Fallen (The Frenemy Series Book 3)

by Kate Benson

  “So, she was drunk,” I shrug. “Are you saying that makes it better?”

  “No,” he says immediately, holding my eyes. “I’m saying I was blindsided. Evie, it happened so fast, I didn’t see it coming in time to stop it. By the time I knew what she was doing, it was already done, and you were there seeing...” he trails off for a moment, shaking his head. “I know what you saw. I know how it looks, Evie, but I swear to God, it wasn’t what you think it was.”

  I stare back at him, willing his words to be true. Even more, I will myself to trust them despite my own fears, despite the nausea rolling in my stomach.

  I force my eyes away from his for a moment, but the temptation is too much and only a breath later, they’re holding me captive all over again.

  “How do I know that’s the truth, Dash?” I manage. “How do I know you’re not just making all this up?”

  “How many times have I lied to you?” he asks, his voice low, even, calmer than the challenge in the words should allow. “Even before we were ever us, Evie. I’ve never been a liar. Especially not with you.”

  “But we are us now, Dash,” I counter. “Your honesty never came with any consequence before because you didn’t have anything to lose. It’s not like that anymore,” I argue. “How do I know you’re just saying what I want to hear so I won’t be mad at you anymore?”

  “You don’t,” he admits, releasing a sigh as his eyes move to my belly and he clears his throat, moving them right back to mine. “You’ve only got my word, Evie. I know what I’m saying is the truth, but if I’ve lost your trust? Even if none of this matters to you anymore, I still had to say it because you’re right. Things are different now. I don’t just have a lot to lose, if you walk away from me, you’re taking everything I’ve got, Evie,” he manages, the weight of his words hanging heavy between us. He takes a half step forward and I stand firm, swallowing hard passed the lump in my throat. “Shit, you might still tell me there’s not a fucking thing I can do to make things right with us,” he whispers, his voice breaking enough to crumble another piece of me with it. “But even if that’s what you choose, Evie, I can’t live with you thinking I would ever hurt you like that.”

  Despite how hard I’m fighting to keep it together, his words hit me hard enough to pull a breathy sob from my chest that makes us both wince. He moves to comfort me, the feel of his fingertips brushing my skin for a moment setting me on fire in the best and most agonizing ways and I pull away from him once more.

  “So, what? I’m supposed to just pretend it didn’t happen?” I ask, prompting him to shake his head. “If I choose to believe you, we go right back to how it was? I’m supposed to just be fine with you seeing her every night? Is that it?”

  “Evie, I’m not putting you through that,” he promises. “I’m not ever going to be around her again, baby.”

  “Be reasonable, Dash. You two work together. You just said

  she-”

  “Not anymore,” he shakes his head, cutting me off. “I told my boss what happened, and he wouldn’t take her off my floor, so I quit,” he explains quickly, his admission stunning me into silence. My mind is reeling, my heart begging it to believe him while my fear holds on tight to the pain still coursing through me. “Evie, I hate that I used to be the asshole you’d expect to pull some shit like that, but I’m not that fucking guy, baby. Not anymore.”

  “You’re forgetting that I knew him, too, Dash,” I snap. “And that’s exactly what that guy would say.”

  “Not since you!” he counters immediately, his frustration at my stubborn heart making his voice sharpen same as mine. “And you can say what you want about who I was back then, Evie, but I have never treated you like the rest of them. You know that!”

  “Fine! Okay? You’re right. I’m Mason’s little sister so you’ve been kind enough to not treat me like a whore,” I relent, my chest still heaving. “That isn’t enough of a reason for me to just forgive you for che-”

  “I didn’t cheat on you!” he shouts. “And none of this has nothing to do with fucking Mason, Evie!” he throws his arms up in exasperation, facing me. “When are you going to accept the fact that I’m in love with you, you psychopath?”

  “Psychopath? That’s great. Really fucking mature, Dash,” I bite. “I don’t know why I’m even surprised anymore. Calling me crazy when you fuck up is like a default setting for you.”

