“So then how did you end up with…?” Eden waved her hand in the general direction of my lap.
“That’s the second part of it, but you should know he cheated.” That was Tony speaking up, much to my utter shock. He usually called us annoying peasants when we started fucking off. Maybe my life-long friend was finally starting to loosen up again. He hadn't been so uptight when we were younger, although that change in him might have had something to do with Eden leaving us like she had. Or, more accurately, like we’d been led to believe. “Santos went and told the women that he was a virgin and because of a freak accident he got scarred up and now Marco was using him as a second-rate wingman. The ‘ugly’ friend. Once word got around to the ladies in the bar, Marco didn’t stand a chance.”
It was my turn to wince when Marco turned on me. “You fuck! I knew you couldn’t beat me! Goddamned crooks around here. Nice to know you turned on your own cousin, Tony,” Marco griped.
Tony just shrugged. “Bros before hoes. You were quite the manwhore about that time if I remember right.”
Eden busted out laughing, much to my relief. I’d been half worried that she’d be pissed even though it was years ago, but she was perfectly comfortable with it, and with all of us too, it seemed. Case in point, none of us missed Vanni slipping an arm behind her or the way she relaxed back into him like she belonged there and had done it all of her life.
“Edie, they're being mean to me,” Marco complained, trying to garner her sympathy.
“Oh, no. You brought that shit on yourself.” She wagged a finger at him like he was naughty little kid, and even I had to grin at her antics. It was nice to have a light moment in the sea of dark ones that had been accumulating lately. “Okay, so you lost, but Santos is the one that got his dick bedazzled?”
The laughter at my expense was immediate, but all I could do was hold my head and groan. The sooner this shit was over, the better. Wouldn’t be so bad if they were fucking with someone else, but I needed to eat and take pain medication, which I didn’t want to bring up in front of Eden.
“Yep. We all went in. The others just had to be there to make sure I followed through, then Santos started giving me shit that I was only getting a nipple pierced. Not gonna lie, that shit hurts, in case you were wondering. But you probably know that already, right?” I was at a loss, but from the way Eden glared at him and Vanni hid a smirk, I knew I’d be finding out soon enough. “Fine, be a spoilsport. Anyway, Tony here, decided to back Santos up. Sort of. He said if Santos had lost, he’d at least have gotten his dick done because he wasn’t a pussy like me. Of course, yours truly couldn’t pass that up, so I told him we could add onto it—piercing for piercing. I had one nipple done already, so I got the second, and Santos, being the masochistic asshole he is, went straight for his prick. See, I hadn’t gone that route since I actually liked to use it on occasion and letting it heal was a dry spell I wasn’t looking forward to, but now I was stuck. When Santos got the fifth one, I was done. I don’t even remember if I had to forfeit anything. My dick fucking hurt, and he just got cleaned up and zipped his jeans like it wasn’t a problem. But, I do have to say, they are nice to use.” He waggled his eyebrows at Eden who flipped him off.
“As fun as this has been, Marco, I don’t want to hear anymore about your dick or Santos’. I’m starving. So, what are we eating?”
That was the cue to start arguing over what everybody wanted until we all eventually settled on the same thing. Vanni went to put the order in while Marco and Tony left, the latter promising to fill me in later on issues that had popped up, but that left me alone with Eden.
“Do you want me to leave? she bluntly asked. “I don’t want to be here if it’s going to cause problems. I can stay up at the main house with Vinnie until I’m not needed…” She trailed off under the force of my glare.
“Come sit with me. Please.” I waited until she warily crossed to the island and took the stool next to me, although she pulled it a couple feet away first. “I don’t want you here because it’s not safe. That’s the only reason. And now that you’re here, well, we’ll just have to deal with it and make sure you stay safe.” Blowing out a breath and briefly closing my eyes, I tried to apologize for being an ass. “I didn’t mean anything by what I said earlier. It feels like you’re leaving me behind, and I’ve barely digested the fact that my father ruined my life. Both our lives. Who knows what else he’s done. It’s just a lot to deal with, and my knee-jerk reaction was to fall back into blame and jealousy. I’m sorry. I’ll try not to pop off with whatever ends up in my head. And,” I had to swallow hard before I could finish, praying she didn’t take me up on my offer, “if you only want to be with Vanni, or whoever, and not me, I’ll understand. We can still be friendly, eventually, I won’t lie and say I’m okay with it, but I would do my best to get that way.” My stomach hurt at the thought of her friend-zoning me, and my eyes settled on the peony tattoo when I couldn’t hold hers any longer.
The black polish she wore registered before the sensation of her tracing a fingertip across the ink that I’d mostly kept covered for the better part of a decade. It was bare now; I hadn’t bothered to put my watch back on yet, and I was considering moving it to my other arm when I decided I needed to wear it again.
“Would you mind if I came to hang out tonight? After dinner, I mean.” I couldn’t tear my eyes off of the gentle tracing she was doing, but I managed to nod my head. Much to her amusement. “Okay, caveman, words are good too.” She sounded lighter, more free than before, almost like she used to, and a stabbing sense of fear suddenly hit me in the chest. Dread consumed me as the fear morphed into a certainty that she would somehow be taken from me.
“Eden, promise me, don’t leave this house, under any circumstances, until this is all over with. Do you understand?” I met her gaze then, seeing right through the poker face she was trying to give me. Worry stood stark in her forest green eyes. “Eden?”
“I’ll be careful, Santos. But I need to pee, so I’ll see you at dinner, and after?” She pulled her hand away as she stood, sadness tinging the smile she tried to force.
I was going to fucking lose her again.