. If this whole mess has taught me anything, it’s that
friends and family are the most important things you can have in
life. Pride, honor and justice can be great things, but they won’t
carry you down a mountain, or kiss you like you’re the most
important person on the planet. I have my friends for the first
part, and if my plan works, I’ll hopefully have Ellie back for the
second part.
Ellie
I love my family, I really do. But I
specifically told them that I didn’t want to celebrate my birthday
this year. I should’ve known they’d ignore me. I was hoping my
friends wouldn’t do the same, but here they are at my parents’ lake
house in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Every single one of the Society
women, and their men, are here. They know how destroyed I am, and
yet they came. Well, maybe that’s why they came—for moral support.
Lord knows I need it.
My mom and aunts have been
parading a string of guys past me, practically begging for me to
pick one. That’s not going to happen. There’s nothing wrong with
the guys. They’re just not
the
guy. Aiden. The only guy I’ll ever want, and the
one I can definitely never have.
“How are you holding up?” Jade asks,
dropping into the chair next to me.
“About as well as you were when you and Nate
were broken up.”
“Well, see, we got back together. There’s
hope for you and Aiden.”
“We never had the fairytale, J. There’ll be
no happy ending for us.”
“You need to fight for him if you want him.
Not sit around looking like someone killed your cat. I mean, if you
had a cat.”
“I’m more of a dog person, but I may need to
look into some cats.”
“Oh hell no. You are not going to be a cat
lady. Who aspires to being a cat lady?”
“Me?”
“Nope. Not gonna happen.”
“What’s not gonna happen, Angel?” Nate asks,
walking up to us.
“Ellie is not going to become some lonely
cat lady. So, you better tell your boy to get his shit
together.”
“I’m working on it.”
“Good.”
“I need you to come with me for a few
minutes, though. I’m sure Ellie will be okay without you.”
“What? I’m not leaving her alone.”
“It’s fine. Go on.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yep. Go make-out with your man. Just don’t
scare the children.”
“Actually, we should send them inside so we
can have some adult fun. And Ellie, maybe you should sit at the
bar.”
“Umm, okay. I guess. Why?”
“Just a hunch,” he says. Then he yells to
the crowd as I move to sit on a bar stool. “Can all the kids go
inside? We have some adult entertainment for Ellie.”
“Ooh, is it a stripper?” one of my aunts
asks, and I want to sink into the ground.
“No. It’s not,” I say.
And then the music starts.
It’s one of my favorite songs,
Love Runs
Out
by One Republic. It’s not the music
that has my jaw dropping, though, it’s Aiden. On top of the bar in
a backwards baseball cap, tight t-shirt, and jeans. He’s dancing,
and oh my God, I know that he
is
going to strip. He promised me a dance, and he’s
delivering.
I never thought of this song as one you’d
strip to, but he’s making it work. His hips are moving, and he’s
pulling his shirt off, and where the hell are my dollar bills? Does
he have oil on? Oh fuck, he’s oiled up, and I think my grandma just
passed out from the sight of his abs. I hear the commotion, but I
can’t take my eyes off the show in front of me.
He jumps to the ground and pulls me to my
feet, dropping low to simulate what his tongue loves to do to me as
my panties catch fire. His jeans drop to the ground as he moves
back up my body, and he steps out of them easily. I notice for the
first time that he has no shoes on. Good call.
A lower chair appears, and he sets me in it
as he moves over me, giving me the lap dance of a lifetime. He’s
holding onto the chair behind me as he thrusts his hips, and rolls
his upper body. He’d be a billionaire if he was in a club doing
this. Seriously. As the song gets close to ending, he hooks his
thumbs in his boxer briefs and starts to tug them down. I reach out
my hands to stop him, and then pull him down so he’s straddling
me.
“Oh, come on El. Let him finish,” one of my
cousins yells to me.
“Yeah, we want to see the rest of the
show.”
I whip my head around at that one. “Mom?
Seriously?”
“What? I’m a hot-blooded woman, and I can
tell he’s packing something very nice.”
“Shoot me now. Just shoot me,” I beg
Aiden.
“Not a chance, Doll.”
“Fine,” I tell him, then
turn to yell to the crowd. “This is
my
present, so all you cougars can
back the fuck off. All you younger women, too.”
Aiden smirks at me as he pulls the hat off
his head and places it on top of mine. “This isn’t your
present.”
“But I want it.”
“Oh, you’ll have it. As much as you want.
But there are a few other things I got for you.”
“Did you get me a pony?”
He rolls his eyes. “I hate Nate. I think all
men should hate him, but no. I didn’t get you a pony.”
“I was kidding.”
“I did get you a puppy, though.”
He whistles and a little black French
Bulldog puppy comes running around the side of the bar. He’s so
adorable, and I cuddle him close when Aiden hands him off to me. “I
love him.”