Fated Love (The Soul Sisters Series Book 3) Read online

  I figured I’d give Lottie a few hours to calm down. Heading over to Chris or Jonas’s place was out of the question, they shackled themselves to two of her closest friends. There was a fair chance she’d already called them and arranged a meeting to plan my demise. Her sisterhood would be out for blood and anyone with a cock and balls would catch it, their men included.

  The only option left open was the other singleton of our group, Sonny.

  His house was definitely a place where I wouldn’t be hunted down... at least not straightaway.

  Sonny Marks was my high school friend and the current Hawkstown High gym coach, he’d grown up with Chris, Jonas and me and was also very aware of the friendship and closeness between Lottie and her crazy friends, Dolly, Flo and Neely. This meant he was in the know about our fake dating shit so I could skip the background detail and head straight to the way it had got all fucked up.

  He lived not far from the center of town and with a bit of luck he’d also have a cold beer in his refrigerator.

  “Hey man, what brings you here in daylight hours?” he asked as he opened his front door. Sonny was all sweaty and in track pants, clearly my timing on some things had improved and I had managed to catch him in.

  “Much drama man, much fucking drama,” I told him. “I’m here for peace, quiet and a cold beer.”

  Sonny moved aside and let me in, “Which one is it the princess or the porn star?” He did that often, he knew of Claire’s reputation for out and out rough sex and Lottie would always be the group’s princess.

  “Oh definitely the princess, although it was all witnessed by the porn star... and my parents and Lottie’s too, hell the whole motherfucking country club.”

  “Fuck, you played with fire and finally got burned. Drink your beer, I’m gonna run through the shower,” Sonny left me to it. I didn’t really want to talk about it, not with him anyway because eventually I knew I’d have to make this right with Lottie. I wasn’t a big talker, so wasting that energy on Sonny wouldn’t serve me in the long run.

  I pulled out my phone and rang Jonas, I attempted to make a covert enquiry as to whether he’d seen Lottie or if any of the women were currently embroiled in a drama. He gave me a negative response, but said he’d call if that changed, yeah, he understood.

  I then rang Chris posing the same question and he too confirmed all female activity was normal, but should the witches start casting spells he’d give me a heads up.

  Fifteen minutes later, the bitches coven activity kicked in and I got a text from Chris’s woman, Neely. Clearly Chris still hadn’t learned that he couldn’t make casual enquiries with his legal eagle bride without arousing suspicion.

  Neely: Please tell me you haven’t upset her?

  I couldn’t lie to her, we’d become close during the nasty drama her and Chris had been involved in and we also worked in the same office. She’d have my cock on a spike if I lied to her about this. Fuck, she probably was going to put both my cock and my balls on a spike once Lottie told her what had gone down.

  Me: I’ll sort it.

  Neely: You’d better.

  Yep. Total ball buster was our Neely.

  Nothing for it, my temper got the better of me and I left a couple of text messages and a voicemail that left her in no uncertain terms about how pissed off I was. I might have started this fucking charade but she’d gone along with it and I didn’t see why I should be the sole beneficiary of all the parental grief.

  It was time for Lottie to man the fuck up and realize she was an active part of all the bullshit too, like me, she was going to have to take it on the chin.

  I waited for Sonny to come out of the shower and gave him the Cliff Notes version of what went down. He didn’t comment, he’s been warning me for a while that we were both swimming in dodgy waters with this scheme. Like my other pals, he told me he’d get in touch though if he came across Lottie before I did.

  I decided to head back home and lick my wounds so I could regroup and attack the problem tomorrow when she finally surfaced.

  And that’s when it all went to shit.

  My place was a typical guy’s pad and I lived in the same gated community as Lottie. It wasn’t small, there were about five hundred homes dotted around two golf courses and Lottie lived on one side while I resided on the other.

  After discarding my keys, wallet and jacket I was still wired because I hated being in the middle of something I couldn’t resolve or close off and there were too many loose ends with this. I needed to wind them up, quickly. I decided I could do with some perspective and thinking time whilst attempting to tire my body out. Having a good sprint on the treadmill would achieve both and I knew if I didn’t force my body to rest, it wouldn’t.

  The loud rock music kicked in whilst I was lacing up my Nike’s. It hadn’t taken me long to get changed into running shorts and get moving, within minutes I was ramping up the speed and as predicted, my brain slowed and mind focussed on my problems as my legs shifted faster. It was thinking time heaven.

  I knew I would need to appease my parents, apologize to the Groves, keep Claire out of the way and finally track Lottie down to make things right with her. I could make her see reason, we were both in this together and there was no reason we couldn’t come out of it as friends. I would not be made to feel like the only guilty party, after all, who knows what she got up to when we weren’t together. I didn’t think about that, ever, because it was safer not to.

  After forty five minutes my body was comfortable with the pace and I was content with my plan of action but the ringing doorbell I could hear though, was not in the script I was planning to follow. Hoping to God it was Lottie, I hit the stop button on my torture machine and grabbed a sweat towel before making my way to answer the door.

  Not Lottie.

  Fucking Claire.

