Lilac

by Reid, B. B.

  While our driver was distracted, pulling us safely into traffic, I decided to settle a certain burning curiosity. Otherwise, I’d never get through dinner in one piece.

  Placing my hand on her thigh, I watched her face as I slowly slipped it higher and higher. I wanted to give her time to stop me, but she never blinked, and she never spoke a word.

  By the time my fingers reached the apex of her thigh, I knew what I would find, but I kept going anyway.

  “Braxton…” Using my knuckle, I teased her wet pussy that she’d left bare, knowing I’d be curious. Her breathing started to quicken when I didn’t let up even after I’d gotten my answer.

  “Yes?”

  “Where are your panties, baby?”

  As if she wasn’t on the verge of coming, she smiled at me like the cat that ate the canary. “I knew I was forgetting something.”

  We’re on our way up, Rich texted our group chat.

  He and Braxton had disappeared without saying shit, and each hour they were gone, I grew more and more pissed. Our security team wouldn’t be back on duty until tomorrow. Rich should have known better than to risk Braxton and himself. Before I could respond from my perch on the couch, he sent another text.

  Rich: I think I figured out Braxton’s beef.

  Loren: Which one?

  I didn’t have to hear Loren’s voice to know it was dry as fuck. Right now, he was shut up in the spare bedroom where he’d been since realizing Braxton had left with Rich.

  Rich: Shut up, Lo. For once. Just shut up.

  Rich: When we fight, she feels responsible

  So she shuts us out, I texted before he could finish his train of thought.

  Rich: Yup.

  Rich: We’re almost there. Don’t say shit unless you’re playing nice.

  Loren: So you want us to pretend to like each other long enough to trick her into a relationship?

  Loren’s objection to Rich’s plan genuinely surprised me. I thought he’d be all out for playing dirty. Instead, he was willing to jump through whatever hoops to get her fair and square.

  Rich: We won’t be pretending.

  It was the last text he was able to send before they walked through the door. I had my eyes on her from the moment she stepped through wearing a purple wig that caught me off guard. Rich had claimed they’d worn a disguise, but I hadn’t been convinced that it was enough. He looked like that character Justin Timberlake played in a movie I couldn’t remember.

  Unable to look away from Braxton, I knew the moment her apprehension sunk in for what awaited her now that playtime was over.

  It’s true.

  I wanted to ask where the hell she’d been and who told her she could leave, but I didn’t. I couldn’t bring myself to be the reason for that depleted look in her eyes. Instead of Braxton sucking the happiness out of the room, the room had sucked the happiness out of Braxton. It was a bruising blow to my ego, to be sure.

  Loren appeared on the spare’s threshold, and the moment Braxton spotted him, she made a break for her room. “Have fun?” he asked before she could get too far.

  She spun on her heel to regard him with a curious squint as if she were trying to figure out whether he was being genuine or not.

  Deciding to make a stand, she lifted her chin. “I did.”

  “Oh.” Loren scratched his chin. His eyes darted around the room as he searched for something else to say in an to attempt to make small talk. He was never without words when he was being an asshole, though. “So what did you see?”

  “You.”

  Smooth as fuck, as if he’d actually understood her cryptic reply, he didn’t miss a beat. “Doubt it, baby. I was here all day.”

  Setting down the bag of souvenirs she’d bought, she dug out her phone from…somewhere. Her dress, which had no pockets, was tight and short as fuck. I watched her through narrowed eyes as she crossed the room and made her way toward Loren.

  No way she was wearing panties.

  My gaze shot to Rich, wondering what else they’d been up to. He caught me staring and smirked. He had another one of his idiotic plans to thank for the reason I didn’t pummel him.

  “What the hell,” Loren barked out of nowhere, drawing my attention away from Rich. Braxton was showing Loren something on her phone, and whatever it was made his face turn purple. He looked like an angry eggplant emoji.

  “What is it?” I asked when no one bothered to explain. Rich had his lips tucked, and his body shook as he fought to keep himself from losing it.

