Second to None, page 15
“Glorious. I was made for this role, Maddox.”
He followed me around to the side of the truck and opened my door for me. “That good?”
“Even better. They have a few more auditions to get through, but the casting director basically said I had it in the bag.”
“That’s incredible,” he said when he got in on the driver’s side.
I sagged backward. “I’ve worked so hard to get to this point. I can’t wait for Academy to be over, so I can step into this new role.”
“All the possibilities.”
“And you,” I said, turning his face toward me.
“What about me?”
“I want this to work this time, Maddox.”
He drew my face toward his. Our lips sealed together. The promises neither of us had been able to utter all those years before. The ones we’d hoped for and broken time and time again. It was all spread before us on a platter.
“Maybe we should get a room tonight,” I said baldly.
He grinned. “Now who can’t keep their hands to themselves?”
I groaned as he pulled away and started the car. “Not fair.”
And despite the levity, I could see the shadows of fear in his irises. We’d been here before, and as wonderful as it was, there was always the fear that it wouldn’t work out. That I’d go back to LA and forget him. I refused to let that happen this time.
“Fine. What’s the plan anyway?” I said with a pout.
“We’re meeting Lila, Cole, and Marley for lunch at Centennial.”
“That’s a choice,” I said with a laugh.
Centennial Olympic Park was at the heart of downtown Atlanta with water shooting out of the iconic rings that kids ran through all summer. It was also tourist central and not really a place we’d casually go to when there were a million other places to do lunch.
He shrugged. “I haven’t been in years.”
“All right. Are we going to eat in the CNN Center, like real tourists? Or walk down Peachtree?”
“Which Peachtree?” he asked with a laugh. “They still confuse me.”
“Oh, poor thing. You really are a tourist.”
Sometimes, I forgot that I’d grown up in Atlanta and not Savannah. The coastal city had always felt more like home even though I’d spent nine months out of the year in the ATL until my eighteenth birthday.
Maddox squeezed my hand and drove through the weekend Atlanta traffic, finding parking near the giant Ferris wheel, which lit up the streets at night. I took his hand as we headed into the park and found Cole, Lila, and Marley already seated at a table, eating a huge array of food from The Varsity.
“There are my girls,” I said, crushing my two best friends to me. “I missed your faces.”
“How’d it go?” Lila asked.
“Excellent!”
“You got the part?” Marley asked.
“Well, I won’t know for a few weeks, but I think I have it in the bag.” I hugged Cole next. “Hey, handsome.”
“Hey, Josie. We didn’t know what you wanted. So, we got a bit of everything.”
I realized the spread before us was way too much food for just the three of them. “Thanks. There’s a reason you’re my favorite.”
Cole smirked. “The food is the reason?”
I took the seat next to Lila, and Maddox sat next to me. “Nah, probably because I was there when the two of you started. I was responsible for those viral pictures of y’all at the UGA game,” I said, putting my hand to my chest. “I had to be right.”
Lila smacked me. “Shush you,” she said with a laugh.
Cole put a possessive arm around her shoulders. “Hey, we like her to be right, don’t we, Sunflower?”
Marley gagged. “You should be glad Derek isn’t here. He’d be making fun of y’all so bad.”
“Where is the lovely Derek Ballentine?” I asked.
“Work. He said he’d meet up with us later,” Mars said. She looked between me and her brother. “And you two? Holding hands?”
Lila squealed. She flipped her blonde hair off of her shoulders and leaned forward. “Is it official? Are y’all back together?”
Maddox and I shared a glance. We hadn’t defined anything, but I couldn’t deny that I wanted that.
“Leave them be,” Cole said, tugging his girlfriend back to him.
“Well?” Mars asked her brother. “I can be annoying and persistent. I don’t have my other half telling me to be less annoying.”
I snorted. “Derek would encourage it.”
Marley grinned. “True.”
Maddox’s gaze swept back to mine. “Yeah, I guess we are.”
My body melted at those words. It had taken cajoling from his sister for him to even admit it. But fuck, what else were we doing? I wasn’t just fucking around here. I wanted this. I’d made myself clear. It was him that I’d thought I’d have to convince.
“Oh good,” I said, planting a kiss on him. “That clears that up.”
Maddox rolled his eyes at me and draped an arm around me. “You dragged me out here just to get me to admit it.”
Marley snorted. “As if you needed to be convinced. You’ve been obsessed with her since you were fifteen.”
