Too Bad... It's Complicated

by Vikes, Emma

  “You’re Britney Baldwin, you’re sassy and confident. You got this!” she whispered back.

  “Britney?” Patrick's voice floated in the room, and I groaned in annoyance. But then he spoke again, "If that's the case then okay, it’s fine. I guess I’ll see you on Sunday for brunch.”

  He hung up, and I let my head hit the counter as I groaned in annoyance. "I can't face him, Laur.”

  I felt a hand on my head, gently caressing me. “You’re gonna figure this out, Brit. But I know you can face him with the same kind of confidence that you always do. You’re Britney Baldwin, after all.”

  I raised my head to meet her gaze. “You have such faith in me.”

  She laughed. “But let’s be real, I have a feeling that Patrick likes you too.”

  My eyebrows furrowed in confusion and I shook my head. “Uhh, he and Kath are meant to be together.”

  Lauren rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone. "Sometimes Alex logs in on my phone and doesn't log out of his account, so it's easier for him to just switch it when he needs to use mine. There are some chats here from Patrick a month ago, at that party we attended when you looked smoking hot. I never really brought this up with you because I thought you were serious about Morgan."

  “I thought so too,” I replied, shaking my head. “But I wasn’t even that heartbroken when I found him cheating on me. All I felt was just plain betrayed, another guy dating me because of my last name.”

  Lauren slid her phone closer to me. “Well, I think I might know a guy who wants to date you, but certain circumstances force him not to.”

  My eyes fell on the private chat messages between Alex and Patrick.

  Patrick: Fuck, I can’t stop thinking about her, man. She looked so fucking amazing tonight. All I could think about every time my eyes landed on her was how much I wanted her bent down in front of me and my dick ramming inside of her.

  Alex: She’s your stepsister.

  Patrick: And I badly want to fuck her. God, I want her Alex. I never wanted anyone as much as I want her.

  * * *

  My mouth dropped open as I looked at Lauren. She shrugged. "I know. There's more of that, but it’s pretty much the same thing. He wants you. He’s wanted you for a very long time, Brit. So maybe last night happened not only because you wanted it to happen.”

  “But because he wanted it too,” I whispered, “Fuck. What does this mean then?”

  Lauren looked at me, her kind brown eyes encouraging. “You’re going to talk to him, Brit.”

  * * *

  I heeded Lauren’s advice. I sent Patrick a text and told him that Lauren had to take a raincheck on what we were supposed to do tonight and told him to come over with Chinese takeout. I was a nervous wreck as I waited for him and I couldn’t stop calling Lauren to calm me down. I wished I’d invited her and Alex over. At least it would have extinguished some of the awkward tension that I felt.

  Around 6:30, I heard the door open. He must’ve remembered the password from last night. Patrick came in with a bag of takeout in his hands. “Hey, I hope you don’t mind that I let myself in. I sort of wanted to see if I remembered the password you punched in last night.”

  I nodded my head, wondering if he purposely stored the knowledge in his head for future use. I didn’t bother setting the table for us to eat but unloaded the bag he’d put at the counter. My heart dropped at the sight because he’d ordered all of my favorites. “You remembered.”

  Patrick looked away and shrugged. "Our parents left us at home so much in those two years. It was the only time we were given the privilege to eat what we wanted, and you always loved Chinese."

  The silence that surrounded us as we ate was deafening, but I wasn't sure what I was supposed to say or if I was supposed to open the topic of what had happened last night. Patrick didn't seem to mind the silence as he focused on his food. I couldn't help but notice that something seemed to be bothering him though because he couldn’t really sit still. His eyebrows scrunched together, something that always meant he had something on his mind.

  “Do you remember when one of us threw a party when mom and Chris were out of town and when it had ended…”

  “We ended up ordering Chinese takeout after we’d cleaned up, every time.”

  Patrick laughed, and the sound of it warmed my heart like it always did. “My mother makes such absurd rules over parties. It’s not like she cleans up after the ones she throws.”

