Almost Easy (Sinister Ascent Book 1) Read online

  “Don’t marry her.”

  “Chloe..”

  “No really Zane, I love you, I know you feel something for me, if you didn’t you wouldn’t come see me before going home.”

  I knew that I was going to have to be harsh with her to make her stop. I would hate breaking her heart, but I didn’t need her pining away for me and living on false hope. I just hoped that once I did this that we could still be friends. After all I was doing this for her even though she wouldn’t see it that way.

  “Chloe, I don’t have feelings for you other than friendship. The reason I come to you before going home is because you’re good in the sack. That’s all this ever was, I love you like a friend but I don’t want anything permanent with you, and I’m getting married in a few days.”

  “Please don’t marry her Zee.”

  “Chloe, don’t do this,” I whispered watching the last bit of hope in her eyes die, “I’m getting married, if I have to stop fucking you so be it.”

  I watched all the blood drain from her face turning her pale. I cursed under my breath knowing I went a step to far and not knowing what to do to back track. Before I could think of something to say, Chloe turned grabbing my clothes and tossing them at me before going to her room and shutting the door. Even when she was pissed off and hurt she wouldn’t slam it. That wasn’t the type of woman she was. I slowly got dressed hating myself the entire time, but I really was doing that for her. I was getting married and she couldn’t keep her hopes up about me. Once I was dressed I went to her door and walked out of her apartment to head home. All the while fearing that I had just lost something really important to me.

  CHLOE

  I heard the front door shut signaling to me that he had left. I hated the way I felt when he was gone. I hated myself for giving in to him even when I knew that he only wanted me for my body. I hated that he was engaged and I was the other woman. What I hated the most was that he knew that I loved him and he used that to get what he wanted from me. I could never say no to him, and honestly I didn’t want to. Being connected to him even if only for a few minutes was worth it all. I got up from my bed wiping my eyes as I went. I wasn’t going to allow myself to cry all night. Zane had already stolen enough tears from me, and I wasn’t going to allow that to happen tonight. It wasn’t as if he forced me to fuck him. I could have told him no at any moment, but I didn’t. Because I didn’t want to. So there was no reason for me to sit here and cry tears, that wouldn’t solve anything, and would give me a headache.

  I dried my eyes and turned the water in the shower on hot. I never felt the need to wash Zane off of me after he left, but I did right now. That was probably due to him making me feel like a slut before he left. He had cheapened what we shared together, and I needed his smell off of me. As the water heated up I walked to the sink to brush my teeth, I could still taste him and I wanted him gone. After tonight I knew that he would never be mine. Up until this moment I had lived with some hope that we could be together. In less than a few minutes, and with only a few words he had destroyed all my hope. All I could do now was pick myself up and keep moving. I was so tired of trying to get Zane to see me as something other than his friend that he had sex with. Now I didn’t have to do that anymore. We would continue to be friends, because he had been my best friend since we were kids, but I wouldn’t sleep with him anymore.

  I hopped in the scorching hot water of the shower and grabbed my loofah to scrub my body. The more I scrubbed my body the more I thought about everything I was letting go. I wasn’t sure that it would feel great letting the love of my life go, but it would free me from the pain of the past twelve years. I knew that I would always love Zane, but it was time for me to finally move on. Blaze had already offered to help me, and maybe I should let him. Although I wasn’t sure about his idea. It was scary, and might cause a rift between all of us that would be unrepairable. I just needed more time to think about it all. I had to admit that his plan was a good one. Though I didn’t agree with him on certain things. Blaze’s idea was that it would drive Zane insane with jealousy and that he would come running back to me. I doubted that, Zane didn’t want me like that, and he never would. The reason I was considering Blaze’s idea was so that I could earn back some of my dignity. Once I realized that I was scrubbing my skin raw I dropped the loofah. I quickly rinsed myself off and wrapped a huge towel around myself. A burst of steam followed me out as I walked out of the bathroom. I quickly tossed a baggy shirt over myself and fell into bed. I wanted to drown out my thoughts with sleep. It was one of the only places where my thoughts didn’t drive me insane.

  This time it didn’t work. As soon as my eyes closed all I saw was Zane. I could hear him breathing heavily in my ear, as he thrust inside of me. I groaned and rolled over on my bed and punched my pillow. I knew trying to get sleep tonight was pointless. It was always this way on the nights that he came over. I both loved these nights and hated them. I loved them because being connected to him was worth everything to me. At the same time I hated them because when he left me, like he always did as soon as he was done, I would be racked with shame. I might not know if I was going to agree with Blaze’s plan, but I was damn sure going to start distancing myself until Zane was married. He would always be my best friend, and I needed to get us back to a place where we could hang out like we used to without falling into bed together. Once he was married it would be easier for me to do that, because there was no way in hell I was going to sleep with a married man.