  Every cloud had a silver lining and all that shit though and this would give me the opportunity to cross off one of the things on the list.

  “How did you get past the security gate? What the fuck are you doing here Claire?” I snapped in between taking a large lungful of oxygen.

  “Nice welcome dick head,” she replied. “Are you going to let me in?”

  I stepped back and made room for her to enter, I’d already had one public row with a female today and I was not down with having another. “Are you going to answer my question?”

  “The little boy on the gate is a sucker for cleavage and nipples it would seem,” she says proudly, jigging her tits in my direction.

  “Looks like I’ll be having words with the security office,” I mentally add that to my list of things to do, “And?” I press her to continue.

  “I figured I’d come see you, celebrate in style now the princess has officially put us out there.”

  And there goes all the hard work on the treadmill, I can feel myself getting irritated again. I look back at Claire and see she’s looking over my body like I’m a piece of meat. The real reason for her impromptu visit is now crystal clear.

  She’s horny and wants some action. I absolutely know I shouldn’t but I’m thinking things may go better for me if I give her some going away action, a sweetener to make her see sense.

  I haven’t moved, I’m normally the one doing the chasing, I fucking love that part of the game but for just this once I’ll let her lead. Let her have me as she wants, as a good bye present.

  Claire moves into my space and runs a bright red finger nail up my naked, sweaty abdomen. It makes me contract my six pack and my stomach muscles jump, as she expected it also makes my cock spring to life. She’s skilled at seduction, always has been, but it’s not one of her better qualities, it just solidifies what most guys in town know about her, she’s easy but she knows how to get what she wants.

  “What no game tonight Oli? You’ve normally stopped me and told me what you want from me.” She’s circling me like prey and I can feel her breath across my back. My small running shorts are starting to seriously restrict the growth of my hard
on, the tart in Claire is loving my reaction. She begins to place kisses on my back, my sides, my chest and starts to move lower down my stomach, leaving lipstick marks in her wake.

  “Enjoy this Claire. Enjoy it whilst you have it. This is a onetime deal. After tonight we’re over.” I tell her and her eyes flash at me, she doesn’t believe me. My obvious absence in her life will confirm my words as fact and not fiction.

  Sensing a need to put in a good impression she drops to her knees in front of me and pulls my short down so sharply that my once confined, hard cock protests and causes me to suck in a lungful of air. Claire mistakes my inhale for anticipation and desire and roughly grabs hold of me immediately sucking me to the back of her throat.

  I hate being out of control. I’ve had little control over the direction of my life, so letting someone chose the sexual fun I have doesn’t sit right with me. It doesn’t feel right to let any woman lead or take what she wants from me, but I damp down my instincts to take over and let her have her fill.

  At this moment in time she’s never looked more unappealing, her mouth and chin is covered in lipstick and spit, but the wetness and suction of her mouth soon push all other thoughts from my mind. It’s becoming a challenge for me not to grab the back of her head and make her suffer for thinking she can take charge of me like this.

  We’re still behind my front door so there is nowhere for me to shove her or hide her when some impatient fucker starts hammering on the front door. Finally taking hold of her head, I pull her leeching mouth off my cock and stand her up.

  I look through the tiny door spy window, “Fuck, it’s my dad, you need to get yourself together and leave when I open this door.” She doesn’t look at all happy with my request and is still wiping saliva off her face and chin by the time I’ve got the door open.

  “I see your mother had good reason to be disappointed in you,” he tells me with disapproving glare at the lipstick covering my torso.

  “Claire was just leaving,” I reply urging her out of the door as she tries to protest but senses I’m not in the mood. Shutting the door in her face is confirmation of this.

  “Well I really have raised a piece of shit, it would seem Lottie isn’t the only female who gets exclusive access to your bad treatment.”

  “Is this what you came round for dad? An argument?”

  “No I came round because I promised your mother I’d talk some sense into you. I’ll be honest son, seeing you in action today was a real shock.”

  “Dad, listen, Lottie and I have a complicated relationship. There are times when we don’t see eye to eye and times when we’re not in an exclusive relationship.” This is not going how I planned, mainly because I haven’t planned out the actual words I was going to use yet.

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. We did not raise you to treat women like this or to be dishonest. You’re supposed to be a respected businessman and leader in the community.”

  Before I can get a word in, my cell phone starts ringing and I decide to ignore it. It immediately starts up again so I check the display and recognize the number as the Sheriff’s. “What can I do for you Sheriff Roberts?”

  “Oliver, I need to find Charlotte Groves immediately. Her parents have been involved in an RTA and it doesn’t look good.”

  “Shit, I don’t know where she is, but I’ll find her.” I tell him and he hangs up. I realize he’s on the scene and needs to go back and deal with it. In the midst of all the drama swimming around me I remember I’m stood with my dad.

  “Dad, there’s been an accident, Laura and Paul are hurt and I need to find Lottie now.” We both kick into action but the niggling thought at the back of my mind is that karma is a bitch. On the one day I upset the girl who’s given me room to breathe and be me, her parents are involved in a crash that sounds serious.

  Yeah, it’s safe to say I’ve really fucked everything up and I may not get a chance to make amends with her parents.

