- EDEN -
Waking up for my boxing class after unexpectedly going out and having more to drink than I ever intended considering Austin had bought a whole bottle to dinner---corkscrew, so not able to pop the lid back on and take the rest home---was less than ideal.
I wanted to throw my phone across the room when the alarm buzzed on it, which I believe was Austin's intention too as he broke away from spooning me when I made to move and turn it off.
"What's the time?" he asked groggily. "It seems early."
"It is," I said apologetically, leaning down to kiss his bare shoulder good morning. "It's five a.m."
"Five?!" he exclaimed, seeming like he was perplexed as to why I was getting up so early. He knows I go to boxing classes some mornings, though they're not usually the mornings he stays over for this exact reason. "Why on earth do you have an alarm set so early?"
Or maybe he doesn't? I know I've told him about my classes many times before when he's tried to organise to come over and stay in the past.
"I have my boxing class," I answered. Austin groaned and tried to coax me back into bed when I got up and searched for my gym clothes in the closet. Despite being slightly hungover, I'm not missing my class, firstly because I've already paid for it, secondly because I genuinely love it, even if I won't ever admit it to Wolfe and give him the satisfaction of being proven correct in his guess that I would, and thirdly, well… because, Miles.
"Babe, it's too early for me to be up," he said, as if begging me to let him stay, which I'm not entirely sure I feel comfortable with. I've never left Hades alone with anyone that wasn't my closest friends or landlords, but it would just be for an hour and a half or so. I'm sure I could get up, get ready, punch some things and get back before Austin is awake again, and I know Hades will just fall straight back to sleep when I get up and leave because it's too early for him to be awake too.
"That's okay. You stay here and I'll be back soon," I said, pulling on my clothes and sneakers, brushing my teeth and heading out the door before I could think any more on my discomfort leaving him there in my space and with my baby without me.
Taking a look in my rear view mirror before getting out of my car after I pulled into the car park at the gym, I know I've looked better. I didn't brush my hair, which is a little unkempt and matted, probably from the sexy times birthday present I received when we got back from the restaurant, and my make-up was a little smudged from the water I splashed on my face when I was trying to wake up before leaving home.
I tried to rub the mascara off my eyelids and run my fingers through my hair to brush out the knots as I got out of my car and walked inside, only to find Wolfe and Miles already inside and in stitches about something. And I don't know why because I’ve seen them going off like hyenas at my expense many times in the past, but this morning, this makes me nervous too.
"Well, good morning, birthday babe," Wolfe said cheerily, reaching down to pick me up and over his shoulders and spinning me around, causing some serious nausea and my desperate hits to his back to set me down on solid ground again. I must be more hungover than I thought. "Belated birthday seeing as you ditched seeing me yesterday; but nonetheless, happy birthday."
"I'm sorry, Wolfe. I didn't know he had plans otherwise you know I would have been with you guys,” I said, feeling so guilty. Luna sent me a text message when I was out with Austin last night that Wolfe was sulking that he didn’t get to see me for my birthday. “Good morning, Miles.”
He looked at me reverently and asked if I enjoyed the rest of my birthday yesterday as he gave me a hug.
"I did, thank you," I answered, grateful that he can’t quite see my face because I’m no doubt blushing a little thinking about the nice dinner I had and the special attentions my clitoris received when we got home.
Miles took a seriously deep breath before telling me he was glad I had a good birthday, letting me go and then clearing his throat loudly, gaining everyone's attention in the room. "'Morning, all," he said loudly, projecting his voice across the room and turning to Grayson at the door, asking that he turn the music down. Once he'd achieved that apparent goal, he addressed everyone again. "So, before we get into the class today, I just wanted to acknowledge that it's Eden's birthday, and um… she basically begged me to ask everyone for a big, loud, embarrassing, awful rendition of Happy Birthday, so let’s do this.”
Everyone turned towards me. Every single eye in the room on me, including Miles', who was looking at me with the sweetest, smug expression on his face, and I swear, if he wasn't as cute as he is, therefore making me chicken out hard, I'd have throttled him. Arms around his throat throttled him. Wolfe too, seeing his cackling must certainly be related to collaborating with Miles to make me as uncomfortable as I am right now being the centre of everyone's attention in a room full of men.
And a big, loud, embarrassing, awful rendition of Happy Birthday they absolutely delivered, I believe every one of the thirteen guys here purposely trying their best to make it sound as out of tune, out of time and generally as painful on the eardrums as possible, drawing the attention and interest of literally everyone else occupying the gym this early in the morning if the number of confused and amused faces pressed into the glass walls looking in were anything to go by.
Miles and Wolfe, smirking ear-to-ear and clearly very proud of themselves, clapped hands and hugged in that stupid bro way men do, before turning back to me as I glared them both down.
"I hate you both so much right now," I said as they continued to snicker boyishly.
"I'd put money on it that you don't," Wolfe said with a cocky grin. "And we love you too, baby sister."
I don't know whose eyes flashed to whose first: mine or Miles'. If I were to trust my intuition when his face suddenly dropped it’s joking smirk and grew serious, I'd have guessed there might be some element of truth to what Wolfe said, or at least the possibility of it if I weren't dating Austin, who I am indeed still dating, despite not being completely certain that I should be anymore for more than just this Miles-related reason.
In the past when I was dating Trey, I don't ever remember finding myself also attracted to anyone else. My loyalty and commitment to being in a relationship with Trey somehow flicked a switch in me that meant I never found myself open to attraction to anyone else. That is clearly no longer the case anymore, and thinking back to yesterday and being in the same room as both Austin and Miles at the same time, I know where my heart lies.
