Phoenix Rising Issue #3 - S. R. Watson Page 0,9

used the pet name for me that he coined from my brother, only it drips with sarcasm and malice rather than sounds flirty. His cock juts to attention the moment he rids himself of his sweatpants, causing my traitorous pussy to tingle with appreciation. Has she not learned what going down this road leads to? I turn away flustered, leaving my ass in plain view. Stepping into the shower, he blocks the only way out. I take the tiniest of peeks only to see him begin to lather himself like I’m not a foot away from him.

“You really are an ass, you know that?”

“Yet you can’t keep from looking this way. Probably reminiscing about the last time you were on your knees for me in a shower. I bet your hungry little cunt is soaked for me right now.”

He doesn’t know just how close he is. “Fuck—”

“Ah, ah. You don’t want to finish that statement, sweetheart. I’m done fucking you, but I’m not opposed to having you suck my cock. Don’t make me prove a point.”

The “you” ending to my statement dies on my lips.

“What point?” Now, I’m just pissed. How dare he talk to me like one of his fucking groupies?

“That you’re just like all the others. I had a lapse in judgment when it came to you, but no more. Hey, you should be proud. You got further than anyone else. Congrats on your ability to deceive.”

I have no idea what he’s going on about, and I don’t care. He just put me in a class with the “others,” who I can only take to mean his groupies. First Asher and now him.

“Go to hell, Phoenix!” I yell as he turns off the water and steps out of the shower.

“I’m already there, sweetheart. I’m already there.”

I stand here too shocked to cry. He finally speaks to me, and I get the cold and detached version of him.

Phoenix

The look on Harlow’s face when I stepped into that shower was priceless. I know I was being a major dick, but it’s the only way to put some distance between us. I can’t keep allowing myself to slip into the perpetual cycle of vulnerability. Every time I let someone get close to me, they fuck me over. Every. Single. Time. First Melissa and now Harlow. The shit I’m facing requires that I be more impenetrable than ever. No weakness.

“You ready, brother?” Sevyn is already dressed and ready.

We’re meeting his father and a few other suits to determine our next course of action for the sake of the company. They’ve left their corporate office in New York to meet us here in Galveston, so this should be interesting. I still refuse to see Claude as my father even with all the scandal shit going on.

“Fuck no. I only agreed to the meeting to ensure this shit doesn’t affect the future of the band. Tying up loose ends and then getting the hell out of there.”

“Well, our hired car is here to take us to the hotel. Let’s get this shit over with.”

The ride to Hotel Galvez is ominously quiet. Sevyn cares a lot more about the outcome of the company than I do. He’s always been the more sensitive one and partly why I was able to get over his betrayal. His involvement with Melissa was not out of malice. She served a purpose for him the same way she did for me. When he made the connection we both shared a penchant for some pretty dark shit, he needed time to process it. How do you even bring that up? Uh, hey brother, just wanted to let you know we banged the same woman, and we both get off on some twisted kink. Hell, he’d be admitting he knew my secret. How would I feel about him knowing?

After he explained to me why he didn’t know how to broach the subject, I knew I couldn’t hold it against him. If the roles were reversed, would I be eager to tell him? Probably the fuck not.

The driver lets us out in front of the hotel and instructs us to let him know when we’re ready for pickup. I can’t shake the feeling of something being off that has me on edge. Is it because I’m going to face Claude as myself and not standing in as my brother for the first time in years? I shake that thought immediately. What the hell can he do to me? I’m not going into this