An hour later, I found myself at Scott’s house.
“Hey brother,” he answered the door, surprised. “What’s up?”
I pushed past him, and started walking down his hallway. “Nothing’s up, just felt like some company.”
He chuckled. “I’m not really your standard type of company, am I?”
I scowled at him. “You’ll fuckin’ do for tonight.”
“Trouble in Nash paradise?”
“Yeah, fuck you, asshole. Just make me a coffee,” I grumbled and sat at his kitchen table.
Laughing, he did as I’d demanded, and then sat with me. “What’s wrong, man? You’ve been off lately.”
Scott was a perceptive guy, often sensing when shit wasn’t right with people. I’d always managed to stay off his radar; probably because my shit was packed so deep in my soul that even I didn’t feel it. But the last decade was catching up with me, and I could feel myself slowly falling apart. And for the first time in those ten years, I didn’t know what to do.
I exhaled in frustration and anxiety, my heart hammering in my chest as I contemplated letting the monsters out. I’d locked them away for so long that just thinking about them distressed me. Talking about them scared the fuck out of me. “Do you have things in your past that no-one really knows about? Things that you don’t even want to know about?”
“Brother, I’ve got things in my life now that I don’t want to know about, let alone shit that happened years ago.”
“Yeah,” I murmured, lost in my thoughts.
“You need to talk about it?”
The concern in his voice was clear; I knew I could trust Scott but I didn’t trust myself with this stuff yet. I shook my head. “No, I’m good. Just been thinking about shit lately.”
We sat in silence for awhile. It was exactly what I needed and the anxiety I’d been feeling started to ease out of me. Once I had myself under control, I eyed him and asked, “You ever had a problem with your dick not working?”
Surprise flickered on his face and he smirked. “Never thought I’d hear that shit come out of your mouth.”
“Yeah, yeah. But fuck man, have you?”
“Can’t say I have, Nash.”
“Shit.”
“Yours giving you grief?” The bastard was laughing at me.
“Not my dick so much but my desire to use it. First time it’s ever happened so you could say I’m a little concerned.”
“Maybe Velvet was on to something when she said she was worried your dick would need resuscitating soon.”
“What the fuck?”
“She told me that she’d said something to you about screwing every chick in sight.”
“Fuck, why can’t women keep stuff to themselves?”
He shrugged. “Beats the shit outta me too, brother.”
I stood up to leave. I’d gotten what I’d come here for.
Scott followed me out. “Shit, I forgot to tell you that Harlow’s cooking lunch for everyone tomorrow. She wants you here.”
“What time?” Nobody passed up a meal cooked by Harlow.
“Around twelve.”
I slapped him on the back. “Thanks, man. I’ll be there.”
I avoided the thought that Velvet would also be at lunch. And how fucking happy that made me.
***
Velvet
I stood back and watched quietly as everyone greeted Nash. He’d arrived nearly an hour late for lunch and Harlow was giving him grief. I was dealing with the thought that I’d been disappointed he was late. It shouldn’t have affected me that much, but it did.
He finished hugging Harlow and caught my eye as he pulled out of the embrace. A slight smile touched his lips before he shifted his attention to Madison. He reached out and dragged her into a tight hug, whispering something in her ear that made her laugh. A pang of jealousy hit me, and I quickly turned away and headed into the kitchen to escape the unwelcome feelings I was having.
Scott was in there and his watchful gaze made me uncomfortable. “Why are you looking at me like that?” I finally asked.
He settled back against the counter before answering me. “Had a visit from your ex husband yesterday.”
My concern about James spiked as dread filled me. “What did he want?”
“He wants me to fire you, and in return he offered me a lot of money.”
“You’re fucking kidding?” I exploded. Dread gave way to anger; how dare he fuck with my life like that?
Scott shook his head. “Nope, not kidding. You sure picked an asshole there.”
“You have no idea.”
“What’s his story? He didn’t tell me why he wanted me to fire you, just made me the offer.”
I sighed. James was supposed to be out of my life for good but here he was, right back in it. “His family has a long history in politics and although he swore he’d never go into it, he seems to have changed his mind. He showed up out of the blue the other day and offered me money too. He doesn’t want me to talk to the media about him.”
“Got some nasty shit in his closet, has he?”
“You could say that.”
“You accepting his offer?”
“No.”