Lucien
Three beers and a plate of nachos in, we were finally getting to the good stuff.
"Tell me about your exes." I asked while popping a soft pretzel in my mouth. Harper chewed the last nacho with her index finger up. I waited patiently until I saw her throat bob.
"Ex. Singular." She corrected. I nodded watching her eyes roll.
"Why'd you break up?" I asked curiously.
"Long story short; his family was crazy." She chuckled. "He attempted to rape me on my birthday because his father said he wanted grandchildren."
"What?" I asked out of shock. I heard what she said perfectly clear. How she said it was the problem. She treated it like he said he didn't like her outfit. Like what he did was normal.
"He didn't though, his brother stopped it before anything could happen." She blurted out. Still not seeing how she was so calm about the situation, I continued to stare. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You do know that's not normal, right?" I asked slowly. She thought for a second before shrugging.
"I know it's not, but what can I do about it?" She asked rhetorically. "I've already tried to kill myself over it. I think that's about the most I could do. Besides, I don't plan on running into him ever again so I don't feel like I'm in danger."
"I just don't get it." I shook my head. "Did Eva know about any of this?"
Honestly, ever since Harper had Lucia Eva has been acting weird. The constant flip flopping and roller coaster of emotions needed to come to an end. One minute Harper ruined everything, the next Eva was claiming she was protecting Harper from "the evils". Then she leaves Ruger alone with their kid claiming that she was in trouble. She knew the reputation we held so I'm still not sure why she hasn't been honest yet. I knew there was something off about her, but her reasoning for being shady is unknown.
If Cree feels like something is off, she's dead.
"She did." Harper nodded. "We were dating the brothers at the time. She was the one to encourage me to date him. She claimed that he was her best friend but I'm not too sure about that. Looking back, they never really hung out or talked unless I was around. Probably because she knew that if they looked too close, I would have turned him down."
"I guess." I mumbled, my mind working. Discreetly, I sent a text to have a background done on Eva. Long overdue.
"Enough about me. What about you?" She rested her chin on her hand in interest. I chuckled a little before sipping my beer.
"Ask away." I leaned back and laced my fingers over my stomach.
"How many?" She asked. I raised an eyebrow encouraging her to keep going. "How many women have you dated or been with?"
"That's two different questions, sweetheart." I chuckled. "I've had two relationships and several relations."
"Relations you mean sex." She clarified. I nodded. "Give me an estimate."
"I've been having sex since about thirteen and relationships don't matter in high school." I avoided the answer. She seemed to catch on to what I was hinting at and shook her head.
"That many?"I nodded casually. I owned my sex history. It was extensive and included several types of women. From married to single. Young to old. Plus size to slim. Race never mattered to me either. I never understood why it should.
Sex used to mean everything to me. In some aspects, it still does. But after years of therapy and continued practice of restraint, I've kept my encounters low. By low I mean the number of women. Now I try to maintain one woman at a time. A few years ago, I would entertain upwards to thirty women a month. A new woman each day, sometimes several in a day. Married or not, I didn't care.
"So you were a whore?" She smiled jokingly. I smiled as well. Never have I met a woman so relaxed about that subject. Especially when I was currently sleeping with her. Unprotected for the most part.
She seemed different and I liked it.
Cree
I sat on the back porch watching the kids run around. Squeals of joy rang out in the open air. Lucia waddled behind her cousins, my eyes stayed trained on her. A small part of me was jealous that my brother reconnected with her. It didn't feel fair that he cheated and still got his fairytale ending. I was completely faithful and didn't get shit but a drinking habit. My life was a damn country song. My girl left me, my dog died, and all I do is sit at the bar in my free time.
Running my hand over my face, I blew out a breath. It has been years, I needed to get over this.
"U Cree!" Lucia's tiny voice interrupted my thoughts as she came barreling towards me. I caught her easily as she rested her head on my shoulder.
"Tired?" I asked. She nodded her head and snuggled closer. I sighed wishing that I was holding my own.
"Your time is coming, be patient." Abuela spoke behind me.
Waiting is becoming useless.
Eva
My distorted reflection stared back at me from the white porcelain dish. Throwing it back in the sink, I sighed. I've never felt so useless in my life.
