by J. L. Leslie
“This is it,” Brady says. “What we knew was coming.”
“Yep.”
“Do you have any regrets?”
I prop up on my elbows and shake my head. “Absolutely not. You?”
He shakes his head as well. “But I still don’t see Dallas’ appeal. I get going home for Christmas, but I’m unsure why you want to stay. There’s nothing there but lies for you.”
I laugh. “As opposed to a life of waitressing at Jack’s here?”
My tone is meant to be teasing. Meant completely as a joke, but he shoves the sheet off of him and climbs from my bed, snatching up his jeans and pulling them on.
“And is there anything wrong with that? My mom has been a waitress there for her entire fucking life.”
I get up and sit on the edge of the bed. “I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that –”
“Just what? You’re too good to stay in Hollis?” He tugs his shirt down and goes for his shoes, sitting on the bed but not beside me.
“Why are you acting like this?” I ask. “We both knew this day was coming. We don’t have to end things this way.”
“But they do have to end, right? Because you’re a rich bitch from Dallas, and I’m a lowlife playboy from Hollis. It could never work.”
His words sting. I’ve never thought about our social status or where we grew up as factors in our relationship. I simply don’t live here, and there isn’t much for me to do here. I don’t want to give up on my dreams, whenever I figure out what they are, just because I like a guy.
“Yeah, I’m just some rich bitch,” I reply bitterly, standing up. “That’s why it was so easy to make that bet with your buddies.”
I see the regret on his face, and I probably shouldn’t have brought it up again, but just as quickly as the regret was there, he instantly masks it. He stands in front of me and flashes me that cocky grin of his.
“Yep, and I fucking won.”
I can’t help myself. I slap him hard across the cheek, tears welling in my eyes. “Get out.”
Without saying a word, he leaves me standing in my apartment, full of regret. I didn’t want things to be like this today. Didn’t want things to end badly between us. Now, I hate that I ever let myself develop feelings for him. I was warned not to.
“You ready?” Madden peeks his head in a few minutes later, and I quickly blink back my tears.
“Oh, um, yes.”
If he suspects something is wrong, he doesn’t question me on it. Guess we’re not at that stage in our relationship yet. He does grab my bags and carries them down for me. Brady is long gone when we get outside.
The ride to Dallas is a quiet one, Madden offering to drive my car and ride back with Keegan. I sit and stare out the window while Madden plays music on the radio. We make a little bit of small talk about his parents, but nothing major. Maybe he can tell I’m not in a talkative mood. I don’t feel like telling him I got my heart broken by his girlfriend’s ex.
When we arrive at the Steele estate, Landon and Keegan are already there. I know this isn’t a good day for this. Probably the worst day. But is there really a good day to confront your biological parents about the lies they’ve told?
“Are you nervous?” I ask.
“Honestly, I’m pissed off. How could they keep you a secret like that? See you at parties and pretend that you weren’t their child?”
“I’ve been asking myself the same question. Even my own parents, the ones who raised me, pretended all those years.”
“It just gives me more reason to hate them.”
I feel sad for him. Sad that he has that kind of relationship with his own parents. I was hurt by my parents’ actions, but I can honestly say I don’t hate them. I don’t understand it, but I don’t hate them.
“Let’s get this over with,” Madden mumbles and opens the door.
I follow him to the front door, and he opens it, stepping inside. We’re greeted by their housekeeper, who I remember seeing at some of the events.
“So good to see you, Madden,” she says and eyes me. “Where is Ms. Jade?”
“She’s at home. This is Lilly. She’s a...friend.”
I shake her hand, and she mentions something about having to finish up some chores. Madden motions for me to follow him, and we find Landon and Keegan in the den.
“They’re supposed to be here any minute. Finishing up brunch with the neighbors.”
“How do we do this?” I question.
“Do what?” Stanton Steele’s voice booms in the room. I hadn’t even heard him come in. His wife, Elizabeth, follows closely behind him. “Must be something to get my prodigal son back home.”