  I couldn’t help but smile. It had been Lara’s rule when we’d all moved in together a month before their wedding. She talked to Patrick and I and acknowledged that we were young and in high school and that parties were a part of our teenage lives. I’d always thought it was pretty cool of her to let us throw parties whenever we wanted, even when she and Dad were in town. But the cleaning up part - without staff, I might add - was ridiculous. By the time that the last person had left and Patrick had handed me a trash bag and broom, I always felt like my biggest nightmare had come to life: cleaning.

  “At least she made me tolerate cleaning. If she didn’t do that, I’m not sure how I would’ve survived college with only myself and no maids to clean up after me.”

  Patrick had gone quiet after my statement, and he was staring at me. It wasn't like his gaze was uncomfortable, but there was a flicker in his eyes that made me feel self-conscious. "I had to restrain myself whenever we had parties. I had to make sure I was surrounded by girls so I wouldn't do something that would create controversy."

  I looked up at him and met his bright green eyes. “What are you trying to say?”

  “Sometimes I wished both of us were in the same room, drinking way too much and gravitating towards each other, and then blame it on the alcohol.” Patrick’s voice was so soft that if it was tangible, it would’ve been silk and velvet. “Last night, I realized we didn’t need to be that drunk to succumb to our desires. I wanted last night to happen, Britney. I’m not gonna blame it on the alcohol.”

  “I’ve wanted you for a very long time, Britney.”

  I could see it in his eyes. I could see the sincerity and hear the genuineness of his words. My heart melted, and if he was going to kiss me, I wouldn’t have stopped him. But there was a part of me, the rational part, that told me that I couldn’t do this to my father, that I couldn’t stain the name that he’d worked his entire life to build. I couldn’t do that to him.

  "We can't be together, Patrick." My voice sounded so weak, and I hated it. "Last night was a mistake."

  The flicker of pain in his eyes tore at my heartstrings. “Did it feel like a mistake to you, Britney?”

  He stood up and walked over to my side. He was so close now that if he took a step closer or leaned an inch nearer, our skin would be against each other’s and there would be no stopping the spark of electricity of our desire. “Patrick, we can’t do this.”

  His hand reached and touched my face. “Do you have any idea how much I’ve wanted you, dreamed of you, and satisfied myself with other girls because I could never have you?” He crouched so that our faces were level with each other’s. “I want this, Britney. All you have to do is push me away if you really don’t.”

  And then he kissed me, hot and wet and urgent and every barrier that I’d tried to build just crashed down. Just like last night, I was a prisoner to my lust and desire, and I responded with the same kind of urgency that Patrick possessed. It didn't take long for him to rip my clothes apart, and for me to unbutton his jeans and pull them down.

  I broke the kiss and knelt in front of him, my hands immediately wrapping around his erect dick. Fuck, he was so big, just as big as I’d always imagined he would be. Last night I wasn’t given this chance. Last night happened way too fast. I didn’t want this time to be the same. I popped his dick into my mouth, my teeth slowly grazing his thick cock. He moaned at the contact.

  “Yes, fuck, Britney, that feels so fucking good.”

  I sucked him slowly, the way I’d always imagined I would. I peeked up at him a
nd saw that his eyes were closed as he relished the sensation. “Fuck, do it faster.”

  Chuckling softly, I did as he asked, sucking and lapping up the pre-cum that was on his head. God, he tasted so good. His hand was gripping my head, guiding me to do it faster and deeper until I could feel him at the back of my throat. I'd never deep-throated anyone before, but I’d always imagined doing it to Patrick.

  Soon, he exploded in my mouth, and I swallowed without gagging. His hands were on my face as he dragged me back up, his mouth on mine as soon as our faces were level. He lifted me up to sit on the counter, pushing away the boxes of Chinese to give us more room. His forehead was against mine when he said, “I’ve always wanted to fuck you senseless, Britney. I wanted to kill Morgan every time he boasted of how good you felt during sex. I wanted to skin him alive. Green was never my color.”

  My nails grazed his face, the stubble on his chin. “Shut up and fuck me.”

