The Last Woman (All That Remains #1) (8 page)

“I figured Walker would’ve
mentioned his other dad, and his twin, Mason.”

“I know about Mason,” he
murmurs, still looking dumbfounded.

“Is that what you have such a
bug up your ass about? That he’s gay?”

“A bug up my ass?” he repeats,
sounding amused. His whole demeanor has changed. Oh, no, he’s not distracting
me with that charming grin.

“It’s not funny!” I snap.

“I know.”

“Well?”

“I don’t care about his
sexuality.” He sighs and approaches me slowly, sitting beside me on his bed.
“I’m sorry,” he mutters.

“That doesn’t answer my
question.”

“I know. I’m sorry I’ve been…”

“An asshole,” I supply.

He smirks. “Fair enough. I’m
sorry I’ve been an asshole.” Sobering, he gazes at me. “Your eyes are dark. You
aren’t sleeping well.”

“Yeah, I’ve been stressed for
some reason.”

He looks me in the eye and
takes my hand, looking self-conscious. “I’m sorry, Abby, really. I’m sorry I
hurt your feelings.”

Now I’m fighting back tears
and trying not to show it. “You didn’t.” My lie doesn’t even sound convincing
to my own ears. “You aren’t going to tell me why you were so...”

“Upset,” he finishes, blushing
and staring at his hands. I gaze at him uncertainly, and he shakes his head.

“I need to get some sleep,” I
murmur, not knowing what to say anymore. Between caring for Joseph and the kids
and tossing and turning every night over Airen’s attitude, I’m beyond
exhausted. We say good night and I head for my bed, curling up under the covers
while my brain replays our fight.

Why did I let my temper get so
out of control? I was shocked at my own rage once I began yelling. I usually
pride myself on my self-control, my ability to think rationally and calmly, so why
had I let him get to me like that? I know why, even if I don’t want to admit
it. He did hurt my feelings. It’s that simple. He treated me badly and ignored
me, and I’m hurt. It affected me more than it should have, and that’s what’s
eating at me. It’s not as if I’ve never been mistreated before, and by men I’d
loved dearly. So why had Airen’s immature antics wounded me so deeply? Enough
to make me want to cry?

Because I love him. It hurts
because I’m in love with him. I shove the unwelcome thought away. No, it’s not
true. I won’t let it be true. It’s my last thought before I drift off into a
mercifully dreamless sleep.

The overnight change in Airen
has everyone relieved. He seems to have reverted to his old self, and he’s even
started talking to Joseph as if he’s a person. Whatever the crisis was, it
appears to be over. As we’re preparing for dinner, Joseph informs me that Airen
apologized to him for his earlier behavior.

“What do you think changed his
mind, Abby?” he asks.

“I honestly have no idea. He
apologized to me too, but I never got to the root of the problem.”

“He wanted to reassure me it
had nothing to do with me being gay. Why does he think I’m gay?”

“Aren’t you? You told me you
were married to a man.” Uh-oh. Was I supposed to keep that between us?

A sweet smile blooms, showing
those delightful dimples and easing my worry. “I’m bisexual.”

“I’m sorry. I just assumed...”
I trail off, embarrassed.

“Don’t be, it’s not a big
deal.”

“Do you prefer men over
women?”

“I don’t have a preference. I
fall in love with the person, the individual, not their gender.”

“That makes sense. I guess I
just never really thought about it that way.” I grin at him.

“When you had it out with
Airen, is that when he found out?” I nod. “Thought so,” he croons with a self-satisfied
smirk. “Do me a favor and keep the fact I also date women just between us for
now.”

I study him, confused. “I
suppose, but why?”

“I prefer his new attitude
toward me.”

“He really doesn’t care about
your sexuality.”

“Humor me then,” he replies
with a knowing smile.

I’ll never understand these
men.

At dinner, Airen and Joseph
dominate the conversation with their discussion of solar power. Joseph believes
if he can get the right equipment and hardware, we can use solar panels to
provide power to the entire house. They’re both excited.

