Venus rising boxset, p.66
Venus Rising Boxset, page 66
“Alright,” she said. “Let’s go into the dining room, there’s no one in there.”
Fortunately, the dining room was right next to the living room. If they stood on the far side, no one in the living room would be about to hear them if they talked quietly, but Justin and Chris could still see them. Watching them walk to the other side of the room, Chris thought Thor was standing way too close to her.
Justin crooked his finger at Hilary, who came hurrying over, accompanied by Liam, as soon as Jessica and Thor were in the other room before they’d even faced each other to start talking.
“Who the fuck is that?” Justin asked, his voice low enough, anyone standing more than a foot away wouldn’t be able to hear him. Which was most of the people in the room, all of them looking torn between trying to listen in on what was happening in the other room and what Justin was saying.
“That’s Sean, her ex,” Hilary said, worrying her lower lip between her teeth as she stared at the other room. She hadn’t taken her eyes off Jessica, and the expression on her face was pure concern.
Which made Chris more concerned. “The one she was with right before she went to the Venus School?”
Hilary nodded. Justin’s fists clenched, and Liam put his hand on Justin’s shoulder, both supporting and restraining him.
“What could he possibly want with her now?” Chris asked, feeling both frustrated and useless.
“I have no idea.”
Of all the people Jessica had expected to see today, Sean was probably the last. She was pretty sure Carrie would have mentioned if he was coming, knowing Jessica would want a heads-up even though she wasn’t upset over the end of their relationship anymore.
When she and Sean had first started going out, it had been awhile since Jessica had dated. She thought he had seen through the baggy clothes she wore and her shyness to the person underneath. It wasn’t until now, she realized he probably had just seen her as an easy girlfriend—undemanding and a source of sex. Sean wasn’t a bad guy, and they had had some good times together, but he certainly didn’t raise her libido like either of her men did, and she didn’t have a passion for him.
In fact, looking at him now, she found herself thinking his confidence was more arrogance than anything else, and his eyes on her exposed cleavage made her feel dirty, rather than sexy. When they were going out, he’d never minded her clothes, and she thought that meant he cared for her no matter what she looked like. Now, with the confidence Justin and Chris had helped her find, she wondered if he had just been protecting his easy lay. That same new confidence gave her the courage to tilt her chin up and face him head on, ignoring the start of surprise in his eyes.
“What do you want, Sean?”
Jessica had never been confrontational with him before. In fact, she still wouldn’t consider herself a confrontational person, but she’d learned a lot from being with Chris and Justin and had a lot more self-confidence than she had when she’d been with Sean. Sure, she’d followed him in here when he wanted to talk to her, but that was the only leeway she was going to give him.
“I just wanted to say hi, check in, and make sure you’re doing okay,” he said, leaning on the high wooden back of one of the dining room chairs, his gaze raking her up and down. “You look pretty good.” The dismissive quality to his tone irked her.
“I’m fine. Is that it? That hardly needed to be said in private,” she said icily. Something in the way he was looking at her was making her feel anxious. She’d never seen him look at her quite like this before with something nasty lurking in his eyes.
“No, I was wondering about Tweedledee and Tweedledum over there,” he said with a jerk of his head back in the direction of the living room. “Is it true you’re fucking both of them?”
Heat rushed to her face, then receded, making her flush red, then pale white. A roaring sound, the kind she’d heard when she’d put a shell to her ear to listen for the ocean, seemed to be filling her ears. For a moment, she swayed on her feet, thinking she might actually faint. How did Sean know? Who could have told him? Hilary... no... she couldn’t possibly have been betrayed so badly by her friend...
“Who told you that?” she whispered, not just because she didn’t want to be heard, but because she didn’t have enough air in her lungs to talk any louder.
“So, it’s true?” Sean’s voice was incredulous, and he was staring at her like he’d never seen her before. “When your brother—”
“My brother?!” she screeched, finally finding her voice.
“Yeah, your brother.” The look Sean gave her was patronizing. “Your family’s worried about you, you know. He called me, hoping I could talk some sense into you. This whole rebellion thing has gone on long enough. Look, I’m willing to take you back, and we can do some of the freaky sex stuff you want sometimes, and we never have to talk about this again,” he said, his voice turning coaxing. “If I’d known what the end of our relationship was going to do to you, I never would have let you go.”
“I broke up with you,” she managed to get out. It seemed like there was a giant hand squeezing her head, pressing down on her brain, wrapping around her skull almost from the moment Sean had started speaking.
“You just needed a break, but I would have come for you earlier if I’d realized how hard being alone was for you.”
“You think I’m with Chris and Justin because I had a hard time being alone?” she squeaked. Christ on a cracker! While she’d been attracted to Sean’s self-confidence and demanding ways, now she knew she had been looking for a Dom. Someone who would take control and be authoritative because he cared about her and her well-being, which was not at all Sean. He was a selfish, over-confident jerk who had realized he could push her around and get whatever he wanted and needed from her, and she would never complain about her own lacking needs.