Maddox threw a French fry at his sister. “Jerk.”
She tossed one back. “Bitch.”
We all dissolved into laughter as the twins sniped at each other. It all felt so fucking normal. I couldn’t be happier. I’d missed having Lila around. She completed our trifecta. And Maddox here with me was the best of it all.
When we finished eating our lunch, we trashed the rest of the food and headed south, toward Lila and Cole’s job. Lila was a physical therapist, and Cole was in recruiting, both for the Falcons football team. Their joint love of football had always been a huge part of their relationship, and now that they were working for the same team, it was even better.
“Work?” I groaned.
“Don’t you want to see the behind-the-scenes at the stadium?” Maddox asked.
I shot him a skeptical look. “Since when do you care about football?”
He shrugged. “Never.”
I laughed. That was the damn truth. But I was too happy, having everyone I loved in one place, that I didn’t even care. I skipped ahead, linking arms with my two best friends and leaving the boys in the dust.
“We missed you last weekend,” I told Lila.
She sighed. “Yeah. I wish I could have come into town.”
“Derek needed the best-friend time too,” Marley said softly.
Lila shot her a look. “I know.”
I felt for her. It was as if she and Ash were divorced and had to split the kids. Derek was Ash’s best friend and Marley’s husband. So, Lila only got her half the time. With me in Savannah, too, it had to be killing her.
Lila looked over her shoulder at Cole, as if to make sure he wasn’t in hearing distance before asking softly, “How’s he doing?”
Marley and I exchanged a glance. By unspoken agreement, we never mentioned Ash in front of Lila or Lila in front of Ash. Well, I did to fuck with him, but that was just for fun.
“He’s doing okay, you know?” I told her just as softly.
“Much better,” Marley added.
“Not drowning himself anymore?”
Marley shook her head. “He’s seeing someone.”
Her head snapped up with wide eyes. “Really?”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, if you heard it from her lips, she’d say they’re not together.”
“Why not?” Lila asked in a half-whisper.
“You know why,” Marley said.
She bit her lip. “Yeah. Probably still my fault.”
“Your friend James is going to be fine,” I told her confidently. “I promise. You can’t keep blaming yourself. You made your choice, right?”
“A hundred percent,” she said without even a thought.
Two years ago, she would have agonized over her decision. But she chose Cole. It was definitely Cole. No matter how it had hurt her over the years to get there.
“Then, be happy he’s moving on and revel in your very handsome boyfriend.”
Lila’s smile went brilliant. The fallout with Ash Talmadge sliding off of her shoulders as easily as it had come back to her. “You’re right. Thanks for letting me know.”
We squeezed her tighter to us and then reached the employee entrance to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Lila and Cole swiped their badges, and we followed them inside. After a quick tour of the employee facilities, Cole showed us where the football players ran out.
I took Maddox’s hand again as Cole led Lila out first. My jaw dropped when I realized what was happening. The field was full of sunflowers. As if Cole Davis had plucked an entire field of sunflowers to arrange them in a beautiful display.
“Oh my God,” I gasped at the same time as Marley.
Lila’s hands went to her mouth as Cole took her hand and drew her out to the center of the field.
“Delilah Grace Greer, I’ve loved you my entire life,” Cole said, dropping to a knee and withdrawing a little blue box from his pocket. “You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me. I’ve lived a lifetime knowing that one day you’d be mine. And I want everything with you. I want you to be my wife and take my name and have my children.”
Lila sniffled as tears came to her eyes. “Oh, Cole.”
“I love you with all of my heart. Make me the happiest man alive. Marry me, Sunflower.”
She nodded. “Yes, yes, yes. Of course I’ll marry you.”
He slid the ring on her finger and effortlessly lifted her off of her feet. It was like when he’d jumped the hedges to claim her lips in college. They’d come a long way since that day, and no one deserved it more.
“You knew,” I accused Maddox.
He looked at me sheepishly. “Maybe.”
“You knew?” Marley gasped. “You didn’t tell us?!”
“Cole called after we said we were coming into town. I knew she’d want y’all here.”
“Thank you,” I said, kissing him before running after my best friend and all but tackling her. “Let me see that ring!”
Lila laughed to cover the tears streaming down her cheeks. She held her hand out to reveal a perfectly Lila ring. A giant round diamond with a small diamond halo and a second halo that almost made the ring look like a sunflower.
