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CHAPTER NINE

Skylar

Family time is the best time.

Holding the omelets I—well, Cassius —made, I wait for Elton to let us in. Cassius chuckles and places a calming hand on my shoulder, stopping my movements. “Patience, sunshine.”

“Oh, I’m just so excited!” I continue to wiggle. “It’s been forever since we’ve had a family brunch.”

He scrunches his nose. “We had one last Sunday.”

“Like I said, it’s been forever .”

He shakes his head in amusement and reaches over to press the call button again. Looking down at me, he smirks. “Think Everest tried to cook again?”

I giggle. “It was a disaster last time. How do you mess up cereal?”

“I guess he must have found a way.” With a shrug, he presses the call button again. “I swear, if he and Knox are fucking…”

I open my mouth to tell him that would be absolutely wonderful, but the ding of the elevator cuts me off. When I race inside, Cassius follows at such a slow pace. Since this elevator only goes to the penthouse, we wait until the doors close for it to take us up.

“I heard they invited Max,” I say.

Cassius snorts. “ You invited Max.”

“Well, I didn’t want him to feel left out. He’s one of us now.” I chew nervously on my bottom lip. “Do you think he’ll have a good time?”

He places his arm around my shoulders and drags me to his side. “I think from what I know of him that he could have a good time staring at the sun.”

I laugh as I slap his chest. “You’re so mean. He’s just a little…”

“Oblivious?”

“Innocent,” I snap, narrowing my eyes. “Are you going to be a jerk to him?”

“Me? Never,” he says, and I absolutely believe him. Cassius is the nicest person ever. He’s so chill with everyone he meets. Such a good guy. He’ll go out of his way to make Max feel welcomed, even if he doesn’t particularly want to.

The elevator dings, and I skip out, smiling from ear-to-ear when I see that everyone is already here. Knox is setting up their long dining room table, while Elton entertains Rhys, Everest, and Butch.

“I’m going to say hi to Knox,” Cassius says, kissing the top of my head before walking away. I wrinkle my nose at that. I think it’s weird that he’s doing that, knowing what he thinks of Knox, but I don’t give it a second thought. Like I said, he’s such a good guy.

I shake my head and drop the omelets in the kitchen. Strutting toward the center of the room, I shake my hands in the air as I cheer. “The party’s here!”

Everest, who’s sitting on Rhys’s lap, jumps up to hug me. “Hey, we were wondering when you two were getting here.”

“Everything good?” Rhys asks, up-nodding in my direction as he drags Everest back onto his lap.

I nod. “Peachy. We just wanted to make sure the omelets were fresh before coming here. Hit a little bit of traffic too.”

Elton smiles and slaps my back. “We weren’t going to start without you two.”

I look around and frown. “Where’s Max?”

Butch groans and drops his head back. “Bambi’s been in the bathroom for twenty minutes now. I think he’s taking a shit.”

“Ew,” I say, cringing. “Maybe he’s just?—”

“Figuring out how to get his belt to buckle?” Butch questions sarcastically.

I make my way over to him and sit on the armrest of his chair. “Why are you being so rude?”

To this, he closes his eyes and sighs. He looks to where Elton is engaged in a heated discussion with Rhys, while Everest scrolls through his phone, then drops his voice to a whisper. “Don’t tell anyone, but the boss wants me to keep an eye on the new kid. Why? No fucking clue. He seems to have…” he trails off and frowns. “He’s taken an interest.”

I have no idea what that means or why it’s a secret. With the way Butch is talking, it sounds like Davis’s interest is not a good thing. Either way, right now isn’t the time to pry.

I’ll do that later.

“Um, so, you might want to fix your toilet.”

We all turn to look at Max, who, apparently, has finally emerged from the bathroom. He has a guilty look on his face as he glances behind him and gulps.

Knox, who’s the closest to him, snarls. “What did you do?”

“It’s not my fault you have a futuristic shitter!” Max argues, raising his hands. “What was that tube connected to the?—”

Elton snorts, but it’s entirely good-humored. “You mean the bidet? Did you try to use it?”

“Well…” Max blushes and scratches the back of his thick neck. “It looked like fun?”

Knox rolls his eyes and curses under his breath. “Elton?—”

“We’ll call a guy tomorrow,” Elton rushes out, a smile still plastered on his face. “No worries, Max.” He looks around and claps. “I think we’re ready to eat, yeah?”

Everyone nods and makes their way to the table. Cassius already has a seat saved for me, and I plop down, smiling when he pulls it closer to his own. “Everything looks great,” he tells Knox and Elton.

“We have you all to thank for that,” Elton says, ever the adorable golden retriever we all know and love. “You all brought the majority of the food. We just made it look fancy.”

Growling with impatience, Knox pulls out a chair for his husband. “Elton, I’m starving. Let’s eat.”

“Okay!” Elton says. He gives Knox a sloppy kiss to his cheek, and at his husband’s affection, Knox predictably softens.

Whipped .

“So…” Everest begins as we start to serve ourselves. “What’s new with everyone?” He looks beside him at Butch. “Anything new with you?”

Butch shrugs as he digs into some pancakes. “Not much. Davis wants to bring in a new security guard.”

“Really?” Knox asks, his brow furrowing. “Why?”

“Don’t know,” Butch grunts through a mouthful of pancakes. “It’s not like I can’t handle our shit.”

“You’re a wonderful bodyguard and bouncer,” I tell him honestly. “I don’t know what Davis is thinking.”

“He’s concerned about—” But Max cuts himself off and shuts his mouth. His eyes widen as he looks around the table, then ducks his head. “Never mind.”

Butch raises a curious eyebrow at him. Even though he doesn’t say anything, it’s obvious this is something he’s going to bring up with his boss later.

