Almost Easy (Sinister Ascent Book 1)

by Brittany Clark

  “I know that you know that Blaze and I aren’t really together,” I bluntly stated. There was no reason for us to mince words.

  “I know you aren’t. I think that Blaze is amazing for doing what he is to help you out. We all know that that idiot Zane loves you, and this is going to make him see the truth,”

  “Well yeah that already worked. It’s me that’s taking my time. I’m thinking about what it is that I really want, especially after everything he put me through,”

  “That’s great though. I knew Blaze knew what he was doing,”

  “Right. About that, I want you to know that there is nothing serious going on between Blaze and I,”

  Brittany blushed but was saved from having to answer right away when the waiter brought our food to the table. Though the blush and look on her face told me everything that I needed to know. Brittany still had deep feelings for Blaze, and it was about damn time that they did something about it. I was all too ready to help them both out so that they could have the happy ending that they both deserved.

  “I don’t know why you wanted to tell me that. There’s nothing going on between Blaze and I. Hell I haven’t even seen the man in nine years,”

  “Brittany, I’m a woman who has been in love with one man my entire life. I know the look that passes over your face every time his name is mentioned. You don’t have to lie to me. I think the two of you are perfect for each other,”

  “I used to think that to,” She whispered casting her eyes away from me, “It’s so hard to hang out with all of you and have to constantly hear about him. Or all the women he has been with. When he ended things with me I was destroyed, but I didn’t try to stop him. I would have given him anything he wanted. And I did, what he wanted was for us to be over. So I made it where he never had to see me again. But it hurts. I loved him so damn much, hell I still do. I don’t think I will ever be over him,”

  Just like that I had the proof that I needed. Blaze and Brittany were both still deeply in love with each other. Later on I would tell Blaze what I had just learned, and I wouldn’t sugar coat it. He would hear word for word what she had just told me about what she had gone through when he had left her. But that was all I would do. They needed to work all of this out on their own. All I was going to do was push them in the right direction.

  “I think that if you have that deep of feelings for him that you should tell him,”

  “I can’t do that Chloe. He broke up with me. He doesn’t want me, he knew that I loved him and it didn’t matter then. Why would it matter now?” I could tell her that he did in fact love her and it would matter a great deal to him that she was still in love with him, but it wasn’t my place to tell her Blaze’s feelings.

  “I won’t pressure you into doing anything. Just know that I think the two of you won’t be apart for too much longer,”

  “I doubt that,” Her words said one thing, but the hope in her eyes told an entirely different story.

  “Just think about it,”

  “It’s all I’ve thought about for years. But it’s more complicated now. I mean the two of you have had sex,”

  My mouth dropped open but I couldn’t lie and say that we didn’t. “Look I won’t lie to you. We did sleep together. But there are no feelings like that between the two of us. Blaze wanted to help me out. He did that by showing me that how Zane was treating me wasn’t right. Don’t get me wrong Blaze is a great man, and he is damn good in bed, but what we shared wasn’t like that. We’re friends who slept together one time. Nothing more,”

  “I know, and I’m not jealous or anything. It just complicates things a bit,”

  “Just think about it. Don’t let someone stand in the way of your happiness,”

  “Okay,”

  After that conversation ended, we both started talking about other things, safer topics that had us both forgetting our problems for the moment. When Brittany excused herself to go to the bathroom I pulled my phone out and shot a quick message to Blaze telling him that she was still in love with him. It was a little more complicated than that, but I would explain all of that to him when I was next with him. For now I could give him a little bit of peace by letting him know that the woman that he had loved and lost was still as deeply in love with him as he was with her.

  ZANE

  The huge ass smile that tore across Blaze’s face when he got a message had put the Cheshire cat to shame. There was only one person lately that could put that look onto Blaze’s face, and that had my heart constricting in my chest. Although it was smarter to know for sure before jumping to conclusions. It might not have been Chloe. It could be someone in his family, or another friend of his. Who the hell was I kidding? A man only smiled like that when the woman he was sleeping with messaged him. Fuck this, I had to know.

  “What has you smiling like that?” I asked as subtly as I could.

  “Nothing, just a message from Chloe,”

  Just like that my heart plummeted as my teeth clenched, but I stayed silent. It had been a few days since I had bared my heart to her, and I had yet to hear a word from her. Obviously Blaze had though, and now it seemed that she was making no moves to break up with Blaze. That little tiny bit of hope died in me. Surely if Chloe was thinking about being with me, she would have ended it with Blaze already. What the hell was I supposed to do now? I had tried everything that I could to win her back. Obviously it wasn’t enough. So I either had to give up on getting her back, or up my game.

  “So when’s the divorce final?” Cage asked me. This was the first time that any of them had asked me about it. Honestly I wasn’t very happy to talk about this. Would there come a time where I wasn’t constantly reminded that I was married to another woman? Damn I hoped so.

  “I had an annulment and it is already final,” I hissed.

  “What the shit? How the hell did you do that? Isn’t that usually done for people who get drunk and married in Vegas?” Axel questioned.

