Until We Fall (Trust Duet Book 2)

by Edyn Michaels

  Alicia worked as an architect with a prestigious firm in Boston, an old money type of situation, and her father ran the show. We grew up together as kids, spending a ton of time together because our parents were country club buddies. As we matured and moved on to high school and college, our mothers hadn’t even tried to hide their attempts to match us up as a couple. In the past few years, it appeared that Alicia was game, but there was no way in hell I was sticking my dick into that Chinese finger trap, considering all the baggage that came with it.

  I half imagined that she had a dungeon of torture in her basement, and that I would become her submissive if she had her way, crawling behind her on all fours while she pulled on the leash that connected to a leather studded collar.

  There wasn’t any pussy around that would be worth that type of humiliation. Fuck that shit.

  “Alicia, I have no idea what you are so upset about. I didn’t write the article. The Globe picked up the opening thanks to Cheyanne’s efforts promoting it at local colleges. What they choose to put in their article isn’t up to me. Also, invitations to the grand opening were sent to your dad. As a matter of fact, he attended, so why you didn’t decide to be his ‘plus one’ is beyond me.”

  “Why didn’t you invite me directly? You were acting like a pussy ass little bitch and you know it. You’re better than that.”

  “Jesus Christ, Alicia, I don’t know what the fuck you’re smoking these days, but you and I aren’t a couple. We never have been, we never will be. Unless you drugged me and rode me raw and I have no recollection, your body is one that has thankfully remained a no-fly zone. So, get that broomstick out of your ass and ride it back to your coven like the good little witch we all know you are.”

  I turned and walked away from her, leaving her with a somewhat shocked expression that I was certain was mirrored on my own face. I’d never been so brutally crass with her, namely, because I needed her to finish a job without sabotaging it. It was oddly freeing to be an absolute dick to her, and let her know exactly where her place was in my life.

  I’m sure there would be people out there who would be horrified to hear me talk to a female in such a manner. Little did they know, Alicia was no ordinary woman.

  I shook my head, effectively shaking her out of it, as I boarded the subway train that would drop me a block from my house.

  Good thing it was going to be a while before the next restaurant opening. I had plenty of time to find her replacement.

  Chapter Nine

  Mari

  “Hey, twat waffle, how was your appointment?”

  “Jesus, Kaylie.”

  Mariana shook her head at my bestie, trying to tell her with a look that she should be more sympathetic about the fact that I was seeing a therapist to get over myself.

  “What?”

  I laughed at the confused look on Kaylie’s face. In the months since she and Mariana had moved in together, which wasn’t very long after a horrific dinner that involved me having nasty bathroom sex with a hot as fuck biker who shall remain nameless, Mariana had been trying to figure out our odd friendship. She certainly had a way to go.

  “You seriously worry me at times, woman. You’re lucky that I love the fuck out of you.”

  Mariana leaned forward and kissed the tip of Kay’s nose, and I saw my friend’s tough girl persona turn into a puddle of goo right before my very eyes.

  “The appointment was good. Really good, actually. I hate to admit it, but I’m glad I’ve started seeing Janice again. I know I was stupid to hold on to my stupid pride, but I really need to take better care of myself emotionally.”

  Kay walked over to me and plopped herself unceremoniously in my lap. Thank god she weighed next to nothing, because her bony ass could have sliced my legs open if there was any weight following it on the way down.

  “Damn woman, couldn’t you do some squats or something to get a little meat back there? Your ass should be registered as a deadly fucking weapon.”

  Kay snickered.

  “That’s what she said.”

  “Oh dear lord, I swear on my avó, the two of you are no better than a couple of fifteen-year-old boys whose balls haven’t dropped yet.”

  Mariana had witnessed one too many rounds of ‘that’s what he/she said’ humor, and she knew far too well that we could keep at it for hours once we started going.

  I just shrugged at Kaylie as she snuggled in a little bit.