“We could be much better off
by next winter,” Airen comments.

“Are we staying here forever?”
Walker pipes up. Leave it to the youngest to get to the heart of things.

“For as long as you want to.”
Airen winks at him.

Well, that’s settled then.

* * *
*

March comes in like a lamb
with warmer temperatures and dry, sunny days. It’s been such a hard few weeks
we’re all ready for some fun. We spend the day with the kids, playing Frisbee,
hiking, and just enjoying the outdoors. I make pizza, which is a rare treat
since we have a limited supply of cheese. Joseph hooks up the DVD player in
Carson’s room so the kids can spend the night watching movies and camping out
on his floor in sleeping bags. Airen and Joseph have taken a trip to the video
store in the next town and brought back some movies for us as well.

“What do you feel like?” Airen
asks, handing me the stack.

“Getting shit-faced drunk,” I
reply. He jerks his head up to meet my eyes and laughs in surprise.

“You never drink!”

“It’s been a difficult month
and an extremely long winter. I want to celebrate the end of it.”

“What do you want to drink?”

“What do we have?” After
looking through numerous beverages my apparently alcoholic roommates have
amassed, I choose a fifth of cinnamon schnapps. They break out a fifth of
whiskey, and we start doing shots. Airen stops after a few, but Joseph and I
toss them back like drunken fraternity boys. We’re getting torn up.

“Have another, man,” Joseph
offers Airen.

“No thanks. I’ve got a good
buzz, and I need to keep an eye on this one.” He smirks, gesturing to me, and they
both laugh.

“She looks like a
lightweight,” Joseph teases.

“You can both kiss the fattest
part of my ass.”

“Quite the mouth on her when
she’s drunk,” Joseph says in admiration as they both laugh again.

“I’ve learned the hard way not
to cross her, drunk or sober,” Airen admits, gazing at me in amusement.

“I’m not drunk,” I say,
laughing along with them. When I pick up the movies Airen chose, I really have
to laugh. “Seriously? The Stand? Outbreak? Andromeda Strain?” Airen flashes his
charming ‘you know you like it’ smile and shrugs. He thinks he’s hilarious.
Joseph is still grinning when I pick up his choices and flip through them.
“What are you laughing at?” I giggle. “Yours are no better. Weekend at
Bernie’s? What are we, twelve?”

“It’s a classic!” he cries
defensively, which sets me off, and I laugh until I have to pee. When I return,
we finally agree on a comedy.

“Anyone want some leftover
pizza?” Airen heads toward the kitchen. Joseph and I refuse, and I spring from
my seat while Airen’s out of the room. Whew, maybe a little too quickly, the
room shifts under me, and it takes me a moment to find my equilibrium again.

“Are you okay? What are you
doing?” Joseph questions as I quickly change the DVD.

“Shh, don’t let him hear. I
found this a few weeks ago. Airen had a part in a movie called Dancers United
where he played a stripper. I’ve been waiting to tease him with it.”

Joseph grins and covers his mouth.
“He’s going to kill you.”

I skip forward, pausing the
disc when I see a slightly younger Airen appear on the screen in a fireman’s
hat and uniform. When he comes back into the room, Joseph and I are knocking
back another shot and trying to act innocent. We settle on the couch, one on
each side of Airen. The look on his face after I push play is priceless. He
blushes a bright red and tries to jump up to turn it off, but we’re ready for
that. I dive onto his lap and hold him down while Joseph grips his arm.

“Where the hell? How did you?”
he sputters.

“It’s a classic,” I exclaim,
and Joseph and I try to laugh ourselves into a stroke. Airen tries not to smile
while onscreen Airen rips off his shirt, revealing a magnificent six pack, and gyrates
against a column on the stage.

“A little fond of that post,
aren’t you?” Joseph taunts him while tears roll down his face from laughing.

“You two are going to pay for
this,” he threatens with a grin on his face.