  “Because that’s who we are, baby. It’s what we fucking do!” he yells back, the emotion in his voice just as fierce. “We fight like animals, Evie. You call me an idiot, I accuse you of being crazy, you dump me in the middle of whatever parking lot we happen to be standing in that day and then we make the fuck up!”

  “Aren’t you sick of that?”

  “No!”

  “Well, then maybe you’re crazy!”

  “I am crazy!” he throws his hands up. “You make me fucking insane, baby, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love you,” he shakes his head, still staring into me. “No matter how bad you think I’m fucking up or how much we fight, you have to know that.”

  I consider his words as my breathing begins to slow with their weight and without any effort, I slowly begin to nod and swallow hard as my eyes move back to his.

  “Yes,” I whisper.

  “Then you know I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I ever hurt you like that. Hell, I didn’t even do anything and the thought of breaking your heart is killing me.”

  I’ve known the man in front of me for nearly half my life, but I’ve rarely seen him emotional.

  In fact, I can count on one hand the times I’ve ever seen Dash Hunter shed a tear.

  As his green eyes hold mine, pained and broken, his pain spills out over his features and something deep inside me breaks, too.

  I’m about to speak, to say what, I’m not sure. Before I can, though, his low voice breaks through the night and cuts me short.

  “I can’t fucking breathe, Evie,” he rasps, his words strangled by his emotions as his chest begins to heave. “I’ve got a knot in the pit of my stomach that feels like it’s never gonna go away and my chest is so fucking hollow right now, I think I could die and I’d still feel it ache,” he admits, his eyes brimming with tears. “I know I fuck up. I know my track record is bullshit at best, but I don’t know how you could think for a second I would even be capable of doing that to you.”

  He shakes his head, using his wide palms to swipe his cheeks clean and it forces my own tears to fall, before he braves another look back at me. I can feel the heartbreak coursing between us so deeply, it somehow takes my breath.

  When I saw him standing behind me, I wanted him to fight.

  I prayed for him to change my mind, willed him to say all the things I needed to hear to believe the fairy tale I bought all those months ago could still be our reality.

  I was desperate for him to do anything that would fix this, help mend the heartache he inflicted upon me.

  I never thought for a minute I was capable of breaking his heart, too.

  “Look at me, Dash,” I start, my voice small, broken to match his. “I’ve gained like twenty-five pounds, my ankles are swollen, my ass is huge, I’ve got bags under my eyes and I’ve looked like a hot ass mess for months,” He takes me in, his eyes shifting sadly with my words. “I’m not exactly the girl you first hooked up with.”

  He takes a step toward me, closing the distance and I let him. He stares into me, the sensation of him close making my breathing shake with need as he releases a long, low sigh.

  “You’re right, Evie,” he admits. “You’re not the girl I first hooked up with.” My chest seizes and I swallow hard as he uses the pad of his thumb to wipe away my tears. “That girl was mean, and she was completely full of herself. She didn’t like me, had no problem telling me that on a daily basis, and she made me so angry sometimes I couldn’t get away from her fast enough,” he reminds me, resting his palm on my neck. “You’re not that girl anymore, baby. You’re sweet and you’re ki
nd. You’ve shown me love I didn’t know even existed and you are without question the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he whispers, gently sweeping the hair away from my face. “Your body’s changing. So what?” he shrugs, his eyes falling on my stomach. “You’re carrying our children, Evie. Do you have any idea how fucking incredible that is? You’re giving them the first home they’re ever going to have,” he rasps, shaking his head in amazement as his wide palm splays lovingly over my belly. “In a lot of ways, you did that for me, too,” he whispers as his eyes come back to mine. “You say you want me to look at you, but when are you gonna get it, baby?” he asks, slowly shaking his head in disbelief as he stares straight into me. “Ever since I woke up next to you in that shitty hotel room in Dallas, you’re all I fucking see,” he admits. “You’ve been beating the hell out of yourself for not being that other girl, but she’s not the one that wrecked me, Evie. She’s not the one I want,” he breathes. “The only girl I’ve ever fallen for is you.”