  “I really wish I wasn’t such a fucked-up mess, Kay. I mean, seriously. This lack of ability to trust guys is ridiculous. I know I had some shit go down with that stalker and his death threats, and then with Jared and his cheating. But, seriously, why can’t I just grow the fuck up and get past it. I’m a grown ass woman but I seem to have the emotional capacity of a twelve-year-old.”

  And there it was. The most honest thing I would probably ever say to my friend, outside of the time I told her that her cooter smelled like a seafood restaurant’s dumpster. Well, I meant it at the time, but there had been wine coolers involved and too many hours roasting in the sun. On the beach. Near a seafood restaurant.

  Hmmm.

  Maybe I had misspoken. Oh, well. The point was, I was getting really introspective with this therapy, and part of me was glad, part of me was annoyed. I knew I needed the help. I was feeling better about things, but at the same time much worse about things. I remember feeling that way the last time I’d seen Janice on the regular, and being told it was part of the ‘process’.

  I just wish she could wave her magic fairy godmother wand and make all the bad go away, and just fucking fix me already.

  “Babe, I’m proud of you. Yeah, you’ve been the very definition of ‘hot mess’ the last few years, but you’re working it. Like, your legs are properly welded shut and you’re trying to get your head shrunk. That takes a lot of work.”

  “Which part, the legs or the head?”

  She slapped my arm.

  “Giving head, or so I’m told.”

  Much to Mariana’s disgust, we both burst into giggles again.

  “So, how are things with you and your all you can eat buffet over there?”

  I nodded my head at Kay’s woman, who was walking away from us muttering under her breath… loudly.

  I felt a soft sigh come from Kay and when I looked down at her, damned if she didn’t have a near terminal case of the googly eyes.

  “Oh shit, girlfriend. How bad are we talking? I mean, is this matching infinity tattoos bad? Hopefully not matching lower back tattoos with your initials bad.”

  The corner of her mouth tipped upwards as she just looked at me, her eye glistening.

  “Kay, you’re making me nervous as fuck. Your face is telling me… no way. No fucking way.”

  She just grinned ear to ear like an idiot.

  “Engagement ring bad?”

  She nodded, and then the corner of her lip popped between her teeth, a telltale sign of her anxiety. She quickly looked over where we had just seen Mariana’s back retreat, to make sure she wasn’t in earshot.

  “Oh my God, Mari. I know it’s been, like, ridiculously quick, but I know what I’m feeling for her is real. Like, forever real. But I’m scared shitless that if I move too quickly, I’ll fuck it up and then she’ll run away screaming and I’ll never see her again.”

  “My little girl is all grown up.”

  I faked a sniffle and a tear swipe, while batting my eyes at her.

  “Whore.”

  I shrugged.

  “Well, if the shoe fits…”

  “Fuck, sorry Mari, you know I didn’t mean it like that.”

  “Bitch, don’t take away my crown. Hundreds of satisfied customers can’t be wrong.”

  She cringed. Hell, even as the words easily rolled off of my lips, I cringed inwardly. Listen, I considered myself to be a fairly honest person, and the truth was that I had fucked up royally. Like, anyone watching from the outside would have thought I was a damned teenager or something, still trying to get a han
dle on managing my emotional responses to situations by how badly I handled my life.

  It started back in college. There was this guy, I went on a couple of dates with him before calling it quits before it had any chance of developing into anything. I mean, there was less than zero chemistry between us, and each date felt awkward. So, clean break. Or so I thought. It turned out that he had managed to develop some impossible attachment to me over those two dinners, and didn’t take kindly to being told ‘no, thank you.’

  Everything started in a way that seemed like no big deal. You know, he’d be walking past the building when I was leaving classes, or walking down the street when I left my dorm. I felt uncomfortable about it all, but really just figured it was one of those situations where I was seeing him more because I actually knew him. Like, maybe he had been there all along, and I just hadn’t noticed.

