Author: Olivia Cunning

“Can I help?” Eric grabbed Rebekah’s hand as she collected his empty wineglass. He ran his finger over the butterfly bracelet he’d given her.

She smiled. “Isaac and I have a routine. We’ll be done in no time.” She leaned close to his ear. “Then we can go home. You look like you’re ready to climb out of your skin.”

How very observant of her.

“Where’s the bathroom?” he asked her.

“There’s a powder room off the kitchen.”

“I don’t need powder,” he said.

She laughed and poked him in the ribs. “Joker.” She kissed his lips eagerly. The metallic clang of silverware interrupted their exchange. Isaac crouched to retrieve all the silverware he’d just spilled across the floor.

Eric climbed to his feet to find the powder room, whatever the fuck that was. It turned out to be a half-bathroom, though there was a wooden placard on the door denoting it as a powder room.

He took his time using the facilities, needing to collect himself. He was a jumble of conflicting emotions, his stomach tied in knots. His hands were shaking, for fuck’s sake. He took several deep breaths to try to calm his nerves. This was all too much, too soon. Sometimes he was glad he didn’t have a family to call his own. His interactions with families always left him bewildered. Even Sed’s family, pretty much the most awesome people Eric had ever met, became too much to handle after a few hours. It was all so… busy. And close. When he finally came out of the bathroom, Mrs. B accosted him immediately.

“What exactly do you think you’re doing?” she hissed.

“Uh, taking a piss.” He bit his lip. “I mean, going pee.”

The woman made a sound of exasperation. “That’s not what I mean, You’re bound and determined to corrupt my daughter, aren’t you?”

“Huh?” He honestly had no idea what she was talking about.

“I mean look at her. Her hair is blue, for crying out loud.”

He smiled. “Her hair was blue before I met her.”

“You have nothing to offer her. Traveling all over God’s creation with a bunch of no-good musicians. What kind of life is that for a young woman?”

“She seems to enjoy it.”

“She needs a stable home. With strong support. Did she even tell you that she has cancer?” Mrs. B said, as if it were scandalous.

“She told me. I can support her just fine.”

Mrs. B released another exasperated sigh. “She does these things to get back at me, you know,” Mrs. B said. “She broke up with poor Isaac just because I like him.”

“Uh…” He decided it wasn’t his place to set her straight on that issue.

“Will you look at them?” she said, waving a hand toward Rebekah and Isaac, who were side by side at the sink washing dishes and sharing the tender camaraderie that flowed between them so easily. “Have you ever seen a more perfect couple?”

No, actually, he hadn’t, but Eric and Rebekah were great together. Her mother just didn’t get it.

“I know you don’t like me,” Eric said, “but I love your daughter. I’m not stepping aside for Isaac. Forget it.”

“You love her?” The skepticism in her question frayed Eric’s already raw nerves.

“Yeah, I love her. What? You think because I’m not like Dr. Perfect over there, I’m not capable of loving her?”

“If you really loved her, you’d let her go. She can’t possibly be happy with you. I mean, look at you!”

Eric’s brow crinkled. He was well aware of what he looked like. He knew he didn’t fit the image of a mother’s dream man for her daughter, but he wasn’t so hideous that he scared babies or anything. “What does the way I look have to do with anything?”

The woman apparently thought it best to change tactics. “Isaac stood beside her while she was sick. What have you ever done for her?”

“Maybe you should ask her that.” He stepped around her and headed into the kitchen. Eric had to admit the woman was right. Isaac had done a lot more for Rebekah than Eric had. Was it Eric’s fault he hadn’t met her sooner? He could have been there—would have been there—had he known her when she’d been sick.

Isaac dabbed suds on Rebekah’s nose, a loving smile on his lips. She laughed and squirted him with water, wetting his crisp, white dress shirt. They really did make a cute couple. Nauseatingly cute.

Eric stopped behind Rebekah and wrapped his arms around her waist. “You ready to go?” he murmured into her ear. “I need a blow job.”

The look on Isaac’s face was priceless.

“She sucks good dick, doesn’t she?” Eric said to egg Isaac on. He really wanted the guy to take a swing at him, so he had a legitimate reason to punch him in his perfect nose.

“I don’t think that’s an appropriate thing to say in front of a lady,” Isaac said, lowering his gaze to the dish he was scrubbing.

“I’m not in front of a lady. I’m behind her. She likes it from behind. Did you know that, Isaac? Or is that too kinky for you? I take you for a missionary position only kind of guy, limp dick.”

Eric was too busy trying to piss off Isaac to notice he’d missed his target and pissed off Rebekah instead.

She jerked the long yellow latex gloves from her hands and tossed them on the back of the sink. “It was great to see you, Isaac,” she said and kissed his cheek. “I’ll call you. Let’s go,” she bellowed at Eric.

She jerked from his grasp and stomped out of the kitchen.

“If you hurt her, I will make you regret it,” Isaac said calmly and placed a sparkling clean dish in the drain board.

