Chapter 14: Ed
Soph must have been worried because several days later I got a call from Aaron.
"Your girl messaged me. Don't worry; she wasn't hitting on me this time."
I bit my tongue and shut my notebook, hiding the latest set of lyrics I'd been agonising over.
"My girl has a name, and considering how she feels about you, I'm more concerned about what's made her resort to contacting you, rather than whether she might be hitting on you."
"Huh." He laughed. "Well, anyway, she—sorry, Sophia—is trying to plan a surprise evening for you. She clearly doesn't know how much you hate surprises, but fear not, because I—your closest friend—have your back."
I smiled into the phone and rubbed the bridge of my nose. Their feud was tiring, but I'd learnt to source amusement from it rather than irritation. Besides, Aaron had screwed me over by kissing her, so he didn't get my support in their war.
"She knows what kind of surprises I like and don't like," I told him. "She knows quite a lot about me, actually."
"The size of your dick doesn't count."
"Hm, you say that, but there are only a few people in the world who do know that. Your sister's one of them."
A scoff sounded on the other end of the phone. "You fucker. That was a cheap shot."
I leaned back into my chair. Stretched my legs beneath the desk. "Go on. What's Soph planning, then?"
"Want me to read her message? Here we go: Hey, asshole. Are you in London any time soon? I want to arrange something for Ed, but don't spoil it by telling him."
"And yet here you are, telling me."
"Yes, because you hate surprises."
Drumming my fingers on the edge of the desk, I stayed silent and waited for him to continue.
"I told her that, by the way," he said. "I said, Ed hates surprises. If you cared about more than his bank balance, you'd know that."
I heaved out a sigh. "You really are an arsehole."
He chuckled. "Chill, she knew I was joking. At least, I think she did. She told me to fuck off, but I assumed that was just her unique charm."
As I opened my mouth to reply, my phone buzzed against my ear. I lowered it to check the notification.
Soph: Aaron's going to ruin the surprise anyway, so I need to get there before him. Drinks at ours with him and Lacey next weekend. Then dinner at Piazza. All cleared with Mark. Love you x
When I lifted the phone to my ear again, Aaron was still rambling about Soph's attitude. I left him to it and typed back to Soph.
Me: Did you literally just come off the phone with him or do you have a sixth sense? He's talking to me right now
Soph: That prick! I knew he'd try to beat me to it
"Ed? You still there?"
I put him on speaker while continuing to type. "Yeah. So drinks at mine and then Piazza?"
Silence. Then another scoff. "That fucking...."
Even though he couldn't see me, I raised an eyebrow and paused typing. "Careful how you finish that insult."
"I hope the pussy's good, at least. Then again, you've not fucked around enough to know for sure."
I sent my message and reopened my notebook. "Don't be bitter just because she wrote you off after one kiss. I'll see you next week?"
"See you next week, fucker."
*
"You look incredible." I nuzzled my face into Soph's neck. Planted a gentle kiss against her pulse.
She squirmed in my lap, and my dick hardened uncomfortably, pressing into her arse cheeks. Unsurprisingly, she noticed and wiggled some more.
"Stop that." I clasped my hands on her hips, but that didn't exactly help my worked-up state.
The skin-tight, wine-coloured dress hugged her body, finishing just above her knees. It was low-cut enough to reveal the swell of her cleavage with thin straps stretching over her collarbones.
When we first started fake dating, she used to wear her hair up all the time as some kind of futile disguise. She'd stopped doing that recently, but the ponytail had returned tonight, and all I could think about was wrapping it around my fist and pounding into her from behind.
"Why are you so hard?" she whispered with a glance towards Aaron and Lacey. They were mixing drinks over in the kitchen. "Thought you weren't into exhibitionism."
I tugged at her ponytail. "This hair. All I can think about is holding onto it and fucking you hard."
When she squirmed again, I hissed. Instead of responding though, she twisted in my lap and kissed me. That definitely didn't help the erection situation. Her mouth was warm and wet, her tongue greedy, and instantly I imagined her lips around my dick instead while I yanked on that ponytail.
"...And here we have two lovebirds who can't keep their hands off each other for more than eight seconds."
Lacey's loud voice startled us. We broke apart. A phone was pointed in our direction, and it took a few moments for the blood to redirect back to my brain.
"Are you filming?" I almost pushed Soph off me, then remembered my hard-on and decided it was safer she stay put.
"Yes, but it's not live. You can swear and I'll bleep you out during editing." She sent me an exaggerated wink.
"You can't post that anywhere," I said.
Lacey cocked a brow. "Oh yeah? Do you know how much a Teddy and Soph kiss is worth?"
"Like you need the money." I helped Soph off me and rose to my feet. The idea of that dirty kiss going public had cooled me down.
"Nope, but the publicity is always welcome."
"Don't think you need the publicity, either." Aaron dropped into one of the sofas, a dark brown drink in his left hand.