  It slowly escalated though, there would be presents left by my dorm room door when I got back from class. Gifts that honestly made no sense. A rolled-up take-out menu from the restaurant we went to on our first date, with a red ribbon tied around it, and the meal I’d ordered circled. A daisy was left one time, because I’d mentioned that I liked daisies, that they made my smile in their simple beauty.

  One time, when he ran up to me on the sidewalk, I thanked him for the gifts, but asked him to please stop, that I really didn’t want him coming by my dorm room anymore. I remember the chill that shot down my back at the look in his eyes. A look that screamed ‘run’.

  The next day, there was a stuffed grey tabby cat toy, with its head cut off and the stuffing pulled out with a steak knife embedded in its midsection.

  The threats went from subtle to absolutely blatant, and I finally had to get the campus police involved. I was a fucking basket case. I was unable to sleep, my grades were slipping, and as a result, I ended up on academic probation.

  Long story short, I ended up going to see Janice, because I was almost non-functioning. I was terrified to see any random guy on the sidewalk or in a classroom, and started living in my room, barely venturing out alone.

  I thought I’d gotten better with my trust issues, but then my ex-douchebag turned out to be a major manwhore, and I started to lose my fragile grip on my sanity once again. So, I spread my legs for nearly anyone who said ‘hi’. I’m still not entirely sure how the two worked together… boyfriend cheated, I snapped, I fucked half of the city.

  Oh well, I couldn’t explain how the mind worked, that was why I saw a shrink.

  But, at least I recognized that I needed help. It took walking away from the guy who I fell in love with for me to see that I needed some serious fucking help. Because, the truth be told, it almost seemed as if I was looking for a reason to run from what could have been the best thing that ever happened to me.

  “Mar…”

  “Kay, seriously, it’s no big deal. And if I can laugh at it, you sure as hell should laugh at it. But, why are we talking about me? I think I made enough of the last year being all about me and my issues. It’s definitely time to focus on you. So, with lesbians, who does the question popping?”

  “Ugh, fuck if I know. Unchartered territory here. I had never planned on forever, not with anyone.”

  “Oh, I have the most awesome idea. You should get down on one knee and present the ring in a clam. Get it? Clam? Like, it’s kind of avaricious?”

  The look on Kaylie’s face was at least one shade of horrified. I couldn’t quite tell if it was my suggestion that she was concerned over, or the fact that I came up with it in the first place. Then again, she might just be upset that she didn’t think of it first.

  “Better yet, take her to that Mexican place we like, order a plate of fish tacos, and have the ring on the plate just waiting for her amongst the filet o’fish.”

  I mean, that was pretty fucking romantic, don’t you think? But after a few moments of just being stared at, I had to break the silence.

  “What?”

  “Girl, you need help.”

  I laughed at her, loud and full, thoroughly enjoying myself at her expense.

  “Damn, woman, isn’t that exactly what I’ve been telling you all along?”

  Chapter Ten

  Jamison

  I sat at the bar in the Irish pub in shock.

  I mean, I’d watched that pretty boy walk away from the gorgeous blonde, wondering if he was fucking blind or something. I mean, fuck.

  I stood back, admiring the view. I saw legs that were long and slim, and meant to be wrapped around my waist. I didn’t know a lot about shoes, but I knew what I liked. Any woman who wore bright red stilettos had one thing on her mind at a bar, and that was who she would be bringing home that night.

  I was willing to volunteer as I took in the toned calves and firm roundness of a perfect ass that was evident through the thin material of the skin-tight dress she wore. I felt my cock twitch, enjoying the barely concealed view.

  She was a blonde, and I had sworn off blondes a lifetime ago, which meant that she could be no more than the evening’s entertainment. But, as I saw the silken strands of her short haircut sway back and forth, I could all but feel my hands fisted in the short length as I pulled her head backwards to expose the column of her long neck.

