I pause, trying to gather whatever strength I can for this next part. The deep breath that I take racks my lungs, like that of a child who has sobbed itself to sleep.
“He was in the tub, wrists slit, blood everywhere. I was too late. There was nothing I could do. He killed himself because of me and my fucking mistake. He left a note, but all it said was that he was sorry that he couldn’t be who they wanted him to be. I killed him. It’s all my fault that my brother is dead.” The tears claim me full force now.
Maddy just pulls me closer to her side and sinks down onto the bed with me in her arms. After long moments pass in silence, and I finally calm myself down, she asks, “That’s why you want to work with kids, isn’t it?”
I smile before saying, “Yes. Sixteen-year-old me blames myself for everything that happened with Shane, but twenty-one-year-old me knows that maybe if he had someone to turn to, he might still be here. I couldn’t be there for him like that, but maybe I can be there for someone else.”
She smiles at me lovingly and then just holds me. We don’t say anything for a while; we just bask in the feel of one another, reveling in the comfort of having someone who understands your pain.
I get lost thinking about how happy things were before Shane died, about how much I loved my life and my family. That all came crashing down in an instant. I know Maddy understands that; she had no warning where her parents’ deaths were concerned. Her world shattered instantly, just like mine.
She must have some kind of ability to read my thoughts, because as I’m thinking about how my parents are essentially dead to me, she asks about them. “So what happened with you and your parents, then?”
I can’t help but sigh and laugh flippantly. “Well, they essentially kicked me out, and I was ready to leave with Shane. But after he died, I lost the will to do much of anything. I lived in a numb fog for the last year and a half of high school. I just existed. We passed each other in the kitchen or in the hallway that connected our bedrooms, but never said a word. When I graduated, I packed up and never looked back. I haven’t heard from them since. They never tried to contact me, and I never bothered with them.”
If she thinks less of me for cutting my parents out of my life when hers are really and truly gone, she’s hiding it well.
“So, then how do you pay for school? And this house? I mean, I know it’s not the Ritz, but you don’t have a job or anything. So without your parents helping out, how do you afford all of this? And the money that you spent on yesterday, too — where is all of that coming from if you’re on your own?”
“This is where they earn their ‘Parents of the Year’ award,” I quip angrily. “After Shane killed himself, and my parents learned of all the online shit, they went after Alex for something like defamation of character or wrongful death or something like that. I stopped paying attention to anything that they did, and they left me alone. They wanted nothing to do with me because I was mourning Shane. I just couldn’t understand how they could act like he never even existed. Anyway, they wanted all traces of him being gay erased. They wanted Alex to take her words back, even though they were true. They had no interest in the money, really — it was tainted with Shane’s homosexuality. They just wanted to save face. So when they settled out of court, they put the money in a college fund for me. I’m pretty sure they’d flip if they knew that I was using the money to invest in a career to help kids who were like Shane. But really, I never wanted to touch the money, and aside from tuition, rent, and the basic living expenses, I’ve never spent a dime of it. Until you, that is.” I get lost in reminiscing about how much happiness I’ve been able to share with her because of that money. “Shane would have loved you, you know.” The silence stretches again, and this time my fear is what causes me to break it. “So where does this leave us, Maddy?”
She looks lost at my question, and I can’t tell if that’s a good or a bad thing. “What do you mean, ‘where does that leave us’?” She situates us so that we’re lying next to each other, face to face, looking in each other’s eyes.
“I’ve been holding all this back because I just had this feeling that you would leave me if you knew. You’re too good for me, for my past, and between everything that happened with Alex and essentially killing my brother…”
She doesn’t let me finish my train of thought. Her lips silence me, and I feel like I can breathe again. She wouldn’t be kissing me if she was leaving me.
“Reid, I said I love you. Now, this may come as a shock to you,” she’s trying to be playful, arching her eyebrows — God, I love her, “but I don’t throw those words around lightly. That’s some really serious stuff you’ve been carrying around with you, and I hate that you felt like you couldn’t tell me. I’m here for you, baby. I love you, and nothing you did, even though none of that was really your fault…”
I try to interrupt her, but she just shoots me a stern “shut up” look.
“It wasn’t, Reid — none of it was your fault at all. Alex seduced you. She raped you, essentially. Sure, you weren’t held down or violently beaten, but she got you drunk and seduced a sixteen-year-old to get a piece of information that she didn’t have a right to know in the first place. You were a kid, for God’s sake. Your brother trusted you, and she played you. You didn’t deliberately betray him. You didn’t disown him like your parents did. You were actually going to leave with him, to be there for him and support him. And you most certainly didn’t hold the blade to his arm. Think of how much pain and suffering he must have dealt with to make that decision. That wasn’t your fault, baby. You’re even dedicating your career to helping other kids like Shane. I’d say that’s pretty fucking awesome. You have to forgive yourself. Otherwise, the guilt and anger will eat you alive.”
I am in awe of this beautiful and compassionate woman. How the fuck did I get so lucky to have her in my life? “Maddy, you make everything sound so simple. God, I love you. I can’t forgive myself completely, and I can’t swallow the anger and pain entirely, but for the first time since it all happened, I’m willing to try. You make me want to try.”