“I love it.”
“It’s perfect!” Marley said, tugging her into a hug.
I nudged Cole and winked. “You did good.”
His smile was brilliant. “It’s about damn time.”
I snorted. “I wasn’t going to say it.”
“Someone had to!” Marley said. “I never thought I’d be married before y’all.”
“You eloped!” Lila accused. But her eyes were locked on the ring. She turned back to her fiancé and pressed her lips to his. “It’s perfect.”
“Good.”
“We have a lot to plan.”
“A small wedding,” he promised with a gleam in his eyes.
“Maybe we shouldn’t send out invitations,” she joked.
He grinned wider. “I’ll get better security.”
She dissolved into laughter and fell back into his arms. I’d never been happier for her.
Maddox wrapped an arm around my waist and kissed my temple. “They deserve this,” he said softly.
“I’m still mad you didn’t tell me.”
He just laughed and kissed me, silencing all of my complaints. I was here with him, and everything in the world suddenly made sense.
23
ATLANTA
PRESENT
To celebrate Lila’s engagement, we all got dolled up and went to a fancy bar in Buckhead. Even Derek joined us. I could see doubt in Lila’s eyes about telling him, knowing Ash was his best friend, but she was too excited to keep it quiet.
I glanced at Derek as Lila dragged Cole out onto the dance floor. “So …”
“I’m not telling him,” he said before I could say anything else.
“Someone is going to have to tell him,” Marley said. “He can’t find out some other way.”
“He doesn’t need to know,” Derek argued.
“I’m with Derek,” Maddox said. “Why the fuck should it matter? He’s enamored with Amelia anyway.”
“Yeah, except … it matters,” I said.
Derek sighed. “Yeah, it matters, but we can’t do it yet.”
“Why not?” I asked.
Marley rolled her eyes. “They’re going sailing to see Derek’s cousins at the end of the month.”
Derek grimaced. “Forgive me for wanting him to enjoy a vacation. We’ve had this trip planned for ages. He’ll bail if he finds out before then.”
“Then, after that trip,” Marley said.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll tell him after the trip,” Derek said.
We all nodded. Plotting how to tell Ash Talmadge the news felt disgusting, but in some way, we all cared about him. Lila cared about him. I even cared about the bastard. And I could admit that I didn’t want to see him crawl back into the hole he’d fallen into when he and Lila ended.
With our clandestine agreement finalized, Derek pulled Marley out onto the dance floor.
“Do you think this is a good idea?” Maddox asked.
“I have no idea. But I can’t exactly ask Lila what she thinks.”
“No. I remember when we lived together when she was in PT school,” he said, his eyes going distant. “She and Ash were dating, and look, I know she loved him, but he was obsessed with her. It was unhealthy. Not that I could say that to her.”
“She wouldn’t have heard you. Trust me. I did say that.”
“It’s probably better he finds out right away. Otherwise, he’s going to do something stupid.”
I shrugged. “I bet he does something stupid either way.”
“Do you think that’s why Cole waited this long?”
“Nah. Cole Davis doesn’t give a shit what Ash thinks. Lila wanted to wait. She and Cole were endgame. The wedding part didn’t matter to her.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.”
“I’m always right,” I said, leaning up onto my toes to kiss him. “Like about us.”
He laughed. “Nice topic change there.”
“Hey, you’re the one who said we were together.”
“I did,” he said, sliding his hands around me. “I can’t seem to fight you. Even when I tried all those years, I really failed. I always wanted to be exactly where I am. How can I give you up when you’re right here in front of me?”
“Please don’t give me up,” I whispered. “Especially when I make you dance with me.”
I grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the dance floor and our friends. He groaned behind me. He hated dancing and going out and peopling, but he was here with me, celebrating Lila. Even if it was one dance, it felt so right.
Despite Maddox always refusing to dance with me, he sure had rhythm. I never would have guessed it as he grasped my hips in his hands and swayed side to side to the gyrating music.
“Fuck, Josie,” he whispered against my ear. “I’ve been keeping my hands to myself all week.” He jerked my hips back against his. I bit back a groan. “Now, you’re here …”
I knew exactly what he meant. I’d teased him that he couldn’t keep his hands to himself this long. And we’d slept in the same bed last night with my back pressed against his chest, his strong hands holding me in place against him. I’d wanted to go further, but we’d been in my dad’s house. Personally, I knew how thin the walls were, and that was the last thing I wanted my dad to hear. Plus, when we rushed into things, they found a way of falling apart.
