The Hearts We Break (The Alphaletes Book 3), page 11
“Me too.”
Scarlett
When I woke up that next morning, Slater was already gone, which was kind of weird. Then again, there has been a lot about me and Slater lately that has been weird. I’m sure it has to do with the divorce, the injury, just all of the uncertainty in his life right now that is causing this weird tension. When he finally faces it all, I’m sure things will go back to normal.
Can’t quite tell if I’m happy about that.
I’m helping Erica and Vi clean up Slater’s kitchen after the amazing barbeque the boys just did. They wanted to squeeze in one more get together before things really get into full swing, and since we are deep in practice season now, they won’t get many more opportunities.
Looking out to the yard, I watch Tucker, Rosalie, and Daphne all chase each other around while baby Rodney very unsteadily toddles after them. I know you aren’t supposed to pick favorites but that chubby sweet face that Rodney has going for him melts my heart every time. He’s a perfect combination of Declan and Vi. You can tell he is going to be a tank just like his dad, but he has his mother’s eyes, just like Tucker.
“What are they getting up to now?” Erica sighs as she peeks past me.
“Relax, they are just playing.”
Erica gives me a deadpan look. “That’s what you think. Until one of them ends up hurt, while the other is breaking everything in sight when she thinks no one is looking.”
“You make them sound like gremlins,” Vi laughs as she wraps up the potato salad and sticks it into the fridge.
“I wish. Then that would mean they only came out part of the day or if they got wet.”
We all laugh at that as Erica finishes her wine before rinsing her glass.
“I love them, I swear I do but some days,” she says with a shake of her head.
“Preach,” Vi chuckles as she pats Erica’s shoulder.
A pang that is beginning to feel familiar runs through my chest. I can’t help but feel once again like I’m missing out. I wonder what it would feel like to be able to complain about my own kids with other moms. A weird thing to want, right? I guess it’s just another small reminder that it feels like everyone around me is passing me by.
Once the kitchen is cleaned, Vi pokes her head outside and calls for the kids while Erica grabs her purse.
“C’mon, kids! Nap time,” Vi shouts.
“Aww but Mama, I ain’t tired,” Tucker says with a slight southern drawl he’s no doubt picked up from living down in Tennessee.
“Not you, baby, but the rest of the kiddos need their naps. We are going to head over to Auntie Erica and Uncle Seb’s, okay? We can do something just the two of us.”
The sweet mama’s boy smiles up at her and nods as the rest of the kids filter inside. Erica walks over to Seb, leaning down to brush a quick but sweet kiss against him. I don’t miss the way Trevor watches the encounter closely. I’m probably in the minority here, but I actually feel bad for Trevor. I know what he did when they were in college was messed up; believe me, I got every last detail from Slate on it. But you know what they say, all is fair in love and war, and boy, did he fight hard, and he still didn’t get the girl. That had to hurt.
Trevor catches me watching him sympathetically and quickly turns his gaze down to his nearly empty drink before tossing the rest back and setting it to the side. Maybe I feel a sort of kinship with Trevor because in a way we are the same. Forever friend zoned. Destined to stand idly by while the ones we love go off with others. I’m grateful Slater and Nikki never had any children because I can only imagine how hard that would have been to see. Poor Trevor has to sit back and watch these beautiful twins, one looking exactly like Seb and the other just like Erica.
You can tell he has a soft spot for Rosalie, not that he doesn’t love Daphne too. But Rosalie’s long red hair seems to capture his attention almost instantly. She probably reminds him of Erica when she was a little girl, and it doesn’t help that out of all the guys, apart from her dad of course, she always runs to Trevor first.
“Drive safe, okay?” Seb tells Erica in that demanding tone that if you didn’t see the adoration on his face when he looked at her, you’d think he was being a controlling jerk. I thought that about Sebastian Caldwell for a long time. I never thought he really liked me. It just took me being around him and Erica just once to realize that is just how he is, and he only ever really smiles around her or the girls.
“It’s like five blocks. We will manage,” Erica laughs as she comes up to Trevor.
