Page 81 of Ruckus

“Eden, hefuckedmy little sister,” I tell her again, in case she missed my fuckin’ point.

“And do you not fuck your own president’s sister, every night? Aaron, I don’t think you're really in the position to?—”

“That’s different,we’redifferent.” My finger points between us. “I know how I feel about you. I love you, I always have. Ruckus is…well, he’sRuckus.” I scrub my hand over my face and growl into it. “He’s my best friend, and yeah, I’m close with Raze, but, it’s just…It’s fuckin’ different.” I can’t explain it but she’s looking at me as if she expects me to.

“How?” She looks so calm and fuckin’ patient, it’s a quality of hers that I love but right now, I want her to agree with me.

“Don’t get all smart, Eden.”

“I’m not, I’m just wondering how this is any different to you and me.”

“Because…’cause…” Grrrrr, I hate not having an answer for her. “I don’t fuckin’ know.” I sit down at the table and close my eyes.

“So, did you ask Ruckus why she left?” She eventually takes a seat beside me.

“No, I hit him…Twice,” I admit, watching how she shakes her head. “You need to talk to him, let him explain.”

“The last thing I want is an explanation. I don’t want to think about the two of them together.” I shake my head.

“Aaron, I get that Freya’s special to you, especially now, but Ruckus is a good guy, and he’s your best friend for a reason.”

“Yeah, well, the spot just reopened.” I tilt my head to look at her and manage a smile.

“I’ll bet if you had to choose any man to take care of her, it would be him.” Her hand strokes my back soothingly

“Ruckus has no idea how to treat a woman, let alone love one. I trusted him. When he said he’d take care of her, I thought he was doing a nice thing.”

I’m so mad at myself for not seeing what all that bullshit was.

“Come on, Eden, you know what he’s like. He even fucked that nerdy friend of yours.”

“Hey!” she warns me with a nudge of her elbow. “Maybe, Ruckus has just been scared.” Her suggestion turns me into the one who's laughing.

“Ruckus, scared? Not a chance.”

“You know what I mean. You Soul men will walk into a fight unarmed and blindfolded, but you're not the best at facing up to your feelings. Maybe he was scared of hurting you, or scared of falling in love. Maybe, all those other women have just been a distraction. It was him who went back to that show and got her,” she points out.

I hear what she’s saying and, like always, it makes sense. I can’t believe I didn’t see all this before. All those nights they would have spent together while I thought he was doing me a favour. That cut up look he had on his face when she left with Cam. How did I not piece it all together?

I guess because he’s my best friend.

“You really think he loves her?” I look up at my wife and see that she’s smiling.

“I think you need to speak to him and let him explain,” she tells me.

“You must be sick of this.” I put my arm around her and drag her closer. “I’ve not exactly given you the best start to married life.” I rely too much on the fact that Eden accepts me for who I am.

“You’ve been through a lot and, as we know, life isn’t always smiles and rainbows. I got a feeling things are about to look up though.” She kisses my cheek and stands back up, busying herself around the kitchen with that sweet little smile still on her face.

I watch her for a few moments, trying to figure out what’s different about her.

“Did ya change your hair?” I ask, standing up and moving toward her.

“No.” She shakes her head, trying really hard not to let that smile grow any wider.

“Use a different moisturiser?” I pinch her cheek and watch the color flush to it.

“Get off.” She swats me away and laughs.

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