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Daniel laughed a bit and stood from the couch to smoke his way over. He offered Hunter his hand to shake, returning his smile. “Yeah, well, I knew you’d try to and wanted to get to it first,” he joked. “And Sterling and Thomas should be down any moment now.”
“Thomas is on that school trip to the camp, remember, hun?” Marie reminded her husband gently. “So it will just be us and the two kids tonight.”
Sterling. Eden stiffened, but it went unnoticed by the adults. Her parents never mentioned they were visiting the Ainsley’s. If they had, she would made an excuse to not come.
“Ah, this is my daughter, Eden,” Hunter introduced, reaching out to ruffle her hair. Eden scowled, but forced a calm expression on her features. “She’s the younger twin.”
Eden looked at the Ainsleys and bowed her head.
“Hello,” she greeted in a low voice. “It’s nice to meet you.”
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The Ainsleys smiled over at Eden, and Marie reached out to shake the younger woman’s hand.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Eden,” Marie said. She looked her over for a moment before turning tohee parents. “She has your eyes, Kenzie. And your nose, Hunter.”
Eden looked at Marie’s hand for a second before hesitantly clasping it, grateful that they didn’t comment on anything else.
“She’s actually pretty moody,” Hunter teased, causing Eden to glare at him. “We don’t know where that came from.”
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Marie and Daniel chuckled, and a “What’s funny?” was called down the stairs. A moment later, Sterling was making his way down, dressed in jeans and a dark T-shirt. His eyes lighted on Eden, and he blinked in surprise.
“Sterling! Nice if you to finally join us,” his father teased. “This is Hunter and McKenzie McArthur, and their daughter Eden.”
Sterling nodded in greeting to the adults before turning to Eden. “I know Eden. We have a few classes together.”
Eden’s eyes fell on Sterling, looking over him for a few seconds before she turned away, her face betraying nothing. She wanted to go home.
“Oh? Eden didn’t mention that,” Hunter tilted his head. “Well, that’s excellent. Anyway, it’s nice to officially meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you from your father.”
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“You as well, sir. It’s good to meet you,” Sterling greeted him.
“I have food set it on the table if everyone is ready,” Marie mentioned, gesturing toward the dining room.
Eden swallowed thickly, running her fingers through her hair. She looked at her father, who patted her gently on the head and bent down.
“Just eat as much as you can,” he murmured quietly. “Don’t force yourself. And please, try to have fun.”
Eden merely nodded.
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Sterling watched Eden out of the corner of his eye as he made his way into the kitchen along with the others. She seemed to have tensed yo when he arrive, and he definitely wasn’t surprised about it. She didn’t like him, he knew that. And for good reason, too.
Eden poked her food as the adults talked and joked around, reminiscing about their younger days. She barely paid any attention, her stomach lurching, the bruises on her stomach throbbing again. She had tended to them after she got home and taken a nap, but it would take a while before they fully healed.
Eden was painfully aware of Sterling’s eyes on her, but she pretended otherwise, turning her attention to her barely eaten plate of food.
“Leo was rather upset when I mentioned to him that we’d be going to you first,” Hunter commented, eyes crinkling in amusement. “He was just ready to drop his work and return so he could visit.”
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Daniel chuckled and lifted his glass to his lips, taking a sip of his way before speaking. “Ah, Leo… How is he? I haven’t gotten to speak to him in a while. He and Willow have a daughter, right? Ashley?”
“They do,” Hunter nodded, swallowing his food before soeaking. “Actually, she and my son, Lucas, are dating. It did come out as a surprise when they had announced their relationship. It was only yesterday that they were born.”
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“Oh, really? Well, they’ll all have to come over sometime. Maybe we could all get together,” Daniel mused.
Sterling’s gaze flickered to his father for a moment, then looked back down at his plate. He took a few bites of food before his father spoke to him.
“Sterling, you’ve hardly said a word. At least talk to Eden. You already know her.”
Eden looked up when her name was spoken, pausing from messing with her food. Her eyes locked with Sterling’s for a brief second before she brought them back on her plate. She took a small bite of her food, chewing slowly.
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Sterling cleared his throat quietly, then took another bite. He watched Eden as he chewed, looking down after a moment. “So… Hows your homework been, Eden?”
