Edge of Love (7 page)

“
Well, I am.”

I thrust into her harder.

“
Sean.”

“
You don’t sound
mad.”

“
Sean.”

“
Come for me.”

She gripped my back and bit my
shoulder, trying to keep her moans silent. “Yeah, Sean.” I felt her
body tighten around me as she had her moment. I tried not to give
into my own pleasure I was feeling while she had her bliss. But the
sound of her calling my name made it difficult. When she leaned her
head back, I knew it was my turn.

I leaned back and rested on my ankles
while I pulled her hips to me. I lifted her body and thrust into
her hard, reaching my climax almost immediately. She gripped my
forearms and bit her lip while I felt the explosion run through my
body. The bed frame started to collide against the wall, but I
didn’t care. I felt the sensation ignite then I felt myself come. I
forced myself as deep inside of her as I possibly could, releasing
myself within her. When I was done, I didn’t move. I took a moment
to catch my breath while I stared at her. She sat up and licked the
sweat from my chest. I loved it when she did this.

I lied down and wrapped her in my
arms, pulling her onto my chest. Her brown hair reached across my
body and tickled my skin. She was already asleep by the time I
became adjusted. I knew she would still be angry with me tomorrow,
but I knew it had dimmed substantially after we made love. This was
the first big fight that we had and I’m glad we survived it. I
really wished I hadn’t said I was thankful we weren’t married. That
was completely untrue. I wish we already were.

6

When I woke up the next morning,
Scarlet was still asleep. Without making too much noise, I left the
bed and jumped in the shower. After I was done getting ready for
the day, I walked back into my bedroom and saw Scar still fast
asleep. Perhaps she was just tired from the evening before. I
kissed her on the forehead then left the room, deciding to head
downstairs and get some breakfast. Hopefully, no one was awake
yet.

When I entered the kitchen, I smelled
the sizzling bacon on the stove. The hot juice crackled as it
exploded from the heat. My mom was sitting at the kitchen table
with her back turned to me. She was talking on the phone. I walked
over to the cooked bacon that was sitting on a warm plate. I
started to eat a few pieces.

“
I miss you too, dear.” My
mom leaned back in her chair then took a drink of her coffee. “If
you ever need anything from us, please don’t hesitate to ask. You
are still a daughter to me.”

I had no idea who she was talking to,
but I didn’t care. I opened a casserole dish and saw scrambled eggs
mixed with cheese. Another dish had fresh hashbrowns. The sight of
the food made my mouth water. Now I wish everyone was already awake
so we could get breakfast started. I walked over to the coffeepot
and poured myself a glass. I always liked to drink it black.
Scarlet had to have more cream and sugar than coffee. I found it
disgusting.

“
No, Sean hasn’t said
anything yet. He doesn’t talk about you at all.” I felt my heart
drop. There was no way she was talking to the person I thought she
was talking to. It wasn’t possible. “Yes, Scarlet is here. Perhaps
that’s why he won’t discuss it, Penny.”

I felt my mind snap. Before I could
stop myself, I tossed the coffee cup in the sink where it shattered
into pieces then I grabbed the phone from my mother’s hand. My mom
looked at me with a look of shock. “Penelope?”

She was quiet for a moment.
“Sean?”

“
WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU
CALLING MY MOM?”

She stuttered for a moment. “We still
talk sometimes. What’s the big deal?”

“
Fuck off, Penelope. I
mean it. Don’t call my parents again. You lost that right a long
time ago.” Instead of hanging up the phone, I slammed it on the
tile where it broke into tiny pieces. I glared at my mom. “Why are
you talking to her? I’M NOT WITH PENELOPE ANYMORE. I’M WITH
SCARLET! SCARLET!”

My mom stepped back and held her hand
to her chest. She had never seen me behave this way. I realized how
crazy I was being, but I was too livid to care. I ran my hands
through my hair and took a deep breath. I knew I needed to calm
down before I woke up the entire house.

