Almost Easy (Sinister Ascent Book 1)

by Brittany Clark

  “You’re so mean,”

  By this time we were laughing so damn hard that it was getting hard to breathe. God it had been so long since I had felt this carefree in life. Blaze’s laughter slowly started dying down as his eyes began to scan around the room. It was at that moment that he let out a groan. I wanted to turn to see what had bothered him, but then a huge piece of chocolate cake was put down in front of me. I brought my fork down before bringing the fork up to Blaze’s mouth to give him a bite.

  Blaze leaned forward and wrapped his big full lips around my fork. My eyes went to his mouth and stayed glued there. He slowly pulled the food into his mouth and his lips skimmed off of my fork. He kept his eyes locked on mine the entire time, and I felt my body light up in flames. Desire flashed into his eyes, and I knew that my face showed the same. It was weird that before I had never wanted anyone other than Zane, and now I was attracted to Blaze. I really wanted to know what it would be like between the two of us.

  “That is fucking good,” Blaze said in a husky voice that portrayed how turned on he was.

  I couldn’t take it anymore. I needed to taste those lips of his again. I wasn’t sure who leaned in first, it was probably me, but we met in the middle as our lips crashed together. I tasted the muskiness of him that I had been starting to crave, as well as the sweetness from the chocolate that I had just fed him. He groaned into my mouth as he tongue came out and darted out to caress mine. I opened for him bringing us right to the point of madness. Like every time before we were interrupted by someone clearing their throat behind me. I pulled back, then blushed hard when I saw Zane, Axel, and Cage all staring back at me.

  “You always have to ruin our moment don’t you Zane?” Blaze asked sarcastically. “You look so fucking cute when you blush babe,” he then whispered to me.

  “I didn’t think the kiss the two of you were sharing was appropriate in public is all,” Zane hissed.

  “I couldn’t help it. He tasted like chocolate and Blaze, two things I’m very addicted to at the moment,” I responded earning a huge smile from the man at my side.

  Zane however did not seem to be amused by my response. Which was evident when he let out a string of curse words. I watched him with a small frown between my eyebrows. Blaze seemed to be able to read my thoughts easily now, as he voiced what I was thinking.

  “He’s going to make his wife suspicious if he keeps acting jealous over you,” he whispered, but not quite low enough for the rest not to overhear.

  “Like I said, I think things will start to get interesting real soon,” Axel said before taking a seat at our table, which prompted the others to sit down as well.

  “I don’t understand why the hell he is acting jealous over me. I mean he could have had me for his own, why does he want me now?”

  “Why don’t these questions get voiced to me instead of everyone talking around me like I’m not fucking here?” Zane butted in, but Blaze acted like he hadn’t heard him and just kept going.

  “Because I showed him that someone else wants you, and can have you. Now he sees what he had and what he lost,”

  “It doesn’t matter anyway. He’s married, but he won’t be for long if he keeps treating her like he doesn’t give a shit about her,”

  “I don’t give a shit about her. She isn’t you, and never will be. The only woman I want is you, she’s second best and always will be,” Zane said, but again Blaze went on like he wasn’t there.

  “Like she would ever fucking leave him. That woman has no love for him, all she wants is the fame he comes along with,”

  “Damn, I didn’t want to come tonight, but I’m glad I did. Shit is about to get interesting, and fast,” Axel said as he reached out and gently grabbed the wrist of a waitress so he could order a drink. I shook my head and laughed as his finger grazed over the pressure point on her wrist. Axel definitely would be going home with her tonight.

  “Shut up Axel,” I murmured laughing “And Blaze don’t say that. I think she truly loves him,”

  “No, Chloe, you really love me. She doesn’t,” Zane growled “You just can’t think badly of anyone, you have a big heart and could never dream of using or hurting someone for you own pleasure. But that leech I’m married to doesn’t give two shits about me,”

  “Well you must love her. After all you married her,” I said, speaking to him directly for the first time.