  Without warning, he rammed his dick into my pussy, the feel of his thick cock consuming me. My eyes closed in pleasure as he continued to thrust inside of me, harder and faster and, I swear - I fucking swear - if he’d continued with the roughness, I would have bled. But I didn’t care. I wanted this. I wanted it rough and hard and deep.

  I wanted it done with him.

  We were two young people disregarding who we were supposed to be in each other’s lives, giving in to the desire that we’d felt since we were young. I clung tightly onto him as he continued to thrust inside of me, and my other hand gripped the edge of the counter because his brute force threatened to knock me down.

  We rode our climax together, and after a few minutes of gathering ourselves, our bodies gravitated back towards each other, no more questions asked or any further discussion about what we were getting ourselves into.

  Scandal or not, I couldn’t care less. There was nothing more I wanted than Patrick Cunningham.

  Chapter 5

  Patrick

  This was the second time I’d woken up in Britney's apartment, naked and asleep beside her. But this time around, I was more than aware of what had happened between us. There had been no alcohol involved this time around, and we were both truly aware of what we had done. I think I was more aware than her because I’d been sent by my mother to do her bidding.

  I shouldn’t have agreed with mom about this. It didn’t seem right, manipulating Britney and Chris this way. But I wanted the position too. There was nothing more I’d ever dreamed about than running Stocks on my own. The only thing that rivaled that desire was my want for Britney, and if being with her and having her fall in love with me meant that she would probably leave everything in my capable hands…

  It was hitting two birds with one stone. How could I say no to that?

  Beside me, Britney began to stir. I watched her. I couldn't help myself. She had the profile of an angel. I'd never desired any girl as much as I did her. No amount of satisfaction from someone else could make me forget her. Slowly, her eyes began to open, and I sucked in a breath when I saw the golden green orbs that I'd always wanted to see first thing in the morning.

  “Good morning,” I whispered and kissed her lips gently.

  I waited for her to push me away, to tell me again that last night was a mistake, but she didn't. Instead, I received a lazy smile in return. "Hello."

  She snuggled closer to me; her leg wrapped around mine as she rested her head on my chest. I kissed the top of her head, inhaling the sweet scent of mist and roses. “This should’ve been the way we woke up yesterday had I not left early.”

  She looked up at me. “Why did you leave early?”

  I shouldn’t have brought it up. But this was a better conversation than immediately discussing what was going on between the two of us. “I had a few things to deal with early in the morning. Breakfast meeting.”

  With my mother who happened to be her step-mother, who actually pushed me into letting this happen. “Okay. Do you have anything that needs to be done today?”

  I shook my head. “No, why?”

  She grinned and then looked down my body. I followed her gaze and chuckled when I noticed my morning wood. She returned her gaze to my face and smirked. “Let me fix that for you.”

  Britney pulled away the covers from our bodies and then straddled me. Her gaze was focused on my hard dick, and she leaned down and kissed the head, making me even more erect. She chuckled to herself as she noticed my reaction. She pulled her head to the side as she opened her mouth and began to suck me like she did last night, only slower this time like she had all the time in the world, like we had all the time in the world to do this.

  I liked that idea.

  I gasped when I felt her tongue on my balls, and soon her mouth began to suck at my sac while her hand gripped my dick and pumped me fast and hard. Shit. This was amazing. Some girls didn’t have the audacity and confidence to do this to a man, wanting the pleasure all for themselves, but Britney was different.

  It didn’t take long for me to cum. She didn’t swallow this time around. Instead, she pulled her face away and showered herself with my seed. She was glistening with my cum when she moved on top of me, and I'd never seen a more beautiful sight than that.

  “Fuck, now that’s a good morning,” I muttered and grabbed her face, my mouth molding with hers. I slipped my tongue and tasted myself inside her mouth, shivering at the urgent passion between the two of us. I wanted to fuck her right now. I wanted her to crawl on top of me and slip my dick inside her pussy and move on top of me, and I wanted to see her breasts bouncing up and down as she moved.