But now that he’d said he was mine, I had no chill left. I’d booked a hotel, so Lila and Cole could have the house to themselves to celebrate, and I was already prepared to leave. To get up to that fancy suite and fall into his arms. It had been too damn long.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, and then I pulled his mouth down to mine. He kissed me with an urgency that was unparalleled. From years of tension built between us. I wanted to fall down the rabbit hole and never come up from Wonderland.
But it would be hours later before we could reasonably leave.
“I want you now,” I said into his ear.
“I know.”
“Right now,” I said more urgently.
I winked at him, and he shook his head at me with a laugh.
“Fuck, how do you do this to me?”
Then he grabbed my hand and pulled me off of the dance floor. I had no idea where we were going, and I didn’t care. But I was shocked when he pushed me into the restroom, decisively locking the door behind us.
“What—”
But my words were cut off by Maddox pushing me back against the sink. His fingers went up into my hair, crushing our lips together.
“We’ll have to be quick,” he said. His hands roamed down to the hem of my dress, hiking it up around my stomach.
I reached eagerly for the button on his jeans. “This is so unlike you.”
“I’ve waited too damn long for you. I’ll take my time later tonight. Right now, I fucking need you.”
He hoisted me up onto the sink.
“Yes,” I gasped.
My hand closed around his cock, and he released a heavy breath.
“Fucking hell,” he groaned.
I stroked him up and down as his fingers moved my thong to the side and began to massage my sensitive skin. When he found the bud of my clit, I shuddered. I was already wet. With how things had been building between us, I didn’t need any foreplay.
“Jesus,” he groaned against my lips. “You’re so wet.”
“Fuck me,” I begged.
He positioned my hips for better access and then lined up our bodies. He slid in with no resistance, and I nearly blacked out. It had been so fucking long.
“Oh my God,” I said on a breath.
“Fuck yes,” he said.
Then, our words went incoherent as he withdrew and slammed back into me. I tried to brace myself against the sink as he pounded into me, but I had no control of the situation. Someone was banging on the restroom door, yelling at us to hurry up. But I couldn’t give a single shit.
He followed me around to the side of the truck and opened my door for me. “That good?”
“Even better. They have a few more auditions to get through, but the casting director basically said I had it in the bag.”
“That’s incredible,” he said when he got in on the driver’s side.
I sagged backward. “I’ve worked so hard to get to this point. I can’t wait for Academy to be over, so I can step into this new role.”
“All the possibilities.”
“And you,” I said, turning his face toward me.
“What about me?”
“I want this to work this time, Maddox.”
He drew my face toward his. Our lips sealed together. The promises neither of us had been able to utter all those years before. The ones we’d hoped for and broken time and time again. It was all spread before us on a platter.
“Maybe we should get a room tonight,” I said baldly.
He grinned. “Now who can’t keep their hands to themselves?”
I groaned as he pulled away and started the car. “Not fair.”
And despite the levity, I could see the shadows of fear in his irises. We’d been here before, and as wonderful as it was, there was always the fear that it wouldn’t work out. That I’d go back to LA and forget him. I refused to let that happen this time.
“Fine. What’s the plan anyway?” I said with a pout.
“We’re meeting Lila, Cole, and Marley for lunch at Centennial.”
“That’s a choice,” I said with a laugh.
Centennial Olympic Park was at the heart of downtown Atlanta with water shooting out of the iconic rings that kids ran through all summer. It was also tourist central and not really a place we’d casually go to when there were a million other places to do lunch.
He shrugged. “I haven’t been in years.”
“All right. Are we going to eat in the CNN Center, like real tourists? Or walk down Peachtree?”
“Which Peachtree?” he asked with a laugh. “They still confuse me.”
“Oh, poor thing. You really are a tourist.”
Sometimes, I forgot that I’d grown up in Atlanta and not Savannah. The coastal city had always felt more like home even though I’d spent nine months out of the year in the ATL until my eighteenth birthday.
Maddox squeezed my hand and drove through the weekend Atlanta traffic, finding parking near the giant Ferris wheel, which lit up the streets at night. I took his hand as we headed into the park and found Cole, Lila, and Marley already seated at a table, eating a huge array of food from The Varsity.
“There are my girls,” I said, crushing my two best friends to me. “I missed your faces.”