  “It would be impossible for me to love her when I want someone else,”

  “Now I know you’re drunk,” I said letting out an uncomfortable laugh as I tried not to get my hopes up. Thinking that anything can happen between me and Zane would be suicide.

  “I think that he would have to be drunk for him to be sitting across from me and flirting with my girl,” Blaze said

  “She was mine first Blaze. Deal with it,”

  “Like I said interesting,” Axel murmured.

  “I bet on Blaze to win a fight between the two,” Cage said

  “Are you kidding me?” Axel exclaimed, “Blaze might have more muscle, but Zane would be fighting for the girl he wants to be with. There is no way that he would lose a fight when the prize would be Chloe,”

  “I got twenty bucks on Blaze,”

  “I would hate to steal your money, but fine I have twenty on Zane,”

  “Shut up you two. Why do you have to bet on everything? This isn’t funny,” I half yelled. How could they be treating me like I was some prize to be won?

  “No it isn’t. I would never start a fight using Chloe as collate+ral. When I win Chloe back it is going to have nothing to do with a fist fight. She’s going to leave Blaze for me,”

  “Yeah, just as soon as you get divorced,” Blaze snorted, “She’s mine now dude. It won’t be as easy as you think in the end,”

  “The best things in life aren’t easy,”

  This back and forth that was going on between the four of them at the table was driving me insane. I felt like the fifth wheel, the one that they were all talking about as if I wasn’t in the room. The only one who was defending me was Zane, I knew that Blaze wasn’t defending me because he wanted Zane to do it. I just couldn’t believe what was happening. Zane was actually defending me. What the hell was going on with him? This obviously wasn’t simple jealousy. If it was he wouldn’t be going to the lengths he was to try to get me back.

  Hell if it was he wouldn’t have still wanted me after he thought that I slept with Blaze. For once I was starting to think that Blaze’s plan was working. However, even thinking that I couldn’t give into him. He was still married, and I was tired of being his drag along woman. I loved him, and he would always be my best friend, but I didn’t want to be anything more with him anymore. I just hoped I was strong enough to stick to my guns. Something told me that whatever Zane had planned, that this was only the beginning. I just had to keep convincing myself that this was a phase that Zane was going through. Almost as if he was getting cold feet a little after his wedding. Add that to the fact that he thought I was sleeping with another man and everything he was feeling was heightened. I was positive that very soon this would all blow over and everyone would move on with their lives.

  ZANE

  “Are you ready to get out of here?” Blaze asked Chloe as he placed bills down on the table.

  “Yeah, I am”

  Blaze walked around the table and held out her seat for her as she stood up. Once she grabbed her purse his hand linked through hers and they walked out of the restaurant together laughing and talking with an ease that came with years of knowing each other I couldn’t get over how good they looked together. And just what were they going off to do together? Was he going to lay with her tonight, and touch her silky soft skin? Did he know that she liked it when lips skimmed over her pressure points? God, would she go home with him tonight and give her body to Blaze with the same abandonment that she did with me?

  “Zane, man the fuck up. You’re staring after her like a love sick puppy,” Cage spat

  “What th
e fuck do you want me to do? Watch the woman I love be with another man?”

  “In all fairness, she had to watch the man she loved not only be with hundreds of different women. Hell she had to watch you marry one,” Axel said. Why the hell was he always the voice of reason? He liked to act like this out going badass, that didn’t give a shit about anything, but he cared about the ones he was close to.

  “I know that. I wish I could take it back,”

  “Wishes in one hand and spit in the other, let’s see which one fills up faster,” Cage said.

  “Do you think I won’t beat your ass Cage?” I asked “I’ve kicked your ass many times, and I have a lot of anger to punch out. You’re number two on my list,”

  “Who is number one?” Axel asked smirking.

  “The guy who’s with my girl,”

  “Dude, you’re so fucking pussy whipped that I doubt you can be man enough to fight anyone,” I didn’t know what the hell Cage’s problem was, but I was going to take him down a notch. Not with anger, I didn’t want to solve this problem with violence.

