by JA Low
None of this explains why I currently have them wrapped around me or why I am letting his dick knock against my naked ass.
“Shit,” Stirling curses and jumps away from me. “Audrey, I’m so sorry. I… I…” The normally composed Stirling Hartford is lost for words for a couple of moments. I roll over and I can see the flush on his cheeks as he’s mortified over letting his morning wood say hello to my ass.
“It’s all good,” I tell him, shrugging the awkwardness off. “It means nothing. We’re family remember?” Stirling stares at me for a few moments, a frown forming across his face before he comes back to me.
“I might go and grab a shower, okay?” He doesn’t give me time to answer his question before he’s up and out of the bed and into the en-suite, where he slams the door shut behind him. Right okay, that wasn’t a good start to the morning. I roll onto my back and stare up at the ceiling, my mind running away with itself. Wondering what it might be like to feel that morning wood between my thighs. That heated breathe against my skin further down my body. What am I doing? I’m letting myself get worked up for no reason. Even if he is currently naked in the shower right now. My phone buzzes pulling me away from my ridiculous thoughts. I’ve got a million and one messages I notice after grabbing the phone off of the floor. My stomach sinks as last night comes barreling back toward me. Guessing the video’s gone viral. I scroll through my notifications until I see I have some from Dior and David. Traitors.
David: This isn’t me babe. You have to believe me. There is no way in the world I would be with your friend. I would have to be stupid to do something like that. Please call me, babe. I love you, Audrey.
Is he serious right now?
Using for the first time I love you when you’ve been caught screwing your girlfriend’s best friend is low. Real low.
Dior: Audrey, babe. This video isn’t real. Please listen to me. It’s not real it’s been doctored. I would never do something like that to you ever. Please believe me.
Rainn: Call me now.
Nell: Call me.
I click onto Rainn and Nell’s numbers and group call them.
“Audrey. Are you okay? Where are you?” Rainn asks.
“Aud, your mom said you didn’t come home last night,” Nell adds. “Are you okay? Are you safe?” I love my girls. I can hear the worry in their voices as they wonder where the hell I am.
“I crashed at Stirling’s.” The line goes quiet.
“Stirling?” Rainn questions.
“Yeah. With Rhys being away he’s the next best thing,” I explain.
“Next best thing for what?” Rainn asks.
“Help,” I add.
“Did anything happen?” Nell asks.
“What no!” I exclaim. “I crashed in his bed and that’s it.”
“His bed?” Rainn’s voice raises.
“Yeah. I was sad. It’s not weird, is it?” I ask them because judging by their reactions it is.
“A little,” Nell adds. “Especially if nothing happened.”
“Of course, nothing would happen. You know he doesn’t see me as anything other than family,” I tell them.
“We’re so glad you’re okay. We were worried. We saw the video,” Rainn tells me. “It’s fucked up.”
“I spoke to Dior,” Nell tells us. The call goes silent waiting for Nell to press on. “She told me it’s true. I’m sorry, Aud. That she and David have been hooking up for a long time,” Nell explains to me. Each new revelation is like a sucker punch to my stomach. “She didn’t think you and David were serious.”
“She didn’t think we were serious?” My voice raises. “She was there the night he asked me to be his girlfriend. She popped champagne with us. That’s bullshit, Nell.” Is Nell team Dior? I can’t lose another friend over all this.
“I know it is, babe. I’m telling you what she told me. It’s not right what she has done. And I told her that,” Nell explains.
“Did you know about them?” I ask Nell straight up because she was the closest to Dior out of the three of us.
“No way.” Nell defends herself. “If I did, I would have told you, Audrey. I would have let you know before all this,” Nell exclaims sounding like she’s telling me the truth.
“Then why did she do it?” I ask her.
“All Dior told me was they have been a thing for a long time. That David told her you two had an agreement. That you were using each other to increase your followings.”
“He said what?” I yell down the phone. Is he serious right now? “I don’t need his shitty followers.”
“Fucking convenient excuse,” Rainn adds. “Dior knows better. She’s been with us when the two of them have been together.”
“I don’t know. It’s a shit situation.” Nell sighs. And she is kind of in the middle of it. She should be Team Audrey though because if Dior can do this to me than she sure as hell can do it to Nell.
“She’s always been jealous of Audrey,” Rainn states. “She hates the fact that Audrey and I are close to you, Nell.” Rainn drops that little bombshell.
“Wait. Me?” Nell questions.
“You and she were tight long before the four of us became friends. I think she got jealous. Especially when Audrey comes in and starts dating her booty call right in front of her. You know what Dior is like. She has to be the center of attention. You’ve seen the stunts she’s pulled before with us. David was a dumb ass for going along with it,” Rainn explains to Nell. Everything she’s said makes sense. “She’s even gloating about the sex tape online,” Rainn adds. She’s what? My stomach does somersaults. What a bitch.
“I’m done with her,” I tell Rainn and Nell sternly. “You girls can be friends with her, but I’m done.”
“I’m Team Audrey,” Rainn adds.