If she hadn’t had such a strong desire to learn about BDSM, if he had just indulged in a bit more when she’d asked him to try tying her up, she might have stayed in that situation.
If only that had been the only blow to land, she would tell him to fuck off right here and now, but she was too overwhelmed by the idea her family had contacted him. Was it just her brother? Her brother, who wasn’t even supposed to know about her relationship with Justin and Chris? Had her mother or her father told him? What the hell was her family doing talking over their concerns with her ex when they hadn’t even called her?
Suddenly, it was all too much. She realized Sean was babbling, and she wasn’t listening to a word he was saying.
“I have to go.” The words tumbled out of her mouth, and she turned, head down, going straight for the living room and the safest arms she knew of.
“Look, I’m not going to wait around forever while you act the slut,” Sean practically shouted at her. His voice was loud and clear in the suddenly dead silent room. “You can’t seriously mean to keep fucking both of them while I’m right here, ready to take you back and have a nice, normal relationship with you.”
Whispers sprung up around her, but she could barely see because of the tears filling her eyes.
So, she did the only thing she could do. She ran.
Hilary was torn between running after Jessica, who was practically sprinting out of the house and running across the room to tear a new one into Sean. Fortunately, Justin and Chris suffered no such qualms—their first priority was always Jessica.
“You overblown bastard!” she shrieked, barely aware Liam was keeping a firm grip on her arm, the only thing stopping her from launching herself across the room at Sean. “Why on earth would she want to get back together with a lazy, self-obsessed, egomaniac scrub like you?!”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Carrie’s voice cut across the room next. “Where the hell did Jessica just go?”
Shooting a nasty look at Hilary, Sean turned his attention to Carrie.
“Her brother called me, worried about her because she’s acting like a complete whore with those two guys.”
“She is not!” Hilary protested. “They love her!”
Sneering, Sean turned to face her. “Oh yeah, I’m sure they love the way she spreads her legs for them. She’s a complete freak in the bedroom.” Hilary lunged, and Liam wrapped an arm around her waist. She barely noticed, so blinded by her absolute fury.
“And you’re just jealous,” snapped Carrie. “How many girls have turned you down for a date since Jessica dumped your sorry ass? Oh, that’s right, every single one you’ve asked because they all know you’re shitty boyfriend material. You probably haven’t gotten laid since Jessica.”
“Plus, no two girls in their right minds would agree to have a threesome with him,” said Greg, a longtime friend of Jessica’s and Hilary’s, grinning from the sidelines.
“Get out,” said Carrie to Sean, ignoring Greg. “You weren’t invited here, and you should have never shown up.”
It was obvious Sean hadn’t been expecting support for Jessica. His fists clenched, his face red with rage, he turned toward Hilary. “Fine. Tell that slut I don’t want her back, anyway!”
He stormed out of the room, red cape flapping. It would have been funny if Hilary hadn’t been so enraged.
Conversation started up again as everyone turned to each other and began discussing what had just happened. With a worried expression on her face, Carrie came over to Hilary and Liam.
“Thanks for kicking that jerk wad out,” said Hilary. “I’ll let Jessica know. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it.”
“I’m sure she will...” Carrie’s voice trailed off, and she shifted her weight. “Look, I know it’s not really any of my business, but...”
“Yes, she’s seeing both of them. She has been for a couple of months now. They really do love her,” said Hilary earnestly, realizing while Carrie was going to stick up for her friend against an unwelcome ex, she probably was still going to be concerned about what she had just heard. “They’ve asked her to move in with them.”
“How does that work, though?” asked Carrie, sounding both fascinated and appalled. “I mean... they’re seriously okay with sharing her? They don’t expect her to choose?”
“Nope,” said Liam from behind Hilary.
She leaned back against him, feeling his comforting support like a bulwark against all her friends who were now listening in. While she couldn’t blame Jessica for running, she also kind of felt like she’d now been left in the line of fire. But Jessica had never been any good at confrontation. Hilary wasn’t so good at being angry on behalf of herself, but she would fight like a lion for any of her friends.
“I’ve known them for years, and they’ve known each other for longer than that. They’re inseparable, always have been. The rest of our friends love Jessica and think she’s perfect for them.”
“So, they were looking for... um... that kind of relationship?”
“No, it just seemed to kind of happen naturally,” Liam said.
Hilary looked over her shoulder at her Greek God boyfriend, smiling at him thankfully. Not only had he stepped in to give her time to calm down, but he was letting everyone in the room know there was already a group of people who had accepted Jessica, Justin, and Chris’ relationship for what it was. “But I wasn’t shocked. Surprised, but not shocked. The rest of our friends were the same.” He shrugged. “Sure, it’s a little out of the norm, but there are a lot of different kinds of relationships in the world. They’re adults, and they can do what they want with their lives.”
