Page 76 of Scoring Eden

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

“I like his hair.” Eden sets her cutlery down on her empty plate. “It suits him.”

The room falls into surprised silence, but I’m too buzzed by her admission to let it settle.

“I could kiss you right now.”

I mean, I could. I totally could.

My gaze falls to her lips. Hers falls to mine. If I leaned in just a few inches, I could steal a kiss from her right here. I could make it so quick that no one would even notice, and then maybe my mouth could finally stop tingling like it’s been edged all night.

Roman scoffs. “That’s because you get to pull it.”

I flip my middle finger at him as discreetly as possible—little eyes and all that. Not because of his shitty comment—God knows how much I’d love that woman to pull my hair—but because he ruined the moment. And it was such a good moment too.

Macon gapes at his mother. “Mom! You shouldn’t pull Alex’s hair. That’s so mean!”

“Thanks for that, Ro.” Eden shoots him daggers. “It’s okay, buddy. I don’t actually pull his hair. Roman’s just joking.”

“Oh.” Macon looks relieved at that and goes back to shoveling mashed potatoes into his mouth.

I take the momentary lapse in conversation as an opportunity to lean into Eden’s side. “Are you having fun?”

She glances around the table, at Ivy who’s singing to herself as she eats, and Salem who’s made such a mess of her face that it’s going to take an hour in the bath to wash the food out of her hair. Then to Brynn and her sister, who are talking between themselves about something or other, and finally, my two best friends.

Her smile is soft when she finally meets my eye again. “It’s chaos, but it’s kind of brilliant.”

That’s exactly what it is.

I love having my family over. I always have. Being around my favorite people is the only time I’ve ever felt truly content. Regardless of how loud it gets or how many times they make fun of my hair, there’s peace to be found in the chaos.

And I didn’t know how having Eden, Aspen, and Macon here would affect the dynamic, if it would be awkward having everyone together, or whether they’d feel included enough.

It’s obvious to me now that I never should have worried.

Aspen, despite how much of a menace she is, is sort of like having another little sister. Macon is just the coolest dude I’ve ever met, and Eden…well, I’m not really sure what Eden is.

She’s not my girlfriend, but it would be weird to call her a friend. I can’t call her my lover, since we’ve never slept together, and there isn’t—and never will be—love involved between the two of us. She’s not quite a business partner, more like a partner in crime. An accomplice. A co-conspirator. A woman who I can’t stop thinking about.

But whatever she is, here in my home with my friends and family, I can’t deny that she just…fits.

TEXT THREAD BETWEEN EDEN AND SEBASTIAN

Sebastian: There is a photo of you outside your apartment circulating online.

Sebastian. Care to explain why the national media knows my son’s address?

Sebastian: Your only job is to keep him safe, and you can’t even do that.

TWENTY

EDEN

It was a surprise to learn this morning that Alex has a house showing today. I didn’t know he was even looking to move out of his apartment, let alone out of the city and to the suburbs. But apparently, he’s wanting to move immediately, so he tells me in the car after we’ve dropped off Macon at school. And coincidentally, he’s looking at the same neighborhood where Brynn and Leo have just bought a house.

So, that’s where we’re going.

“This is where your sister’s moving to?” I ask as the car rolls through tree-lined avenues fringed with houses I could never afford, even with the sheer amount of money Alex is paying me.