  “I’m not pussy whipped. I’m in love, and I’m man enough to admit that. The problem with you, Cage, is that you don’t know the difference. It isn’t called being pussy whipped, it’s called taking care of the woman you love, and being able to admit when I was wrong. And fuck was I wrong. I will do anything to get her back, and that includes getting on my damn hands and knees and begging her. If I lose my macho man status with you I will, as long as it ends with my girl back where she belongs,”

  “Damn man, I admire you right now,” Axel said with a genuine smile on his face and pride in his voice.

  “Why the fuck are you settling for one woman? There are thousands out there, I don’t understand this shit,” Cage murmured sounding so fucking immature to me that I wanted to smack some sense into him.

  “Mark my words, one day you’re going to meet someone and fall head over ass in love. Then all this shit you’re saying is going to come back and bite you in the ass, or well the heart. When that happens, since I’m such a good fucking friend, I’m going to laugh my ass off at you,”

  “That will never happen. If it does I will wear a dress on stage at the next concert,”

  “Oh I’m so holding you to that,” Axel replied “Hell I’m hiring male strippers for you on that day. That way you can get a lap dance in your dress,”

  “Sure, why not. The more the merrier. I don’t give a damn. I will never pick just one girl, and I damn sure will never act like this guy sitting across from me,”

  “Why the fuck are you teasing him?”

  “Because I finally can. He’s usually so in control, and he never lets shit get to him. Now he’s losing his shit. It’s weird to see that he has feelings, honestly I thought he was dead inside,”

  “Why the hell would you think that?” I shouted, scaring off the waitress that came to give us our drinks.

  “Because you strung her along with no guilt over how miserable you were making her. If you could treat someone as amazing as Chloe, a woman that any man would be proud to call theirs that badly, well I didn’t think you had anything but ice in your veins,”

  “You’re pissing me off dude,”

  “Good. You’ve been pissing me off for years,”

  “Laugh all you want to now. In the end it will be me laughing,”

  “There’s only one problem with all of this Zane,” Axel started. Mr. voice of reason was going to tell me something that I wasn’t going to want to hear, “You’re married. How the hell do you plan on getting her back when you have a ring on your finger?”

  I sat back in my chair grabbing my drink and chugging half of it. I didn’t want to tell them yet what I was planning, or how easy it would be for me to fix everything that I had done. No, the problem wasn’t me being married. The biggest obstacle I had to overcome was getting Chloe to forgive me. She was going to be a hard nut to crack, until that happened I was just going to be plain hard.

  “Being married isn’t going to be a problem,” I answered being as vague as I could.

  “How the hell not? Chloe isn’t going to be with you with that wife of yours hanging on your arm. You can’t have your cake and eat it too Zane,” Cage announced.

  “I’m not trying to. The only one I want, the only one I will have is Chloe,”

  “So you’re thinking about getting a divorce? You’ve only been married for a month and a half,” Axel exclaimed.

  “I shouldn’t have been married at all! I have a damn wife I can’t stand, and I have the love of my life dating my best friend,”

  “I thought I was your best friend you asshole,” Axel whined

  “Fine, one of my best friends. Look I messed up. I know I did, I just have to figure out how to fix everything,”

  “Don’t you wish you would have figured this out before your marriage? I mean it is like a kick in the nuts to finally open your eyes but only when it was too late,” Cage said

  “You’re just captain fucking obvious today. I was blind okay? Is that what you want to hear? I kept her on the back burner because I didn’t want to admit that I was in love with her! I was fooling myself. I’m not anymore,”

  God, why did Chloe and Blaze have to leave? At least with them here I wasn’t being drilled. It might have hurt to see them together, but anything was better than my two friends playing good cop, bad cop. They weren’t telling me anything I didn’t fucking know! I know that I fucked up, I’m very fucking aware that I lost the most perfect girl in the world. I didn’t need the advice of two people who lived their lives tossing women aside like garbage. Especially when they are telling me that I was cold hearted for not thinking of Chloe’s feelings, when they didn’t think about the women they fucked every night.

