Had Enough
Anie Michaels
Had Enough
© Copyright Anie Michaels 2017
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Edited by Emily Lawrence
Cover design © Pink Ink Designs
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Prologue
Nine Months Ago
Justin
“Hey, you down to go to the game tomorrow night?”
That came from my friend Camden. He had season tickets to the Renegades basketball games and I was usually his plus one. Well, unless he got roped into taking a date. Personally, I tried to never date women who were into sports so I could keep those two areas of my life separate.
On one hand you had women: dates, friends with benefits, hook-ups, one-night stands.
And on the other hand you had, well, everything else.
I didn’t factor women into my everyday life. I was a bachelor and I liked it that way.
Camden, unfortunately, had recently found himself caught up in quite the scandal. He took one woman to the last game, broke up with her at halftime, then kissed the woman sitting next to him on the Kiss Cam. Apparently, she tasted like candy because he hasn’t been able to stop talking about her since then.
“You’re not taking the new girl?” I asked before taking a pull from my beer.
“Nah, man, she’s busy.”
I was about to revoke his man card with the sullen tone he used.
“I’m not above taking her leftovers,” I replied with a laugh. It was true. I wasn’t. If he got serious about this girl, I was pretty sure I’d be out of the gravy train that was free awesome tickets to my favorite team’s games twice a week.
“All I’m saying is, if she’s free for a game, she’s got dibs.”
I shook my head and sighed. “Bros before hos, man.”
“I agree,” he said, tapping his beer against mine. “We’re not talking about hos, though. We’re talking about Riley.”
“I get it.” I nodded in understanding. I didn’t necessarily agree, but I understood.
“No hard feelings.”
“It’s cool. Free Renegades tickets couldn’t last forever.” I shrugged and watched as a woman in a short skirt passed by. After giving her a few seconds of appreciation I turned back to Camden. “So, this thing with Riley, is it serious?”
“About as serious as it could be after one real date. I mean, she’s different. I don’t really know how to explain it. It’s never been like this before.”
“Dude.” I laughed, shaking my head. “I’m never going to get my tickets back.”
Camden’s phone buzzed and I turned my attention to the big screen TV in the corner where some sports analysts were talking about how the week’s games were shaking out. We watched in silence for a few minutes, slowly drinking our beers, but then he made a comment about the defense and it started a debate. He and I were both pretty passionate when it came to the Renegades, so it wasn’t surprising that I didn’t notice the woman who approached our table after a while.
She plopped herself down next to Camden without even a second’s hesitation, held her hand out to me over the table, and said, “Hi, I’m Riley. Nice to meet you.”
“Hey. Justin.” I shook her hand and smiled. She was cute, if a little unexpected. Then I watched as Camden kissed her like he was a sophomore in high school in his bedroom with a girl while his parents were out of town. I was unsure if I was supposed to be disturbed or turned on, because I was a little of both.
When they finally came up for air, Camden held her face and said, I kid you not, “I missed your lips.”
Before I could officially swipe his man card out of his hands, I heard a feminine voice behind me say, “Everyone in this bar can tell.”
I turned to see whoever had taken the words right out of my mouth, but I couldn’t speak.
Standing at our table was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. Her long blond hair was pulled back, but cascading down one shoulder, and her eyes were a dark green color, like jade. She had freckles over the bridge of her nose and the sexiest smirk.
The instant I saw her, my brain malfunctioned.
“Justin,” Camden said, pulling me out of my haze. He then used his hand to indicate I had drool on my chin. I wiped at my jaw before I could stop myself and cursed under my breath.
What the hell is wrong with me?
“This is Hadley. Let her in,” Camden said, motioning toward the empty spot next to me in the booth.
It took me a second to realize what was happening, but I finally moved over so she could sit down.
“Had, this is my friend, Justin. Justin, this is Riley’s friend, Hadley.”
“Best friend,” Hadley corrected. She reached her hand out to me and I took it, but I was still left completely useless.
In the past, if I saw an attractive woman I would’ve given her my A game, my best work. But this woman, Hadley, it was like her mere presence left me defenseless. She was like kryptonite to my game.
I had no game.
Camden and Riley immediately started talking exclusively to each other and suddenly it felt as though Hadley and I were the third and fourth wheel.
“So, how do you know Camden?” she asked, giving me a bright smile.
God, she was gorgeous.
“Uh.” I reached up to loosen my tie. “We work together. Got hired onto the same law firm around the same time.”