“I agree what Dior has done is messed up. I’m not sure if I can be friends with her either,” Nell tells us hesitantly. I understand this must be hard for Nell as she did generally have had a close relationship with her. I can’t blame Nell for any of this, like I can’t blame her for staying in touch with Dior. And David, well he can go fuck himself. Dating him was definitely not good for my career, total opposite really.
“Are the comments bad?” I ask the girls because I do not want to look at any of them myself.
“Most of them are Team Audrey,” Nell tells me.
“And of course, there is that one percent who are trolls,” Rainn adds. “But you know to ignore them,” Nell reassures me. I can only imagine what the trolls are saying.
“Why did they do this to me?” I ask my friends as tears begin to fall down my cheeks again. “Why hurt me like that? I’m a joke now.”
“Audrey, no. You are not a joke. You have nothing to be embarrassed about. Nothing,” Rainn tries to reassure me.
“But it’s bad isn’t it? The entire thing has gone viral, hasn’t it?” I ask my friends; their silence is all the answer I need. “I can’t stay here in New York. I just can’t.”
“We can go upstate to my family’s farm or down to Florida,” Nell tells me.
“What about Bali? We can go to my family’s home there. Get massages. Zen out,” Rainn adds.
“They all sound great guys but I think I want to go to London and see my brother.” I kind of need a hug from him.
“Yes,” Nell squeals excitedly. “I’m in for London.”
“Me too,” Rainn adds.
“You girls sure?” I ask them. Because this would be rather epic if we did a girl’s trip to London.
“Yes.” They both say in unison.
“I can’t thank you both enough.” The tears begin to roll down my cheeks again.
“We’ve got you, babe,” Rainn tells me, before they both say their goodbyes and hang up.
“So, you’re going to London?” I jump at Stirling’s deep voice behind me. Slowly I turn around and see that he’s dressed in some grey sweatpants and a white T-shirt. Seriously is this man trying to kill me with his sexiness.
“Yeah. I
don’t want to stick around here,” I explain to him.
“I was going to catch up with Rhys next week, but I could bring it forward, if you want to go sooner,” he tells me. “I’m sure your brother would be fine with us using the jet.” He gives me a smirk.
“You think so?” I question him.
“I say so, so yes. It’s fine.” His face breaks out into a bright white smile.
“Oh my God, thank you!” I scream as I jump up off the bed, wrapping my arms around him. He stiffens under my touch. “This isn’t weird. Just go with it, Stirling,” I tell him which makes him relax under my hug attack. “Thanks for everything,” I tell him as I let go of him. “And especially thanks for last night. I didn’t know what to do.” Stirling’s face softens at my thanks.
“Have you heard from David?” he asks.
“Just a pathetic text, explaining to me it wasn’t him. You know the male motto of deny till I die.”
“A boy’s motto. Not a man’s,” Stirling corrects me.
“Maybe that’s where I’m going wrong. I’m dating immature boys.” I sigh. “Who am I kidding? It’s going to be a long day in hell before I date again.”
“You’re young, Audrey. There’s plenty of guys out there that would only be too happy to date you,” Stirling compliments me.
“Maybe. I haven’t checked my DMs yet. I’m sure some creepers are already sliding into them.” Shaking my head I ask, “Anyway, do you mind if I grab a shower and freshen up before going home?”
“No, of course not. Go right ahead. I’ll order some breakfast for us and then I’ll drive you home,” Stirling tells me.
“Sounds like a plan.”
5
Stirling
My phone starts ringing, and I know that ring tone anywhere. It’s Rhys.
I grab it from the stand and open the call. “Hey,” I answer a little puffed after my workout.
“That fucking bastard. Have you seen what he has done to my sister?” Rhys yells down the phone. He’s so loud I have to hold it away from my ear.
“I saw the video,” I tell him.
“Makes me sick,” Rhys adds. “I think you and I might need to pay a visit to Bora Bora.” I knew this is the way he’d react when he found out.
“As much as I think that’s a great idea, I don’t think Audrey is going to think it is.” I tell him. There’s a series of curses and grumblings down the phone.
“Maybe you’re right.” He doesn’t sound happy about it. “Speaking of Audrey. Do you know where she is? Mom said she never came home last night. She texted and said that she was crashing at a friend’s house. I’m worried about her.” I can hear the concern in his voice.
“She crashed here.” Better to confess now than later.
“She what?” Rhys’s voice raises in shock.
“It was late. Audrey didn’t want to worry your mom. Her friends had gone home, and she needed her brother in that moment. I was the closest thing I guess.” There’s nothing but silence on the other end of the phone.
“Thanks man.” Rhys eventually speaks up. “Thanks for looking after my sister when I couldn’t. Maybe I should come home.”
“Actually, Audrey has made plans to visit. I’m about to organize the jet,” I explain to him.
“Really?” He seems surprised.
“Yeah. It’s a girl’s trip. I was coming next week to see you anyway. I can swap things around and join them. I think she’s desperate to get away from the city for a little bit. You know how the media is when something like this hits their pages.”
“Vultures all of them,” Rhys growls. “I understand what it’s like going through a public break up. Add in the juiciness of a sex tape then you have the perfect storm for paparazzi and gossip fodder.” Rhys lets out an exhausted sigh.
