Authors: Emma Hart
Braden laughs and wraps an arm around her shoulders. “Maddie is already buying mine.”
Megan kisses his cheek. “Happy birthday, stud. And no, she's not.” She looks at me. “I'll buy breakfast.”
“Megs-” I argue.
“You can buy dinner.”
“It's only gonna be pizza.” Braden turns his blue eyes to me and smiles.
“Pizza is fine by me. I love pizza.” She turns and flounces down the hall to the elevator.
“Uh, Meggy?” Braden raises an eyebrow and takes my hand. “Is it just the three of us?”
“Don't be silly. Lila, Ryan and Aston are already downstairs.”
“Let me guess – Kay's still out?” I roll my eyes.
“Of course she is,” Megan says it like I shouldn't even have to ask.
I shouldn't have to ask, to be honest.
The elevator doors ping open, and I spy the others sitting by the main doors. Aston looks like he'd rather be anywhere other than here, Ryan looks like he needs more sleep than he's got, and Lila looks like Lila. She's the only morning person out of us – and it's already nine a.m.
“It's a good t
hing it's your birthday,” Ryan says as we approach. “'Cause otherwise I'd have to kick your ass for having me up at this time to go out for breakfast. Go out.” He shakes his head.
“Right, man,” Aston agrees. “What's wrong with fuckin' room service?”
“What's wrong with room service is they don't have soap to wash your mouth out with like I do.” Megan smiles sweetly at him, and Lila flicks Ryan's ear.
“You miserable shit,” she scolds, then looks at Braden. “Happy birthday.”
“Thanks,” Braden half-smiles.
We all make to leave the hotel, and the dry desert heat hits us as soon as we step outside. There's no sea breeze, no reprieve from the heat that's already burning down on us.
“Sheesh.” Lila fans herself. “I think I just stepped into the desert.”
I look down
at the sidewalk to hide my smile, and Braden laughs silently. I elbow him.
“Um, Lila, honey?” Megan says softly. “You are in the desert.”
“Oh shit.” Lila laughs at herself, and when I look back up, Ryan's head is shaking. There's always one – and it's nearly always Lila.
We walk for what feels like hours, and after a while I start wondering how anyone knows where we're going. I mention as much.
Megan replies by holding her phone over her shoulder. On the screen is Google Maps.
“You planned our route on Google Maps?”
“I did.” She winks.
“And you didn't think it would be easier to oh, I don't know, call a cab?” I raise my eyebrows, and Lila stops.
“Why didn't we think of that?” She looks back at me.
“I didn't know it was so far away.”
“It's round the corner,” Braden says. “Is it really that far?”
“Yes,” I grumble, walking again.
He drops my hand and wraps his arm round my waist, pulling me to stop. He bends and hooks his other arm around my knees, sweeping me up into his arms. I shriek and grab his neck.
“What are you
doing
?”
He laughs, burying his face in my hair as we walk. “I'm making sure you're not too tired for later,” he whispers.
“And what would that be?”
“Whatever you want it to be,” he breathes, kissing my ear. I shiver and tug a lock of his blonde hair at the bottom of his head.
“It's too early for dirty thoughts.”
“Hell no it isn't.” He glances down at my chest and legs before looking back ahead. I sigh and shake my head. Sometimes I know I won't win with him so I'll just leave him to it.
Besides, I can't exactly see another round of sex with Braden Carter being too much of a hardship.
I'm falling in love with Maddie Stevens. I know it. It's her laugh, her smile, her everything. For something that started off as a game, it's damn real now. It's more real than anything I've ever felt in my life.
It's not even sex – although that's fucking amazing. A part of me knows I could live without sex if it meant I could be with her. And I wouldn't give up sex for anything.
Especially not when a red dress that hugs every inch of every curve I've touched is being worn by the girl in question.
But no. Maddie is more than that. She's just more. She's a little broken, a little cracked, but she's also a whole lot of something I can't even describe. She's filling a part of me I didn't even know was empty.
I slink up behind her, sliding my hands onto her hips and kissing the exposed skin of her neck. She finishes brushing her hair and turns her face into me. A small smile graces her glossy pink lips.
“What?” she asks.
“I like this dress,” I reply.
“So do I.”
“I think I'd like it better on the floor, or slung over that chair over there, though.”
“I'm sure you would,” she says dryly. “But since everyone is waiting for us,
it’s gonna have to stay exactly where it is for now.”
“Damn,” I mutter, leaving a trail of kisses across her neck. “Are you sure they can't wait a little longer, Angel?”
“Braden,” she scolds, wriggling from my hold. She turns and looks up at me. “If this dress comes off now, you won't leave this room.”
