Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

EDEN

"He said what? " Marley whispered. "Holy crap." She stared at me, her lips apart in disbelief.

"Those were basically my thoughts too," I admitted. "I don't know what to think. Or what to say, for that matter."

I sat on the corner of her desk and rubbed my eyes. I'd barely slept for the last two nights. I was tired. Beyond tired.

Since our conversation, Brock and I had danced around each other, barely speaking.

I hadn't seen Mitch or Jagger. The only contact I had with either of them was a conversation via text, that consisted of random, and sometimes funny, gifs. For some reason, Mitch’s mostly consisted of ducks, doing various duckish things. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to be cute, or tell me something so obscure I couldn’t figure it out.

Maybe it was his way of saying they were ducking me on purpose. If that was the case, I wish they’d come out and say it.

I was starting to feel like somebody threw all the parts of my life into a pot and were stirring vigourously. Could I grab the spoon and toss it out the window?

"Do you think your mother knows?" Marley asked. Her eyes were wide, the implication of Brock's admission turning the cogs and wheels in her mind.

I made a face that matched the churning in my stomach. "I don't know. I mean, she might have suspected he wasn't as into her as she was into him, but she might not have known why. If she did, wouldn't she have insisted I stay away from him?"

"She could have tried to insist he stay away from you ," Marley suggested. "In which case, he clearly didn't listen. He was quick enough to let you stay in the house when she left." It seemed as though she wasn’t sure who to judge in this scenario, if anyone.

"I thought he was being nice," I said. Was that naive of me? He’d always treated me with respect. If not as a father figure, then at least as a friend. It was…comfortable.

"I mean, I think of it as my home too. It never occurred to me there was anything to it. It's convenient to work and close to you and Cat. It never crossed my mind he was thinking something else."

"Are you sure?" she asked gently. "What about you? You never thought of him as the hot stepfather?"

My face heated when she hit the nail squarely on the head. I winced before admitting, "I did think of him that way. I mean, he's hot. But…”

I tossed around the thoughts in my mind, looking for the right words.

Finally, I exhaled out my nose and said, “I thought of him the way we might think of a movie star or someone like that, you know? Hot, but completely out of reach."

Plenty of times, I'd fantasised about what it would be like if he touched me, just like I had in the shower after that conversation. But I'd put it down to just that, a fantasy. A silly crush.

"And now he's not out of reach?" Marley asked. "Speaking as a woman who has no regrets about getting involved with someone some people considered to be out of bounds, I support you, whatever you do." She nodded over to the closed door to the treatment room. Inside, Oliver, her boss and boyfriend, was seeing a patient. They'd had a relationship long before Cat knew about it, much less approved of it. Things weren't always smooth sailing, but they'd come out the other end stronger than ever. Committed and deeply in love. Hashtag relationship goals.

"You think I should go for it?" I asked tentatively. With everything else going on right now, I hadn't really considered taking things further with Brock. Fantasised yes, definitely. Given it serious consideration, no.

Before she could respond, I said, "It's not even that easy. I still don't know what's going on with Mitch or Jagger. I’m not sure I know which way is up. Everything is so frustrating right now." I needed a crystal ball to peek into the future and see how things turned out. Or not, because I might not like what I saw.

"What is your clit telling you to do?" Marley asked.

"Shouldn't you be asking what my heart is saying?" I asked.

She grinned. "There's no reason we can't think with both. After all, sex is important in a relationship. Falling in love is all very well, but if they can't get us off…"

I snorted softly. "I suppose so." I was usually the one giving my friends this kind of advice. Being on the receiving end was both new and strange. It was welcome though. I was never short on friends to confide in, even if Cat and Marley were both busy. They always made time to listen when I needed them. I was lucky to have them both as my besties.

"So?" she prompted.

"I think my clit is telling me to go back in time and not tell Jagger or Mitch what I was thinking," I admitted. "She's also telling me to let Brock fuck me senseless. I'm starting to think she can't be trusted."

Marley laughed sympathetically. "Okay, what is your heart telling you?"

I pushed my hair back off my forehead and scratched my ear. "Basically the same thing. But my brain is saying we can't go back, and I'm scared of what my mother might think. If she knows Brock's interest was with someone else, and I get together with him, she's going to put two and two together. What if she ends up hating me because of it?"