His sister rolled her eyes. "Fine. Don't stress, Ed. It's going on Instagram, but I'll blur you out. That'll probably work even better, to be honest. It'll drive people mad knowing a kiss is happening and they can't see it."
*
Apparently she was correct with that theory, if her regular updates during dinner were anything to go by.
"Is it even possible for you two to do something that doesn't go viral? People are literally obsessed with you." She tapped away at her phone, and then her eyebrows skyrocketed. "Holy shit. What did you do to piss off Lucia Bruno?"
My stomach cartwheeled as a cold sensation of dread tore through me. Even Soph stopped eating her salmon to stare across at Lacey.
"Why?" I asked.
"She's commented with a pair of eyes, a see-no-evil monkey, and a laughing emoji."
Metal bit into my palm from where I squeezed my fork. Was this girl for real? I'd been nothing but respectful towards her. Why was she doing this to me?
Beneath the table, Soph set her hand on my thigh.
"I may have antagonised her at fashion week," she said to Lacey. "Now she's trying to ride the publicity wave."
Aaron glanced up at her. "You antagonising someone? Can't imagine that."
She rightfully ignored him, but Lacey was eyeing me with a suspicious glint.
"Please tell me you didn't fuck her."
"I didn't fuck her." She'd asked me to say it. I was just doing as I was told.
With a chuckle, Lacey lowered her eyes to her phone again. "Dirty boy."
Nothing got past her. It never had. Aaron, on the other hand, stared at me with disbelief written all over his face.
"Seriously, man? Lucia Bruno? Did you know she used to date Harvey Packman?"
"I've no idea who that is."
I needed to shut this conversation down. Nobody sat near enough to overhear, but we couldn't threaten Lucia with staying silent if I didn't keep to the NDA terms, too.
"He's a hockey player. But more importantly, he is hot AF." Lacey shoved her phone in my face, and I leaned back to focus on a photo of Lucia standing beside a tall athlete. "Come to think of it, didn't she date that guy from the 49ers, too?"
Aaron scrunched his face in thought. "Maybe. I actually thought she—"
"Why are we still talking about this?" I interrupted.
"Dude, she's up in your comment section," Aaron said.
"Except she's not. She's in Lacey's."
A smirk played at Aaron's lips. "Bet she can't comment on yours, can she? Knowing your team, that NDA was drafted up before you'd even thrown out the condom."
Tension crept into my jaw. "Drop it." I turned back to Lacey. "And please, for the love of God, don't do anything inflammatory like acknowledge her."
Those green eyes narrowed. "Give me some credit. I know where to draw the line."
"That line is in different places for you and me."
"Mmhm, sure is." She dropped her phone into her bag and crossed her arms over her chest. "Can't have anything tarnishing your sparkling reputation, Teddy Stone. Heaven forbid people think you have an actual personality and actual human desires."
Soph's hand tightened on my thigh in warning, but I barely registered it. Rage simmered through my veins.
"And what's your personality?" I asked. "Apart from attention-seeking on social media?"
She didn't flinch. Probably because she knew I didn't mean it. Slowly, she unfolded her arms and reached down for her bag.
"I actually had other plans tonight," she said. "I cancelled them for you. But I've lost my appetite, so I may as well show my face there."
Standing up, she tossed a couple of notes onto the table. Draped her coat over her arm.
"Wanna take the car?" Aaron asked.
"I'll get an Uber." Her gaze landed on Soph. "Nice to see you, Soph. Enjoy the rest of your evening."
As Lacey left, Soph's head swivelled to follow her. I'd already resumed eating when she turned her attention onto me.
"Is she okay?"
"She's fine," I said, and I meant it. Lacey loved nothing more than the dramatics; she was an actor, after all.
"They're always like that," Aaron said. His dish was almost clear. "No wonder their relationship didn't work out."
I tutted and fired a glare up at him. "Don't say things like that."
"What? Is it not very tactful to talk about your ex in front of your current girlfriend?"
"You don't need to censor yourself in front of me," Soph said. "I'm not that insecure."
Her candidness settled some of the irritation still inside me, but I finished my point anyway.
"We bicker a lot," I said, mainly to Soph, because Aaron knew this fact all too well. "Never about anything too serious. It's more just..."
I paused, second-guessing my original description. As I watched her eyes flicker over my face, though, no doubt drawing her own conclusions, I realised I needed to soften the comparison.
"She does it to get a reaction out of me," I said. "And I bite back because she can take it, and quite frankly, it's a refreshing change from holding my tongue. Which I have to do constantly for my brand."
Her mouth twisted. She was no idiot. She could quite easily read between the lines there. Still, she'd said she wasn't insecure, and I had to make sure I gave her no reason to be.
"Anyway, great surprise, Sophia." Aaron's signature double thumbs-up oozed petty sarcasm. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
***
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