Escaping Eden Read online

Simon turned and gave me a dirty look, “Actually, I don’t dance,” he said to Eliza as politely as he could.

  “Come on, I can teach you!” she said with a big grin.

  I looked at him.

  I saw the Simon Smile trying to fight it’s way to the surface, but he just kindly shook his head, grabbed his drink, and turned his attention back to watching the people in the club.

  Are you kidding me?

  I looked at Eliza and mouthed “I’m sorry”. She shrugged looking stung, and retreated to her group of friends. I felt terrible when I watched them all leave so early. I knew it was because she felt humiliated.

  I looked up and smacked Simon on his arm.

  “What’s the matter with you? You know she was into you, right?”

  He nodded.

  “Well, if you would’ve put just the tiniest bit of effort into that, you would’ve gotten laid tonight!” I yelled in frustration.

  Simon scoffed and looked down before he leaned over. I felt a little weird with his arms on either side of me.

  “I didn’t come to a club to get ‘laid’, Eden. This really isn’t my scene,” he said.

  I looked at him, “Then why the hell are we here?”

  Shrugging, he said, “Liora said you hadn’t been out in a while because you couldn’t afford it and I wanted you to have a fun evening.”

  I sighed and put my drink down.

  I hopped off the stool and made a beeline toward the door.

  I was pissed.

  I needed a cigarette STAT.

  If he wasn’t going to put any effort into changing and trying new things, then he was going to have to find a new “guide”.

  “Hey!” Simon said catching up to me as I made it to the door.

  I held up my cigarette and he nodded.

  I pushed my way through the smoking crowd and settled into a corner near the barricade. Simon wiggled his way through everyone and stood in front of me.

  “You’re angry,” he observed.

  I took a deep breath and began to tap my foot against the floor. I wanted to be careful of what came out of my mouth, because he really was a nice guy.

  “Listen, are you going to put any effort into anything? Or should I just give up?” I asked.

  “Eden, just because you throw a girl at me doesn’t mean I’m going to act on it. Maybe I didn’t find her attractive, maybe I did. That’s just not how I do things. When I see a woman that I want, I guess you could say, I have no problem acting on it. It’s just harder for me sometimes. Don’t give up on me yet?”

  I looked up into his now puppy dog eyes and smacked him in the chest.

  “That’s your freebie. Now that I know how you operate, you’ve got the full three strikes left. Got it buddy?”

  “Deal,” he grinned.

  He stood there patiently while I smoked in silence. I watched him with a smile on my face; Simon was a people watcher. I liked that, because that meant he watched more how people behaved rather than what they looked like.

  “I’ll be right back,” he said suddenly.

  I raised an eyebrow and watched him disappear back into the club, then as he shot out the front door and went down the street. I got up on my tip toes and craned my neck.

  Good boy, I thought to myself with a satisfied grin.

  Simon was talking to Eliza. Apparently she had still been in the area and he spotted her. I moved to the edge of the barricade and leaned over so I could watch them. I watched Eliza talking to him shyly, then suddenly burst into laughter and put a hand on his chest briefly.

  That deal was definitely sealed.

  I took one last drag from my cigarette, then dropped it on the floor and stomped it out happily. Now that I helped Simon, maybe I could help myself.

  I made my way back into TAO and back to the table we were sitting at. My drink was still there and so was Simon’s. I pulled myself back up onto the stool and glanced around. There had to be some guys here, I just needed to find them.

  “Anyone sitting here?”

  I glanced to my left and saw my ex-boyfriend standing there, looking sexy as ever with a big smile.

  “Nope,” I replied, with a smile.

  As he settled down into the stool opposite me I found myself reassessing him. Finley was gorgeous; tall, dark blonde hair, honey brown eyes, strong manly face, and a body to die for. He was dressed in a pair of black, fitted jeans, a white V-neck shirt, and a black button over shirt. I knew he was wearing his favorite pair of black chucks; that was always going to be a give in when he went out.