I wanted to come here. I really did. I thought that being here would bring me back to my old self. The girl I was before I met Ruger. She was beautiful, independent, and carefree. She didn't believe in 9 to 5s or knee length skirts. She damn sure wasn't a stay at home mom. Ruger was trying to change me and I didn't like it. In fact, I hated him for it. I actually loved to escort and party. Yes I wanted a baby, but I didn't want to be the sole caretaker. That's what I felt like with Ruger. Even though he stayed up all night and cleaned, made sure our clothes were picked out and ready, finished up the laundry; I still felt like I was doing everything. He insisted that I breastfeed or at least pump for the first three months of our baby's life. I didn't want to do it at all.
So I didn't. I paid ladies for their breastmilk, pretending that I couldn't make enough for him. Was I wrong? Not for feeding my child. But I was for lying to Ruger about it.
But now that I'm back in this house, I feel as if I'm with Ruger 3.0 and I don't like it. A stepford wife I had become. It felt dramatic to say, but I'd rather die than be another housewife.
But this time, I'm actually a wife.
Lucas and I had actually rekindled around the time that Harper ran away. He went on and on about how he and Logan missed us dearly and how they wished we would come back. Truly, I missed them as well. Lucas was my home, Ruger was just a vacation that ran a little too long. I didn't mean to get pregnant by Ruger. He was only supposed to be around until Harper had her baby to give to me. In turn, I was going to give the baby to Lucien and have him and his wife adopt her. All would have been well.
But Ruger and Lucien caught feelings. I'm assuming Harper did as well because she has yet to contact me after our little disagreement.
FLASHBACK
"Fancy seeing you here." Eva smirked over her coffee cup. Harper rolled her eyes while sitting in the metal chair across from her estranged best friend.
"Why did you invite me here after what you did?" Harper glared. Things had gotten to a good place with Lucien only for a news article to pop up. There were details that no one else knew about Lucien and Harper's encounter. Eva was the sole receiver of the story. Some of the other accounts seemed eerily similar to the experiences Eva bragged about during her escorting days. Lucien had never in his life been into waste play and that was the nail in the coffin. Harper knew exactly who sent the article.
"Because you're my best friend and I want what's best for you." Eva said honestly. Harper looked at her with a perplexed face making Eva sigh. "Lucien is not what's best for you."
"And Logan is?" Harper smirked. She noticed the antique rock on Eva's finger but decided against saying something until now.
"I'm not saying that either." Eva shook her head in denial. "You need to realize that he doesn't want you. Lucien only wants custody of Lucia so he can go back to his pregnant wife."
"What are you talking about?" Harper frowned. Lucien had told her that his ex-wife was pregnant again. He never told her that the baby was his.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about. He's only fucking you because I turned him down." Eva smirked at Harper's fallen face. "Why do you think I leaked the story? You needed to know the real him, Harp. Think about it; you have no real family, you tried to kill yourself while you were pregnant, you abandoned your baby. What man would want to continue sleeping with a woman who consistently mistreated his child?"
"That's not fair! You haven't been around so you don't know anything. Why are you being like this?" Harper could feel herself getting overwhelmed. "You don't get to throw my struggles with wanting to live back at me when you willfully abandoned your own kid. At least I had a reason to leave my kid behind. What's yours?"
"That's complicated." Eva spat back. Harper could already tell that she was back with Lucas, she just couldn't understand why she would leave her son to be with him. In all honesty, Harper liked Lucas and he seemed to be a sweet man, just a bit timid. But with time, things change. "Where's your baby now, huh? I bet he has her with that woman. Playing a happy little family and your pathetic little ass is coming at me for something I did for you!"
"Fuck this! Fuck you! I don't even know why I came here." Harper shook her head while packing her things to leave. "Have a nice life, Eva."
"I will." She grinned back. "Now worry about how you're going to pay those court fees for when he decides he wants custody."
I knew I was wrong for doing her that way. But if she wanted to stay away from Logan, we didn't need to be on good terms. Because at the end of the day, I was Eva Davis. Lucas Davis's wife and mother of one.
That was my family.