“How’d it go?” Lila asked.
“Excellent!”
“You got the part?” Marley asked.
“Well, I won’t know for a few weeks, but I think I have it in the bag.” I hugged Cole next. “Hey, handsome.”
“Hey, Josie. We didn’t know what you wanted. So, we got a bit of everything.”
I realized the spread before us was way too much food for just the three of them. “Thanks. There’s a reason you’re my favorite.”
Cole smirked. “The food is the reason?”
I took the seat next to Lila, and Maddox sat next to me. “Nah, probably because I was there when the two of you started. I was responsible for those viral pictures of y’all at the UGA game,” I said, putting my hand to my chest. “I had to be right.”
Lila smacked me. “Shush you,” she said with a laugh.
Cole put a possessive arm around her shoulders. “Hey, we like her to be right, don’t we, Sunflower?”
Marley gagged. “You should be glad Derek isn’t here. He’d be making fun of y’all so bad.”
“Where is the lovely Derek Ballentine?” I asked.
“Work. He said he’d meet up with us later,” Mars said. She looked between me and her brother. “And you two? Holding hands?”
Lila squealed. She flipped her blonde hair off of her shoulders and leaned forward. “Is it official? Are y’all back together?”
Maddox and I shared a glance. We hadn’t defined anything, but I couldn’t deny that I wanted that.
“Leave them be,” Cole said, tugging his girlfriend back to him.
“Well?” Mars asked her brother. “I can be annoying and persistent. I don’t have my other half telling me to be less annoying.”
I snorted. “Derek would encourage it.”
Marley grinned. “True.”
Maddox’s gaze swept back to mine. “Yeah, I guess we are.”
My body melted at those words. It had taken cajoling from his sister for him to even admit it. But fuck, what else were we doing? I wasn’t just fucking around here. I wanted this. I’d made myself clear. It was him that I’d thought I’d have to convince.
“Oh good,” I said, planting a kiss on him. “That clears that up.”
Maddox rolled his eyes at me and draped an arm around me. “You dragged me out here just to get me to admit it.”
Marley snorted. “As if you needed to be convinced. You’ve been obsessed with her since you were fifteen.”
Maddox threw a French fry at his sister. “Jerk.”
She tossed one back. “Bitch.”
We all dissolved into laughter as the twins sniped at each other. It all felt so fucking normal. I couldn’t be happier. I’d missed having Lila around. She completed our trifecta. And Maddox here with me was the best of it all.
When we finished eating our lunch, we trashed the rest of the food and headed south, toward Lila and Cole’s job. Lila was a physical therapist, and Cole was in recruiting, both for the Falcons football team. Their joint love of football had always been a huge part of their relationship, and now that they were working for the same team, it was even better.
“Work?” I groaned.
“Don’t you want to see the behind-the-scenes at the stadium?” Maddox asked.
I shot him a skeptical look. “Since when do you care about football?”
He shrugged. “Never.”
I laughed. That was the damn truth. But I was too happy, having everyone I loved in one place, that I didn’t even care. I skipped ahead, linking arms with my two best friends and leaving the boys in the dust.
“We missed you last weekend,” I told Lila.
She sighed. “Yeah. I wish I could have come into town.”
“Derek needed the best-friend time too,” Marley said softly.
Lila shot her a look. “I know.”
I felt for her. It was as if she and Ash were divorced and had to split the kids. Derek was Ash’s best friend and Marley’s husband. So, Lila only got her half the time. With me in Savannah, too, it had to be killing her.
Lila looked over her shoulder at Cole, as if to make sure he wasn’t in hearing distance before asking softly, “How’s he doing?”
Marley and I exchanged a glance. By unspoken agreement, we never mentioned Ash in front of Lila or Lila in front of Ash. Well, I did to fuck with him, but that was just for fun.
“He’s doing okay, you know?” I told her just as softly.
“Much better,” Marley added.
“Not drowning himself anymore?”
Marley shook her head. “He’s seeing someone.”
Her head snapped up with wide eyes. “Really?”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, if you heard it from her lips, she’d say they’re not together.”
“Why not?” Lila asked in a half-whisper.
“You know why,” Marley said.
She bit her lip. “Yeah. Probably still my fault.”
“Your friend James is going to be fine,” I told her confidently. “I promise. You can’t keep blaming yourself. You made your choice, right?”