  He was also the first person I ever had sex with, and I maintained that after him, sex with anyone else went downhill. It was absolutely amazing and set my standards way too high for anyone else in the bedroom. Part of the reason was because he was the first and last person to ever give me an O and partly because he always would have that piece of me that no one else would have.

  “You look good, Eden,” he shouted over the music.

  “You too!” I replied, sipping my drink.

  “Who’s that guy I saw you with outside?” he asked, leaning closer to me.

  “Oh! That’s Simon! That’s one of Liora’s friends. She wanted me to take him out and show him a good time. He’s not from around here,” I explained.

  “So you’re not seeing anyone then?” he asked, with a sexy grin.

  I shook my head and smiled on the inside. I could only hope that Fin wanted what I was hoping he wanted.

  Dirty, hot, mind-blowing sex.

  “Are you?” I asked.

  He shook his head and leaned closer, “Wanna dance?”

  I smiled; I knew what Fin was up to. I looked at him, tilting my head to the side and nodded. I sipped the last of my drink and hopped off my stool. Fin took me by the hand and led me to the dance floor, where he pulled my arms up over his shoulders and pulled me close against him as we began grind against each other to the dance song that was pulsating throughout the club.

  I closed my eyes as Finley slid his hands down to my hips and moved against me. I felt his breath on my neck and sighed. I pulled him down closer to me and kept our lips inches away from each other as we moved to the beat of the song. I watched his lips slowly curve into a smile which told me that I still had it when it came to Fin.

  We looked at each other and laughed when the song was over. Nothing about being this close to Finley ever made me feel uncomfortable. He was genuinely a good guy and we had a lot of fun together, but he slipped once and when he admitted to me that he cheated on me with a stripper as his brother’s bachelor party, I immediately broke up with him without hesitation. He spent days, weeks, even months, trying to get me to forgive him. Apology after apology; flowers, jewelry, gifts... anything he could think of. I hadn’t spoken to him ever since.

  Until tonight.

  The next song came on and Fin spun me around and pulled me against him again, moving to the beat as well as his hands down my stomach and holding me close.

  “I missed you,” he whispered into my ear as I reached up and put my arms around his neck again.

  Being this close to Finley was something, I just now realized, I had missed desperately. I closed my eyes and let the beat take us wherever it felt we should be at that moment. I wanted the song to last forever as Finley moved himself against me; memories of us rushing back to me in tidal waves of lust and need.

  But like all good things, the song finished, and we were left standing there sweating and a little shaky.

  “I need a drink,” I yelled into his ear.

  He nodded and took me by the hand back to the bar where we waited for Jake to notice us. I stood there with Fin’s arms wrapped around my shoulders from behind, when a voice leaned in and shouted into my ear.

  “That was quite the show you two put on!”

  I laughed. Simon was standing there with a big grin on his face.

  I reached up and tapped Finley’s arm to get his attention.

  “Fin, this is Simon. Simon this is Fin.
Let’s all be friends,” I said as they shook hands.

  “What are you having?” Fin asked, leaning over so Simon could hear him.

  “Screwdriver?” Simon asked glancing down at me. When I nodded Fin waved his arms to get Jake’s attention and put in our orders.

  “Where’s Eliza?” I asked Simon.

  He jerked his head to the end of the bar where she was sitting with her friends. She looked over at me and smiled, which I returned with a big grin.

  “Here you go, babe,” Fin said handing me my drink, before handing the next one to Simon.

  “Babe?” I asked, glancing up at him.

  He grinned down at me and shrugged before grabbing his drink. As he reached for his wallet, Simon was already ahead of him, handing Jake money.

  “It’s on me,” Simon said to him.

  “Thanks man,” Fin said with a nod.

  Simon gave me a wink as he went back to the end of the bar to hang out with Eliza and her friends.