Truth.
“So it’s staying on.”
I groan and she laughs quietly, touching a hand to my cheek. She presses her lips against mine, hot and sweet, and I groan again.
“Do that again, and it won't be fucking staying on, Maddie.”
She grins and turns, bending over to take her shoes from under the bed. I watch her as she slips each foot into the black heels, the material of her dress barely covering her ass when she's bent over like that. A scrap of silky black material peeks out from under it, and my dick jumps to attention.
Okay, No one said the dress
had
to come off.
“Braden,” she says in a no nonsense voice.
“Maddie,” I reply innocently, taking in the view as she straightens.
“You know what I'm going to say-”
“I'm ready.” I stand and move towards her. “But you,” I mutter, running my hands down her sides. “Need to avoid bending over tonight.” I tug her dress down.
“And why is that?” Her voice is breathy.
“Because only one person will be seeing that tiny scrap of material you call underwear tonight, and he won't be seeing it in public.” I tilt my hips towards her, and she inhales sharply. “Deal?”
“Deal,” she agrees, stepping away from me. Her green eyes flicker down to my pants. “And put that thing away.”
I smirk. “'That thing' agrees, but only because he knows he'll be out later.”
The twitch of her lips gives away her amusement. “Stop it.” She grabs a small black purse from the side and walks over to the door. “Are you coming?”
“If I'm not already,” I mutter. “I will be later.”
~
In the VIP viewing area for the Sirens of TI show, I realize this must be Aston's idea. He's the only one who would plan this – and since only Ryan and I aren't single, I know all the guys would have agreed. Kay would have agreed, leaving Megan to chaperone her. Of course, I'd be here since it's my birthday weekend, so by default so would Maddie, Ryan and Lila.
And I know exactly what the sneaky little fucker is doing.
Send Braden to a sexy show and remind him he's sexing Maddie, not falling for her. Too fucking late, dude.
Too fucking late.
Maddie looks down and smiles as if she can sense my annoyance. Ryan nudges me.
“Aston's a fuckin' joker, right?”
“You're tellin' me,” I mumble.
He shifts. “I dunno how I'm gonna get through this without dragging Lila back to the room.”
I don't intend to get through this. Dragging Maddie back to our room sounds promising already. Very promising.
“Right,” I agree, rubbing my face as the show starts.
Several incredibly hot girls run across the stage in the bare minimum of clothing. Is it wrong I'm imagining Maddie as one of those Sirens? Shit. I have this bad.
I shift in the seat as the girls begin to prance around the stage, grinding their bodies. Y'know what? I'm not even sure what they're doing. It's kinda blurry because they all look like Maddie to me.
Fuck this shit.
Maddie's mouth opens and closes, and she casts her eyes downwards. A quick glance to the other side of me shows Lila in the same position and Ryan shaking his head. I nudge Ryan and tilt my head towards the door. He nods once and leans into Lila.
“Angel, we're going,” I say in Maddie's ear.
“Thank god,” she mutters, taking my hand and standing with me.
We follow Lila and Ryan out into the foyer and both of the girls sigh with relief.
“That was a live porn show,” Lila says, unimpressed. “I'm not a prude, but Jesus Christ. How can they stand that?”
“He probably booked it before I started dating Maddie.” I kiss the side of her head. “I probably would have enjoyed it before this.”
Ryan's eyes meet mine, and he nods, ever so slightly. He gets it. He knows it's over. He winks.
“Well, baby,” he says, turning to Lila. “Shall we get an early night? It was late last night, and we do have to drive back tomorrow.”
“Sure.” She kisses his cheek and turns to us. “You two sleep well.” She winks at Maddie, and they walk into the elevator behind them, disappearing behind the doors.
“What about us?” I run my nose down Maddie's cheek. “Shall we get an 'early night'?”
She pulls back, a smirk on those lips I love. “I'm sure your early night isn't the same as mine.”
“Hell no it isn't.” I reach behind me to the wall and press the elevator button, turning her with me. The doors ping open and we get in to the empty elevator.
I run my hand around her side, my fingers smoothing the material of the tight dress she's wearing. She shivers, turning her body into mine and resting her hand on my chest, her fingers splayed.
“I'm pretty sure our early night is running on the same schedule, now, Angel.” I trail my lips down her earlobe and walk with her as the doors open on our floor.
She slides her hand round my back into the back pocket of my jeans and pulls out the room card, turning so she faces me fully. She slides the card through the lock behind her back and nudges the door open.
She walks backwards into the room, slipping the card onto the dresser in the corner. Maddie flicks her shoes off as she walks and turns, reaching behind for the zipper on her dress. I swallow and shut the door.