My mom stared at me like I was a bomb
ready to explode. “Dear—”

“
I asked Scarlet to marry
me and she said yes.” The words were out before I could stop them.
“I’m going to marry her and spend the rest of my life with her.
Penelope isn’t coming back. We’re done.”

Her eyes widened. “You’re
engaged?”

“
Yes.” I sighed. “The
whole reason why we came down this weekend was to announce it. But
you seem to care more about my reduced income and my breakup with
Penelope.”

She was quiet for a moment. “Well,
congratulations, dear.”

I stared at her. I could tell she
didn’t mean a word she said. “Why don’t you like
Scarlet?”

She placed her hands on her hips.
“Honey, your father and I love Scarlet like our own
daughter.”

“
Then why don’t you want
me to marry her?”

She sighed. “I thought you were going
to propose to Penelope?”

“
Well, I didn’t. I asked
Scarlet instead.”

“
Is this just a rebound?
Are you settling?”

I bit my lip to stop myself from
screaming again. “Of course not.”

“
Well, you just jumped
from Penelope to Scarlet, and now you’re engaged. How long have you
been together? Six months? You dated Penelope for
years.”

“
No. I’ve been with
Scarlet my whole life. I was just too stupid to realize
it.”

Her eyes softened. “I just don’t want
you to make a mistake.”

I shook my head. “Coming here was a
mistake. I won’t make it again.”

She grabbed my hand. “Please don’t act
this way. I’m only looking out for you.”

“
It doesn’t seem like it.”
I heard voices in the hall just outside the kitchen.

My mom heard the voices too and her
eyes widened. She picked up the broken pieces of the phone and
shoved it into the garbage can. After she was done, she turned to
me. “Let’s not let this episode ruin this weekend.”

“
I think it’s too late for
that.”

“
And please don’t tell
Scarlet what I said. I don’t want her to think I dislike
her.”

“
Well, you obviously
do.”

She glared at me. “That isn’t true,
Sean. I just don’t want you to hurt the girl if you don’t love
her.”

It was my turn to glare at her. “I
love her with my whole heart.” I turned away and left the kitchen.
I saw Scarlet standing in the parlor with Mike. She was alone with
him again, and it enraged me. I knew Mike would never seduce
Scarlet no matter how hard he tried, but it still pissed me off. I
had to protect her from this asshole.

I didn’t look at her. “Stop this
now.”

He smiled triumphantly. “What? Trouble
in paradise? So the sound of the headboard was just you jerking
it?”

I glared at my brother.
“This needs to end. I’m sorry for what I did to you
six
years ago, but this
vengeance needs to stop.”

“
That means I must be
getting close.”

Scarlet stepped away while we spoke. I
could tell she was uncomfortable with this conversation.

“
The only way you will
have Scarlet is if you rape her. I have no doubt about her
commitment to me. Even if she was drunk she wouldn’t touch you. But
I want this to end anyway. Let’s try to go back to what we
were—brothers.

Mike shook his head. “I have
absolutely no interest in that.”

I clenched my fists. “How long is this
going to go on for? After Scarlet and I are married and have kids?
Just get over it already.”

My brother crossed his arms over his
chest but didn’t speak.

I stared at him. “You already slept
with Penelope. What more do you want?”

“
But she didn’t break up
with you, nor did you end the relationship. I will steal the love
of your life just like you stole mine from me.”

“
You are
pathetic.”

“
And you’re a piece of
shit brother. You’ve never been family to me.”
I said nothing. He’d done a lot of things to hurt me, but those
words stung the most.

“
And I didn’t even have to
try with Penelope. She crawled on top of me and started to ride me.
I didn’t have to do anything. And I will fuck Scarlet—”

I pushed my brother into the wall as
hard as I could. The idea of him touching Scarlet sent me to the
brink. I was livid that he discussed his rendezvous with Penelope,
but referring to Scarlet is what set me off. I punched him in the
face twice before he processed what was happening. My knuckles
stung as I collided with his cheekbone. I felt the blood drip from
my fingers.