  Braxton took her phone from Loren, who looked like he wanted to snatch it back before he stormed over to the mirror by the door and started inspecting his nose for some reason. When Braxton reached me with her phone in tow, I accepted it from her before pulling her down onto my lap and before she could realize my intent.

  She didn’t fight me.

  I pretended my heart wasn’t skipping inside my chest when she sat in my lap like she’d accepted that she belonged there. After getting my fill of staring at the goofy face Braxton was making in the photo, I finally glanced at the wax replica of Loren that she was posing with and burst out laughing.

  The sound made Rich lose his composure, followed by Brax before we were all laughing at Loren’s expense.

  Truth be told, it wasn’t that bad. The difference was minuscule, and the statue was pretty accurate.

  To Loren, it looked like his nose should have its own zip code.

  Without thinking to ask for permission, I went through the rest of the photos she’d taken, wanting to see her day through her eyes.

  I wasn’t surprised to see she’d even taken some with Rich since she was being so agreeable with me. I felt her gaze on me as I scrolled through them.

  He’d taken her everywhere.

  Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, the MET, the Empire State Building—everywhere I’d been too stubborn and stupid not to take her myself.

  When I reached the last entry and realized it was actually a video, she tried to snatch her phone back, but I held it out of reach.

  Our gazes met, mine steady, hers nervous.

  “Houston—”

  I held her tighter before pressing play. The video was dark, but I could still make out the wig Rich wore, and his head buried between Braxton’s legs as she recorded. He was eating her pussy in what looked like the back seat of a car, but I couldn’t tell anything else about their surroundings.

  “Rich,” Braxton moaned in the video as he attacked her clit.

  My mouth began to water as I wondered what she tasted like. It was a problem I’d have to rectify soon.

  Her soft moans filled the room, and even Loren paused his bitching to listen in. In the video, she wound her hips, fucking Rich’s face as he slurped and sucked her nectar as if she were cool spring water on a hot summer day.

  “I’m coming, Jericho.”

  She wasn’t lying.

  I was hard and getting harder at the sounds she made. I didn’t have to question whether she could feel me when she squirmed in my lap. The footage became shaky before her grip must have slipped, and she dropped the phone, ending the video.

  I took my eyes off the phone for the first time since the video started to look at Braxton, who was refusing to let us see how embarrassed she was. It made me wonder why she’d taken the video in the first place.

  “Did you enjoy that?” I asked her even though I’d seen the proof.

  “Yes.” Her tone was flat. “Can I please have my phone back now?”

  This time I gave it up since I’d seen all I needed to. Standing, she walked to where she’d left her bags before climbing the steps to her room and closing the door behind her. I didn’t hear the lock turn this time, which had me feeling like a kid in the candy store.

  First things first.

  “Tell me you didn’t do that in front of the driver,” I demanded as soon as we were alone.

  “Of course not,” Rich bit back. “I told him to take a walk. You’re welcome, by the way. I made h
er record that so you two wouldn’t feel left out.”

  Loren was beaming as he regarded Jericho. “Good looking out, best friend.” Just as quickly, a frown took over his face as he looked Rich over like he was seeing him for the first time. “Bro, what the hell are you wearing?”

  “It’s a disguise.”

  “Clearly. You look like someone I should be telling to stay away from schools and playgrounds.” Rich immediately snatched off the wig and shoved it against Loren’s chest. The mustache, sideburns, and glasses quickly followed. “That’s better,” Loren said with a sigh. “I’m honestly questioning how Braxton let you go down on her looking like a pervert.” When Rich looked ready to hit him, Loren smiled. “We’re supposed to be getting along, remember?”

  Braxton stayed in her room for the rest of the night, and I wasn’t sure how we managed it, but none of us bothered her. Loren and Rich had grown bored waiting and were currently sound asleep in the spare. Meanwhile, I was wide awake and feeling anxious. I couldn’t stop replaying in my head every fucked-up thing I’d ever said to her. I couldn’t stop wanting to undo my brutal treatment of her. My desperate desire for the impossible, to travel in time to change the past, is what kept me up. I wouldn’t be surprised if I never slept again from the fear that Braxton may never forgive me.

