Page 7 of Bleeding Hearts

“Yeah, yeah. Flattery will get you everywhere.” I smile back at him, ignoring the heat rising to my cheeks. “No tequila?” I nod toward the table filled with different types of liquors, sodas, and more.

“Sadly, no,” he says. “My boss, King, the guy you just met over there with Kade, can’t stand the stuff, so he never keeps it around. I think it has something to do with his ex-wife.” He shrugs, grabbing himself a new beer from the cooler on the ground.

“What happened with his ex-wife?” I ask, grabbing a red cup and filling it with vodka and a splash of cranberry juice.

“It’s a long story that I don’t know all the details to, but the moral of it is that she left them.” He pops the top off his beer, taking a large swig of it just as Kaden comes storming up to us before I have a chance to respond.

“Did you invite them?” he asks Asher, anger lacing his voice.

I push my nerves down, forcing myself to stay calm once again. I hate being around people when they’re angry.

Anger, in general, is just not an emotion I care for. Why waste any second of the short life we’re given being angry when you could be happy? It just never made much sense to me.

But I’m quickly learning that being around Kaden when he’s angry is a different type of internal struggle for me. Because when I look at him, all I can see is my father.

Even though I know he’s nothing like him, in moments like these, it’s hard to convince the fight-or-flight part of me that he isn’t. I do my best anyway, though, to ignore the oncoming rush of emotion and keep my mind clear of the painful memories trying to resurface.

“What are you talking about?” Asher asks, his normally playful tone replaced by one full of confusion. “I just told you I invited Demi and Lo—”

“Not them,” Kaden cuts him off, nodding his head toward two girls standing at the front of the yard.

The one on the right is taller, with long, straight black hair and eyes that seem stuck on my brother.

The girl next to her is a little bit shorter with short, dark-brown hair with purple peekaboo highlights and seems to be watching our interaction as well. Although her eyes switch between Kaden, Asher, and myself rather than sticking to one person.

They’re both gorgeous and clearly invested in Asher and my brother.

“Fuck,” Asher’s voice pulls my attention away from the girls and back to them. “No way, man. You know I wouldn’t invite Sabs here. She’s friends with Trix. It was probably her.”

Kade grunts, rubbing his hands over his face, clearly frustrated by the presence of whoever the two girls are. The two girls, who, at second glance, are now heading directly toward us.

“Incoming,” Asher whispers as the taller of the two grasps Kaden’s arm.

“Kade,” she says, her voice attempting to be sultry but coming out rather high-pitched. “It’s been forever. How are you, babe?”

Asher clears his throat in an attempt to make his presence known and take some of the heat off Kaden.

“Oh. Hey, Asher.” She smiles up at him, a little too fake for my liking. “I didn’t see you there,” she adds, and Asher snickers at her.

“And who are you?” She turns her attention to me, the fake smile quickly dropping from her face as she eyes me up and down. “I hope you’re not dating Asher, considering he still fucks my best friend.”

Heat rises to my cheeks as I shift my body weight, this whole conversation feeling suddenly uncomfortable. I was already very much under the impression that Asher fucked around, and like I said, he’s just a friend.

A friend I may have a teeny, tiny crush on, but that’s beside the point. Regardless, her assuming I’m with Asher and throwing his sex life in my face still feels fucking awkward.

“Demi is my younger sister,” Kaden says, yanking his arm pretty forcefully out of the girl's hold. “Dem, this is Kayla, my ex.”

“I didn’t know you had a sister,” Kayla responds before I have a chance to say a word. She looks at Kaden skeptically, surprised by the mention of my existence.

I can’t help the pang of hurt in my chest at the fact that he never even mentioned me.

Not that I’d mentioned him or any of my family for that matter to my ex. But it feels different with Kaden considering he did try to ignore my existence for so many years.

I understand why he hates our father. I do too. He just doesn’t know it. He thinks my life was something that it wasn’t, and I haven’t worked up the nerve to tell him or anyone else just yet.

So, with that, the wall stopping our relationship from growing any further stays firmly in place. I gulp down a large sip of my drink before pushing my unwelcome thoughts and shoulders back, standing taller.

“Yeah, you have fun with that,” I say to Kaden, not bothering to look at his bitchy ex. “I’m going to go find Lo.” I walk across the yard to where Lo is standing next to Willow and a girl who looks like a mix of Willow and King, I’m assuming his other daughter.

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