He’s referencing Madden, giving him a stern look. I can see why Madden feels the way he does about them. Now that they’re here, all warmth has left this room.
“And your daughter,” Landon says.
“My what?”
“You heard him,” Madden says.
“How could you give her up? My twin?”
Elizabeth’s mouth gapes open, seemingly stunned by the news. Stanton places his arm around her waist.
“That is preposterous.”
“No need in trying to deny it. We know it’s true.”
“Keegan, sweetheart, we did no such thing. Your sister was stillborn. The doctor said so.”
“Did you hear him say that, Mother? Or is that what he told you?”
He points at Stanton, and Elizabeth looks up at him. Of course, he doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t deny it. Doesn’t offer an explanation of any kind.
“I’m Lillian Benson, not sure if you know me.”
“Of course, we know you. We know your parents, Preston and Christine, as well. Good people,” Stanton says.
“You’re seriously going to stand there and pretend like you don’t know her parents adopted her. From you?” Landon demands.
“It can’t be,” Elizabeth says. “Can it?”
Stanton looks down at her. “I did what was best for my family, Elizabeth. A girl did absolutely nothing for my legacy. She cannot provide me with heirs. We have our sons, and that is all we need.”
“You gave me away because I was a girl?”
“It wasn’t personal.”
His voice is so cold. So unfeeling. This man is supposed to be my father. The woman who birthed me is standing there, no emotion on her face. She supports his decision.
“I want to go.”
I don’t give them an opportunity to stop me. I can’t be here anymore. This is by far the worst day of my life. I lost Brady. And I found out my biological parents are despicable human beings. I should’ve left things alone. Should’ve been happy with the way things were.
The grass is never greener on the other side. If it is, it’s because it’s fertilized by bullshit.
Chapter Forty-Three
Brady
It’s been a week since I woke up to an empty bed that still smelled of Lilly Benson. It’s been a week since I spoke to Madden and found out that the reunion with her biological parents was a shit show. She didn’t call. Didn’t run to me to be consoled.
Of course, I didn’t exactly make our last moments together good ones. I let her think all she meant to me was a silly bet. That she wasn’t important to me at all. That she isn’t all I fucking think about.
So, a week ago, I sat at my usual table and ate my usual lunch. I went about my usual business the entire week. Work. Play. More work. More play. Only now, I’m not playing with Lilly.
“Eightball, corner pocket.” Logan points in that direction, a smirk on his face.
“Five bucks says you choke, dipshit.” I laugh, taking a long sip of my beer, doing a damn good job of pretending that I’m perfectly fine.
Jack’s is crowded, the usual crew for a Saturday night. Jade and Casey are both working since Jack has yet to find a new waitress. Madden is standing to the left of me, waiting to play the winner. I want to ask him if he’s talked to Lilly. I know Keegan and Landon are both
in Dallas this weekend. Will they see her? I want to ask, but I keep my mouth shut. It’s not my business. She’s not my business anymore.
“Make it ten, asshole,” Logan smarts and takes his shot, missing like I knew he would.
“Pay up.” I grin, holding out my hand.
He grumbles but digs in his wallet for a crisp ten-dollar bill. “Just got paid today and already giving you my money.”
“We got a new job starting Monday,” I remind him. Our crew is never without work.
“Yeah, I know. You act like you’ve never heard of taking a week off. At least Caleb took a day or two here and there,” Logan gripes.
Hearing Caleb’s name reminds me that I haven’t heard from Avery since Christmas. Caleb never even called me back. It’s the first Christmas we didn’t spend together since we were in middle school.
“Well, they want the job done by the end of January. Can’t fuck it up.” I shrug. “And Caleb’s not here.”
I feel hands slide around my waist, so I look over my shoulder. “When is he coming back?” Tori smiles up at me, her brown eyes sparkling.
I step out of her embrace and line up my shot. “Don’t know.”
