Page 102 of True Honey
“You looked like me,” I said to him suddenly, “when I get home I’ll bring over some pictures, we looked alike…”
“Alright.” Josh agreed. We were still working on what it meant to be brothers, but we were getting better at it each day.
“Alright,” I repeated back to him.
COURTNEY
Silas went down to the bar ahead of me, too antsy to stand still while I finished getting ready, and he was making it nearly impossible to do so with every kiss, touch and bite. He was relentless, he had come out of his shower worse than he’d gone in. It was obvious that he was bottling up information about what happened today and it wasn’t really my place to ask him what was wrong but I had tried anyways only to be met with his lips or his tongue.
I was aware of the timeline of our relationship, cautious with knowing that it had started because we both needed something from each other but I was scared that it was changing into a different type of need. One I wasn't sure I was able to handle. The little voices in the back of my head persisted. Repeatedly telling me that I wasn’t good enough, wasn’t strong enough, wasn’t smart enough to be adored by someone like Silas Shore.
The noise only silenced when he was around with his constant reminders. It was when he wasn't around they flooded in knowing Silas' strength wasn't protecting me. What kind of life was that? Subjecting him to a job he never signed up for, at least willingly. How long would it be before he got frustrated with my little progress, or bored of the struggle that came with shut downs. How could he see through the storm when it felt endless?
I stared at myself in the mirror, the dark green dress hanging off my shoulder by two tiny straps that did nothing to hide the fresh mark that he had left that morning. I changed three times before circling back around to it, it hung off my body in silky waves that felt so nice against my skin after being treated to such a good day. I’d never been taken care of like that and it was an addicting feeling.
Downstairs the lounge was full and it took me a moment but eventually my eyes fell on him standing at the main bar with a half-full glass in his hand. He was wearing the burgundy dress shirt from his closet with a dark pair of pants and his hair was pushed back off his face in the soft messy waves courtesy of my fingers after giving in to his protests for affection.
His eyes caught mine from across the room and softened as he angled his body toward me, leaning on the bar with his elbow and pushing that smug, handsome smirk to his face. Silas Shore was a god, bathed in bar lights and drenched in the sound of old money laughing at the jokes of women too young for them. He stood out among the wealth, his gaze never leaving mine as I navigated the tables and glances of other men.
“God damnit, Drew.” His hand reached out to me and yanked me close with a gentleness I wasn’t expecting, his eyes falling to my shoulder. “You’re going to kill me.” His eyes flickered up to mine.
“I thought I was meant to show it off?” I whispered, leaning in closer as his hand wrapped around my hip to my lower back. He inhaled slowly, whatever answer was on the tip of his tongue stayed there because we were interrupted by someone clearing their throat.Silas brushed his hand up my back, finding the low cut hem and pressed his fingers into the bare skin between my shoulder blades. I turned to give my attention to who he was looking at and smiled politely.
“Drew this is Donny,” Silas said.
“Don, no one calls me Donny anymore.” The blonde haired man held out his hand showing off the expensive watch on his wrist. “It’s nice to meet you,” he said.
“Preston and Troy,” he said to the others. Both dark hair and dark features smiled and shook my hand. All three men screamed old money and reeked of whiskey. “We all went to school together.”
“Oh, did you all play baseball too?”
Preston barked a loud laugh that made me flinch. “She’s cute,” he said, bringing the glass to his lips. “No sweetie, we didn’t. That was always Silas’s thing. Waste of time really.”
Silas tensed but I just laughed like I was being paid to do it.
“The guys who play baseball at Harbor,needbaseball. It’s a scholarship not a hobby. And guys like us don’t have time for hobbies unless it includes running trains.”
“Running trains?” I said and all three of them stifled laughter as Silas told them to shut the hell up. The conversation that followed included a vicious dick measuring contest about who had done more in the last few years since they graduated university.
I learned quickly that they were all doctors, varying in their fields but all just as egotistical and rude. I did my best to keep a smile on my face but it was pretty obvious that none of them wanted anything to do with me. For the most part all I got was funny looks and the rare snide remark. They never asked me what I did for a living, they barely spoke to me at all and it’s pretty clear that the reason Silas hadn’t seen them in some time was because they’re assholes.
He kept one hand on me through the entire dinner, constantly checking in with his expression and I gave him the energy he needed to get through it but when they started to get more drunk and we headed back to the longue, the night grew tense. After excusing myself to use the bathroom I returned, my easy path to Silas was blocked but I could hear them chatting.
“So what’s the deal with her?” Troy asked, sliding his empty glass across the bar. I tried to get around the two people blocking me but there was no way without pushing.
“Drew?” Silas sounded confused.
“Yeah, did you pay her to be here tonight? Trying to make us look bad because you have a piece of arm candy?” Troy teased.
“Silas would never pay for a prostitute, he’s too innocent. She’s probably just a hometown whore he found to sucker into being his date tonight.” Preston’s comment ran down my spine like ice-cold water.
“We all had a red-head phase man, they’re fucking psychopaths though. You just gotta have fun with it and let it go!” Troy yelled over the sound of the music and crowd.
“Yeah no,” Silas was quick to shut him down. “Despite your idiot comments, she’s my fiancé,” he corrected them and the sound of him saying it made mefeel a little better. It wasn’t like he meant it, or that it was even true but he was defending me and that held some weight.
“Silas Shore, the serial hump and dump her?” Don laughed, “what? Does she have a magic snatch or something? There’sno wayyou're committed to her.”
I shoved my way around the couple blocking my view of Silas and his gaze instantly caught mine in apology. I inhaled, pushing a smile to my face and pretending I hadn’t heard a word of their nonsense as I slid onto the stool next to Silas.