Scarlet stepped away and stayed clear
from our fight. Mike pushed me back then slugged me in the nose. We
used to play around when we were younger, but neither one of us
were being playful now. I wanted to hurt Mike as much as possible.
I knew he felt the same way. He pushed me against the wall and
punched me in the ribs. The painting fell from the wall then
crashed to the floor. I kicked Mike away then shoved him against
the table across the room. The vase sitting on top toppled over and
shattered on the ground. It was so loud that I couldn’t hear my own
breathing. Mike punched me again and I returned with my own strike.
He had blood dripping down his face, and I knew my face looked the
same.

Our father ran down the stairs when he
heard us breaking down the house. “Boys! Knock it off!”

My mom screamed. “Stop them,
Andrew!”

My father grabbed my shoulder but I
pushed him back. Then I punched my brother in the chin.

My mom screamed again. “STOP
IT!”

My dad tried to pull Mike away, but he
was pushed against the door. There was too much bloodlust between
us to abandon this fight. This wouldn’t be over until one of us was
unconscious or dead. Mike grabbed my arm then kicked my knee, and I
punched him in the side of the head.

“
Should we call the
police?” my mom yelled. The fight was getting out of control. I saw
mike search for a piece of shattered glass to stab me with it. I
glanced at the back board of the painting and considered using it
as a weapon. This wasn’t just a misunderstanding or an argument. We
wanted to kill each other. I couldn’t care less that he was my
brother.

Scarlet’s voice broke my
concentration. “Sean!”

I blocked my brother’s punch, but I
didn’t hit him again. Her voice steadied me like an alarm. She was
frightened and scared, and that made me hesitate.

“
Sean, stop!” I obeyed her
command without thinking. I stepped back. “Stop it.”

I lowered my hands to my sides,
surrendering. My brother looked like he was going to hit me again
but he steadied his hand.

“
Babe, come here,” Scarlet
said.

I stepped toward Scarlet and looked at
her. Blood was running into my eye and I wiped it away. She had
tears in her eyes and the sight pained my heart. I didn’t mean to
hurt her. She walked away then returned with a clean cloth. She
started to wipe my face and clean the blood. We didn’t say anything
to one another. I caught my breath while she attended to me.
Looking into her eyes calmed me down. I kept my gaze focused on her
beautiful face. When she cleaned all the blood away, she grabbed my
face and kissed me lightly on the lips.

I stared at her. “I’m
sorry.”

“
I’m not the one you
should be apologizing to.”

I shook my head. “No. I owe him
nothing.”

She ran her fingers through my hair.
“Are you okay?”

I nodded.

“
Aspirin?”

“
I’m fine.”

She wrapped her arms around me and
held me close to her.

I rested my head on top of hers and
closed my eyes. “Are you still mad at me?”

“
Now I’m
angrier.”

I sighed. “Are you still marrying
me?”

“
That will never
change.”

I grabbed her hand then moved her
engagement ring to the appropriate finger. “I’ll be back in a
little while.” I stepped away from her.

“
Where are you
going?”

“
Out.” I walked away from
her then opened the front door. I walked across the neat gardens of
our house then headed towards the coast. The morning sun was
shining down on me. It was so bright that I wished I had a pair of
sunglasses. When I reached the beach, I stared out to the ocean at
nothing in particular. This was the worst trip to my family estate.
I don’t know how it got this bad. It just seemed to happen as soon
as we arrived. My mother didn’t approve of my engagement to Scarlet
because she assumed I didn’t really love her. Of course I did. I
would die without Scarlet. Then my brother was being a complete
jerk. I always thought my family was happy and united, but that
couldn’t be further from the truth. The only person I had any
respect for was my father. Now I just wanted to announce our
engagement, get it over with, and then leave. I didn’t want to be
here. And I felt like an asshole for bringing Scarlet here. My
family was her family. She didn’t have a mom to talk to or a father
to care for her. I knew Ryan was the best substitute she could ever
ask for, but it wasn’t always enough. I thought I could give that
to her but obviously I couldn’t. Scarlet wouldn’t put up with this
much longer. If she knew what my mother had said about her, she
would probably call off the engagement altogether. And I would
die.