  As she turned, I was greeted with the vision of a great set of tits, firm and high, nipples hard enough to etch glass. I bet they would bounce and sway beautifully while she was riding me.

  My vision blurred a little bit as I started to mentally conjure up all of the places in my apartment where I would take her. I would have to start with the window. I would have to take her from behind while she braced herself on the large picture window overlooking the city. Fortunately, no one was actually able to see in my unit, but I never told the women that. They got a thrill thinking an entire fucking city could see their tits bouncing while they were taking it hard.

  I stood up, confidence surging through my veins as I approached the blonde. Based on the outfit and the toned muscles that were evident, I had to imagine she would get off more on the confident approach. I really didn’t put a ton of thought into my method of attack. At this point, it was just second nature. Read the situation, and go in for the kill.

  “Looks like that didn’t go quite as planned.”

  She whipped around and glared at me, a flash of pure hatred still lingering in her eye. I felt my blood turn to ice for a second. Damn, this chick could throw evil around like confetti. I watched in amusement and then confusion as I saw her facial expression transition from shock, to recognition and into loathing.

  “Oh, fuck me very much. As if this day couldn’t get any fucking worse, I of course had to run into God’s gift to the vagina.”

  Despite the acidity of her tone, I couldn’t help but feel that smirk growing on my lips. It was something that I’d been told in the past was ‘panty dropping’, or some stupid shit like that. However, it seemed to have the opposite effect on the ice bitch in front of me. For about a half a second, I considered bagging the whole thing, just walk away because no woman on the planet was worth that shit. But, something intrigued me about her, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

  “Well, it appears that I’ve left one hell of an impression on you…”

  I let my voice trail off, obviously indicating that I didn’t know her name and that I was giving her an opportunity to fill in the blanks.

  “You have got to be fucking kidding me. You have no idea who I am, do you? As if I didn’t think little enough of you, you’ve somehow managed to drop even lower in my sight. I may actually think worse of you than a child rapist at this point.”

  Fuck.

  I mean, that was pretty low.

  I squinted at her, trying to figure out who the fuck she was. I obviously had worked this one over really good. I mean, I usually went into my associations with women openly. I made sure they understood I wanted absolutely nothing emotional from them, strictly physical. Maybe this was one of the very few that I had misread going in and it
had gotten messy.

  Like, restraining order level messy.

  No, that wasn’t it.

  I stood, staring at her, taking in her eyes, the shape of her face, the curve of her breasts… nothing. Absolutely nothing seemed familiar.

  The eyes that held nothing but disdain for me took in this study, and for a half of a second, they softened with an emotion that seemed strangely like… hurt.

  As if a switch had been flipped in my head, her features shifted and blurred until a teenager with long, waving blonde hair, loving blue eyes, soft glowing skin and an easy smile stood before me in my mind.

  I braced my hand on the stool next to me, unable to believe for a moment what I was seeing.

  “Aly?”

  I whispered the name reverently, even though it was attached to the female epitome of Satan. Actually, if she was who I thought, she would make the devil her bitch when she descended to her rightful place in the ninth level of hell.

  She barked a laugh, sharp and angry.

  “No one calls me Aly, asshole. At least, no one who I care about. Fancy finding you in a piece of shit bar like this. Nice to see you really overcame your whole ‘wrong side of the tracks’ childhood.”

  She sneered at me, the loathing back in her eyes. I had no idea why she would think for a moment she had the right to look at me with that much hate. I wasn’t the one who blew up the world. I would have given her everything. Anything she wanted would have been hers.

  “What the fuck did I ever do to you? I haven’t seen you in forever, and you’re eyeballing that dull knife on the bar top like you’d like to filet me open with it and ensure that my soul is as dark as you think it is.”

  She leaned in, her eyes narrowed down to slits that had me take an unexpected step back.

  “You aren’t worth the answer, Jamie. Slither back to the trailer park you crawled out of. You disgust me.”