  But Britney pulled away and rolled off of me, went out of the room and came back with my shirt on. “I want to fuck as much as you do but we need to discuss what’s going on, Patrick.”

  I sat up on the bed, and she tossed me my boxers. I slipped them on, and then we sat across from each other, far away because we both knew what one touch could ignite us. "What do you want to discuss?"

  Britney sighed and played with her hair. "I'm not sure how we can work out, Pat. New York's eyes are on us because we're the heirs to Stocks. A scandal like this will be blown out of proportion, and it would drag us down."

  I exhaled loudly and played with the loose thread on her blanket. “You don’t want to give this a shot?”

  “What do you mean?”

  I looked at her. Her room had an open window, and the light from outside made her eyes look brighter and more golden. "I mean that you're going to Massachusetts soon enough for your Master’s. You can go there early. I can go there too. I don't work for Chris yet, but in the company I got hired in. I can request leave, and we can be there in Massachusetts for a while before classes start."

  I reached for her hand and interlocked her finger with mine. "Let's run away together, Britney. We'll see if we can work out. I want to give us a shot, but that can only happen if you're willing to give it a chance too."

  She looked at me in a certain way for a moment and then she shook her head. “You don’t bend the rules, Pat.”

  I straightened up and looked away. She was right. I never bent the rules because I knew that bending them would possibly lower Chris’s respect for me. I wanted to prove myself to him. I knew that this was a risky thing to do. Chris wouldn’t be thrilled to find out that something went on between her daughter and step-son, the scandal that it would cause, but I also knew that he wanted his daughter to be happy. If only I could bring myself to be Britney’s happiness, this could all work out.

  “I’m willing to bend them for you.”

  She sucked in a breath, trying to act like my words didn’t affect her that much. “And what are we gonna tell our parents?”

  I chuckled. “We’re too old to have to update them with what we’re doing. Besides, Chris is flying back to Washington later tonight. I don’t think he’ll be wondering where you’re off to and what you’re up or who you’re doing.”

  She chuckled, and then suddenly her eyes widened as she realized something. "Shi
t. We have a family dinner tonight."

  I almost slapped myself for forgetting. “Crap, you’re right. We can leave the morning after.”

  Britney looked at me, and for a moment, I was worried that she would say no to this plan. She had to say yes. I was sure that my mother had another scheme up her sleeve if Britney said no to plan A. She reached out her hand and touched my face, her touch gentle and soft.

  “You sure this will work, Pat?”

  I smiled at her in reassurance and then placed a hand over hers. “We won’t know if we don’t try, Brit.”

  I leaned over to her and kissed her softly on the lips, brief and fleeting. I had to resist the urge to grab her shoulders and throw her back onto the bed, and strip her of my shirt because that would have meant that this wasn’t sincere and the last thing I wanted her to assume was that I was just doing this to fuck her. This was my chance to let her see the love that she deserved, even if what pushed me to show her was the temptation of running her father’s company.

  She got up off the bed and took my hand in hers, dragging me to the kitchen. “C’mon, c'mon, mister, we should put some food in your stomach. I know how cranky you get when you’re hungry.”

  I chuckled and then wrapped my arm around her shoulder, kissing the side of her head. I liked this, even when one of the reasons I was doing it and breaking an unspoken rule was to lead a company that wasn’t mine by birthright but hers. I began to clean up the mess we’d made last night, throwing the garbage in the garbage chute and then I sat on the stool by the counter and watched as she stood on her tiptoes to open a cupboard and pull out a mixture for waffles.

  “I didn’t know you could cook.”

  She turned around and winked at me. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Mr. Cunningham, but I’m guessing we have a lot of time for you to get acquainted with that.”

  I watched as she began to prepare the meal, talking to me about random things. It was nice talking to her this way. We’d always got along great when we lived together and during the vacations that we shared with our parents. One of the things I liked most about her was how she was so easy to talk to, and how she wasn’t one for ‘small talk’ and how she was willing to listen to the random things that I spouted about the universe.