She disappears right as the elevator doors slide open. Felix steps out. The buttons of his shirt are half undone and the collar has lipstick stains. His hair is messy. No doubt he has Harper naked upstairs.
Felix halts at the sight of me. “For fuck’s sake. Dan and Ally? Really? Pathetic. Get out of here, Tyler.”
Keeping my hands in my pockets, I shrug,maintaining my calm. I’m tired of fighting with my brother and won’t let this encounter turn into an argument. “I needed some way to get you to talk to me.”
“To beg for my forgiveness again?” he drones.
“No. I had Killian, Dan, and Ally at my place for dinner tonight. It felt wrong without you there.”
He brushes a piece of lint off his shoulder, bored by my statement. “That’s what you came here to say?”
“Yes. Listen, I’m not here to fuck anything up between you and Harper. I’m not here to talk about her at all. I came to say I miss you, man. I’m not asking for things to go back to how they were. I’m just asking that you stop hating me because…” I sigh and speak the god’s honest truth. “I need you in my life, okay? As my brother.”
His boredom doesn’t shift. He watches me like my presence is a hindrance.
I really hate this side of Felix and groan with frustration. I didn’t come here to fight, but of course that’s exactly what we’re doing. “Youwantto be angry at me. Youwantto make me suffer. Trust me, I’ve been suffering for eight fucking years.”
“Oh, really?” His words are amused and condescending. “You’ve had Harper to yourself all that time. The way I see it, you’ve had things pretty fucking good. Now, it’s my time with her. She’smineand you won’t ever fucking touch her again. You think you’ve been suffering? Your suffering hasn’t started until now. It’s your turn to watch me be the one who makes Harper happy. You’ll get to watch her be pregnant withmychild.” He laughs beneath his breath, the tone vicious. “If I’m feeling nice,maybe I’ll let you watch me fuck her pregnant. I know you’re into that shit.”
“Fuck you.”
“We’re done here.” Felix presses the elevator button.
“I told you I didn’t come here to talk about Harper. But sinceyoumade this about her, I’ll say one thing. You’re delusional if you think the two of you will be happy in the long run. Give it time. You’ll soon realize no combination works unless it’s the three of us.”
He laughs again. “Youcouldn’t make a relationship work with Harper. I won’t make the same mistakes with her you did.”
“She might be happy with you for a while, but deep down, you know she’ll never truly be satisfied without both of us. We fulfill different needs of hers.Iwas never happy withoutyou.”
Felix steps into the elevator. “Almost a decade has passed. We were different people back then.Iwill fulfill any need Harper has.”
The door slides shut but I stick my arm out, forcing the elevator to remain open. He wants to play dirty? I can play right back. “Harper’s heart willneverchange. But it’s not just her heart that needs satisfying, and you know it. The only time Harper was ever truly satisfied was when she was working up a sweat, bouncing on both of our cocks at once. I know how muchyouenjoyed those moments. You acted like I was the sick fuck, but I never saw you enjoy yourself more than when we fucked her together. So, go ahead and live in delusion. I know it’s only a matter of time before I’m filling her pussy whileyou fuck her ass.”
His jaw twitches as his eyes throw daggers at me. “Get your arm out of my fucking elevator.”
I step back, knowing I’ve gotten under his skin. As much as Felix tries to hide behind anger, he likes what I described. But as the elevator slides closed, I’m left staring at my reflection in the steel doors, wondering if I’ve made everything one hundred times worse between us.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
FELIX
“Fuck!” I slam the door shut as soon as I return upstairs from the encounter with Tyler.
I will make Harper happy, I tell myself.Don’t let that asshole mess with your head.
“Felix, what’s happened?” Harper calls to me from our bedroom.
“Nothing. Just some shit with… Theo.”
Taking a deep breath to compose myself, I join Harper. She’s sitting in our bed, naked beneath the sheets, right where I left her. We’re having an early and quiet night, asRomeo and Julietopens tomorrow and Harper needs to preserve her energy. We were about to fall asleep right before I got the message from my doorman that Ally and Dan were downstairs needing to speak with me.
Harper watches me closely, knowing me too well to believe the lie. “Theo gets you this heated? Is this something to do with Tyler?”
I sigh, stripping out of my clothes and climbingnaked into bed with her. “Yes. It was Tyler downstairs. But everything is fine.”
“Clearly it’s not. What did he say?”
“The same shit he always says. I’m putting him from my mind. Let’s go to sleep.” I draw Harper into my arms, hugging her tight and stroking her hair.
