Faith and Lies (Vera Reid, Reid Family Book #2)

Part 35

"Good Morning!"

The sound of Vera's voice was followed instantly by the sound of ice being crushed loudly, and unnecessarily, in her blender. Slowly, because it felt like he would instantly disintegrate, Tom opened an eye. Where was he? And why did he feel like he was being crushed down into the ground. 

Before he could answer that question, he felt the weight shift and so he closed the lone eye once again, trying to relax into the soft cushions that surrounded him. 

"Hello!" Vera's voice came back, this time as she slammed down a heavy pan onto the glass stove top. She knew she should be more careful but she was much too irritated to care about scratching or damaging it. She was so mad, she was willing to toss all her appliances out the window and pay for new ones... just for the satisfaction of hearing something break. 

"Stop..." Edwin muttered, rolling over again and pulling a pillow over his face. "Please..."

But Vera wasn't about to listen. Instead she once again filled the blender with ice before continuing to bang as many pots and pans around carefully. 

"Time to wake up." She muttered, more to herself this time as she wandered into her bedroom. She stared down at the two men in her bed, awkwardly sprawled, Tom with one shoe missing and Edwin wrapped up in the giant comforter. As if it wasn't bad enough that Ben had dumped them on her so drunk they could barely walk, the two idiots had made it to her bedroom and helped themselves into her bed before she could even process the scene. 

She'd tried over and over to drag them out, push them off, shake them vigorously to get them to wake up... but in the end, she was the one who ended up on her sofa, absolutely fuming and unsure what to do. She could insist, continue to push and kick, and prod and move... but instead she tried her hardest not to dump buckets of water on them. 

She was so mad that she had actually considered it, actually considered spilling water on Tom just to get him out of her apartment. She couldn't help it... it enraged her just to think of him. How could it be that the man who had betrayed her was now asleep in her bed? How could even drunk Tom think that it was okay? Why did it feel like she was being taken advantage of again? 

She grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, raising the volume all the way...

"I said..." She began, preparing to repeat herself even louder but that's when she felt an arm curl around her waist and she let out a soft cry of surprise. "What are you..."

"Shhhh, just pipe down and go to sleep." Tom said, pulling her onto the bed and holding her firmly against him. Vera was still. No, this wasn't real. This couldn't possibly be real. She was not being spooned by a drunk and passed out Tom as her "husband" lay vertically and snoring. 

"Tom... let... stop." She said, trying to wiggle out of his grasp like some caged animal. It was funny, or at least anyone watching from across the room might find it funny. Both men practically dead, and Vera flailing her arms and legs around as much as she could in an effort to wiggle away. 

Eventually, Tom began to snore and his grip relaxed enough to allow her to slip down off the mattress and onto the floor. 

Vera sat for several moments, leaning against the bed as she caught her breath. The feeling was overwhelming. She couldn't describe it. Something between hatred and anger... and pain, and embarrassment and shock... how did he do this? How did he do it? 

The two seconds she'd been in Tom's arms were enough. She stood, trying to brush off the warmth and sense of security she'd imagined  as Tom held her. No, she was angry. She had a right to be angry, she had a right to feel betrayed and wronged and so, in her mind, the next move was completely justified...