  My own parents are hurt and disappointed and Lottie is Christ knows where when she should be here in town.

  And what was I doing, thinking of myself, getting a fucking blow job.

  My dad is right, I really am a piece of shit.

  Chapter Five

  Everything has been a bit blurry the last couple of days, kind of like watching an old movie on playback or having an out of body experience, a very fucking real one. I’m back, once again, to looking at myself through a stranger’s eyes and seeing the real me desperate to escape and feel free to live a different kind of life.

  After I found out the awful and horrible way my parents’ life had ended, neither Oli nor Flo wanted to let me drive home. I was looking forward to some time alone and being able to vent and scream in the confines of my car, but when I went to get in it I was rerouted to Oli’s Escalade. We argued a bit, but they’d already agreed that Flo was driving my car home and my only option was riding home with Oli. I was pissed off about it because I knew he’d done it out of duty and he felt it was expected of him. It wouldn’t look good for him if I arrived back in town after such tragic news without the supposed support of the man in my life. Clearly there would be no escaping the fact that my world had turned to shit overnight, even if only for a brief moment.

  In the blink of an eye my only family had been wiped out. I’d run off to escape drama, which I’d instigated and missed out on being there for those final moments with the people I loved. Immediately I instructed my brain to curb any further thoughts about the last words I’d said to my parents that day at the country club. If I dwelled on them right now, the black hole I was swimming to stay away from would take me, swallow me up whole and drown me.

  I just had to accept the vile and rage filled side of me that I had exposed and that I would never get a chance to take those words back. I had no idea how I would force myself to come to terms with that. The only small blessing I had was that I made that call to my dad the night before he died. He knew I was angry, but we had every intention of talking again and sorting out the things I said at the country club.

  As we travel back to Hawkstown, the atmosphere between us in the car is heavy and oppressive, he’s at a total loss as to what he should say to me and I’m being too bitchy to make it any easier for him. The few times that he has attempted chatter or to comfort me have been ignored or answered using head signals or grunts. It didn’t take him long to get the message, he’s never been one to work hard at communicating with females.

  “Lottie, where do you want to go? I don’t think you should be on your own.”

  “Home,” I tell him in a monotone voice.

  “OK, I can stay at yours with you.”

  “No, it’s not necessary,” answering with more words than I’ve said to him in hours.

  “I think it is, you’ve had a shock and...”

  “No. I don’t need your help,” my answer is intentionally sharp and pointed because I need him to get the message, that he is the one person I won’t be relying on throughout this. I will be using my tried and tested method, my inner princess bitch mode.

  “Lottie, please...” he tries again and I ignore him as we pull into town and head for our residential estate, by the time we get to my house Flo is already parking my car in my driveway. I knew she’d beat us here, Flo is secretly a speed freak behind the wheel and Oli has been taking his time trying to get me to open up.

  “Flo will stay with me,” I lie, “I’m sorry it was you who had to... you know... come and tell me.” I don’t wait for any response. My ice princess has kicked into warrior mode and taken over, she’s in full charge and she will eat him alive if he doesn’t take my simple thanks and fuck off now. I climb out of his truck before he can protest any further and he screeches off.

  I follow Flo through my front door, my secret magic key gnome isn’t as secure as the QVC channel have led me to believe. “I’ll make us some tea,” she tells me.

  “No. Thanks, but no thanks. I just need a bit of space to get over the shock of it a
ll and figure out my next move. I’ll call you in the morning.”

  She looks at me like I’m a stranger. Flo is a compassionate soul and is probably the only one of my soul sisters who used to cower at the ice princess when we were growing up. This time she doesn’t, she simply reaches for her cell phone and begins to dial. “Hey Dolly... yeah... we just got back to Lottie’s... as expected really.” Flo goes quiet for a few seconds and then finishes with “OK, later.” Turning to face me she says, “Dolly and Neely are on the way over.”

  “Fucking hell Flo, I said I wanted space, not a fucking party. What’s the matter with you?”

  “Your friends want to be here for you and you’re bloody crazy if you think we’re going to leave you to deal with this alone,” she proceeds to march off and do something else that will no doubt irritate me beyond reason.

  Thirty minutes later Dolly and Neely arrive. It’s obvious that Dolly has been crying, since she had her twins she’s become a lot more emotional and Neely looks sad, but she will wait for my lead on the best way to help me. Before I can say anything they envelop me in a hug because these girls have been the only people who have ever hugged me for as long as I care to remember. Well that’s not strictly true, they’re the only people who have hugged me and meant to do it with feeling and emotion. The relief of this hug is short lived because I’m back to mumbling answers to inane questions that people feel it necessary to ask at times like this.

  “Where’ve you been anyway?” Dolly asks.

  “I dragged Flo on an impromptu spa escape and I do literally mean, escape.”

  “I kind of figured that, Oli was like a man possessed trying to track you down.”

  “I know, remind me to thank Jonas for giving me up,” I snap at her.

  “Come on sister,” she whispers, “It was kind of important.”

  “True.” I’d almost forgotten about the reason and my brain feels more than happy to dwell on anything else.