She pulls the zipper down and reveals her smooth skin beneath the bright material. I slide my shoes off and cross the room, undoing the buttons of my shirt.
My lips find her hot, bare skin, and I wrestle the zipper from her grip. I put a hand on her hip, and pull the zipper down, my lips trailing after it across her skin. Her hand clasps mine on her hip and I slide them round her stomach, straightening up.
I pull one side of the dress down, kissing along her bare shoulder. She turns her face into me and takes her arm from the dress. I take my hand from her hip and do the same to the other side, leaving her to roll it down her body.
I spin her, my eyes roaming down her black lacy underwear. Her eyes clash with mine. I explode.
I grab her against me and push her back against the bed, my lips melding with hers. The decorative pillows fall off the bed with the force of our fall. Maddie nips at my bottom lip and slides my shirt down my arms, leaving it to fall to the floor. Her legs hook around my waist and as I stroke her sides and probe at her skin with my fingertips she whimpers and pushes her hips into me. I undo my jeans and boxers, letting my hand glide up her leg to the satin underwear covering her.
I stroke the sensitive area through the material and she clenches her legs, pulling me in closer to her. I meet her eyes as my hands travel up her body to her bra, my fingers dipping inside the cups to tease her. Goose-pimples erupt on her skin and I kiss her bottom lip softly.
“Braden,” she whispers, her breathing heavy.
“Maddie,” I whisper back, my lips caressing her jaw.
“Please.” Her hands stroke my back. “Please.”
I kiss her again, harder, and reach for the condom packet I put under the pillow earlier. I slip it on without looking and after sliding her underwear down her legs, I push into her. She grips my back tightly and moves with me, sweat glistening against her skin.
One of my hands holds the small of her back as we move together, and I know, right now, is the exact moment I fall the rest of the way in love with Maddie Stevens.
The urge to rip down the multicolored poster on the wall is almost stifling. It feels.... wrong.... to have it up there. Especially since it should be coming down anyway. After all....
Challenge complete.
I'm pretty sure he's in love with me, and we definitely had sex. Very good sex. Done. I should be laughing with the girls, drinking a celebratory bottle of whatever we want and remembering all the times. Instead, I'm remembering every touch of his skin on mine, every whispered word and how he held me so closely, how he looked at me as if I'm the only girl in the world.
To him, I could be.
The problem.... He's pretty much the only guy in the world. And I never planned on that, so I'm pretty screwed.
I never planned on him being so different to Pearce. I never planned on everything I thought I knew about him, all my pre-conceived notions about how he should act being stripped away and leaving him completely bare like a blank canvas. He took that blank canvas and painted it into something so beautiful, all without realizing it.
He also destroyed every idea I had about love. Three weeks. That's all it took for me to fall in love with Braden Carter. How did it change so quickly? He's gone from nothing to everything.
Like Pearce did for Abbi.
At what point do I start losing myself the way she did? At what point am I in too deep?
Am I already in too deep?
Braden is not Pearce.
Goddamn my asshole of a brother! I clench my fist and punch the pillow instead of ripping down the poster like I want to. I want to rip it into a thousand pieces and yell at the girls. I want to yell at them that it's over, the game is over and I lost. I lost because the loser falls in love, and I did that.
How can I do what they expect and not hurt myself in the process?
I can't.
I have a week to figure out how to explain that I fell in love with the person I was definitely not supposed to.
Shit.
The dorm door bangs open, announcing the girls back from their Starbucks run.
“Update,” Megan demands, handing me my coffee and muffin. So what if I had one earlier. I totally get the comfort food thing now.
I settle onto my bed. “Same as it was last weekend,” I lie.
“Really?” Lila's eyebrows shoot up. “You guys didn't have sex?”
I shake my head. “No sex. Almost, but not quite.”
“Interesting,” Megan mumbles, kneeling next to me and tracing her finger down the poster. “He's in love with you.”
I drink my coffee to hide the crazy stop-start thing my heart just did. Yeah, I suspected it, but hearing his lifelong best friend say it is a little different.
“You think?” I look around the room.
“Oh yeah,” Kay agrees. “That guy has gone three weeks without sex, Maddie. He's fuckin' head over heels for you, baby girl.”
I smile. “Mission half accomplished, then.” Mission accomplished.
“Now just the other half.” Megan sits back down.
“Seven days,” Lila says softly. “Can you do it?”
I look at her. Her dark eyes are focused on me and full of questions. “I can do it.”
“And you're not in love with him?”
“Not even close.” Lies.
