Page 189 of Paradox
“So what doyoucall it, then?”
Eden shrugs, just as annoyingly nonchalant as he does with me. “I mean, sure. We fuck. We fuck a lot. But I love him, too.”
Tek is bright red, his hands are balled into fists, as his nostrils are flaring as he moves towards Eden. “I’m gonna kill you.”
“Stop it,” I cry, stepping between them. “I love him, too.”
Tek’s top lip twitches as he leans down to me. “You’re a fucking idiot. Do you seriously think this relationship will work? I know what he’s like. I’ve watched him fuck his way through woman after woman for twenty years, and you think you’re the special one? The best you can hope for is to be his dirty little secret that he keeps hidden because of the shame of it all.”
“I’ll never hide you,” Eden whispers, but the tears are already back.
Tek raises his arm. “Would you fuck off!” Then he swings; his fist flying towards me, only missing my face by inches as hepunches Eden. Then he’s grabbing my face—forcing me to look at him. “You mean nothing to him. You were just something for him to put his dick in until he got out of here and found something better.”
“I told you not to speak to him like that!” The crack of knuckles on skull catches me off guard as Eden punches Tek. Dazed, but still so damn drunk with hatred—just as much with me as with Eden—he lunges, but Eden shoves him against the wall. One hand firmly against his sternum, and running on pure emotion, he uses his extra reach to successfully land another punch.
“Enough!”
With his arm raised ready to lay into Tek for a third time, Eden looks in shock to the open doorway.
“I said, that’s enough!”
“What the fuck are you doing here, Carey?”
“Stopping this bullshit from continuing any further.”
It’s… Eden’s brother?
I knew he was working at the shop, but… I’d never have been able to pick him out in a lineup.
They’re the complete opposite of each other.
Where Eden’s hair is long and dark, Carey’s is short and sandy blonde.
Eden has brown eyes. Carey has blue.
Eden is muscular and tall. Carey is lean and looks like he’d be shoulder to shoulder with Tek.
“I told you to stay in the truck.”
“Shut the fuck up, Tek,” Carey dismisses him with a vexed roll of his eyes before they settle on me.
He doesn’t say anything, he just stares. At least that’s like his brother.
His gaze eventually drags down to my bare chest and the strips of cling film still hanging there. Then they’re on my stomach, my bare hip bones, Eden’s sweatpants hanging low. Carey’s gaze isso heavy I instinctively grab the rolled waistband and take a step back.
His inspection over, he tilts his head to the side, and with the hint of a smirk, he raises his eyebrows like he approves. And that’s when I know time must have stood still, because there’s no way Eden and Tek would have stayed quiet this long.
“This has nothing to do with you.”
Carey’s head whips away from me and back to the commotion. “You’re the one fightingmybrother. Or have you forgotten that this affects me just as much as it affects you.”
“That’s it! I’ve had enough,” I yell, stepping into the fray. “This isn’t about either of you. It’s my life, and it’s Eden’s. And if this is what we want, the pair of you are gonna need to calm the fuck down about it, or this is the end.”
With a bloody nose and an already swelling cheek bone, Tek orders me to, "Get your shit, and get in the truck,” like he didn’t hear a damn thing I just said.
“Hell no! I mean, I knew you’d be mad, but you’ve said some of the most hurtful things and… I really don’t know if I wanna be around you anymore.”
“I’ll kill you, you bastard,” Tek screams as he writhes in Eden’s grip, all his anger still directed at him. “You brainwashed him. You turned him against us, you evil son of a bitch.”
