Page 66 of Eden's Deliverance

She doesn’t know the half of it. Only three people at this table know exactly what happened at midnight, even if one is unaware of the full extent.

Scarlett looks up for a second—apparently curious to hear the answer to my mother’s pestering question—but returns her attention to the plate in front of her when our eyes inevitably meet.

I haven’t stopped staring since she sat down.

She’s not giving anything away, but I’m dying to know how she feels about what went down. We only had a few uninterrupted minutes of post-coital bliss before she redressed and ran from the room without a single word.

Julian and I didn’t know what to make of it; we were confused, because it seemed like everything went fucking perfectly in the end. She finally let us have her, and then she left us.

The same way she left me after I had her as myself.

I turn my gaze to Mom, blood suddenly boiling in frustration. “Nothing special. The boys had a party at the frat house, we just got back pretty late and haven’t had much sleep.”

She smiles sweetly but doesn’t press further, thankfully willing to let it go without making a big deal of it.

“What about you, Red?”

My eyes shoot to Julian across the table, trying to shut him up before he does more damage. He knows she hates that name, but for some reason he’s trying to fuck with her. Now is not the fucking time. It’s too soon, and she’s clearly still processing it.

Scarlett glowers at him in response, her face bearing a striking resemblance to the one she wore last night when Jules called me out for the note in her bedroom.

How could I forget? She was so angry she bit my fucking dick.

I’m not into the bratty shit, but fuck. Seeing the fire in her eyes really gets me going and fuels my own explosive desire. I want her so badly it hurts.

In similar fashion to what happened last night, she completely ignores him and excuses herself from the table to disappear upstairs.

I kick the fucker under the table, but he just smirks back at me. He’s going to ruin everything, and I’ve never regretted it morethan I do now that I let him be a part of this.

For hours after dinner, Scarlett doesn’t leave her room. Julian and I stay downstairs after Mom and Gene go up to bed, but she still hasn’t come down.

The porch feels empty without her, and I hate that I’ve gotten so used to us sharing nightly smokes. Her absence shouldn’t feel this heavy.

A nasty thought pops into my mind. It’s cruel, but I never claimed to be a saint. Pulling the burner phone from my pocket, I type out a message and send it, ignoring Julian’s blatant hovering as he tries to read the screen.

“What’s that about?” he asks, nodding to the phone. “I didn’t even bring my mask with me. Did you?”

It takes a minute to process the words, my attention completely focused on the three dots that keep flashing at the bottom of the screen before disappearing again.

Five minutes go by with no response, so I text again.

I tuck the phone away before lighting up a new cigarette. Now, we wait. “You’ll see.”

Julian looks annoyed, clearly frustrated by my reluctance to explain. I would tell him, but I don’t want to jinx it. If I’ve pegged her correctly, she should be storming down the stairs in a matter of seconds.

But she doesn’t storm out.

The glass door slides open slowly, and out steps a red-faced Scarlett, tears fresh in her eyes as she walks sheepishly towards us on the opposite side of thedeck. I only glance up for a moment before turning back to Julian as if we were engaged in an important conversation.

Let her come to me.

I’m a fucking asshole, and it’s probably worse that I let Jules read the texts over my shoulder, but I can’t stand not being around her anymore.

I need to feel her presence and her fire.

I need to feel like she’smine.

Whatever I have to do to make that happen is worth it to me. I don’t care about the consequences.

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