Looking around the room, Hilary saw some people nodding thoughtfully and others frowning. Only Greg looked completely indifferent to the conversation. But then, Greg slept with almost anything that moved and was one of the least judgmental people Hilary had ever met. Neither she nor Jessica had ever slept with him, keeping things on a friends-only basis, but they both knew if they ever wanted to, he’d be more than happy to.
Carrie looked unconvinced, but Hilary hoped it would just take their friend some time to get her head wrapped around it. In the meantime, Hilary wanted to find Jessica and make sure she was okay. While she could understand wanting to get away from the nasty accusations, Sean had hurled at her, and especially the way he’d shouted out what was going on with her and Justin and Chris in front of everyone, Jessica had looked extremely upset before that. What had the jerk said to her while they were so quiet on the other side of the dining room?
“I’m sorry to leave so early, but I think we need to go,” said Hilary. “I want to make sure Jessica’s okay.”
To her credit, Carrie nodded her understanding and gave Hilary a hug. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do, okay? Let her know... she has my support.” Then she smiled at Liam, although worry still creased her forehead. “You seem like a good one. Take care of our Rainbow Brite here.”
“I will,” Liam said, smiling at her. Hilary was glad her friend liked Liam, but she wanted to get out of there and find Jessica.
“We’ll see you soon,” she said before she started walking, practically dragging Liam by the hand. He said a quick goodbye, then moving as quickly as she was to get out of the house, grabbing their coats on the way—and Jessica’s, Chris’, and Justin’s. Apparently, none of them had stopped to pick theirs up, not that Hilary could blame them.
She hurried after her friend.
Chapter 15
When Liam and Hilary arrived at her and Jessica’s apartment—she insisted that’s where Jessica would go—he was surprised to see Justin and Chris standing outside the front door, both of them slumped as they argued about whether or not they should insist on going inside.
“No,” said Hilary firmly as soon as she reached them, interrupting their conversation.
If Liam hadn’t seen how upset Jessica had been when she’d left the party, he would have been amused at how surprised they were when Hilary spoke up. They hadn’t even noticed she was there, and now, she was stepping up and taking command of the situation. On the other hand, maybe he shouldn’t be so surprised. He’d just witnessed exactly how outspoken and aggressive she could be when it came to her best friend.
“She needs space, she needs to cry, and she needs another woman. Later, she’ll need you guys, but right now, she needs me. Go home, I promise I’ll take care of her.” Turning to Liam, she gave him a quick kiss. “I’ll call you later.”
With that, she let herself into the apartment and shut the door behind her, the loud click of the door locking grinding the message in. Although Liam knew both Chris and Justin had keys, so it was more symbolic than anything else, it seemed the women had spoken.
Both Justin and Chris looked completely lost, and Liam realized it was his responsibility to take care of the situation.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go find a bar.”
Once they had beers in hand and had taken a few long swallows in silence, Liam finally asked the question.
“What happened?”
Justin scowled, and Chris sighed.
“We got her in the car,” said Chris, toying with the label on his beer. “She sat in the back with me and just cried. We still have no idea what that fucker said to her, what made her so upset. Justin wanted to take her to our place,”—Liam thought it was interesting Chris said ‘our’ even though he hadn’t moved in yet—“but she said no, she wanted to go home.”
Both men winced a little at that. Liam grimaced with sympathy, knowing it must have hurt them since they wanted Jessica to make her home with them.
“Then we got there,” Justin picked up the thread of the story, “and she said she wanted to be alone. We tried to talk her out of it, and she just stood there, letting us talk at her as if she wasn’t hearing a single word we were saying. It was like touching a statue, she didn’t even move. Then she just said she wanted to be alone again and went inside the apartment.” He rubbed his hand over his face and through his hair, tugging at it in extreme frustration.
It must be seriously grating on him that Jessica wasn’t allowing him to comfort her, which was one of his most basic instincts as a dominant, on top of the fact he wasn’t sure if he’d done the right thing by not insisting. So, Liam set out to soothe him because otherwise, he and Chris were going to work themselves up.
“I think you did the right thing,” he said, keeping his voice low and comforting. “She’s not alone, she has Hilary with her, and right now, talking to someone outside the situation, who also knows Sean, is probably what she needs.”
“I want to beat the shit out of that fucker,” Chris muttered, his fingers clenching around the beer bottle in his hands.
Liam’s lips tightened. “I think there’re plenty of people who would be willing to help you with that.”
They both looked at him curiously, and he told them about the aftermath at the party—Hilary’s and Carrie’s staunch defense and their guy friend who had mocked Sean and helped drive him from the room.
“It might not be entirely bad that her friends were told this way,” he said. “He was such an asshole, people aren’t going to want to align themselves with him in any way, even if normally, they wouldn’t be supportive of your three’s relationship.”
“Thanks, Mary Sunshine,” Justin said sourly. Liam knew he didn’t really mean to be insulting, he was just upset and lashing out.
“I’m not saying it’s preferable, just that with the situation as it is, there might be some good to come of it.”
“I hope so,” Chis said glumly. “I just keep thinking there’s no way she’ll move in with us now.”