Her bottom lip extends in a pout. “I’ve missed him, Brady. Have you talked to him?”
“Eightball, middle pocket,” I state. “No, I haven’t talked to him much,” I answer Tori and then sink the eight ball.
Madden gives me a look when Tori comes back to my side. I finish off my beer and start racking, trying to ignore Tori as she leans against the edge of the pool table. Honestly, there isn’t a feature on her that isn’t pretty. That’s why she’s always caused so much trouble between Caleb and Casey. She’s pretty and a flirt and doesn’t give a damn who she’s flirting with. Plus, the sex is outstanding. Not Lilly outstanding, but still outstanding. Maybe that’s what I need. Maybe that will get me out of the slump I’ve been in this past week. I need to move on from Lilly. She obviously isn’t coming back.
“Madden, you and Logan can have this one,” I say, handing him my pool stick.
“Brady, wait,” Madden says sternly.
“Tori and I are going to go catch up about Caleb,” I reply firmly, ending any possibility of him attempting to stop me from leaving.
I take Tori’s hand and lead her upstairs to the empty apartment. Lilly’s apartment. As we take the stairs, my mind wanders to how many times Lilly and I came up here, but I push those thoughts out of my head. Lilly’s gone.
I nudge the door open, and the emptiness slams into me like a wrecking ball. The furniture is still there, but her things are gone. Everything she did to make it hers is gone. It’s empty.
“You didn’t bring me up here to talk about Caleb, did you?” Tori whispers, pressing herself against me.
“Nope,” I answer, closing the distance between us. I shut the door and lift her against it, cupping her ass in my hands.
When I close my mouth over hers, my first thought is that she doesn’t taste like watermelon the way Lilly always did. She tastes like alcohol. She shoves her tongue into my mouth, and I’m reminded that Lilly’s tongue always danced with mine. Tori’s is nearly gagging me. I break the kiss and trail my lips over to her neck while I slide her panties to the side and insert a finger inside her.
“Oh yes, Brady, finger fuck me! Fuck yes!” she screams against my ear.
I should be flattered. I should be happy that one finger can make her scream out dirty talk, but instead, I think of the times Lilly and I didn’t even have to say a word to each other, and that was beautiful. Everything with Lilly was so fucking beautiful.
“Oh God, I’m coming!” she moans, and I lean back.
“Already?” Did I just say that? Fucking hell. Tori glares at me, so I ease my finger out of her and lower her to the floor.
“What the fuck, Brady?” she snaps. “I tell you I’m coming, and you say ‘already?’. Really?”
She storms out of the apartment without glancing back. I walk over to the bed and sit on the edge a moment before lying back. What just happened? I had my finger in a wet pussy, and my mind was not into it. Hell, my cock wasn’t even hard. That’s not like me at all. Damn it, Lilly Benson has officially gotten the best of me.
Chapter Forty-Four
Lillian
I had no idea it would be so difficult to return to normal. To get my life back on track. When I came back to Dallas, I figured I would officially meet my biological parents, they would love me, and we’d figure out a way to have a relationship together. That’s not exactly what happened.
Now that the notion of having two happy families is out of my head, I thought I would at least figure out what I want to do with school.
Instead, I’ve been searching for job openings in Hollis. Stupid, right? Jack has probably already filled my waitressing position and gotten a new tenant. It’s not like he advertised the opening before.
And I’ve already decided I do not want to be a waitress in Hollis and wind up barefoot and pregnant with no college degree. Then again, being a waitress in Hollis, barefoot and pregnant with Brady’s baby, without a college degree doesn’t sound horrible as long as I’m happy. And I can honestly admit that I don’t recall a time I was genuinely happy in a relationship aside from when I was with Brady.
And he pushed me away.
Seems like the norm for everyone in my life lately. Okay, my adoptive parents haven’t pushed me away, and neither have my brothers. They joined me for Christmas, and although it was a touch awkward, things smoothed out before the evening was over. Maybe we started a new Christmas tradition.