I kiss her and pour as much emotion as I can into it. She fucking amazes me. She doesn’t run; she doesn’t turn her back on me; she doesn’t pity me. She is just there for me, holding me when I need to be held, listening to me when I need to be heard, wiping the tears away when they stain my cheek.
Maddy breaks the kiss to say, “I love you, Reid.” She inhales a huge, cleansing breath — a cue to change the subject - and when she huffs it out, she says, “So I’m going to shower now and get that monster of a bird in the oven. Did you guys put a hit out on Big Bird or something, because it’s abnormally huge?”
“Oh, shit, Maddy! I completely forgot that today was Thanksgiving and that we have to make dinner for nine people in,” I reach for my phone to see what time it is and see that I have five missed calls, all from the same fucking unknown number, “like six hours.”
“It’s okay, baby. I got this under control. You just have to sit there and look pretty.” She smirks a sarcastic grin in my direction. “I’m going to shower and then start cooking.”
As she walks away from the bed, I slap her ass playfully. I love that she brings that out in me — that light playfulness. God, if she wasn’t here today, after that nightmare, I’m not really sure what I would be doing. I definitely wouldn’t be laughing and smiling. I’ve never been more thankful for anything in my life.
I hear the water turn on and join her in the bathroom. I can use at least one of those six hours showing her just how thankful I am.
***
She’s already under the hot spray, rinsing the soapy lather out of her long, luxurious mane. Water sluices down her perfect body. I could watch the scene before me for hours. Her long, lean legs go on forever, and when they do end, they are topped with the most glorious ass I have ever seen in my life. It’s full, round, and firm; I could sink my teeth into it. Her hips and waist are soft and full, perfectly feminine. She is a far cry
from those skin-and-bones models out there that everyone says are perfect. Well, if they think that is perfect, then it’s clear they’ve never seen Maddy.
She’s still facing away from me as I strip out of my boxers and slide in behind her. She gasps in audible shock, “You scared the crap out of me, Reid! What are you doing in here?”
She’s trying to cover up — silly girl. I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her so that her back slides up against my front; the water makes our bodies glide together in a perfectly delicious way. I kiss her neck softly before biting it more than a little lightly. She shivers and leans into my lips.
“Did you really think I could stay in the other room, knowing that you were in here all hot and soapy and wet?” I kiss her neck again, this time on the other side. I kiss from where her long, graceful neck meets her shoulder up to her ear and suck the lobe into my mouth. Her breath is becoming shallow; I know she’s losing it. Thinking about how wet she is, not just from the shower, makes my cock twitch. She feels me hardening behind her and she reaches behind to touch me.
My knees buckle slightly. She has that kind of power over me. The feel of love, the power of all of her emotion, travels through each and every touch of her fingers on my skin, and I am rendered weak by it. I can’t help but lean in to her touch and buck my hips up into her hand. The water flowing down around us makes my movements effortless. She turns around to face me to make the angle less awkward.
As I gaze down into her gorgeous green eyes, they are hooded with lust and filled with love and passion. I know the same look is present in my eyes. My hands glide wetly up her waist and graze the underside of her full, round breasts. Those are perfect, too. Her nipples pucker under my soft touches. I pinch them between my forefingers and thumbs and pull lightly. She groans and rolls her hips into mine. Bending my head down to them, I take her right nipple deep into my mouth and suck.
“Ahhh, Reid. That feels amazing.” She wraps her hand around my neck and twists her fingers into my hair, holding me in place.
I pull away, sucking air back into my lungs, and say, “You are so fucking beautiful, Maddy. Every inch of you is perfect.” I trace my hands over her body to emphasize my point. “And up here,” I run my short nails through her scalp, forcing another shiver and causing her pert nipples to harden further, “my God, you’re the smartest and funniest person I have ever known.” I place my hands over her heart. “And here. My God, in here is the kindest, most compassionate heart. I can’t believe I have the privilege of being inside it, of being a part of your world and your life. I love you, Maddy, more than you can possibly know.”
Her lips crash into mine before I can say anything else. Not that there are words that even exist to convey how much I love her, especially now that she knows everything, now that I’ve laid my heart, my black heart, open and bare at her feet, and she still wants to be with me. Never in a million years did I ever think I would be this lucky.
She deepens the kiss, taking it to a feverish pace. Our teeth crash together. We nip and bite at each other’s lips. Tongues dance wildly. We are lost in each other, lost in this moment of unbridled passion. I reach down and caress between her legs, and this time it’s her turn for her knees to buckle under the touch of pleasure.
“Spread your legs for me, baby. Let me touch you.”
“Oh…God…yes…Reid…”
Her voice fades away into incoherent moans of ecstasy. I swirl my fingers around her hardened nub, pressing ever so softly. She could be sore from last night, and I most definitely do not want to cause her pain. When she grinds herself down onto my hand, I know that pain is the furthest thing from her mind. Two fingers glide through her silky folds, and she is completely lost to me. Her head rolls back onto her shoulders, and she can barely hold herself up. I wrap my other arm around her waist to support her weight.