&nbs
p; “Aha, so you’re the guy who usually goes to the games with him. He mentioned something about that.”
“Yeah.” That was all I had. One word. Quick, think of something to say to her. “How’d you meet Riley?” Fucking lame question.
“We were roommates freshman year in college. She hasn’t managed to get rid of me yet.” She took a drink of her beer and leaned close to me, her voice a low whisper. “I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot of each other if these two continue the way they are.” She nodded her head toward Camden and Riley.
For the first time since I was old enough to appreciate women, I was completely all right with seeing a lot of one. Of Hadley, in particular. In fact, there was a strong feeling of wanting to see her continuously. I was curious about her, wanted to know where she lived, what she did for a living, if she had siblings, a boyfriend.
Before I could rally my nerves and turn the charm back on, she and Riley were standing from the booths and getting ready to go. It all happened so fast.
“I’ll walk you out,” Camden said, following behind her. “I’ll be right back,” he said to me as he stood.
“See you later.” Hadley waved delicate fingers at me, smirking like she knew something I didn’t.
“Later,” I replied, giving her a nod. I wanted to say so much more, find out more about her—anything about her—but they were already turning to leave. “It was nice to meet you, Riley. Enjoy my seat at the Renegades games.” I was only half joking.
“See you around,” she replied, smiling.
Then they were gone.
What the fuck just happened?
I brought my beer to my lips, paused for a moment, then took a sip. My entire body was confused. My brain was scrambled, my heart was racing, and my dick…well…it was the least confused out of the whole lot. It knew what it wanted, and it wanted Hadley.
“I think I left my keys.”
I heard her voice and looked up. There she was again, staring right at me.
“Do you mind if I…? I think they may have fallen out of my purse.” Her eyes darted down to where I was sitting.
“Oh, uh, no. Let me…” The last word escaped me as I scooted out of the booth and stood up. She hadn’t backed up enough so when I finally made it out of the booth she was just inches from me. I was taller than her by a good six inches, and maybe that surprised her because when I stood up straight her eyes traveled from my toes all the way up my body until her gaze reached my eyes. And, maybe it was wishful thinking, but I could have sworn she liked what she saw.
“You’re huge,” she said, her words low and breathy. “You, uh, I mean, you look taller now that you’re not sitting.” She gave her head a little shake and laughed. “Can I…?” She pointed to the booth and I realized I was still in her way.
“Yeah. Sorry,” I mumbled and moved out of the way, but not before trying to catch the scent of her.
“Thanks.” She smiled again and I resisted the urge to rearrange my dick. Then she did the worst thing she possibly could have. She bent at the waist to look for her keys and my eyes went straight to her ass.
Holy.
Fucking.
Shit.
Hadley, this woman I’d only met minutes before, had the best fucking ass I’d ever seen in my life.
My head tilted and my eyes narrowed in on her.
“Hmmm, they must be here somewhere.”
She kept looking, and so did I, and I swear on everything holy she gave her ass a little shake, as if she knew I was looking. As if she liked my eyes on her and wanted to give me a show.
Luckily, the way we were situated, I was blocking her body so no one else in the bar would have been able to see. I knew if I thought any other men could be ogling her ass, I would’ve probably punched them in the fucking throat.
She was mine.
She just didn’t know it yet.
“Oh, here they are,” she finally said, standing slowly and flipping her ponytail over her shoulder. She grinned at me, then fucking winked. Spinning the keys around her finger, she started to walk away.
“Wait,” I managed to say, gently gripping her elbow. “Can I get your number? Maybe we could go out sometime.”
Her eyes lazily slid up and down my body again and she didn’t even try to hide her appraisal.
“I won’t be hard to find. I’m sure you’ll see me around soon.” Her tongue darted out and wet her top lip, then she fucking smiled again before she walked out of the bar.
I blew out a breath and loosened my tie a little more as I watched her saunter outside, swaying her hips the entire way.
I was in a lot of fucking trouble.
Chapter One
Present Day
Hadley
I awoke to the sound of a pounding on the door. A loud, incessant thump thump. Somewhere in my mind I knew I needed to wake up fully; something didn’t seem right. But when I rolled over, a wave of pain radiated through my brain and the pounding just got louder.
“Oh, fuck,” I groaned. Upon opening my mouth, it became evident that something had died in there previously. “Oh my God,” I whispered.
Surely, I’m dying.