He stands and wraps her up in a hug before speaking into her hair.
“I’ll call you guys when I land.”
“You can just text,” Seb says in a tone that lacks any heat but is thick with tension.
Trevor glances over Erica’s shoulder and shares a heavy look with Seb before he swallows roughly and nods, giving Erica a tight smile.
“I’ll text you.”
I watch as Erica gives him an almost sympathetic smile in return before she moves to Declan and Slater, hugging them both before catching up with Vi who is wrangling the kids. Once they are all out of the house, the place is quiet for several seconds before I remember the peach cobbler I have warming in the oven.
“Crap, I totally forgot about dessert,” I say as I walk into the kitchen. “Seb, Dec, do you guys want me to wrap some up for Erica, Vi, and the kids? I made plenty,” I say as I start shuffling through the back of Slater’s cabinet where he always haphazardly tosses his Tupperware dishes.
“She bakes for you and knows where everything in your house is? No wonder you aren’t too upset about Nikki leaving. You got Nikki 2.0 in there. Though this model is an obvious upgrade considering I don’t think the original even knew where the kitchen was,” Trevor laughs, though he is the only one laughing.
“Trev,” Declan says lowly, like he is trying to warn him to shut up.
“Shut the fuck up,” Slater scoffs. “Scar and Nikki are nothing alike, and I sure as shit didn’t slide Scar into the position. She’s my friend, you asshole, a better one than you.”
I expect that verbal barb to land, and Trevor to get angry, but instead he just laughs it off and shrugs as I dish up the dessert into the containers, doing my best to keep my head down and stay out of the quickly heating conversation out there.
“Just a friend? I don’t buy that shit for one moment. You can’t spend as much time as you two do and not want to at least see each other naked.”
My face heats at his words when Seb lets out a derisive grunt as he takes a sip of his drink and says, “You would know.”
Trevor turns to face Seb but doesn’t give him anything to work with before turning back to Slater. Apparently he is only trying to get under Slater’s skin tonight.
“I mean, seriously, Slate. You can’t tell me you haven’t thought about how Scarlett would-”
A fist bangs into the side table, silencing the room before Slater practically snarls at Trevor.
“Shut the fuck up! She’s my friend. Just my goddamn friend! No, I don’t want to see her naked. No, I’ve never thought about her in that way. We. Are. Just. Friends.”
I know his sharp words were meant for Trevor, but it feels as if they were aimed directly at me and dang, did they hit the mark. Letting out a shaky breath, I slowly put down the servicing spoon before quietly slipping through the living room and out the back sliding glass door. I keep walking until I make my way over to the pool, sitting down on the edge, just where my feet barely dip into the water.
I shouldn’t be upset. I have no right to be and to be honest, I’m tired of the emotional whiplash I’m giving myself. It’s been hard enough trying to push away the amazing kiss and stinging rejection that shortly followed it. Since then, I’ve been trying so hard to convince myself that I’m over my feelings for Slater, that I’ve moved past it all. When it comes down to it, though, I'm hurt to hear the words that, in my head, I know to be true. That part isn’t the problem, though. It’s the big stupid beating organ in my chest that’s the problem. It won’t get a clue.
You’d think when I helped Slater pick out an engagement ring, it would have gotten the hint. Maybe even when I watched him put said ring on her finger in front of a church full of people. Or maybe even over any point in the last twenty years when we had every opportunity to be more, and it never happened. It’s just not meant to be, and I really wish my heart would get the memo because being in this awkward limbo hurts so fucking much.
I feel my eyes beginning to brim with tears when the sliding glass door opens and shuts. God, I don’t want to talk to Slater right now. I know he is going to apologize for raising his voice and maybe even apologize on Trevor’s behalf, but I just don’t want to hear any of it right now.
Quickly wiping at my eyes, I glance to my right to see a pair of bare legs without a trace of ink on them settle in next to me. I furrow my brows to see that Trevor is sitting next to me, not Slater.
“You okay?” he asks in a voice that is surprisingly caring coming from him.
