Page 33 of The Brat Tamers

“I…” I open and close my mouth like a fish out of water, incapable of answering his question. I know I’m a pain in the ass, but I don’t mean to be.

Well, even that’s not true. Sometimes I mean to be.

The last four days I’ve been as irksome as possible, just to keep their delicious attentions trained on me.

That’s going to end soon, and that’s a good thing. Right? It will mean my life is once again mine. I can get back in front of the camera, interact with my fans and travel far and wide to exotic locations, fabulous parties, etc.

Obviously, I can’t date.

Jesus, I can’t believe Brad teamed up with Claudine to kidnap and kill me. What did I do that was so bad to make two people who I thought were part of my inner circle hate me so much?

The phone rings, but Porter doesn’t flinch, his gaze taking in every inch of me as if he’s dissecting each part of me. Well, I don’t like being dissected. I’ve spent most of my life not letting people get close enough to figure me out, and I will not let a couple of amazing orgasms ruin a perfectly constructed and bedazzled exterior.

“Like what you see?” I smile at him, crossing one leg over the other.

He doesn’t smile back. Instead, he answers the phone. “What?”

…

“Yeah, you heard a gunshot. That was me shooting the second and hopefully last guy. He’s bleeding on the porch, but he’ll be fine.”

…

“She’s also fine. Are those sirens I hear?”

…

“Yeah, send an ambulance this way. Out.”

* * *

After many hours of tense silence from the three men who were recently inside of me, coupled with the hectic activity of the sheriff and EMTs, Lee puts me on the phone with my father. Even though it’s close to ten pm, it doesn’t seem appropriate to sleep another night in this cabin. I mean, one guy is dead, Brad is maimed, and Claudine is on her way to prison. My sister Leti is on her way back to our father’s house, so it would be weird if I didn’t show up tonight, too.

Porter hasn’t spoken a word to me since shooting Brad, and there are all these unspoken things between me, Lee, and Case. Between all of us, really. But what do I expect? We were caught up in fear and adrenaline—and maybe even boredom—hiding out while others hunted down my would-be kidnappers. What happened between the four of us—what did it really mean?

I’m a woman. Of course, my heart is attached to my vagina.

Of course, my brain is going to interpret their gentle touches as loving.

Of course, I was going to fall more and more in love with every orgasm they coaxed out of me.

But they are men. Big, testosterone-laden men who like to share mouthy, bratty women. They probably do this all the time. Although, I feel confident I’m the only client they’ve ever done this with. I can tell the potential repercussions of fucking me while under their care are weighing on their minds.

Sitting in the backseat as we make the two-hour trek back to my father’s house, I remove my T-shirt and open up my makeup case, pulling out a foundation brush and my best concealer.

I catch Lee’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “Don’t worry, I’m not messing with you. I thought I’d work a little coverup magic before we get to the house.”

“Probably a good idea,” he says. “Those will take at least four days to clear up.”

“Yeah, I know. I’ll keep them off camera, and honestly, after checking in with my father tonight, I probably won’t see him again for a few months.”

“After everything your family went through over the last week, you don’t think things will change?”

I dab dot after dot after dot across my chest, looking like a kid with calamine lotion covered chicken pox. “Maybe Leti and I will spend some time together. Reconnect.”

“That would be good, Epiphany. She’s your twin. I bet you have more in common than either of you think.”

I shrug. “Maybe.”

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