  “There are different circumstances where an annulment can be legally done,”

  “Such as?” Blaze asked smirking in a way that told me that he already knew. Did Chloe tell him? No, that was an absurd thought. Chloe would never tell my personal business like that. Also there was no reason for me not to tell them, I wasn’t ashamed of not fucking Jessica. Hell I was proud of myself for not doing it.

  “If the marriage wasn’t consummated you can end the marriage without a divorce,”

  “You went that entire time and didn’t fuck? Why the hell not?” Cage practically yelled at me.

  “Why the hell is that any of your business?”

  “Well because, it just, this is you we’re talking about. There was a time that I remember where you needed to fuck more than any of us. So why the hell didn’t you sleep with your wife?” Axel asked. Fuck it, go for broke. These were my closest friends, I could tell them. They would rag on me and make jokes for a while, but that would all be in good fun.

  “I couldn’t do it. The second I married her I knew that I had made the worst mistake of my life, and I wanted nothing more than to fix it. I just didn’t know how to do that. And hell, I was an asshole, but how could I end the marriage I had literally just entered? So I kept my mouth shut and went on my honeymoon but when we hit the bedroom I couldn’t fucking do it,”

  “You’re boy didn’t rise to the challenge?” Blaze asked laughing

  “No, I was too busy thinking about Chloe, you know the woman you’re dating, that I couldn’t fuck Jessica. Well I could, but I would be thinking about Chloe as I did it. So I just didn’t do it,”

  “Jessica didn’t ask why the hell the two of you weren’t sleeping together?”

  “No. She could care less. As long as I gave her my credit card she could give a shit less about anything else that was happening,”

  “Did you seriously just tell me that you had to picture my girlfriend in order to get it up?” Blaze ground out.

  “That’s exactly what I just told you. Get over it,”


  “Okay, change that line of thought,” Axel the fucking peacemaker chimed in, “So you never fucked her, and now your marriage is over. Two questions, one, does that mean that you haven’t had sex in a few months? And two what are you going to do now?”

  “Oh he’s fucked since he’s been married,” Blaze hissed. If this dude wanted me to tell everyone that I fucked his girlfriend then I would. She was mine first.

  “Yes I’ve had sex, only a few days ago as a matter of fact. And my next step is getting my girl back,”

  “Who is your girl?” Cage questioned.

  “Oh shit, this is about to get interesting again,” Axel said at the same time.

  “She isn’t yours Zane. She’s mine. I’m not fucking competing with you. I’ve already ended up with her. You let her go. Accept that shit,” Blaze commented.

  “No way in hell. I’ve told you since day one that you wouldn’t keep her. I wasn’t lying,”

  “Then why do I have her still?”

  “I’m working on it. You should get used to the idea that she won’t be yours for long. I’m going to get her back,”

  “Why do you even want her now? Is it because she’s with me? Are you that selfish? She’s happy, why can’t you let her stay happy?”

  “You can never make her as happy as I could. Chloe belongs with me. Everyone in this room knows that,”

  “So I’m just supposed to let her go because you want her now? Hell no Zane. I’ve wanted her for a long time. Now that I have her, I’m not letting her go,”

  “Why the fuck do you even want her? Does it make you feel good to know that you’re taking the woman I love away from me?”

  “I didn’t take her from you Zane. You let her go. Why can’t you understand that? I want her because she is a smart, sexy, amazing woman who makes me laugh. We have a good time together. She also deserves it. I want to make her happy, and I am,”

  “Blaze, you can’t make her as happy as I can. We both know that. She might smile with you, and laugh, but she isn’t as happy as she usually is when she’s with me. I’m offering her everything she has ever wanted. Let her have it, let her have me,”

  “I’m not keeping her from you. She’s doing that herself. If she wanted to go back to you she could. The fact that she hasn’t ran back to you isn’t my fault,”

  “Then break up with her,” I heard Axel and Cage snort behind me but I didn’t care. Yes I was being ridiculous, but that wasn’t going to stop me.

  “Why the hell would I break up with her?”

  “So that I can have her back,”

  “I’m not breaking up with her. Even if I did, how do you know that she would go back to you? If she wanted to do that, wouldn’t she be the one that broke up with me? Also, do you want to win her by default? Wouldn’t you rather her come to you on her own. If I dump her, you will never know if she really wanted to come back to you, or if she did it because I left her,”

  Damn I hated it when he made that much sense. I hated it even more that I agreed with him. I didn’t want Chloe to come to me because Blaze dumped her. What I truly wanted, more than anything else, was for her to willingly come back to me because it’s what she wanted. Also, I wanted the satisfaction of knowing that she broke up with Blaze for me. He was so damn smug right now. I wanted to knock him down a few pegs.

  “She will pick me,”

  “Then why are you so upset?”

  “Because I hate that she’s with you,”

  “I hate to break this argument up, but can we talk about something else? Like hey aren’t we going on tour soon?” Axel interjected.

  “That hasn’t been confirmed yet. We barely finished the new album,” Blaze answered.

  “But the songs are insane, the album is number one and has stayed on the top of the charts for over a week now. If we went on tour it would be all sold out venues for us. I think that we should do it,” I added.

  “We just got home not too long ago. I was looking forward to staying home a little longer,” Cage supplied.