I wouldn’t say that Trevor isn’t a caring person, just very unbothered by most around him, unless we are talking about Erica or the twins. I’m sure he wasn’t always that way, though. I see good in him so maybe he was once a good guy before he became this big time pro-athlete playboy that the whole country knows him to be.
I shrug, not trusting my voice at the moment as I try to swallow past the large lump that has formed.
Trevor nods as he stares out at the pool before he speaks.
“The friend zone fucking sucks, huh?”
I can’t help but laugh. It’s not funny what he said, instead it’s really true. Maybe it’s just the way he said it, like he’s resigned to the fact just as much as I am, but it doesn’t make it suck any less.
“Yep.”
Trevor lets out a half chuckle as he turns to face me, those bright blue eyes practically staring into my soul as if he were trying to figure me out.
“Slater’s an idiot. He’s into you, he just won’t let himself admit it.”
I scoff. “Uh, were you not just in that same room as me? Where he seemed almost repulsed by the thought of being interested in me? In seeing me naked? Not sure what you tell the girls down in Texas to get them into bed, but I’m pretty sure it isn’t that.”
He laughs and shakes his head.
“Freckles, I don’t need to say much more than a few words to get a woman into bed.”
I frown at the sudden nickname for me. I have a few freckles across the bridge of my nose from years of being in the sun practically all summer long, but not enough to warrant an entire nickname around it.
“Well, good for you, I guess,” I say with a shrug because what else do I say to a man bragging about how easily he can sleep with women?
We are silent for a few more moments before I feel Trevor lean in closer to me, his breath only a few inches from the side of my face as he speaks.
“Want to make him jealous?”
I jerk back several inches to look at him properly, my face in a disbelieving scowl.
“What?”
“Slater. He clearly doesn’t see a good thing when it’s right in front of him. Men are stubborn like that, trust me,” he laughs hollowly. “Sometimes all they need is a little push, a little perceived competition,” he says as he rests his left hand on my bare thigh where my shorts have ridden up.
I look down at his hand, frowning at it. Not necessarily at it but more at the fact that as soon as he touched my thigh a zing of something ran up my leg and through my entire body. His hand is large and warm, gripping my thigh with the pressure that tells me I could push him off if I wanted to but heavy enough that he is making his intentions clear.
Is he crazy? He thinks that if I sleep with him it will make Slater jealous and realize that he wants to be with me? Fat chance. That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.
Trevor’s hand begins to move slowly up my thigh, snapping my attention to his face as he watches me with a steady yet confident smile.
“A-and if it doesn’t work?” I stutter, hating myself as I even entertain this idiot.
Trevor’s mouth breaks out into a smile that is honestly kind of breathtaking. Wow, has he always been this gorgeous?
“Well, then at least you’ll get a handful of orgasms out of it.”
“A handful?” I ask with widened eyes.
He shoots me a wink as his grip on my upper thigh tightens.
“You know my game on the field, Freckles. I’m a big player, I go for those big numbers. I’m no different in the bedroom.”
I turn away quickly, my cheeks reddening by the mental images already flickering to life in my head as butterflies begin swarming in a place a lot lower than usual. His left hand stays planted on my thigh as his right hand comes up to my chin, slowly turning me to face him.
“What do you have to lose?”
Slater
Fucking Trevor. I’m genuinely wondering why we are still friends with the asshole. He clearly still wants Seb’s wife, a thing I would not take kindly to at all. He has disrespected Declan’s wife in the past and now he’s talking shit about me and Scar, making up a bunch of bullshit that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Or at least, I don’t want any of it to be true.
I think we need to put it to a vote. Trevor needs to get voted off the fucking island.
“Who the fuck does he think he is?” I snarl out loud, still not over his comments despite him leaving the room a few minutes ago.
Seb scoffs as he shakes his head. “Trevor fucking Michaels. Thinks he can do or say whatever the fuck he wants with no consequences.”