  “Okay, one last thought,” Axel began causing me to groan. “Are you sure that the best thing you can do is break up Chloe and Blaze? I mean they are good together. He also cares for her already. Also she’s starting to care for him, anyone with eyes can see that,”

  I clenched my teeth hard at his words. Chloe cared for him alright, but I wasn’t convinced that she cared for him like she did for me. If Blaze had feelings for her he would have to get over it. The difference between the two of us was simple. Blaze would get over her, I wouldn’t. Yes they were good together. Yes he was treating her better than I ever had. I could admit that they could probably have a really great life together. But did he need her to keep his heart beating? I did. My heart beat for her, if I didn’t get her and soon I was positive I would stop breathing. It was scary as hell to be so consumed with one person. It felt like I had an addiction and she was the only way for me to get my fix. It might be selfish of me to break Chloe and Blaze up, but I was a damn selfish man.

  “I could make her happier than he ever could. So it’s the best damn decision I could ever make. Blaze will get the hell over it. I don’t know why he thought that he could date her and not have competition from me,”

  “Uh, maybe because you told us every day for twelve years that you didn’t care about her and that any of us were welcome to your sloppy seconds?” Cage asked sarcastically

  “I was hiding my feelings from everyone! Do I have to keep repeating that?”

  Fuck this. I stood up, dropped a few bills on the table to pay for my drinks, and walked the hell out of there. They went just a step too far. I had better things to do with my spare time anyways. It would take miracles to get Chloe to take me seriously. Before I could start that there were things I had to do so that I could set my plans into motion. Getting myself out of my marriage was step one.

  14

  ZANE

  I slammed out of my house with Jessica still screaming behind me. I had told her this morning that I had made a mistake in marrying her, and that I wanted to get an annulment. Which I could do since I hadn’t fucked her since we said our vows. So when she told me that she was pregnant I had laughed in her face. At first I had felt so damn guilty for telling her it was over. I wa
s on the cusp of taking it back, and giving it another try, then she played the pregnancy card. That shit was not an okay thing to do, and showed me that the woman I married had no fucking morals. No, she had abandoned her morals for no other reason than to keep the rich man she had married. Neither of us were in our marriage out of love, so what the fuck was the point?

  To get back at her, I hit her where it hurt. Since we were getting an annulment and not a divorce, she wouldn’t get a damn thing from me. Also that pre-nup that I had her sign would make sure of that. That shit was ironclad, and thanks to my best friend, it stated that she had to be married to me for no less than one year to get alimony from me. It was in that moment that her true colors came out, and the real Jessica showed herself to me for the first time.

  She started screaming at me that she hated my emo ass, and only wanted the lifestyle that I could provide her. Apparently the lifestyle of the rich and famous rock star was enough appeal to deal with someone that made her sick. Plus I was hot enough and knew how to work my dick good enough to keep her happy. I had sat there and listened to it all with a blank stare. Honestly I didn’t give a shit about anything that she was saying. All I wanted was for this to be over, so that I could have Chloe in my arms.

  As Jessica was screaming all that shit at me, I couldn’t help but to think about my best friend who had been there for me since day one, when I didn’t have ten damn dollars to my name. Chloe’s heart had been mine before Sinister Ascent had existed and I really hoped that I hadn’t ruined that. All I wanted to do was go to her house right now and tell her that I was single and didn’t want to be. I wanted her, but I still needed to fix things first. So before I went to her house I headed straight to my lawyers and had him start drawing up the papers that would end my all too short marriage.

  After what felt like years I was finally standing in front of Chloe’s door knocking impatiently. All I wanted was for her to answer the door so that I could engulf her into my arms and hug her until it felt like I could breathe again. Once that happened I would kiss her until everything went away. All the pain that I had caused, and the fear that I was going to lose her. All of that was shattered however when her door was pulled open and a shirtless Blaze was standing in front of me.