  Sometime around one in the morning, she finally showed her face. I caught her sneaking into the kitchen and cornered her against the fridge.

  “Enjoy your day?” I whispered to her with my hands on her hips. I didn’t want to risk waking Loren and Rich. I was willing to share her with them any other time and for the rest of our lives, but I needed to do this alone.

  “Yes. There was so much to see.” Her nose wrinkled as she frowned. “I’m not sure I’ll get to see everything before we go.”

  “No one ever sees the whole city in one visit,” I reassured her. “It just gives you an excuse to come back.”

  She beamed up at me as she clutched her glass of warm milk to her chest. I guess I wasn’t the only one having trouble sleeping. “That’s true. Besides, next time, I’ll be regular Braxton Fawn again and won’t need to wear a disguise.”

  I didn’t like hearing her making plans to leave us, so I ignored the inevitable for another truth. “You were never ordinary. You lit up the universe, and that’s how we found you.”

  “Pretty words, Morrow, but you didn’t find me. Oni did.”

  My lips twisted in amusement as my hands slipped around from her hips to her panty-clad ass. “Semantics.”

  She smiled softly. “Good night, Houston.”

  As soon as she tried to escape, my lips found hers. I took the glass from her hands and set it on top of the fridge before deepening the kiss. Like every time we kissed, Braxton followed my lead, giving in and letting me take as much as I wanted. She was pliant when she wanted to be and only when it mattered.

  “Let me stay with you tonight,” I said when I finally pulled away.

  She stared up at me, contemplating whether or not to trust me. “I don’t know what’s happening,” she whispered so low I could barely make her words out despite how close we stood, “but whatever it is, I’d like to take it slow.” She suddenly looked wary as she waited for my response.

  Nodding, I took a step back. “All right.”

  Grabbing her glass from the top of the fridge, I handed it to her before turning away to leave. When she grabbed my hand to keep me from going, I paused.

  “No sex,” she said.

  I didn’t understand until she led me to her room and into her bed to sleep in my arms until morning came.

  I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept this soundly. It definitely hadn’t been in the last two months. As I reluctantly came to, the warm body underneath me was the first clue that I wasn’t alone. The second was the morning wood poking my belly.

  A king-size bed, complete with pillow-top mattress, and I’d chosen to sleep on top of a chest as hard as brick.

  When my eyes finally chose to open, the last person I expected to see was Houston underneath me. I knew it was him because I recognized his nipple of all things.

  It all came flooding back.

  The wild goose chase I’d sent them on yesterday, and Houston worming his way into my bed. I was just grateful I kept my word and didn’t have sex with him. My motives hadn’t been entirely pure, though. Like me, he’d been having trouble sleeping, and I figured we’d have a better chance together than apart. I hated that I was right because it complicated feelings that were already complex.

  I was staring at the fantastic view of New York that twenty-nine floors high offered when I felt Houston’s hand curve around my nape. I hadn’t realized he was awake the entire time I was brooding. Still, I let him pull my attention away from the panoramic windows and kiss me until I was fully awake.

  I never thought Houston Morrow could ever make me feel like I was floating, but alas, here I was. I just wondered how soon before I came crashing down.

  “Good morning,” he whispered against my lips. On stage, Houston had the kind of voice that altered the construct of your soul. It changed you. In bed and heavy with sleep, however, he had a different kind of effect. The kind that made you do things you knew you shouldn’t.

  “Hey.”

  He stared into my eyes for one long, breathless moment, and I could tell something was heavy on his mind. He didn’t leave me in suspense for long, and when he finally spoke the words that I never thought I’d hear, I was glad I was lying down for them.

  “I’m sorry, Braxton.”

  “For?” I didn’t care how weak he made my knees. I’d return the favor by not making whatever he hoped to achieve easy for him.

