Page 136 of Begin Again, Part 1

"Sorry, Si, it's too expensive. I couldn't allow myself to keep it, not with all the rumours going around," Eden explained.

"Technically, they aren't wrong. You slept with him once, and if that photo in that chat is any indication, it's only a matter of time before you do again. No one can contain that fire." Lydia shrugged and crouched down to help Aiden build a sandcastle. He had his own plans. He politely pushed her hands away.

"Shut up," Eden snapped. "That photo's an innocent hug. I was devastated by my parents' announcement, and Liam was there for me as my boss. It was blown out of proportion."

"But look at the heat between you two, the hunger in both your eyes," Sienna added fuel to the fire as she gawked at the photo on Eden's phone.

"What heat? What hunger?" Eden snatched her phone back, wishing she hadn't shown them the chat that launched Lucy's missiles. "Besides, he has Laura."

"Of course, the mystery wife?" Cassandra asked.

"Well, I don't know what she is, but she's in the picture," Eden sipped her lukewarm chai and nibbled on a doughnut. Her son looked up longingly, but he knew better than to ask. He wasn't allowed to have sugary stuff.

"Whoa!" Sienna, smelling a scoop from a mile away, screeched, and shot to her feet, startling Aiden with the sudden movement. "Hold on, back up! I'm so confused. Is she, or is she not the wife? And if she's not, is Liam like cheating on his wife then?"

"There is no wife," Eden admitted, and reluctantly filled them in on all their little encounters since she ran into him at La Famiglia.

"We told you he's not married!" Her friends squealed with joy as they hugged her, momentarily startling Aiden again with their excitement. But he joined in, laughing his head off as he clapped his hands, even though he had no idea what they were all celebrating.

"Goodness, he booked out an entire restaurant for you!" Sienna mused when they'd all calmed down. "This is so crazy!"

"Hello, what about the seven hundred and thirty daffodils?" Cassandra gushed. "I've never received more than a dozen roses. Where do you even start counting them?"

"Guys, it's not as romantic as you all think," Eden said. "Liam wants us to be in this exclusive relationship, where we both use each other for sex. He told me he's the only man who can please me. And boy, did he please me last night? I had my first orgasm in two years. He did things to me with his tongue and—"

She paused when she realised she'd shared a little too much.

Sienna giggled. "That was highly detailed! But please don't stop on our account."

"Yes, please carry on. It sounds like heaven." Lydia smirked. "Tell us all the smutty things he did to you."

"Lydia!" Eden said sharply as she glanced at her phone again to check the time. "Can we focus? Anyway, Liam's convinced I'll give in to him because he's the only man who can please me."

"Goodness, I love a man with confidence!" Cassandra fanned herself. "Does he have any brothers?"

"Just two devilishly handsome cousins," Eden smiled, even though they already knew this.

"Unbelievable!" Lydia was suddenly affronted. "You sat on this for like two days without letting us know? Was there something wrong with your phone or WiFi connection?"

Eden held up her hands defensively. "I just needed time to process everything. For two years, I believed Liam was married, and that was my only reason for moving to the Blue Mountains with Grammy. And now..."

"And now you feel like you've messed up both your lives and robbed Aiden of two years with his father," Cassandra finished off for her.

Eden nodded. "Where do I even start fixing this?"

"By telling Liam," Sienna said as she picked Aiden up and threw him in the air, before smothering him with kisses. He screeched gleefully and demanded more, and for a while, they watched them goof around.

"I would if he hadn't admitted to his parents he has no room for kids. He said his life is too full, and his job's keeping him busy," Eden said when Sienna set Aiden down.

Her revelation shut everyone up for some time. Reeling from her news, they all sipped their tea and watched Aiden make car sounds as he pushed his bucket up and down the sand.

Cassandra was the first to snap out of her thoughts. "You need to buy this child toys."

"He has plenty," Eden replied. "My folks bought him a whole store, but he still prefers the bucket."

"So, what are you going to do?" Sienna asked.

Eden shrugged. "I'll figure something out."

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