“Skylar, how about you?” Everest asks with a sweet grin. “Seeing anyone new lately?”

The sudden reminder of my last failed date hits me. At the time, I really thought Frank was great, but now I still feel like an idiot for ever going out with him. Still, I don’t let anybody see my shame and embarrassment, continuing to smile. “Not currently, no. But who knows? The right guy could be right around the corner!”

“Anyone would be better than Ricky the Dicky,” Everest mutters, shaking his head. “God, I’m so sorry you had to deal with that asshole, Skylar. He was so rude to you.”

I nod. Yeahhhh , Richard really wasn’t super great to me. But he tried to be patient! Sometimes it’s just hard when you’re dealing with me. I tend to be a lot sometimes.

“Or how about Jeremiah?” Rhys adds as he cuts his omelet. “His secret wife?”

Okay, ouch. Sore subject, but I guess it’s on me for telling everyone about it. Jeremiah was so perfect. He was handsome and successful and—come to find out— married . He wanted me to do it with his wife but, no offense to the ladies, I definitely don’t swing that way.

“Terry was my least favorite,” Butch says with a scowl. “That fucker drained your savings account.”

But he needed it because his grandmother was having experimental heart surgery… Okay, in hindsight, maybe I shouldn’t have believed that.

A discussion begins about every one of my failed attempts at dating. Boyfriend after boyfriend is thrown around. Everest and Knox know about a few, but Max looks so lost. After a second, he clears his throat. “Um, so, dated a few assholes then?”

My cheeks heat at that. I didn’t think they were assholes at the time! They all seemed… I guess maybe saying they were nice gets a little old, right? I don’t know how to respond to that, but I fumble for a response anyways “I… Well… The thing is?—”

“Can we drop it?” Cassius snaps, resting his hand on the top of my thigh and nearly squeezing the blood out of the limb. “Let’s talk about something else.”

“We’re not trying to be dicks,” Rhys genuinely defends. “We want Skylar to find a nice guy, is all.”

“Maybe someone he never expected in the first place,” Elton says, but it’s almost posed as a question with an obvious answer that I don’t know.

“Someone who treats him right.” Butch looks me straight in the eyes as he says it. “Someone loyal and dedicated.”

I don’t like this. I feel like everyone is talking around me. I get flustered and drop my fork, gulping when it feels like I can’t swallow.

It’s because you’re stupid.

Nobody is ever going to love you.

How could you ever even love yourself?

“Oh! Look! I’m getting a call!” I shout, shooting out of my seat as I wave my phone in the air. “Everyone, I’m going to go outside to take a call! Please, keep eating without me!”

I’m thrown questioning looks but run away before anyone can say anything further. I just need a little time-out. Just a second of peace. A second to believe that I’m not the idiot who falls for the wrong guy again and again and again .

Feeling so very itchy, I slam myself against the balcony ledge. My arms almost ache, and I resist the urge to scratch my skin. I don’t… I don’t do that anymore. It’s behind me. But I need… I can’t… I don’t?—

“Sunshine,” Cass calls out, racing toward me. “Are you okay?”

I continue to look out into the Miami skyline, because I’m such an idiot, I’m about to cry. “Yeah, I just had to take a call.”

“Don’t lie to me,” he snaps, grabbing my shoulders and turning me gently. “Lie to all of them, but never to me.”

“Cassy,” I whine, squirming in his hold, needing something. Something to make me forget. Something to make this all go away. Something… “Help me.”

Before I know it, I’m thrown onto the lounge couch behind us. Cassius crawls over me, the weight of him both intimidating and comforting. He nods, a savage look in his eyes, and scowls. “I’ll help you, sunshine. I’ll do anything for you.”

I want the kind of help he can give me. The kind only he can give, but… “They’re inside, waiting for us.”

“Fuck them.”

“But—”

“Skylar,” he growls, pinching my face in his large hand. “I said… Fuck. Them.”

And in that moment of complete chaos, I let it all out.

I slam our lips together. Scrambling until I’m straddling him, I wrap my legs around his waist as I play with the hair at the back of his neck.

Cassius is here for me, and he’ll make it all better.

He moans into my mouth, the spicy smell of him invading my nose. It makes me start rocking my hips, dragging my covered cock against his, until he’s hard and straining.

“S-Skylar,” he stammers, holding on to my hips to try to stop me. “Be careful. I can’t— You’re going to make me— Fuuuuuck .”

I don’t know what I’m doing. It’s like I can’t control myself. My mind is telling me to think—to stop— but I’m powerless against my body. I just keep moving and thrusting and groaning.

I just need to feel . I need to escape. I need?—

“Please,” I whimper, looking deep into his beautiful blue eyes, searching for any sign that he can’t give this to me.

He blinks, mouth agape in shock, but something comes over him and he nods. “Take it, sunshine. Take what you need.”

I’m so thankful as I lean down and sob into his mouth. Clutching his shoulders for leverage as I start bouncing on his lap, I throw my head back as I chase my comfort. Chase the bliss. Chase the worth.

“Skylar, fuck, get there, sunshine,” he rasps through gritted teeth, kneading my ass, helping my movements. “Grind that sweet little cock against me and make yourself come. Use me, Skylar. Fucking”—a slap to my ass—“use”—a hard grip on my cock—“me.” His lips crash against mine.

“ Yes !” I cry, my back arching as I come in my pants, feeling it gather around my crotch just as Cassius stiffens and lets out something akin to a growl, pinching my ass so damn hard it hurts.

I collapse onto his chest, my breaths unsteady and labored. I’m floating now, so light and fluffy, and feeling like nothing can touch me. Everything is okay again.

It’s all okay.

Because, when I can just forget and let myself go, I almost believe I’m special.