“So he fucking should,” she spat in response.
Josh was clearly a touchy subject. We fell into silence, and I swirled the glass and the vodka swished in front of me. I was so tempted to throw back the vodka, but I knew that would be a mistake. For far too long alcohol was my best friend, my mind and body numbing sanctuary. Thank fuck my parents didn’t see me then. I drank so much that all I had the ability to do was drink, pass out, and repeat. The first six months with Tori was spent in my bedroom, shielded by an oversized comforter and a bad relationship with vodka. It worked. I forgot about Jeremy; I forgot the feeling of his breath on my neck as he pounded relentlessly inside me without remorse; I forgot about the feeling of being torn and destroyed at the hands of another. I simply forgot. It was easier that way. I continued to focus on the vodka in front of me as I sunk into the depths of my memories; I was becoming that girl again, the girl who I had worked too long to forget. I couldn’t let Ashlyn see that girl. I didn’t want anyone to know that girl.
“Eden!” Ashlyn’s loud voice shattered my haze. I lifted my gaze and found her worried eyes staring back at me. Fuck. I forced a smile and shook my head. “Where did you go?”
“Sorry, got lost for a minute there.” I leaned over placing the glass on the coffee table in front of me. “So, how about it? Let’s get you cleaned up and back to Josh’s. Go in there and show Lachlan the confident, sassy, don’t give a fuck Ashlyn that I know and love. Don’t let any man make you feel like this. They don’t deserve it. This is why I am single.” I winked and stood from the couch, grabbing her empty glass from the table and taking them into the kitchen.
“If Ky has anything to do with it you won’t be single for long,” Ashlyn said softly. My head flew up at the sound of her words.
“We are just friends.” I nervously laughed.
“With benefits?” Ashlyn teased.
“He was very vocal when he said he wouldn’t be touching me.”
“I call bullshit.”
••••
Twenty minutes later Ashlyn and I left her apartment and made our way back to Josh’s. Ashlyn’s confidence was back, roaring like a lioness ready to show Lachlan just who she was now. I knew there was more to their story than she was willing to divulge but I had no right to push. With a steady hand, Ashlyn opened the door and we stepped in. Who the hell were these people? Wasn’t this meant to be a quiet dinner? The first person I saw was Josh and his eyes smiled when he saw me and Ashlyn. He had a stunning blonde attached to his neck, and he looked like he was enjoying every minute. When he saw Ashlyn, he pushed the girl away and strode across the room with Ashlyn set in his gaze. Ashlyn grabbed my hand pulling me beside her.
“I am so fucking sorry Ashlyn, I didn’t know he would turn up. I thought he would be the bigger person and contact you. I had no fucking clue.”
“Where is he?” she asked sternly.
“In the kitchen.”
Ashlyn left without another word, taking off on her heel and strutting through the crowd with confidence in every step she took. My eyes traveled with her, and I watched as she stormed into the kitchen and stood directly in front of a tall, tanned guy with shorn blond hair whose body language eased the moment she gave him a reluctant hug.
“So I thought we were having dinner?” I joked, pulling my attention back to Josh. “A girl needs to eat you know.”
“You know what? I am going to get rid of all these people, order pizza, and then I’m going to get to know the girl who has made my brother weak at his knees.” His smile was so honest, but his words so unimaginable. “Could I be an ass and ask for another favor? Would you go and see Ky? I know he will be in his apartment stewing on this, and I know you’d be the only person who could get through to him.”
“Why me?”
“Oh Eden, you have no idea what you do to him.” He grabbed his key chain from the counter and slid off a silver key and handed it to me, folding my fingers over it to lock it in my palm. “Here is his key. I know he won’t answer if you knock because he will be still pissed off that Lachlan is here. His apartment is on the fourteenth floor. Go and get him.”
Josh leaned in and kissed me lightly on the cheek while my head spun. I flipped over the key in my hand and sighed. Could I just got up to Ky’s apartment and let myself in?
The butterflies battling around in my stomach told me my answer.
Lachlan Johnson; one of my friends from college, my sidekick, my partner in crime, but also the asshole who broke and shattered my best friend’s heart into a million pieces. It had been two years since he pissed off back to Australia, and I’ve been trying to fix Ashlyn ever since. The moment I walked into Josh’s apartment and saw him, I felt every inch of my body scream bloody murder; my fist clenched at my sides and the urge to punch the fuck out of him was almost too much. In an instance, he made me forget all about the excitement I had for seeing Eden after being away for two days.
I was fast becoming aware that I was reliant on seeing Eden smile. If she smiled, I knew I was doing something right, and this crazy idea wasn’t just some fucked-up plan. Even though she hid behind so many walls, and there were so many layers of Eden Rivers, she still completely grabbed my attention. She didn’t care about what she looked like, what people thought of her, or how the simplest of things like playing twenty questions for two hours straight while sitting in my aunt’s diner allowed the prettiest smile to completely take over her face.
For the past two days I had been stuck in Los Angeles meeting with the board members of Anderson Publications and catching up with Simon Davenport. The majority of my time, however, had been spent thinking of a pretty little brunette on the other side of the country, the same pretty little brunette that I swear to fucking God had flirted with me, mentioning the red jacket that I loved in the last text she had sent me. If she was there in that jacket, all bets were off.
I buzzed with anticipation on my way to Josh’s apartment, but then I was dealt with a blow to the balls when I walked in to find Lachlan and Ashlyn embroiled in a screaming match in the middle of his living room.
It more often than not shitted me to tears just how well Josh could read me, but tonight I was thanking my lucky stars that he could. The moment he saw my reaction to Ashlyn and Lachlan he pulled me away before I had the chance to do or say anything that I was sure I would have regretted. I fled Josh’s apartment and sought solace in my apartment. The thought of what Lachlan had done still ate at me. He up and left without a fucking word. Just left and went back to Australia, pissed off to kangaroo land and didn’t give two shits about the girl he left in his wake. How could someone do that—especially to someone like Ashlyn?
As I stood by the window, it felt like the weight of the world had landed forcefully on my shoulders. Knowing that Ashlyn was hurting, that Lachlan was back, and the confusion of my feelings for Eden took over all my thoughts.
“I thought you’d have the penthouse apartment.”
I stiffened at the sound of her voice, tension quickly invading my body. The soft, angelic voice of Eden Rivers filled every inch of me. I slowly turned around until a nervous looking Eden standing by the front door came into view. Fuck me, she was wearing the red jacket. As if she read my mind, she raised her hand and waved the key toward me showing how she got access to my apartment. She placed the key on the bench and then moved effortlessly as she made her way across the living room toward me, her eyes never leaving mine. I stood completely silent, still trying to comprehend having her in my apartment.
“I’m not that big of an asshole. I gave the penthouse apartment to the maintenance guy and his family. He’s the one who runs this place,” I admitted when I found my voice, my gaze following her until she stood beside me.