~
I sweep my hair up, securing it with a band, and yawn as I lean against the wall near the main campus doors. Meet me here at eight a.m., he said. Damn eight a.m. I yawn again and look up, smoothing my hair.
He's casually leaning against a tree across the sidewalk, his bright blue eyes trained on me. His hands are in his pockets, and his lips are curled up slightly. Damn. He is gorgeous – there's no doubt about it.
And he's mine,
a little voice in my head reminds me.
I fold my arms across my chest and stare him down, letting my hair hang over my shoulder. His eyebrow quirks, and I fight my smile. Him and his silly games. From one game to another
....
Braden straightens and walks towards me. When he reaches me he looks down, sweeping some stray hair from my eyes.
“Good morning, Angel,” he says softly.
“Is it? I don't see a coffee in your hand,” I tease.
He smirks and leans in, touching his lips against mine. I stand on tiptoes, and my body presses against his as I kiss him back. I taste chocolate chips.
“You've already been to Starbucks,” I accuse, narrowing my eyes.
He chuckles. “You've turned me into an addict.”
“Where's my coffee?”
“In Starbucks,” he replies. “Let's sit in instead of standing out here.”
I nod. “I can't believe you got me up at this time and didn't have coffee in your hand immediately.”
“Hey, you.” He sweeps an arm around my waist and pulls me against him. “You're grumpy before you get your coffee, aren't you?” He's grinning.
“You should know this.” I trail my finger up his chest. “Didn't you discover that the last two days?”
“Mmm.” He sucks my bottom lip between his teeth. “And what a weekend it was.”
I halfheartedly slap his arm. “I want my coffee.” I pout.
He kisses me again and tucks me into his side. “Come on then, grumpy.”
I settle my arm around his waist and poke his side. “I'm not grumpy.”
“You're always grumpy.” He kisses my head.
“Psssh.” I shake my head, and he laughs.
Braden reaches for the door and shoves it open. The smell of coffee hits me full force, and I breathe it in, sighing in happiness.
“Nice to know coffee makes you feel good on a morning,” Braden mutters.
“If you'd been there when I woke up this morning, you could have been the feel good,” I mutter back, silently laughing to myself.
His step falters, and I bite my lip, amused.
“Did you just say that?”
I look up at him wide-eyed and blink twice. “Well it wasn't the barista that said it.”
“One weekend of hot sex and you've turned into an animal,” he whispers in my ear.
“Not quite.” I giggle. “I was merely making a statement.”
“Maybe tomorrow morning?” he asks hopefully.
“Maybe.” I laugh.
As he orders our coffees, I ignore the barista's evil looks in my direction and curl in closer to Braden. His arm tightens around my waist, and he carries the tray she gives him in one hand. Ignoring her flirty glances, he leads me over to the plush sofas we were sitting on last week, laying the tray on the table and dropping us both onto the sofa.
“Sofa this week,” he mutters.
I laugh and swing my legs over his, resting my head against his shoulder. He passes me my cup, and I wrap my hands around it, sipping it slightly. “That's better.” I sigh, feeling the warmth from the hot drink slipping down my throat.
“So
....” Braden begins after a few moments, resting his hand on my thigh. “Have you, er, heard from your brother?”
“No,” I say softly. “Not a thing. I spoke to Dad when we got back yesterday night, and he hasn't seen him since he left Brooklyn to come here. I
... I think I want to care, but I don't know if I can. Does that make me a terrible person?”
“No, Angel, God no.” His lips brush my forehead. “He put you through a lot, and sometimes, family or not, you have to say goodbye to people.”
“I hate it because we used to be so close. I remember helping Mom in the garden. Granted, Pearce was more of a hindrance than a help, but it was something that happened every year. We'd all go swimming once a week at the local pool, dinner... Then after what happened, it all kind of.... disappeared.”
“It's okay to miss him.”
“I don't know if I do. I don't know if I miss him or if I miss the memories. Maybe it's just the person he
used
to be that I miss.” I look at a spot on the wall. “I don't know who he is anymore. Maybe that's why a part of me finds it hard to care. I guess I lost my brother the same day I lost my Mom and most of my Dad.”
I sigh and rest my coffee on my legs. Letting it out feels good. I know I have to let go. I know, after three years, if I ever want to move on with my life I have to put it all behind me as best as I can. Mom will always be in my heart, but as long as I hold my brother there too, I'll never move on. I'll never live.
“The thing with memories is, they never die. You can keep them and relive them, and that's okay because they're the happy ones,” Braden muses. “Like the ones we make. Just replace the bad memories with ours.”
I smile and lean my head back up to look at him. “I'll try to do that.”
“And while you're trying, we'll make even more.” He smiles back.
It's strange to have someone understand you.