  About two hours later, I had enough screwdrivers in me to open my own hardware store. Finley spent most of the time sitting next to me at the bar, with my back against him so he could hold me up. Liquor was never one of my strong points and if I got in a good enough mood I would drink until the world was a blur.

  “I think we need to get you home, Eden,” he finally said.

  I rolled my head to the side so I could look at him and smiled through my haze. I must’ve looked so sloppy but Fin was never one to judge me.

  “Come on,” he said, as he stood up and propped me against him.

  I like the fact that he had his arm around my waist so I could have some shred of dignity as he half carried me out of TAO.

  “Wait,” I slurred. “Simon.”

  “What about him?” Fin asked.

  “I’m not leaving him here,” I replied, trying to straighten myself up.

  “Eden, let me get you to the car, then I’ll go back in for him, okay?” Fin bargained.

  “Sure,” I replied wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “I’m a mess aren’t I?”

  “Yeah, but you’re still kind of cute,” he replied with a smile.

  I giggled as he put me in the front seat of his car and strapped me in securely. He locked me in and then went back into the club to find Simon.

  I closed my eyes and didn’t open them again until I felt someone cradling me in the arms.

  “What the hell?” I asked, half asleep.

  I put a hand to my forehead, feeling the hangover already starting to place itself in position for the following morning.

  “It’s just me,” Finley said. “You’re kind of drunk.”

  I sighed then pushed against him to let me down. Laughing, he set me on my feet and I almost immediately fell over. He gripped me by the arms as Simon unlocked the door to my apartment and they both stepped in behind me.

  “Are you going to be okay, Eden?” Simon asked as I propped myself up against the kitchen table.

  “Yep.”

  I burped quietly.

  Oh no. No no no. I don’t want to throw up.

  My mouth watered and I closed my eyes tightly. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to hold it back much longer so I had to think of a way to get to the bathroom without falling over and getting a concussion.

  “Eden?”

  I turned to look at Fin who was giving me a questioning look.

  That is until he saw the look in my eyes. He ran to the bathroom for some towels, but when he emerged I was bent over throwing up all over the kitchen floor, with Simon holding my hair back and an arm wrapped around me.

  Fin sighed and got to his knees to clean up my mess and Simon stood me up. He placed his hand gently under my chin and tipped my face up.

  “It’ll help you breathe easier,” he explained.

  I stared at the ceiling.

  I was beyond embarrassed.

  “Ugh.”

  “Do I need to move?” Fin asked suddenly.

  “No. I just want to sleep this off,” I replied with a sniffle.

  “Alright, well I’m not leaving you tonight so I’ll give Simon a ride back to his place, then I’ll be back,” he said getting to his feet.

  “Unnecessary. Eden, may I take your car? I’ll bring it back tomorrow,” Simon said.

  “Yeah, sure. The keys are in my purse. I’m going to my room. Sorry tonight turned out shitty,” I said quietly.

  “Hardly,” he replied with a smile. “I’ll see you in the morning. It was nice to meet you Finley,” Simon said as he pulled my keys out and left us in the apartment.

  Us.

  The drunk horny girl and her sexy, orgasm giving, ex-boyfriend.

  Fin looked at me for a moment before he took the towels out to the trash and came back in.

  “You don’t have to do all that,” I said as he grabbed the mop and began to clean the floor.

  “Well unless you want it to smell like puke when you wake up, I’m okay with doing this,” he replied with a laugh.

  “I’m going to lay down. Thanks Fin.”

  He nodded and I half walked, half stumbled into my bedroom. I curled up on the bed thankful that I hadn’t gotten anything on my shirt and closed my eyes.

  The door to the bedroom closed and I felt Finley get into the bed with me.

  “Really?” I asked blandly.

  “Nothing sexual, Eden. Just want to make sure you don’t choke on anything in your sleep,” he said as he pulled the blankets up around himself.

  “G’night.”

  “’Night.”

  I didn’t close my eyes again until Finley rolled over onto his side, facing away from me and his breathing steadied. I fell asleep shortly after he did.