“Oh, don’t be like that. I
never knew you could dance so...rhythmically.”

He flashes me a seductive
sideways grin just dripping with sex. “If you wanted to see me dance naked, all
you had to do was ask,” he says in a low sensual voice that would make any girl
rip off her panties.

Oh fuck...this just backfired
on me. I try desperately to control the expression on my face, which isn’t easy
considering I’m drunk and instantly turned on. My face heats up as I try to
play it off.

Airen sits back and pretends
to relax, draping his leg across his knee, and staring at me in amusement. “Pay
attention! You don’t want to miss this next part. It gets better.” He winks
with an arrogant smirk on his face. “That goes for you too, buddy,” he cracks,
addressing a suddenly red-faced Joseph.

This has backfired on both of
us. Onscreen Airen pulls off his break away pants to reveal a tiny blue thong,
and I nearly gasp out loud. His abs are incredible, and his sculpted chest is
rock hard. The flex of his well-defined thigh muscles is overwhelmingly hot,
but I gawk at his groin with abandon. I can’t help myself. He’s spectacular,
and he can move in ways I’ve been trying not to imagine.

“Woo-hoo!” Joseph hoots,
breaking my trance and carrying me back to reality where Airen is giving me a
sly smile.

His scent wraps around me as
he leans to whisper in my ear. “See something you like, sweetheart?” I have to
pull myself together.

“What did you use to stuff
that thong? Or was it padded?” I ask flippantly, pushing him away.

“That’s all me.”

“Okay,” Joseph interrupts.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but you have to show me the workout you used to
get abs like that.” His remark breaks the tension, and we all laugh again.

As I take the DVD out of the
player, Mr. Conceited speaks up. “Don’t lose that! You know you’ll want to
watch it again.”

I just chuckle and shake my
head, too drunk to sound convincing if I try to deny it. “I need another shot,”
I say instead. Or two. Or ten.

I don’t remember parts of what
happened after that. Joseph and I were trashed. I remember Airen putting on the
music, and we were all dancing and acting silly. Joseph picked up Jayla’s video
camera and began recording us. We all ended up holding the camera at one point
or another until the low battery indicator started to flash. I plugged it into
a charger on my dresser and promptly forgot its existence.

The last thing I recall is
being on the porch outside of my room, and Airen telling me he was putting me
to bed. It’s almost noon when I wake with a pounding headache and stumble out
to the kitchen to get a sports drink.

“Good morning, party animal,” Joseph
says with a grin.

I glare at him. “You drank
more than I did. How are you so chipper?”

“I’m not a lightweight. Some
people can handle their alcohol.”

“Yeah, alcoholics. Where is
everybody?”

“The kids just ate lunch, and
Airen went out to play ball with them.”

Good, I have time to let the
Tylenol kick in. I shuffle to my room to lie back down while a brass band plays
in my skull. Jayla’s video camera sits on my dresser with the green light
shining. I vaguely recall plugging it in and must have left it recording.

Unplugging it from the wall, I
settle on the bed to see what fools Joseph and I made of ourselves the night
before. After rewinding back to the beginning, I press play. It’s pretty much
what I expect to see, and I remember most of it. We’re dancing, laughing and
teasing each other, and then we’re on the porch, trying to sober me up. Now I’m
interested, since this is when my memory gets fuzzy.

I watch myself come in, put
the camera on charge, and head back out to the porch. It’s just recording my
empty room. I can see the bed and part of the dresser, dimly lit by the battery
powered lantern on my night stand. I fast forward, expecting to see myself pass
out on the bed. Oh no, Airen has to help me to the bed. I’m wasted. He laughs
as he takes off my shoes and tells me to lie down.

“I’ll get you some water,” he says.
He’s only gone for a couple of minutes, but that’s apparently long enough for
me to become completely disoriented. He hands me the water and turns to leave.

“It’s dark in here,” I moan,
and he turns up the lantern a little. “Am I in my room?” My voice is slurred.