  Thirty

  dash

  Sue’s tires are practically still moving when I step out and clear the parking lot to yank the door of my truck open.

  “Come here,” I order as I reach across to unfasten her seatbelt and pull her into my arms, my lips on hers immediately. I grip her thighs in my palms, the low whimper escaping her chest pulling a growl from mine. “Do you have your keys?”

  “Uh huh,” she rasps, her fingers threading into my hair and tugging there roughly as I kick the door shut and press her against the frame.

  “Fuck I missed you,” I pant against her mouth, my eyes wild as I stare into her and bite down onto her lower lip.

  “I missed you, too, baby,” she whispers, breathless. “Now stop talking and take me upstairs.”

  Our bodies crash into the front door, the feel of Evie’s hooded blue gaze on me making me crazy as she pushes my jacket away while I fumble with the keys. We’re inside a half second later and I lock the door behind us, turning to find her yanking her shirt over her head and I follow suit, our chests heaving as we continue undressing, eyes locked.

  “Evie,” I husk as I unbutton my jeans. “I’m about to tear your little ass up, pussyc-.”

  “Not if I beat you to it,” she cuts me off, her voice a breathy rasp as she stalks toward me.

  She plants her hands on my chest and shoves me against the door, reaching for my neck before pulling my lips to hers. Her fingers dig into my flesh, a low growl moves through me as I force her backward. My palm grips the cheek of her ass before I give it a sharp smack that makes her moan into my mouth.

  “Here,” she pants, pressing on my shoulders. “Now.”

  I drop to my knees in front of her, yanking her jeans away before I pull her down with me. Her hands find my chest again and she shoves me onto my back with desperate possessiveness. With a quick yank, my jeans are halfway down my thighs and she straddles me before pushing her panties to the side, her pussy wrapped around my cock in record time.

  “Oh, my God,” she breathes, planting her palms flat on my stomach, steadying herself as my head falls against the floor.

  “Baby,” I groan, my hands moving immediately to her hips. “Fuck.”

  She’s fucking drenched.

  She starts to move, the feel of her hugging my shaft after two of the longest weeks of my life making me needy as fuck. It isn’t long until her speed increases, her heavy breasts bouncing as she rides me. My name leaves her swollen lips in a chant as I stare into her and she stares right the fuck back.

  There’s something about the subtle dominance she rarely lets out that turns me on in ways I never thought possible, but the beast inside me needs to be sated, too. As we find our rhythm, she rises and falls as my hips buck into her hard enough to take her breath, my fingers digging into her flesh. I thrust deeper, needing to fill every inch of her, reclaim what’s mine. It forces her forward and her hands shift higher onto my chest, her hot breath splaying over my flesh as her walls begin to pulse around my shaft pulling a string of expletives from my lips.

  Her fingertips graze the skin over my heart, and I see her eyes flit down before her mouth falls open when she sees what she’s touching.

  “What the fuck is that?” she says, her movement slowing for a moment as she leans forward and angles her head just slightly before her gaze moves back to mine. “Is that my name?”

  “Yeah,” I pant, my hips still moving despite her temporary shock. “That o-?”

  “Oh, my God, Dash. Kiss me,” she begs as she leans as far forward as her belly will allow and I raise up on one elbow to meet her, pumping into her deep as I thread my fingers into her hair. The kiss is long and hard, full of all the shit we haven’t yet found the words to say. When she pulls away a moment later, she forces me onto my back once more and as she drops onto my dick, her mouth falls open. “Oh, my God. I’m about to come.”

  “Scream for me, pussycat,” I groan, knowing I’m right behind her as I grip her hips and plow into her. “Let go, baby.”

  Her head falls back, her pussy clenching before she finds my eyes and I feel her release begin to cover me, my name ricocheting loudly off the walls around us.

  And then I let go, too.

  “I can’t believe you got my name tattooed on you,” she says, raising up onto her elbows from her side of the bed, her eyes locked on my chest as she shifts onto her side to face me more fully. “Wait – isn’t that supposed to be bad luck?”