  I woke up the next morning at eleven. I heard the TV on in the living room and I rolled onto my back. My head was pounding, but it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. I slowly plucked myself off of the bed and groaned. Taking a deep breath, I walked out of my room.

  “Finally awake, huh?”

  I screamed.

  “Eden, what the hell?”

  I turned around and saw Fin giving me a wide eyed look from the kitchen.

  “Sorry. I forgot you were here,” I mumbled.

  He laughed nervously and made his way back to the living room and sat down on the couch. I eyed him for a moment, before I went into the bathroom and scrubbed my teeth. I looked in the mirror and rolled my eyes at my hair. I knew there was no way in hell I was going to get that hair tie out, so I grabbed a pair of scissors from the medicine cabinet and carefully snipped it off. I splashed some water on my face before I walked out.

  Why is Finley here?

  I went over to the couch and casually leaned on it. He was sitting about four inches to my left. When he noticed me again, he looked up and smiled.

  “Feeling better?”

  “Yeah. Um. Fin? Um ... did we ...?”

  “No,” he replied laughing. “I wouldn’t have taken advantage of you like that, Eden, you should know that.”

  “So, don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but why are you here, again? I don’t think we’ve established that.”

  He stared at me for a moment.

  “Wow,” he scoffed. “I saw you at TAO last night, remember?”

  I looked up and scanned my memory for a moment. Suddenly our Dirty Dancing reenactment came back to me and I felt my face turning hot.

  “What happened to Simon?” I asked.

  “He went home,” he replied looking at me oddly.

  “Alone? Or with that brunette?” I inquired.

  “Alone, Eden. He was standing in the kitchen holding your hair while you threw up all over the place,” he said.

  I rolled my eyes. Not even twenty four hours together and his jealousy was already showing. I went around the couch and sat down next to him.

  “So did we get along last night?” I asked casually.

  “We did.”

  “Cool.”

  “Indeed.”

 
I leaned forward and grabbed the remote off of the coffee table and began to flip through the channels.

  “Eden?”

  “Hm?” I asked as I found a true crime program that I loved and set the remote back down again.

  “What were you really doing with Simon?” Fin asked turning sideways to face me.

  “I was really doing Liora a favor and taking him out. Didn’t you notice his accent? He’s an Aussie and apparently is shy around girls. According to him, Li thought I would be able to help him. I don’t know why though. It’s not like my love life is rocking or anything,” I replied with a shrug.

  “Mine either,” he said with a chuckle.

  “How come? You’re decent looking,” I teased, making a face at him.

  “You’re not so bad yourself, lady,” he replied with a laugh.

  We looked at each other laughing, before I suddenly felt painfully shy and pulled my legs up onto the couch. If I put more space between us there’d be no way he would—

  I should’ve known better, I thought as he ran his hand down the side of my face before he placed his soft lips against mine.

  Fin pulled back for a second and looked as shocked as I felt.

  I looked down for a moment.

  I missed his lips; his touch.

  But Simon’s lips were softer, weren’t they?

  “Fin, I don’t know if this is such a good - -”

  I was cut off by his lips against mine again. Only this time he didn’t pull away, and I felt my heart start to beat just a little faster. Simon may have been the best kisser I’ve ever had, but Finley definitely gave him a run for his money.

  He put his hands on my legs and gently pushed them back onto the floor, as he slid his tongue into my mouth; like an explorer desperate to rediscover former territory. I put my hands around his waist as he gently lowered me back onto the couch and let his weight fall onto me. I missed how it felt to be under Fin; feeling his weight on me again was intoxicating. I returned his kiss; gently, passionately, hungrily.

  When Fin pulled back for air he looked down at me with that all too familiar “I’m Going to Fuck You Until You Break” look. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want him too, but I pushed him gently on his chest back to a seated position and ran a finger along my lower lip. That familiar taste ... If I didn’t kick him out now, I knew I never would.