Page 7 of Her Filthy Mistake

“So, tell me everything. How’re the women out in Vegas?”

Vegas? When did he move to Vegas? Isn’t he still in L.A.? I twist the cap back onto the bottle.

“Same, man. Same as always.”

“Asshole.” My brother laughs and smacks his back again. “Always getting all the pussy you can handle. Makes a man like me jealous.”

I’m going to throw up. I swallow hard over the dryness in my throat and wish I could disappear. The last thing I want to hear about is all the sex he’s having when all the sex I’m having is lame and pathetic.

The last guy I went out with was sporting a party pickle, and the one before him would only have sex once a month, right before my period, while he shoved on two condoms to ensure there was no way I could trick him into getting pregnant. Like I wanted a baby with him.

If I’m going to get knocked up, he’s going to sweep me off my feet and treat me like a princess. Or he’s going to get lost. I’m never being treated like a worthless sidepiece again.

“Dude.” Jace flushes and avoids my gaze. “It’s not like that.”

“Ple-e-ease. I know.” Zayden rolls his eyes, waltzes across the floor, and retrieves a beer from the refrigerator. The other glass bottles clink together as he shuts the door. “When was the last time we went out? Three years ago, at Christmas?”

“Yeah.”

Three years ago? At Christmas? Bile rises in my throat as I squeeze the plastic bottle. The lid pops off and tumbles to the floor, rolling under the cabinet under the sink.

“That was quite a night. I believe it was the night we got back from Jamaica.” Zayden laughs as I fight back tears. I don’t want to hear this but it’s like a train wreck is happening in front of me. If I protest, he’ll know I care. Cared. And if I don’t, I’m going to hear some gross reenactment of some wild orgy between my brother and Jace.

I snatch up the lid and re-twist it tighter onto the bottle.

“Zoe doesn’t want to hear this.”

“She doesn’t care.” Zayden waves a hand toward me as if he’s dismissing any emotions I might have. “She’s heard my crazy stories before. And now I must relive them from the past. I can’t get drunk and screw groupies back home. I have a reputation to uphold as a law enforcement officer.”

“Then we should keep your reputation clean and not discuss it.” Jace marches to the doorway with a stiff back and returns to the living room.

My brother takes a long swig from his beer and grins. “Uncle Jace here couldn’t get hard, so I had to go in after him.”

“Jesus, Zayden, let it go,” Jace groans from the living room.

“He was too wasted for everything to work right. At least, that’s what he claimed, but I don’t know. The time before….” He marches to the adjoining room. “When was that? Two Christmases before? We were at Mom and Landon’s house. Remember that night?” Zayden swivels his head around to face me. “You were wearing that slinky red dress and got caught standing under the mistletoe with Jace. That was a fun night.”

“Yeah, it was a total blast,” I mutter as every inch of my skin burns, and I wish I were anywhere but here. That was the night I dared to pucker up and kiss his lips when he was aiming for my cheek. I’d just turned 18 and was obsessed with him.

And he ran off to fuck some random bar slut. What made her so special?

“Zayden,” Jace barks while spinning on his heel. His eyes blaze with anger. “I told you to drop it.”

Zayden cocks his head and stares Jace down. “You couldn’t satisfy that girl either. I had to–”

“Fuck off.” Jace jerks the door open, slamming it shut and causing the kitchen windows to rattle.

Chapter Four

Zoe

“Hey, darling.” My mother holds my shoulder as she kisses my cheek. “You look gorgeous in that swimsuit and cover-up.” We’re standing inside the resort dining room as the wait staff scurries around, bringing the other customer’s food to their tables. The place smells like heaven, with the prominent scent of chicken and brown sugar.

“Thank you.” I return her greeting and step back to get a clear view of her. “You look gorgeous as well.”

She looks stunning, with her long black hair trailing down her back. Even though she’s in her 40s and is the mother of two adult children, and one 7-year-old, she looks much younger. We’ve always been close, and that didn’t change after her divorce from my father or after her marriage to Landon. I’ve always been tight with all my family. Even if my brother is an insensitive asshole, who enjoys jabbering on about Jace’s conquests. Or what should have been conquests.

Does it help to discover he has performance issues? Yeah, actually, that does help.

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