“How was your shopping trip?”
I glance up from my laptop to see my mom standing at my door. I didn’t even hear her open it. When she walks over and sits on the edge of my bed, I close it down and put it to the side.
“It was fun. Amelia is great. I also saw Landon before we left.”
“Then, why do you look so depressed?”
Even when I thought I was hiding it, putting on a brave face, my mom notices. This is why I couldn’t confront her before. Why I had to lie about going to Europe. If I had spoken to her right after I found out the truth, she would’ve seen right through me.
“I think I’m ready to move out on my own again.”
She doesn’t seem surprised or upset. When I moved back in with them, they knew it was only temporary.
“Does this have anything to do with the young man you met?”
I frown. “How did you know?”
“Sweetie, I know heartbreak when I see it, and I know you’ve been nursing one since you came home.”
I blink back tears. “He was great. He really was. But we both knew it was never going to work.”
“And why is that?”
I shrug. “Well, he lives in Hollis, and I live here.”
“Wow. We did a poor job of raising you,” she says, shaking her head. “I thought we raised a strong, determined young woman. Thought we taught you not to give up, but to go after the things you want.”
“Well, he doesn’t want me. He made that pretty clear.”
“I doubt that. Did he say that?”
No. Not at all. I’m the one who ended things. I was the one who pushed him away. As much as I try to turn that around on him.
“You don’t understand, Mom.”
“What I don’t understand is why you’re letting a few hours of distance keep you from the man you’re in love with.”
I laugh at this. “I am not in love with Brady. Besides, there is nothing for me to do in Hollis. No school, no jobs.”
“Pretty sure you had a job when you were there. Didn’t you say you were working?” she asks. “Not everyone is meant or required to go to college. Do what makes you happy. Make your own path. And if that path leads you to Hollis, to Brady, then follow it.”
Chapter Forty-Five
Brady
I’m sitting at Jack’s looking at a cheeseburger that I can’t bring myself to eat. What the hell is
wrong with me? I always have an appetite, and I can always eat a burger from Jack’s.
What’s worse is that I’m listening to Landon and Amelia talk about Lilly. My Lilly. Landon had lunch with her, and Amelia went shopping with her. For Christ’s sake, I couldn’t even fuck a beautiful woman like I normally would have, but Lilly can go on as though what we had never happened. I don’t fucking think so.
“I’ll see you guys later,” I mumble and stand up from the table, leaving my uneaten burger.
“Where you running off to?” Landon questions.
“I got shit to do,” I snap and stalk off. That’s exactly right. I have shit to do.
One: drive to Dallas.
Two: find out exactly how Lilly is going on like I never existed.
I climb in my truck and spin out of the parking lot, leaving a cloud of dust behind me. I’m barely on the road thirty minutes when I’m already second-guessing if I’m doing the right thing.
We agreed what we had was temporary. We agreed it would end, and we would end it on good terms. That didn’t exactly happen. Still, I know if I don’t go say something to her, I’ll keep wondering. I’ll keep trying to make things work with someone else, and they won’t.
Sure, I’ll eventually get my cock hard long enough to deliver, but will it be the same? Will it feel the same way it did with her? With Lilly, I could feel her straight to my soul. She touched me, and I swear, her touch left a stain on me that I can’t remove. She kissed me, and I can still taste her. She smiled and made any pain I’ve ever experienced feel better.
I can’t keep pretending that I don’t miss her. That all she was to me was that fucking bet. I sure as hell can’t keep pretending that Hollis is the same without her. It’s not. The town I love is not the same.
My mom told me this would happen. When I left town and didn’t end things with Jade the right way, my mom told me that my player ways would come back to bite me in the ass. She said Jade was a sweet girl, and I shouldn’t have treated her that way. She was right about that. She also said I shouldn’t behave like a manwhore. Well, that got me into a little trouble, too. Obviously. But this, my mom knew this would happen. My mom knew eventually a woman would get the best of me.