  2

  ZANE

  I sat on my couch staring blindly at the t.v and wishing that I could turn back time. It had been three days since I had killed every dream that Chloe had, and I haven’t heard from her since. I relived that moment every second since then and I realized there were so many different ways that I could have handled it. A way that I could have gotten my point across without shattering the heart of my best friend, and making her feel like a high end call girl. I called her over ten times and sent endless text messages but other than a quick message from her saying she was too busy to talk, I haven’t heard from her. This posed a huge problem since Chloe was my best man. It might have seemed weird that she would be playing this role in my wedding, but she really was my best friend and any time I needed her she was there. Now that we weren’t really talking I wasn’t sure what to do, not only was I worried that she wouldn’t stand at my side on my wedding day, but now I wasn’t sure that I would be getting a bachelor party as well. Honestly I would give up the bachelor party willingly if it bought my forgiveness from Chloe, but I would probably have better luck learning to fly then getting that one wish.

  A loud banging noise shattered through the silence of my house and pulled me out of my deep thoughts. I looked towards the ceiling knowing that I was alone in the house, and that sound had definitely came from my bedroom upstairs. I quickly got up grabbing my baseball bat on the way upstairs, hoping that whoever the hell was up there didn’t have a better weapon then I did. Once I was near my bedroom door I pushed my back against the wall feeling like a horrible rendition of James Bond but without the super skills that would leave me undetected. The thought had me stifling a laugh and thinking how Chloe would find that just as funny. Fuck I missed her, I never went this long without talking to her. I heard another crash and pushed all thoughts of Chloe away. Now was not the time to think about this, there was someone in my house.

  I reached out to push the door to my bedroom open but before I could someone grabbed me from behind and a black pillow case was put over my head. I fought my attacker with all of my might letting out a string of curses as I tried getting free. However, whoever the hell was gripping me was built like a fucking truck, and although I wasn’t a small man I was no match for this hulk like fucker who had me. I felt myself being pulled back down the stairs and out the back door. It only made sense that whoever the hell this was wouldn’t take me out the front. Someone might see that right in broad daylight that I was being kidnapped. The fear didn’t kick in
until I was pushed into a car. Panic began to crawl up my spine as my body broke out in chills. I was after all a famous person and could probably be used for some sort of ransom. Hell they could cut off any body part of my body that they wanted to send as proof that they had me. Just as I was formulating a shit load of obscene things that could be done to me the pillow was pulled away and I was looking into the laughing eyes of my three fellow band mates.

  “What the hell!” I yelled waiting for my heart rate to go back down to normal.

  “Sorry it was Chloe’s idea.” Blaze said sheepishly.

  At that moment Chloe turned around in the driver’s seat and caught my eyes. “You didn’t think that I would let you get married without giving you a party did you?”

  “Honestly I did, but that shit was pretty awesome.” I said through a laugh.

  Chloe sent me a smirk and a wink before turning back around to start the car. Once we were moving to wherever the hell we were going I let myself start to think over what Chloe was doing for me. It was probably like ripping her own heart out, but she was doing it for me. And I was going to hurt her beyond words when I vowed myself to another woman with Chloe standing at my side. Why the hell didn’t I think about that before I asked her to be my best man? It wasn’t fair to her, I hadn’t thought about what it would do to her to not only watch me marry another woman, but to actually be a part of the wedding party. Even if I wanted to change who my best man was I couldn’t do it now without raising suspicion from my fiancé. She had never thought that there was anything other than friendship going on between Chloe and I, but she would want to know why I was changing my best man at the last minute. And I was a big enough asshole to not do anything about it. Because even though it would hurt Chloe, I didn’t want to risk the fight that was going to happen. It was better for her to get hurt then for me to hurt myself. Hell I already hurt Chloe more than should be humanly possible, so what was one more betrayal to her in the long run?

  I came back to the present when Chloe pulled into a huge ass parking lot and then went on a hunt for an empty space. I looked around trying to figure out where I was but it was impossible to figure out. There was just a big ass building with no name on it. Finally after ten minutes Chloe found a spot and parked the car and we all got out. I went up in an attempt to get close to Chloe, but Blaze beat me to it. I frowned seeing how close the two were walking with each other, then clenched my teeth when I heard Chloe laugh at something that he had said to her. It was insane to think that I was jealous, Chloe could be with whoever the hell she wanted to be with, even if that person was one of my best friends and band mates. Hell I would be happy as fuck if she started dating someone, that would ease some of the guilt I was feeling.

  “Where the hell are we?” I asked once we got to the doors and Chloe handed the big man at the door tickets for all of us.

  “You’ll see,” Chloe responded in a voice that I recognized as her bedroom voice. Had Blaze turned her on? Or was she just being coy with me?

  I didn’t have time to think it through because as soon as we walked through the doors I finally saw where we were. I broke out laughing and lost my breath all at once. Only Chloe would know that I wouldn’t want to go to a strip club on a day like this. No this beautiful, amazing, sweet woman had brought me to a damn MMA fight. I would always be in my band, and I loved it more than anything, but I had always dabbled in mixed martial arts, and every so often I did amateur fights. In a sense Chloe was giving me something I loved before sending me into the life of a settled down married man.

  “This is fucking awesome!” I yelled pulling her into my arms for a hug.