Eden paused, dark eyes rising to look at her classmate. Really? Homework?
“Decent,” she answered after a while, knowing she couldn’t be disrespectful in front of her parents. “How have you been coping? Rather difficult managing after missing a lot of work.”
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Sterling shrugged, stopping he fork that was halfway to his mouth. "Is not bad, actually. Most of this is review for me."
Eden bit back a roll of her eyes, looking back at her plate. She chewed on her bottom lip–she knew she should be eating. At least half of what was on her plate, but she couldn't bring herself to. Bile rose to her throat and she looked away.
"Good for you…" she murmured, mostly to herself. Hunter gave his daughter a concerned look before turning his attention towards Sterling.
"So, Sterling," he smiled. "What are your plans for the future? Terrible question to ask, but it's a start."
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Sterlinc chuckled and shook his head, giving the other man a grin. "It's not a terrible question. It's actually a good one… In the future, I'd like to become a lawer, like my father. Hopefully marry a wonderful woman and start a family of my own."
(Eden is a very wonderful woman, Sterling)
(Isn't she? :P)
"That sounds wonderful," Hunter hummed in agreement. "I also wanted to marry a wonderful woman and start a family. Though I married an extraordinary woman… I can't say the same for my children. Eden, as you can see, is quite a troublemaker."
"Hilarious, dad," his daughter responded drily. "Also, talking like that doesn't make you sound professional."
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"Hunter, stop bragging about me!" Kenzie laughed, playfully swatting at her husband. "What have I told you about that?"
Sterling's gaze was drawn back toward Eden as her parents spoke — it was more like flirting, but whatever. He examined her with a guarded expression, curious but not willing to show it in front of his parents. Who knew what would happen if their parents found out he was actually interested in Eden?
"Who else would I brag about if not you?" Hunter laughed back, grabbing his wife's hand gently. "I need to show off my amazing wife."
At this point, Eden decided following her parents' conversation would get her nowhere, so she turned her attention elsewhere.
Only to feel eyes on herself. The hair on the back of her neck stood erect and she slowly lifted her head to meet Sterling's eyes. His gaze on her was far too intense for her liking. Though he wore a guarded expression… she quirked a smooth eyebrow, trying to ignore the way her toes curled.
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She met his eyes. She met his eyes, and she wasn't frowning at her. Granted, she was smirking, but that only added to her allure for him. This girl was truly a mystery, wasn't she?
Sterling smirked right back at her and stuck a bite of food into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed, wondering about the mysterious girl across from him. What has caused her to be so on guard?
What did he want from her? Eden couldn’t point her finger at it. He didn’t want a higher position in the hierarchy, she knew. He didn’t want to be the one who bring her down. So what exactly did he want from her?
Then he smirked, his lips twitching upwards in amusement and Eden found herself blinking, staring at his mouth before she finally rolled her eyes and shook her head lightly. She was just about ready to go home now, though she knew there was a long way to go.
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(I think I meant smiled, but I was writing that when I was half asleep last night. Lol. I fell asleep writing that response. XD)
Dinner finished up relatively quietly. The adults continued to talk, Hunter kept flirting with his wife and she kept trying to get him to stop. It seemed like this was a normal occurrence for them, which didn't surprise Sterling at all. They seemed very good at it.
(That’s okay! 🤣)
“Next weekend’s dinner is on us,” Hunter said, his hand rubbing his wife’s gently. Eden barely managed to hold back her groan. Dealing Sterling at school was too much, and now she had to survive even weekends in his presence? “This time, I’m sure all of our children would be present.”
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Sterling’s parents nodded and stood up to hug Hunter and Kenzie ‘goodbye’. He simply started clearing the table off, unsure of how to speak to Eden without her just hating him more.
“It was great seeing you again,” Marie said as she reased McKenzie from a hug.
The other woman smiled back, nodding her agreement. “It was. I’ll be glad to see you all again soon. Like Hunter said, next time it’s on us.”
"Thank you for having us today," Eden said politely, relieved to be going home. She stood up from her seat, noticing Sterling beginning to clear off the table. Biting down on her lip, she started to help, finding it only polite to do so.