  “Why? What’s keeping you here?” Axel’s sarcastic ass chimed in, “Honestly, the only one who has a girlfriend is Blaze, and Cloe is used to us getting up and leaving. It doesn’t bother her to wait while we tour,”

  “Yeah, I picked a good one,” Blaze said.

  “You didn’t pick her. I did, and the reason she is used to us going on tour is because of me. So don’t fucking sit there and pretend like she has been doing this for you,” I hissed.

  “Damn dude, chill. That isn’t what I meant,” Blaze said with a smirk on his face, “All I meant was that I’m happy that I have a girlfriend who is understanding that I will have to leave home for a few months at a time,”

  “Seriously, before we get back on that topic, let’s finish the tour topic. Are we going or not?” Axel asked again.

  “I’m down for going,” Blaze said.

  “I’m not sure if I want to go right now. There’s so much shit going on. But if a tour is decided on then I will do it,” I answered

  The truth was, I didn’t want to go on tour right now. There was a time limit for what was happening with Chloe. I didn’t want the window of opportunity to close on me. There was a chance that if I left Chloe would fully move on from me. I couldn’t allow that to happen. However I wouldn’t invite trouble. A tour was not set in stone right now, and until it was, I wouldn’t let it scare me. My focus needed to stay on trying to get Chloe back. I would deal with other shit as it came along.

  21

  ZANE

  Two more days. Another two fucking days have passed and I had yet to hear anything from Chloe. At the moment I was lying on my bed as I attempted to think up another game plan, all the while feeling the sharp consistent pain in my heart. I had stupidly thought that Chloe would have heard everything that I had said to her, and then there would be no doubt in her mind that she would want me. Did I say that getting her back was almost easy? It was very possible that I had hurt her more than I had ever thought and that made it too late for me and her. The thought had me growling in pain, but I wasn’t going to give up.

  Sighing I sat up and pulled out my computer so that I could check my emails. There was one from my sister with a rather large attachment. I knew what was held within that email, it was going to hurt like a bitch to see the photos from my wedding. But I had to look. I needed to see them again. I wasn’t one to normally cause myself pain, but seeing that haunted look in her eyes might have me thinking up another idea that would help me get her back. I knew that the look on her face was going to shatter my heart, but I needed to man the fuck up and look. Getting Chloe back would make everything worth it in the end. I hit the download button then dropped back onto my bed resting my head on my pillow. The email would take a while to download and I wasn’t in the mood to surf the web.

  I was just about to lose myself in my thoughts when I heard my front door fly open. I wasn’t in the mood to see anyone, and I wasn’t particularly worried about who it was since only those closest to me had a key to my house. So I didn’t even bother to get up. Whoever it was, if they wanted to see me bad enough they would find me up here, and hell I might welcome the distraction, anything to take my mind off of Chloe for a few minutes. Then as if I had conjured her, she appeared in my bedroom doorway. I sat up quickly, then was at a loss. What the hell was I supposed to say now? I hadn’t had time to think up another plan, hell I wasn’t prepared for her to be here right now. But there was no way that I was letting her get away now. What the hell should I do? Get up and hug her? Stay where I was and ask what she was doing here? Fuck, when did our relationship become this difficult? At that moment my computer beeped alerting me to the fact that the photos were downloaded. I had my answer, I made us this way when I married another woman.

  “Zane, we need to talk,” Chloe finally spoke as she broke eye contact with me as she slowly walked towards me. I quickly nodded and sat up.

  “Okay, what do you want to talk about?”

  “We have a
lot to discuss. There is a lot of shit clouding over us, and they all need to be cleared up,”

  “I will do anything you want Chloe,” She was still making her way over to me, each step seeming to take a million seconds.

  “You will?” She asked me with an impassive face. One that kept her emotions locked down from me. I couldn’t read a damn thing off of her right now.

  “Yes, anything Chloe. Just tell me first, have you forgiven me?”

  “No,”

  With that one word I felt my heart shatter in my chest as I dropped my head into my hands. If she hadn’t forgiven me then why was she here? To make me suffer more? Being in the same room with her was killing me. All I wanted to do was pull her into my arms and hold her until all the pain that we both felt went away. But now she had pretty much told me that she didn’t want me anymore. Was it that easy for her to turn her feelings off for me? Or did I simply kill all the feelings she had for me? I didn’t get the chance to ask her because when I looked back up she was standing right in front of me, her legs brushing intimately with mine.

  “Chloe, what do I have to do?” I whispered, my heart feeling like it was bleeding in my chest. Her eyes had stayed on me this entire time, but didn’t show me a damn thing, what the hell did I turn her into?

  I was just about to ask her again when she leaned down and pressed her lips against mine. My eyes widened at the feeling of her warm soft lips pressed into mine. I quickly closed them as I kissed her back. She tangled her hands in my hair earning a deep growl from me, then I lost all thought as she straddled my lap. I groaned into her mouth and brought my hands up to grip her hips and hold her in place. There was no way in hell that I was going to let her get up and move off of me. I didn’t know what she was doing, she had said that she didn’t forgive me. So why was she licking over my lower lip right now?