  “For not realizing what I had before it was too late.”

  I didn’t react mostly out of confusion. I became his guitarist, so he made me his enemy. He’d never given me the chance to be anything else.

  “I’d like to start over,” he proposed when I chose to say nothing.

  Frowning, I felt my heart race as I sat up a little. I couldn’t take this suspense any longer. I had to know what they were plotting, and I wanted it in plain terms. They’d alluded, they’d made hints, but never in a setting or in a way that I could take with a grain of salt.

  “What’s going on, Houston?”

  His gaze was stern as he held my eyes. “You know exactly what’s going on, Braxton Francesca.”

  I should have never told them my middle name.

  The coldness in my voice wasn’t forged when I spoke. I could be stern too. “Actually, I don’t. Why don’t you spell it out for me?”

  I yelped when I was suddenly thrown on my back. Houston was on top of me now, holding me down with his weight. He made sure I couldn’t walk away from this conversation until he was ready to let me.

  “I want you,” he said as easily as if we hadn’t spent the last six months warring.

  “You had me.” I may not have gotten enough, but I was sure he’d gotten his fill. That goes for Loren and Rich too. Even with my past, I couldn’t believe I’d fucked all three of them.

  Suddenly, I heard angry voices urging me to repent.

  Houston squinted as he stared down at me. “Why do I think you’re purposefully misunderstanding everything that I’m saying?” I heard the warning in his tone not to push him. Naturally, that meant none of his buttons were safe.

  “Because you’re still beating around the bush, and before you, my patience was never this thin.”

  Houston blinked at me before groaning and burying his face in my neck. “I deserved that,” he mumbled as if it’d been up for debate. We lay there, listening to one another breathe for a while before he spoke again. “I’ve never done this before.”

  “Done what?”

  “Ask a girl to be with me.”

  I stared at the ceiling, pretending my heart didn’t skip a beat. Houston was too used to having his desires handed to him. I wouldn’t be just another thing on a platter. “Boo-hoo.”
/>   His head lifted from my neck, and when our gazes met, I was immersed in the warm and inviting scent of vanilla. For a third time, I was hit with an emotion I couldn’t define. Loren was first, then Rich, and finally Houston. He’d never looked so vulnerable. At least not while I’d known him. Lowering his head again, I met him halfway. This time when we kissed, it was a meeting of broken souls, each hoping our pieces fit to make something whole.

  Between kisses, he finally whispered, “Be my girlfriend, Braxton Fawn.”

  My head knew what to say. My heart was in my throat. I knew it was coming, and somehow, I was still unprepared. I wanted to say yes. I felt it on my tongue, overwhelmed by green apples. All I had to do was shut my mind away, and I’d be his. There was only one problem.

  He was asking too much.

  I couldn’t pretend Loren and Rich weren’t chasing me too.

  I wanted them all equally, but I craved them for different reasons. Houston challenged me, Loren worshiped me, and Rich made me feel like I was worthy of redemption.

  I didn’t want to give that up.

  This tour would end, but the wreckage they will have left of my heart would be permanent. There was only one way I could survive. One way no one got hurt, and…it was impossible. Almost as hopeless as choosing.

  I sighed.

  I had three birds and only one stone to conquer them.

  And Houston, the mercurial rock god whose opinion of me swayed with the wind, was asking me to risk it all. Suddenly, the room became awash in the paralyzing scent of copper.

  Breaking his kiss, I looked into his eyes and swallowed desire that wasn’t sexual but still tasted the same.

  “Give me a reason.”

  Braxton was pouting.

  We were back on our bus with New York in the rearview, and we’d all been more than reluctant to leave. It wasn’t the confined space I minded.

  It was the fear in Braxton’s eyes that the fairytale was over.

  All the good memories we’d made were left behind in the city, and back on the bus, we were only left with the bad. With the help of the disguises Danielle had obtained for us, we’d been able to show Braxton around as much as we could before leaving this morning.