Rhys is going through a divorce from his gold-digging, social-climbing, soon to be ex-wife. She loves the media attention their divorce is getting them. Especially since she is playing the victim in the breakup, crying, and carrying on that Rhys cheated on her when in fact she was screwing his best friend while he was at work. Rhys decided that all this unwanted attention wasn’t good for his business or his mental health and packed up to London to catch his breath and work out his next step. He’s been hoping something good would come along and knock his drama off the gossip sites. What he wasn’t expecting was his sister’s misfortune to be it.
“It’s not fair that she’s here having to deal with it all while he’s on a tropical island still screwing his mistress,” I tell Rhys.
“So true,” he agrees sadly. “Look, thanks for taking her in when she had nowhere else to go. I appreciate it. I’m glad she has you there when I can’t be. You’re like a second brother to her,” Rhys tells me and his appreciation makes me feel sick. He doesn’t need to know the bad thoughts I’ve been having about his sister.
“Anytime, man. You know that.”
“Can you let Audrey know I called?” Rhys asks me.
“Of course.”
“I’ll see you and the girls in a couple of days then. I pity you on that plane with those three.” Oh man, he’s right. This is going to be a nightmare. “So good luck with that.” Rhys chuckles before saying goodbye.
“Was that my brother?” Audrey asks which makes me jump as I wasn’t expecting her to be right behind me.
“Yeah. He just heard the news. He said call him when you can.” I pass the message onto Audrey.
“I can’t thank you enough for taking me in last night. I needed it to get my head together.” She takes a seat beside me on the bed.
“Anytime, you know that. I’ll be here for you,” I tell her, bumping my shoulder against hers.
“If I couldn’t have my brother with me last night. I’m glad I had you. You’re the next best thing.” She gives me a bright smile.
Well damn; I’ve been friend-zoned.
Which is the best place for me. My best friend doesn’t need me lusting after his little sister. It’s not right.
“Guess I better get going home. Can’t hide out here all day.” She shrugs her shoulders slumping under the weight of what she knows is going to happens when she leaves these walls.
“You’re more than welcome to stay,” I add, giving her a grin.
“Don’t tempt me.” She chuckles. “It’s not fair that I’m the victim in all this, yet I’m going to be the one that gets all the media attention.” I can see Audrey’s body tense as the reality of what has happened to her sets in.
“Your family and friends have your back,” I tell her.
“Why do you think he did it?” she asks me again. I can see this is the question playing on her, but it could be for a million reasons none of us will ever truly know.
“It has nothing to do with you, know that,” I tell her. The last thing I want Audrey to think or feel is that she did something to this dickwad to make him cheat. She didn’t. He was a asshole.
“But it must have been something.” Those blue doe eyes look up at me as if I magically will be able to explain it all for her.
“Probably ego. Like the fact that he had two women after him. He probably got off on running around behind your back. She probably did too.” I try and explain to the best of my abilities to her.
“Men are dicks but her? That’s the kicker. Why would she do that to someone who is one of your best friends?” Those blue eyes narrow on me and I understand she is wanting to make sense of the situation, but sometimes shitty people do shitty things.
“Jealousy maybe? I don’t know. But least you know she isn’t a real friend.”
“Not really the way I wanted to work that out,” she states sarcastically.
“Forget them. They never deserved you, Audrey. There will be more fish in the sea for you. And I promise you there are good guys out there; we aren’t all dickheads,” I explain to her, trying to cheer her up.
“Good guys like you, hey?” She gives me a grin and nudges my shoulder with hers.
“Oh no. I’m definit
ely not a good guy.” My answer makes her pause.
“Do you treat women badly?” Her face crinkles up with a frown.
“Hell no,” I answer quickly before she gets the wrong idea. “There’s two type of bad guys. First one is men like David who are all about ego, vanity, and clout. Then there are the second type, and they are good men that aren’t looking for a relationship. These men are honest with the women they are with, they don’t hide behind an over inflated ego. They tell the woman that they aren’t looking for anything more than the time that they have together. That they understand the woman maybe amazing, but they don’t have time in their lives to invest in a relationship. They don’t want to waste anyone’s time. But as much as the women agree with the rules, they seem to think they can change you. Change your choices and decisions. Guess this bad guy hasn’t found the right woman yet to change me.”
“Why is that? Audrey asks.
“I don’t have the time to devote to a relationship. I don’t have time to be your plus one at an event or catch a movie or go to the markets. You know, couple stuff,” I explain to her.
“You only have time to wine and dine her before you 69 her?” Audrey cracks a joke.
“Good one.” We give each other a high five. “But it’s true. I don’t want to let anyone down because Rhys and are still building this business together. We have so much more to conquer.”
“Aren’t you worried that time is going to run out for you?” Audrey asks.
“What do you mean?” I question her.
“Well, you’re getting close to forty, so you know.” She giggles.
“What is your infatuation with age? I’m not old.”
“So, you’re telling me you’re going to be a George Clooney and pop out babies at like fifty?”
What is with the third degree from Audrey?