That idea made my heart ache. We didn’t always get along, but she was still my mother. I loved her, even when she was at her most difficult and high-strung. Granted, that was a lot of the time, but what parent was perfect? What daughter, for that matter?

"I went through the exact same thought process with Oliver," Marley said. "I was scared Cat would hate me. I was scared you'd hate me too, but you were there for me when no one else was. And she eventually understood."

"I'd always be there for you," I assured her. "And Cat is too good a friend to turn her back on you for long. Besides, she’d know that would have upset Oliver. Both of them have always been close. She wouldn't jeopardise that for her own pride."

"But you think your mother would?" Marley asked. "I know we speculated before that she cheated. If she did, she made her choice long before any of this. And she seems happy with her new partner anyway. If Brock wasn't into you, she wouldn't have found… What's his name?"

"John," I said. "According to Mum, he's a businessman. The total opposite of her." My mother was an artist who floated through life with a smile on her lips and paint on the tip of her nose. She was spontaneous, and flaky as fuck.

"Sounds like the perfect match," Marley said. "Honestly, I can't see your mother hating you anyway. She's too— What's the word?"

"I think it's three words," I said. "Gives-no-fucks. Maybe, but at the end of the day she's human like the rest of us. She could decide she wants to scratch his eyes out, and she might also turn around and give us her blessing. It depends which way the wind is blowing."

"There's your answer," Marley said with a snap of her fingers. "Figure out which way the wind is blowing before you tell her. Then drop everything and get ready to be hugged, or run like hell."

I choked back a laugh. "I'll keep that in mind. First, I need to know what the hell is going on with Mitch and Jagger. I'm starting to feel like I need a couple name for them. Magger or Jitch. Or maybe based on their last names, Sanderson and Ward."

"Wanderson or Sard." Marley giggled. "Or you could use all of them on rotation. Depending on which you're feeling at the time."

I laughed and shook my head at her. "Either way, I need to sort things out with them before I even think about jumping into anything else. I mean, they might decide they want to take things further with me, but don't want Brock in the picture."

A dull headache started to thump at the inside of my head. I rubbed my temples slowly, trying to ease it away.

"Or vice versa," Marley said. "When getting involved with multiple partners, they have to get along with each other. Otherwise, you're going to feel like a mother mediating toddler battles. Mine got off to a rocky start, but they get along like brothers now. Thank fuck." She made a face.

I gathered the same about Cat's boyfriends. It certainly would be easier if they liked each other. Or more than liked each other, like Jagger and Mitch. I'd never been jealous of their friendship and I wouldn't be jealous if that went further. Love was love, after all. I was all for them exploring their relationship and taking it to the next level.

"What are you going to do about them?" Marley asked.

"I don't know," I admitted. "I don't want to look like I'm desperate. I want to give them space, but I feel like the longer it goes before I see them again, the more difficult it'll be to move forward. Like… Out of sight out of mind."

"You think if they don't see you soon, they'll forget you exist?" Marley teased gently.

"Something like that," I agreed reluctantly. "You've seen the kind of women that surround the team when the guys go out anywhere. Compared to them, I'm not exactly memorable."

Marley placed her hands on the armrests of her chair, pushed herself to her feet and came around to stand in front of me. "Eden Wright, don't you dare say things like that about my best friend. You are very memorable, I promise you that. If they'd forget you for some one night stand, they don't deserve you. I'm starting to think I should go and kick them in the balls on your behalf."

"I don't think we're quite at that point yet," I said, snort-laughing. "But I appreciate you. You've always had my back when I wasn't sure anyone else did."

I was close to Cat now, but she'd moved to Melbourne for several years. I didn't really get to know her until she returned. She and Marley were best friends in school and picked up where they left off. Marley and I never stopped being close, and Cat slotted in like she never left.

"And you've always had mine," Marley said. "But please let me know if you get to that point. I'm only too happy to put on my pointy-toed heels and give them a good workout." She pushed her glasses back up her nose and grinned.

"You'll be the first to know," I assured her. "What do you think I should do? Should I try to pin them down?"

She gave me a sly smile. "I can do better than that." She reached for her phone.