“A hundred percent,” she said without even a thought.
Two years ago, she would have agonized over her decision. But she chose Cole. It was definitely Cole. No matter how it had hurt her over the years to get there.
“Then, be happy he’s moving on and revel in your very handsome boyfriend.”
Lila’s smile went brilliant. The fallout with Ash Talmadge sliding off of her shoulders as easily as it had come back to her. “You’re right. Thanks for letting me know.”
We squeezed her tighter to us and then reached the employee entrance to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Lila and Cole swiped their badges, and we followed them inside. After a quick tour of the employee facilities, Cole showed us where the football players ran out.
I took Maddox’s hand again as Cole led Lila out first. My jaw dropped when I realized what was happening. The field was full of sunflowers. As if Cole Davis had plucked an entire field of sunflowers to arrange them in a beautiful display.
“Oh my God,” I gasped at the same time as Marley.
Lila’s hands went to her mouth as Cole took her hand and drew her out to the center of the field.
“Delilah Grace Greer, I’ve loved you my entire life,” Cole said, dropping to a knee and withdrawing a little blue box from his pocket. “You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me. I’ve lived a lifetime knowing that one day you’d be mine. And I want everything with you. I want you to be my wife and take my name and have my children.”
Lila sniffled as tears came to her eyes. “Oh, Cole.”
“I love you with all of my heart. Make me the happiest man alive. Marry me, Sunflower.”
She nodded. “Yes, yes, yes. Of course I’ll marry you.”
He slid the ring on her finger and effortlessly lifted her off of her feet. It was like when he’d jumped the hedges to claim her lips in college. They’d come a long way since that day, and no one deserved it more.
“You knew,” I accused Maddox.
He looked at me sheepishly. “Maybe.”
“You knew?” Marley gasped. “You didn’t tell us?!”
“Cole called after we said we were coming into town. I knew she’d want y’all here.”
“Thank you,” I said, kissing him before running after my best friend and all but tackling her. “Let me see that ring!”
Lila laughed to cover the tears streaming down her cheeks. She held her hand out to reveal a perfectly Lila ring. A giant round diamond with a small diamond halo and a second halo that almost made the ring look like a sunflower.
“I love it.”
“It’s perfect!” Marley said, tugging her into a hug.
I nudged Cole and winked. “You did good.”
His smile was brilliant. “It’s about damn time.”
I snorted. “I wasn’t going to say it.”
“Someone had to!” Marley said. “I never thought I’d be married before y’all.”
“You eloped!” Lila accused. But her eyes were locked on the ring. She turned back to her fiancé and pressed her lips to his. “It’s perfect.”
“Good.”
“We have a lot to plan.”
“A small wedding,” he promised with a gleam in his eyes.
“Maybe we shouldn’t send out invitations,” she joked.
He grinned wider. “I’ll get better security.”
She dissolved into laughter and fell back into his arms. I’d never been happier for her.
Maddox wrapped an arm around my waist and kissed my temple. “They deserve this,” he said softly.
“I’m still mad you didn’t tell me.”
He just laughed and kissed me, silencing all of my complaints. I was here with him, and everything in the world suddenly made sense.
23
ATLANTA
PRESENT
To celebrate Lila’s engagement, we all got dolled up and went to a fancy bar in Buckhead. Even Derek joined us. I could see doubt in Lila’s eyes about telling him, knowing Ash was his best friend, but she was too excited to keep it quiet.
I glanced at Derek as Lila dragged Cole out onto the dance floor. “So …”
“I’m not telling him,” he said before I could say anything else.
“Someone is going to have to tell him,” Marley said. “He can’t find out some other way.”
“He doesn’t need to know,” Derek argued.
“I’m with Derek,” Maddox said. “Why the fuck should it matter? He’s enamored with Amelia anyway.”
“Yeah, except … it matters,” I said.
Derek sighed. “Yeah, it matters, but we can’t do it yet.”
“Why not?” I asked.
Marley rolled her eyes. “They’re going sailing to see Derek’s cousins at the end of the month.”
Derek grimaced. “Forgive me for wanting him to enjoy a vacation. We’ve had this trip planned for ages. He’ll bail if he finds out before then.”
“Then, after that trip,” Marley said.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll tell him after the trip,” Derek said.