I just don’t know that I trust my heart to be making decisions for me anymore seeing as it’s got a dominant record of late of causing me to argue with those nearest to me, which has just about broken it in two.
I was distracted more than usual in class and left quick sticks as soon as Grayson wrapped it up, wanting to avoid any more opportunities for me to simply look at Miles and want to spill my guts. And when I got home, I was surprised to see Austin was awake, looking like he’d just got out of my shower and was sitting on my couch texting someone.
“How was gym, babe?” he asked, setting down his phone and patting the seat beside him. “I still can’t believe you get up so damn early to go hit things when you could have been laying in bed with me instead.”
I laughed at him pouting, pretending to have even noticed I was gone. He would have fallen back to sleep almost as soon as I left. “It was invigorating in a way that remaining in bed with you wouldn’t have been,” I said, causing him to look aghast. “You would have sent me straight back to sleep for hours after having your way with me, again, and I have breakfast plans this morning with my niece and uncle.”
“Oh,” he said, sitting up straighter on the couch, seeming confused by this. “Why didn’t you mention anything earlier?”
The honest answer would have been that I have been so stressed with everything to the point of physical illness for the last few weeks, and up until yesterday afternoon, I didn’t realise that I was going to be having sleepover company that was going to get in the way of my pre-organised breakfast plans with Piper and Penn. Or that he could have actually asked what I was wanting to do for my birthday instead of just making plans for me that I had no choice but to go along with, well intentioned and generous as they may have been.
What I actually said, on registering the disappointment on his face was, “I’m sorry. It must have just slipped my mind.”
“Well, do you want me to come along to breakfast? I wouldn’t mind meeting some of your family. They at least might like me a little more than your friends,” he chuckled darkly at his own joke, apparently not understanding how unfair that is on both my friends and me. We haven’t actually talked about the disastrous dinner that I’d prefer to forget ever happened, and I’m more than a little annoyed that this is how and when he would bring it up.
What exactly am I supposed to say back to that? I’m getting increasingly more frustrated that I even need to think about what I’m going to say before I say it, and Austin is the only person I seem to be having that problem with. I don’t actually have time for this today. I’m picking Piper up at seven from Elodie’s so we can get to the cafe, eat, and I can drop her off at school in time so she won’t be late and Elodie won’t have my ass for it.
“Sorry, but not today,” I ended up saying, needing to wrap this up before I say something awful and hurt his feelings, and I’m not emotionally ready to have that conversation today. “I’m sorry to kick you out, especially after such a lovely birthday evening last night, but I’ve actually got to get showered and ready to pick my niece up. I told my sister I’d be there at seven.”
“No problem,” he said, leaning over to kiss me. “My friend Nikki messaged me last night asking if I wanted to grab lunch today, so I’ll just see if she wants to catch up sooner in the day instead.” He kissed me again and left me sitting on the couch as he got up and left.
I leant my head back on the couch and groaned, causing Hades to climb up onto the couch and into my lap, licking the sweat off my exposed neck. Weirdo. “You, my baby, are the only guy in my life that isn’t leading my brain into aneurysm and stroke territory right now. You know that, right?” I said, wrapping my arms around him and holding him tight to my chest, which just amped up the licking to an altogether new level.
When I pulled into Elodie’s driveway twenty minutes later, she and Piper were already waiting on her front steps. Piper was carrying a big box wrapped in what looked like her own paintings and topped with a big blue bow. She jumped up and carried it to my passenger door, opening it and squealing ‘Happy Birthday’ at me so loud that some of the neighbourhood dogs started raging. She handed it over and climbed up, before turning to her mother who had followed closely behind her carrying her school bag.
“Happy birthday, Eden,” Elodie said, passing over Piper’s bag and looking in at me. I’d have thought I imagined hearing it if not for the words that followed. “Piper has money in her wallet to pay for your breakfast.” She kissed Piper and promptly closed the door behind her and headed back inside without another word, and I was stuck there, unable to process the first nice words my sister has actually spoken to me in months, and pinching the skin on the back of my hand to make sure I wasn’t dreaming it.
Fuck me. I feel like I’ve lived about a week’s worth of days in the few hours I’ve been awake this morning.
“Did you spike your mum’s coffee this morning, Pippy?” I said, checking that her seatbelt was on before reversing out of the driveway.
“What does that mean?” she asked innocently, apparently not yet familiar with the art of Irish coffee breakfasts.
I laughed, heading down the road to the café we’re meeting Penn at near Piper’s school. “She just seems in a good mood is all I meant.”
“I don’t think she is, Aunty Eden. It’s morning,” Piper said, seriously testing my ability to remain mature and not crack up. “Mummy’s just in trouble. I heard Spencer grouching at her last night for not calling you to say a happy birthday.”
“Oh,” I said, biting my cheek now to keep it together. “Well, it was nice she said it this morning at least, wasn’t it?” Piper nodded, and reminded me very pointedly that she called me yesterday to sing me Happy Birthday off Spencer’s phone. “You did, Pippy, and it was my favourite Happy Birthday of all the ones people sang to me.”
“How many times did people sing to you?” she asked, noticing Penn leaning against his car in the carpark in front of the café and waving at him enthusiastically. No one should have this much energy this early in the morning.
I thought on her question, with the official count I think being four, but there’s one that sticks out more than the others. “Well, my niece woke me up in the morning with my first one. Then Luna and Nella and my friends at work sang to me with a cake at lunch time, and then another one at dinner, and then this morning at my gym Wolfe and Miles and the men there sang to me too.” I didn’t miss her perking up even more at the mention of Miles at the end there.
“It sounds like you have so many people who love you, Aunty Eden.”