That sounded like a threat. Eric was half-tempted to provoke him, but Rebekah was already heading for the front door. “Thanks for dinner, Mom,” she said and gave her mom a peck on the cheek. “Bye, Dad. Dave,” she called into the dining room and opened the front door. “I’ll see you all Thursday, if not before.”

“Nice to meet you all,” Eric said and dashed after her.

***

Rebekah didn’t know it was possible to be this pissed off at someone you loved. She could not believe Eric would say those things in front of Isaac. She headed for the car, not much caring if Eric had followed her or not.

He caught up with her halfway down the walk and tried to take her hand. She jerked away. “Don’t touch me.”

“What’s wrong, baby?”

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?”

He looked at her, genuinely confused by her tirade.

“Why did you bring up our sex life in front of Isaac?”

Eric shrugged. “I dunno.”

“You don’t know?”

He shook his head. She growled in frustration and continued to the car. She opened the door and climbed inside before he could assist her. A moment later, he climbed in beside her and closed the door, but he didn’t start the car. After a long silence, she turned to look at him. He was staring at her. “Are you mad at me?” he asked.

“Wow, Eric. How did you ever come to that brilliant conclusion?”

“I really don’t know why I said that,” he said quietly. “He just… gets on my nerves.”

“Isaac?” How could Isaac get on anyone’s nerves? The man was wonderful.

“Yeah. I don’t like him. I don’t want you around him.”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Why not?”

“You used to be lovers!”

“So what? We can still be friends.”

Eric scoffed. “Let me tell you something about guys. Once they’ve fucked you, they can never just be your friend. They might say it and pretend, but every time they look at you they’re thinking about how great your pussy feels around their dick.”

She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “That’s probably true for someone like you, but Isaac’s different.”

“Someone like me? Your perfect pansy of a doctor is better than me, is that what you’re saying?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“But you implied it. Get out of my car.”

She was too stunned to move. “What?” she breathed.

“You fuckin’ heard me. Go back to him if you want him so much.” He leaned across her body and opened the door. “Get out!”

“Eric?” She’d never known him to behave this way. It made absolutely no sense. She wasn’t even mad anymore. Just confused. “I don’t want him that way. Why are you being like this?”

Staring out the dark windshield, he said, “Because I don’t want to be with you anymore.”

Her heart caught in her throat until she thought she’d suffocate. He started the car and gunned the perfectly tuned engine.

“Well? What are you waiting for?” he asked, still not looking at her.

Her heart was breaking, and he was being an insufferable asshole. If he didn’t want her, fine. It wasn’t like she didn’t know how to be alone. She climbed out of the car and slammed the door. He took off so fast, the Corvette was nothing but an emerald green blur. She knew she shouldn’t have helped him fix it. He was going to kill himself in the damned thing. At the moment, she wasn’t sure she cared.

Chapter 23

Eric’s chest was so tight he was going to suffocate. He punched the accelerator and drifted around a corner with skidding tires. From nowhere, a little black dog darted in front of his car. Gritting his teeth, Eric slammed on his brakes and slid to a screeching halt. Heart hammering, he peered over the hood, afraid of what he’d see. The dog trotted unharmed onto the sidewalk with its tail between its legs and ears drawn back, eyeing the car warily.

Eric released a breath of relief and eased forward at a speed more reasonable for a residential area. Why was he so pissed off? And so hurt? And why had he kicked Rebekah out of his car? Had he really broken up with her? Ten minutes ago, he’d told her mother that he wasn’t stepping aside for Isaac. Isn’t that what he’d just done? Stepped aside for Isaac?

“Fuck,” he growled. He had to go back. Eric drove around the block and headed to the house. Rebekah was still standing in front, but she wasn’t alone. Isaac was holding her securely in his arms, one hand smoothing her silky hair. Isaac caught sight of Eric and grinned. He tilted Rebekah’s head back and kissed her deeply. The middle finger Isaac extended in Eric’s direction behind Rebekah’s back was more provocation than Eric could handle.

Eric was out of the car and crossing the yard in a heartbeat. He wrenched Rebekah away from Isaac’s lips. Her tear-streaked, startled face scarcely had time to register before Eric’s fist was flying. It connected with Isaac’s nose, knocking him flat on his ass. Eric’s satisfaction was short-lived. Rebekah dropped to her knees beside Isaac, who had both hands cupped over his nose, trying to clear his vision by forcing his eyes open and closed several times.

“Oh my God,” Rebekah cried. “Are you okay, Isaac?”

“Get up, you fucking pansy,” Eric said. “I’m not done kicking your ass yet.”

Isaac didn’t get up, but Rebekah leapt to her feet and turned on Eric, spitting mad. “What in the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“He was kissing you.”

“So that gives you a right to punch him?”

Uh, duh. “Well… yeah.”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “You need to leave.”

“But I came back for you.”

“Leave!”

“Call the cops,” Isaac said, climbing to his feet and brushing off the seat of his slacks. His perfect nose was still perfect, though swollen. Not even bleeding. “He’s obviously unstable.”