I’d had a good run, all things considered.
My head throbbed and I realized it wasn’t pounding on the door I was hearing but my own heartbeat, thundering through my veins, making my brain reverberate in my skull.
Opening my eyes, I said a silent prayer when I realized it was dark wherever I was. It was abundantly clear any kind of light would only make the throbbing worse.
Where am I?
Before I could answer my own question, the mattress dipped and my eyes shot open wide in terror as a warm arm landed on my waist.
Holy shit, I’m in bed with a man.
Suddenly, it was all coming back to me. Well, mostly. Okay, a little bit. And with the memories, everything in my stomach also came up. I threw off the covers and ran toward the bathroom, making it just in time to empty the contents of my stomach into the toilet.
I groaned and heaved, trying unsuccessfully to keep the volume down. Eventually I realized that trying to vomit quietly was actually quite painful, so I gave in to the violence of it all and just prayed for it to be over quickly.
A long minute later I was sweaty and panting, forehead resting against my arm, which was supported by the toilet bowl. I sent a silent and groggy thank you out to Camden’s parents for splurging on the nice hotel because I was pretty certain the toilet was cleaned between guests.
What the hell did I do last night?
Even more memories came flooding back. Nothing terribly clear, and nothing more than little snippets, but I remembered Justin, and I knew with one hundred percent certainty that it was him who was lying in the bed in the next room.
It was Justin I’d slept with the night before.
And it was only the alcohol that made me brave enough to do it.
Shit.
I wanted desperately to shower, to wash everything about that night away, but I didn’t want to risk waking him up. No, I wanted to disappear into a dark oblivion and never see another person ever again. Well, that wasn’t true. I wanted to see Riley again. And my family. But not Justin.
It suddenly occurred to me that I was completely naked. Yup, as a jaybird.
Fuck, that would complicate things.
I stood up slowly and tested my sea legs. I was definitely wobbly, still a little drunk after all. But I braced myself against the wall, using my hands to hold myself up, and made my way to the sink, splashing some cold water on my face. I didn’t dare turn on the light, for two reasons: one, I didn’t want to wake Justin, and two, I didn’t want to see what was left of my makeup smeared all over my face. I was sure I looked atrocious.
After feeling around for a towel and drying my face, I took a deep breath and scrounged up all the courage I could to face what was waiting for me on the other side of the door. After a silent pep talk, I pulled the door open slowly, trying to be as quiet as possible.
The only light came from the numbers of the alarm clock and the little flashing light of my phone on some other surface on the other side of the room. Slowly and with immense discomfort, I shuffled my feet across the floor toward my phone. I had no memory of the layout of the room. No memory, really, of anything except the bed and what we’d done in it. So it wasn’t surprising when my toe met a piece of furniture and shooting pain rushed up my foot. No, it wasn’t surprising, it was almost expected. The hook-up gods of Las Vegas were not going to let me get out of this room unscathed.
I bit my lip to keep from crying out, then took in a deep breath, pushing it out between clenched teeth.
I just have to get out of this room, then I can scream and cry as much as I want.
I moved forward, naked, arms outstretched, feet sliding along the carpet, trying to both find my phone and avoid other invisible furniture. The blinking got closer and closer until finally my hand wrapped around my phone and I let out a relieved sigh.
I pushed the side button and let the screen illuminate the room like a flashlight. My eyes darted around, looking for my clothes. After a few panicked moments I saw my dress shoved halfway under the bed. I tiptoed over to it and swiftly stepped into it, only bothering to zip up midway up my back. Next I saw my shoes and gathered them up in my arms, fully aware that I was in no condition to try walking in my four-inch stilettos.
All I needed was my purse and panties.
A vivid memory flashed in my mind of Justin kneeling before me, peeling my black thong down my legs, his gaze locked on mine, my fingers combing through his dark hair.
Fuck it. Forget the panties.
I spied my purse on the floor near the hallway and darted toward it. Collecting the contents that had spilled onto the floor, I shoved them back in the tiny clutch, then bolted. The door hadn’t even latched all the way behind me before I was leaning against the wall in the hallway, hand covering my mouth, trying to contain the sobs.
I’d been avoiding him for months, literally going out of my way to make sure that exact thing didn’t happen.
When Camden had explained his plan of going to Vegas to surprise Riley with a wedding, some part of me knew I’d break. I could see it coming, but I couldn’t stop it, no matter how much I wanted to.
Had Enough Page 1