“C’mon, guys,” Mikey says, always being the voice of reason. “You know why he is the way he is. He’s miserable with his own life, he tries to bring others down because he doesn’t know how else to deal with it. But he’s our friend-”
“Is he? Is he our friend, Mikey? Did you think he was your friend when he told you that you should dump Vi and run when you were finally happy? How about when he pulled the endless amount of shit with Seb and Erica? That guy hasn’t been our friend in a long fucking time.”
Seb stays quiet, assumingly agreeing with me, but Mikey just shakes his head.
“I knew then what I know now. He was being an asshole because he’s hurting. Everyone in this room knows that, whether you want to say it out loud or not. Trevor is a good guy.”
Seb scoffs as he points his beer out to the backyard.
“Yeah, well that good guy is all over Slater’s girl.”
“She’s not my girl,” I snap at Seb before his words actually sink in. “Wait, what?” I say as I lean up to look through the sliding glass door as I see Trevor and Scar sitting next to each other at the edge of the pool. Too close. One of his hands is resting on her thigh while the other is cupping her face. He says something to her that she seems to be thinking over before she licks her lips and gives him a nod.
I watch as Trevor goes to stand up, holding out a hand for her to do the same. When they are both up, he doesn’t release her hand, instead intertwining their fingers together as they step inside and walk straight past us without a word, heading up the stairs that only leads to the guest bedrooms.
What. The. Fuck.
Anger begins to burn inside my veins when I hear a bedroom door open and shut. Are you kidding me? Are you fucking kidding me? Trevor and Scar? In my fucking house no less? No. No way. No way in fucking hell.
My eyes must look manic as they flick over to Mikey and Seb because surely I didn’t just see what I thought I did. But Mikey’s widened eyes and Seb’s disgusted head shake tell me that I’m not imagining things. That he is really trying to make a move on Scar.
And she is letting him.
Hell fucking no.
Standing up quickly, I begin making my way to the stairs.
“Should we stick around to help you hide the body?” Seb offers in a tone that honestly sounds completely serious.
“No,” I snap.
If I’m gonna kill this motherfucker, I’m gonna do it with no witnesses. Except Scar, but I’ll deal with her later.
I hear Seb and Mikey grab their keys and open and shut the front door just as I make it outside the only closed bedroom door upstairs. My chest is heaving, my pulse rapidly thumping in my neck. I feel like I’m about to have a goddamn heart attack. Maybe it’s not that bad. Maybe they are just talking or something.
Suddenly, a sweet moan comes from inside the door. A moan I’ve never heard before, but I wish I could again because I honestly don’t think I’ve heard anything so hot. Did that come from Scarlett? My shaky hand reaches for the doorknob, slowly turning it just to peek inside.
When it cracks open a few inches, the first thing I see are Scar’s jean shorts that she was wearing haphazardly tossed onto the floor along with a hot pink G string. A G string? That is definitely not the kind of panties I ever pictured sweet blushing Scarlett to wear. And if I’m being honest, especially back in high school, I thought about her panties a lot.
The next thing I see is Trevor at the end of the bed, on his knees with Scarlett’s bare thighs wrapped around his head like a pair of earmuffs as his face is buried in her pussy. Rage rushes through me, jealousy a close second, but something surprising also takes over me.
Lust.
I watch as Trevor’s hands grip Scarlett’s smooth skin tightly, so tight I know he’s going to leave bruises on her flawless skin if he isn’t careful. He doesn’t seem to care about being careful right now as he savagely eats her pussy like he’s less of a human and more a fucking animal. Part of me wants to rip him off her, beat his pretty boy face into a bloody pulp for daring to touch what has always been mine. But another part of me deep down inside, a confusing part, knows that Scarlett is close. The way her toes curl and her fingers tighten in my sheets tells me she is about to cum and something in me can’t deny her that.
As if she can sense me, Scarlett’s eyes spring open, looking directly at me as her mouth drops open into a perfectly round O as she cums all over my best friend’s face. Those sweet moans I heard from before are amplified as she writhes and grinds against Trevor’s mouth, pulling every ounce of pleasure she can from him until her body falls back into a limp heap.