We all nodded. Plotting how to tell Ash Talmadge the news felt disgusting, but in some way, we all cared about him. Lila cared about him. I even cared about the bastard. And I could admit that I didn’t want to see him crawl back into the hole he’d fallen into when he and Lila ended.
With our clandestine agreement finalized, Derek pulled Marley out onto the dance floor.
“Do you think this is a good idea?” Maddox asked.
“I have no idea. But I can’t exactly ask Lila what she thinks.”
“No. I remember when we lived together when she was in PT school,” he said, his eyes going distant. “She and Ash were dating, and look, I know she loved him, but he was obsessed with her. It was unhealthy. Not that I could say that to her.”
“She wouldn’t have heard you. Trust me. I did say that.”
“It’s probably better he finds out right away. Otherwise, he’s going to do something stupid.”
I shrugged. “I bet he does something stupid either way.”
“Do you think that’s why Cole waited this long?”
“Nah. Cole Davis doesn’t give a shit what Ash thinks. Lila wanted to wait. She and Cole were endgame. The wedding part didn’t matter to her.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.”
“I’m always right,” I said, leaning up onto my toes to kiss him. “Like about us.”
He laughed. “Nice topic change there.”
“Hey, you’re the one who said we were together.”
“I did,” he said, sliding his hands around me. “I can’t seem to fight you. Even when I tried all those years, I really failed. I always wanted to be exactly where I am. How can I give you up when you’re right here in front of me?”
“Please don’t give me up,” I whispered. “Especially when I make you dance with me.”
I grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the dance floor and our friends. He groaned behind me. He hated dancing and going out and peopling, but he was here with me, celebrating Lila. Even if it was one dance, it felt so right.
Despite Maddox always refusing to dance with me, he sure had rhythm. I never would have guessed it as he grasped my hips in his hands and swayed side to side to the gyrating music.
“Fuck, Josie,” he whispered against my ear. “I’ve been keeping my hands to myself all week.” He jerked my hips back against his. I bit back a groan. “Now, you’re here …”
I knew exactly what he meant. I’d teased him that he couldn’t keep his hands to himself this long. And we’d slept in the same bed last night with my back pressed against his chest, his strong hands holding me in place against him. I’d wanted to go further, but we’d been in my dad’s house. Personally, I knew how thin the walls were, and that was the last thing I wanted my dad to hear. Plus, when we rushed into things, they found a way of falling apart.
But now that he’d said he was mine, I had no chill left. I’d booked a hotel, so Lila and Cole could have the house to themselves to celebrate, and I was already prepared to leave. To get up to that fancy suite and fall into his arms. It had been too damn long.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, and then I pulled his mouth down to mine. He kissed me with an urgency that was unparalleled. From years of tension built between us. I wanted to fall down the rabbit hole and never come up from Wonderland.
But it would be hours later before we could reasonably leave.
“I want you now,” I said into his ear.
“I know.”
“Right now,” I said more urgently.
I winked at him, and he shook his head at me with a laugh.
“Fuck, how do you do this to me?”
Then he grabbed my hand and pulled me off of the dance floor. I had no idea where we were going, and I didn’t care. But I was shocked when he pushed me into the restroom, decisively locking the door behind us.
“What—”
But my words were cut off by Maddox pushing me back against the sink. His fingers went up into my hair, crushing our lips together.
“We’ll have to be quick,” he said. His hands roamed down to the hem of my dress, hiking it up around my stomach.
I reached eagerly for the button on his jeans. “This is so unlike you.”
“I’ve waited too damn long for you. I’ll take my time later tonight. Right now, I fucking need you.”
He hoisted me up onto the sink.
“Yes,” I gasped.
My hand closed around his cock, and he released a heavy breath.
“Fucking hell,” he groaned.
I stroked him up and down as his fingers moved my thong to the side and began to massage my sensitive skin. When he found the bud of my clit, I shuddered. I was already wet. With how things had been building between us, I didn’t need any foreplay.
“Jesus,” he groaned against my lips. “You’re so wet.”
“Fuck me,” I begged.
He positioned my hips for better access and then lined up our bodies. He slid in with no resistance, and I nearly blacked out. It had been so fucking long.
“Oh my God,” I said on a breath.
“Fuck yes,” he said.
Then, our words went incoherent as he withdrew and slammed back into me. I tried to brace myself against the sink as he pounded into me, but I had no control of the situation. Someone was banging on the restroom door, yelling at us to hurry up. But I couldn’t give a single shit.