  I heard her breathe deep and knew that she was inhaling me, as her cheek rubbed against my shirt. I couldn’t understand why this woman wasn’t everything I wanted when it was obvious that I was everything that she wanted. And she knew me better than anyone else, god she went out of her way to do things for me. Even though she knew that she couldn’t have me, she went out of her way to give me these last few good memories before my wedding, something that we could both enjoy before there was a drastic change in our relationship. I let her bury her face in my neck as I rested my chin on the top of her head. She always felt so right in my arms. There were certain times where I would touch her and would never want to let her go. This was one of those times. But I would let her go, because there was one thing I knew for sure, we could never be together. Not only did I not have feelings for her like that, but she was too good for me.

  “I’m glad you like it. I wanted to do something for you that I knew you would like,” She responded pulling out of my arms.

  “You hit it dead on. This is great.”

  “Just wait, I have a surprise for you.” She sent me a wink before walking away to our seats.

  I watched her go feeling something new inside me for her. It was insane to have this happen this close to my wedding, so I smartly pushed the feelings back down and went to take my seat. Before I could grab the available chair next to Chloe, Blaze swooped in and took it. My teeth clenched, but I let it go. Hadn’t I just told myself that it would make me happy if she was with another man? I wasn’t going to let this bother me, I would be happy for her and let her move on, just like she’s letting me get married. She knew it was what I wanted and she wouldn’t stop me, so I would do the same for her. That’s what friends did for each other. I needed to stop thinking about this shit. Today was supposed to be for me and I wasn’t going to let anything ruin my fun, not to mention all the hard work Chloe went through to put all this together. Though I was really curious to know what her surprise for me was. If I knew Chloe as much as I thought I did, then I knew that whatever she had planned for me would be something I would love and never forget.

  “I’m going to go get us some drinks. What does everyone want?” Chloe asked rising to her feet.

  Everyone gave her their orders and I realized that she would have a hard time carrying all of that back. I was about to offer to help her when Blaze once again got to his feet and beat me to it. My eyes followed their backs as they walked up the stairs to the stadium to where the food and drinks were being sold. I wasn’t sure what the hell this new development that was going on between Blaze and Chloe was, but I was damn sure that I didn’t like it. Although I wasn’t sure why it was bothering me so damn much, I didn’t have any feelings for Chloe other than ones of friendship and I liked how good she was in bed. Chloe deserved to be happy and in a relationship with someone who would treat her right, way better than I ever have. But did it have to be Blaze? Fuck, it could be anyone as long as she moved on from me. The back and forth of my own thoughts was making me dizzy. Once again I was pulled out of my thoughts when I saw the very sexy woman come out holding up the sign saying that the fight was about to begin.

  I was so focused on the fight that I barely noticed Blaze and Chloe come back and only became aware of it because Chloe stopped to hand me my beer. I sent her a small smile before giving my full attention back to the fight that was going on in front of me. The punches were brutal, the sound of flesh hitting flesh sent my heart pounding, and the smell of blood and sweat made me long to get into the cage myself. It took an hour and two beers before the fight was over and there was an intermission. I sat back in my seat and found Chloe’s eyes to send her a huge smile. This night was turning out way better than I had originally thought.

  “This is fucking great Chloe,”

  “I’m glad you’re having fun.” She replied sending me a secretive smile.

  I was confused by it until I heard the announcer calling my name. Shocked my eyes went back towards the ring where I saw the same sexy as hell woman walking around the ring holding a sign that said my name on it. I laughed hard when I saw that underneath my name there was a picture of handcuffs around a man’s leg. I was still in shock and made no move to get up, earning Chloe to get to her feet and point to me.

  “This is him.”

  Everyone’s attention turned to me on her declaration. I
got to my feet laughing and giving her a huge smile when I was met by two guys who pulled me into the ring. Once in there I was sat down wondering what the hell Chloe had gotten me into, but knowing that it would be something I would never forget. No one knew me better than her, and she was always doing random things for me that were experiences I would always cherish and this would be one of them. I caught her eyes in the crowd and saw her smiling at me before she sent me another wink. Just what the hell had she gotten me into? I was left sitting in a chair in the middle of the ring for over five minutes giving my mind enough time to run through many different scenarios. Chloe was a very interesting person and could have done many different things for me. The one I thought that made the most sense to me, would be for her to set it up so that I could fight. That was something I was either really excited about, or really nervous. A fight could honestly go either way, one being me running out the door to avoid getting my ass beat with my friend’s laughter ringing out behind me. However, I was a trained MMA fighter, and could probably hold my own. It was just that these fighters were way more advanced than I was, and they could most likely floor me in five seconds flat.

  Once again I let my eyes scan the crowd, shifting through the crowd of rowdy fans waiting like I was to see what was in store for me. After a few seconds my eyes found Chloe. She was laughing at something Blaze was saying to her. I felt my teeth grind together as I clenched my jaw. Why the hell were the two of them acting like a fucking couple? After what felt like hours Chloe lifted her eyes and found me staring at her. She sent me a wink and mouthed that the fun was about to begin. As if on cue the lights dimmed and music began. Right before my eyes three of the hottest women I had ever laid eyes on walked in front of me. They were the models that held the signs during intermission of matches, and they were clad in tiny bikinis. Then the best part began, they started dancing for me. A smirk overtook my face as I leaned back in my chair making myself comfortable.