My hand pumps into her; my thumb circles her clit. My name on her lips as she comes is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard. It breaks the chains I placed long ago around my heart and causes it to swell with love.
Finally able to hold her own weight again, she wraps her arms around me and leans her head into my pecs. “Reid, that was amazing. You make me feel…oh, God…I can’t even put words to it. I love you.” She reaches down to grab me once again and resumes her stroking from earlier, but after touching her and feeling her come against me, I can’t take more than a few strokes before I’m already on the edge of coming myself.
“Maddy, your hands are fantastic. I love the way you touch me. Ahhh…baby…I’m close…” I’m in complete oblivion, so I don’t even realize that she has shifted and is now kneeling down in front of me. The sight of her alone pushes me even closer to my climax, and I throb in her hand. She takes me into her mouth, and I am gone. Her tongue, her lips, they are my undoing.
I try to pull away from her; I wasn’t expecting her to use her mouth. I don’t want her to think she has to do anything she doesn’t want to. She just grabs my ass and pulls me back to her, deeper into her mouth. I want to tell her that she doesn’t have to, but I’m coming before I can even get the words out.
She doesn’t flinch, doesn’t move an inch. She just takes all of me — body and soul — she takes everything and turns it into something beautiful. I cup my hands under her shoulders and pull her up into my arms. Kissing the top of her head, I say, “You know, you didn’t have to do…well…you know.” Something about her just makes me want to be a little more discreet, a little less vulgar about all of this.
“Reid, do you really think I would have done anything I didn’t want to? I love you, and I wanted to show you just how much I love you. Unless…did I do something wrong? Oh, God, I did something wrong? I must look like an ass.”
Her insecurities are so fucking adorable. She had me coming in her mouth in less than a minute, and she thinks she did something wrong.
I chuckle lightly at her misunderstanding of the situation. “Maddy, believe me. You did absolutely nothing wrong.” We stand under the water, just holding one another, basking in the bliss we’ve just shared. When the water turns cold, we rush to finish getting cleaned up.
I wrap a towel around my waist and drape one over her shoulders. Pulling her into my embrace and resting my chin on the top of her head, I realize that, while last night was a rather obvious first for her, this morning was a first for me, too. It was the first time I’ve told someone that I loved them; it was the first time I ever told anyone about Shane and Alex; it was the first time I felt love in return, despite all of the demons of my past.
I can’t help but feel that the shower did more than wash my body. With Maddy at my side, I feel like my soul has been cleansed and my heart has been given a second chance.
When a smile curves my lips at these thoughts, for the first time in a long time, I don’t try to push it down.
Chapter 13
Maddy
I am in awe of everything before me, and not just because the girls and I put together a pretty impressive spread for Thanksgiving dinner. It’s the love and feeling of family that makes my insides get all mushy. The boys have been in the living room watching football all day. A bit sexist, sure, but I’d be lying if I said my heart doesn’t melt a little each time I hear them yell at the television. My dad used to get like that about football, well, any sport, really. What is it about men and yelling at a game on television? Don’t they realize they can’t change the outcome, no matter how loudly they yell?
Silly boys.
“Okay, so the table is all set and all the side dishes are all ready. I think we’re good to go.” Melanie informs me of the status in the dining room. I honestly couldn’t have done any of this without her and the girls. I’ve never really cooked more than mac and cheese. God, I hope I don’t poison anyone!
Momma C has been cute as a button, too. Even though she swore up and down that she wasn’t going to lift a finger, she’s been hanging around the kitchen like a hawk all day long. I see her tasting things and adding das
hes of this and pinches of that along the way.
I pulled the gargantuan bird out of the oven a few minutes ago, and now I’m staring it down, wondering how the hell I’m going to get it inside in one piece. Forget carving it; I have no clue where to even start with that.
Maybe the guys have a chainsaw. That ought to work.
Just as I’m about to have a mini panic attack over it, Reid struts into the kitchen. He’s been amazing all day, too. Every twenty minutes or so, he comes into the kitchen to help us out. He never intended for me to do all of the work, but after about five or six times of me insisting that I wanted to do it, he finally stopped trying to help.
But, boy is he a welcome sight now. “Need some help there, Maddy?” He’s being a little devil, playing on my earlier insistence that he stay away.
“Why, yes, dear.” I arch a playful eyebrow in his direction. “Can you carry this to the table and carve it for me?” I try for my best June Cleaver impression, which has him laughing in hysterics.
I shouldn’t be getting turned on at the sight of him carrying a turkey into the dining room, but watching his biceps flex as he effortlessly lifts the heavy tray makes my blood flame. Watching his taut, perfect ass sway out of the room is also a fairly yummy treat.
I love that everyone decided to keep everything casual and low-key. I never understood why some people get so dressed up just to eat. Give me elastic waistbands, please.
When I enter the dining room, my breath catches in my throat behind thick emotion when I see the scene before me. Everyone is seated around the table, which is beautifully set; it kind of looks like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting. Reid is sitting at the head of the table, and he pats the seat next to him for me to sit.
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