  “Well, I got it two days ago when you weren’t talking to me and we’re here now, so,” I shrug, smirking with her as I watch her trace the ink splayed over my heart. “Careful, baby. That’s still healing.”

  I don’t intend on the double edge to my words, but she hears it anyway and her movement slows. Her hand falls flat against my stomach before she bends to press her lips to the ink.

  “Mine, too,” she admits, making me swallow hard as our eyes meet, the feel of her hair threading into my fingers pulling a sigh from my chest. “I promise I won’t break it,” she raises, pressing her lips to mine. “Not ever again.”

  “Me, too, pussycat,” I whisper, using my gentle grip on her hair to hold her in place and kiss her more firmly. “So, you like the new ink?”

  “I love it,” she beams, her eyes moving back down to watch her finger trace it again. “Evie Grace,” she whispers as she makes it to the end of the delicate script, a gentle giggle leaving her lips when she gets to the crown resting proudly over the E. “Even when you’re getting a tattoo, you’re a smartass.”

  “Hmm,” I grin against her mouth as she presses her lips to mine for a firm kiss. “Only the best for you, princess.” I raise up, rolling her onto her back to cage her in. “You hungry?”

  “Mhmm,” she nods, my lips cutting her words shut as her hands grip my biceps, one leaving its place shortly to fall over her name.

  “You sure?” I tease as my lips move slowly down her neck as I lift one hand from the mattress and gently pinch her nipple, pulling a gasp from her.

  “Uh huh,” she nods again as her mouth falls open, making me growl against her skin. “I’m other things, too.”

  “Well, what are you more of?” I smirk as I move lower, my lips wrapping around her nipple as my fingers slip between her thighs. “Do you want me to feed you or fuck you?”

  “Don’t you think it’s a little harsh making me pick one?” she breathes, her fingers threading into my hair.

  “Oh, we’re doing both,” I promise with a grin as I continue to tease her pussy and give her a chaste kiss. “Come on. I’ll cook you dinner and we’ll come back to bed.”

  “Okay,” she sighs as she takes my hand and I help her sit up, her cheeks heating when she sees me licking my fingers clean on the way to the dresser.

  Once I pull on some sweats, I glance over to watch her slip my t-shirt on over her head and can’t help but smirk when the fabric strains against her belly.

  “Monster,” I hum, as I take in her sex hair and grip her chin, pressing my lip
s to hers. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  I take her hand and lead her into the kitchen, reaching for the cheese and handing her a slice before I take one for myself.

  “Want some grilled cheese?” I ask, not surprised when she nods. I grab butter and bread, taking the lunchmeat from Evie when she hands it to me and thank her. “You wanna go up?”

  “Yeah,” she nods before resting her hands on my shoulders so I can lift her onto her favorite counter spot. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome, baby.”

  She pulls another piece of cheese from the package, ripping it in two and feeding a bite to me before biting into the other half.

  “What do you think they’re going to be like?” she asks, staring down at her belly. “Do you think they’ll be crazy like us?”

  “Probably,” I chuckle, slipping her sandwich into the skillet and watching it cook for a minute before I set my eyes on her. “How you doin’ on that list?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” she admits, the way her nose quirks up making me smirk.

  We continue talking and I feed her grilled cheese on the counter, both of us stopping halfway to obsess over the flutters moving across her belly.

  “I can’t believe I lost two weeks with them,” I whisper, my eyes locked on her belly as I cradle it in my palms, my lips pressing to her neck as I lean in and hold her close. “I can’t believe I missed two weeks with you, Evie.”

  “They’ll never know,” she promises, swallowing hard as her fingers brush my jaw with regret and she pulls away just enough to find my eyes. “I promise.”

  “I will,” I swallow hard, savoring in the feel of her touch as I hover against her lips. “You will.”

  “So, make it up to me,” she says, tracing my dimple with her index finger before her eyes move back to mine. “And let me make it up to you.”