Stumbled into Love

by L. P. Maxa

  “It’s different and you know it.” He shook his head, like he was still baffled by everything he’d learned in the last five minutes. “I was in love with Cassie my whole fucking life. And you…you’re…fuck, man, you’re such a whore.”

  “Uh, ouch.” I put my hands on my heart like I was wounded. “And the pot calling the kettle black is real fucking cliché, bro.”

  “Didn’t I make you promise you’d stay away from her? Didn’t you swear an oath?” Declan was back on his feet, pissed at me all over again.

  “I crossed my fingers behind my back.” I smiled and he punched me in the arm so hard I stumbled back a step. “Stop, dick, that hurt.”

  “You’re lucky I’m not kicking your ass all over this fucking house. Holland, man, really? This isn’t some sick joke? Like a prank? Is this a prank?”

  “Good lord, Declan, it’s not a prank. And it’s not all my fault, okay? It takes two people to, um, you know, do the things we’ve been doing.” Hollie came into the room, one of my shirts hanging down to her mid-thigh and her hair piled on top of her head in that messy way I’d come to crave.

  His bottom lip turned down into a frown. He was such a pussy sometimes. “Holland, sweetheart, are you okay? Is this about a place to stay? You can stay in one of my houses.” Dec glared at me. “He hasn’t forced this on you, has he? Some kind of sick payment for rent.”

  “Do you honestly think I would do that?” I rolled my eyes, more annoyed with my best friend than I had been since I’d realized he’d gotten my sister pregnant. “And Hollie, didn’t I tell you not to get dressed?” I shook my head, a wicked smile on my face.

  She ignored me and came around the couch to sit next to Declan. “Brice has been nothing but nice and supportive. He was a friend when I needed one, and he offered me a place to stay. Things between us, well, they just kind of happened.”

  “To be fair, you jumped me, twice.” I thought it was important to point out that technically she’d started this.

  “It’s only happened twice?” Declan sounded a little hopeful.

  I chuckled. “Nah, man, we’ve literally fucked dozens of times.” I shrugged. “I’ve lost count.”

  “Are you trying to make things worse?” Hollie glared in my direction.

  “No.” I pointed at Dec. “But he was really confused earlier, I wanted to make sure he understood the whole situation.”

  “I get it, asshole.” Declan reached out to punch me in the leg. I tried to jump out of the way but he still clipped me. “Holland, why don’t you come with me tonight? I can drop you off at one of my rental houses, that way you can get some distance from Brice and clear your head. He told me about what happened with Trevor, and I’m sorry.” His eyes swept over me in apparent ire. “Brice should have never taken advantage of your heartache like that.”

  I kept my mouth shut on that one because he was partially right.

  “I’m not leaving Declan, and if you need to fire me, I completely understand.” Hollie got up from the couch and came to stand beside me.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Holland

  I’d planned on telling Declan what had transpired between Brice and me, but I thought I would have another few days to work out everything I wanted to say in my head. Turned out this conversation was going to happen while I wasn’t wearing pants.

  “Brice didn’t take advantage of anything.” Why I’d felt the need to come stand beside the guy, I couldn’t tell you. “I like staying here, and I’m having fun for the first time in a long time.”

  “Oh, did you hear that? I’m not the devil in this scenario after all.” Brice reached down and took my hand, bringing it to his mouth for a quick kiss, which caught me off guard. Brice was touchy-feely when it was the two of us here at the house, but I never expected him to act that way in front of Dec.

  And neither did Dec, judging by the pensive and slightly shocked expression on his face.

  “Like I said, if you need to fire me then—”

  “Why the hell would I fire you? You are the only person there I actually trust.” Declan got to his feet, his hands going to his hips but his eyes still darting to Brice’s hand holding mine.

  “It’s in the employee handbook. No one can have relations with Brice. I wrote it in myself. I made all the girls sign the addendum.” I’d broken that rule. I’d broken it all over his dang house. And once in his car when we were stuck in traffic.

  “I’m not going to fire you, Holland.” Declan scrubbed his hands down his face. “I can’t…” He sighed, defeated. “I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

  I smiled at that. “No one is getting hurt here, I promise.” I wasn’t delusional. I knew what this was. I knew that eventually it would end, and Brice would go back to his old ways. But I’d be long gone by then. Healed and in a new apartment.

  Declan nodded, stepping forward to give me a hug. “If you need anything, please, call me.”

  “I will, thank you.” I hugged him back, after I jerked my hand out of Brice’s death grip. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Declan didn’t let me go, but instead spoke over my head to Brice. “This is the girl who’s a friend you’re bringing to dinner?”

  “Yeah.”

  Declan didn’t say anything, and since they were still conversing over the top of my head, I wasn’t sure if they were silently glaring at each other or what. I stepped away, looking up between the two of them. “We all good now?”

  “No, but I think we will be.” Declan punched Brice in the arm and then walked out of the house, slamming the front door behind him. Without the damn golf clubs I’d heard them talking about earlier.

  “Well, that was fun.” Brice picked me up and threw me over his shoulder, slapping my ass the way he seemed to really enjoy. “But I told you not to get dressed, and you didn’t listen, so now it’s time for your punishment.”

  “Uh, are we not going to talk about all that? Declan knows we’re sleeping together.” And you held my hand in front of him, which was kind of out of character.

  “Nope, we’re done with any and all Declan talk for the evening.” He slapped my ass again. “Dickhead has no boundaries.” Brice started walking toward the bedroom. “And what was with that awkwardly long hug? I mean, he’s married to my sister. He needs to keep his hands to himself.”

  I laughed, pinching his cute little butt while I was upside down. “Are you jealous of Declan?”

  “No.” He dumped me down on the bed, pulling the drawstring on his pants loose and letting them fall to the floor. “I don’t get jealous.”

  “I suppose jealousy doesn’t go well with your lifestyle.” I giggled when he grabbed my legs and pulled me to the edge of the mattress.

  “My lifestyle?” He dipped down and licked the inside of my bare thigh. “My lifestyle is sort of unrecognizable at the moment, Hollie baby.” He licked the other one, then nipped at my flesh. “I’m at home on a Friday night, eating greasy pizza and watching terrible eighties movies in bed with my roommate turned sex slave.”

  “Don’t take your frustration out on The Breakfast Club.” I fisted my hand in his dark hair, pulling his head up so he’d look at me. “We both know you love that movie. I saw your lips moving while you quoted the letter at the end.”

  “You see us as you want to see us. In the simplest terms.” He positioned the head of his dick at my entrance, a smile on his handsome face. “It’s iconic, everyone can quote the end of that movie.”

  I bit my lips, holding in my laughter as he slid inside me.

  “You know what else is iconic, Hollie baby?”

  “What?” I didn’t feel like laughing anymore; I felt like I was seconds away from crashing over the edge. Brice knew his way around my body. He knew how to draw out my pleasure as well as he knew how to make me come quick and hard. I whimpered as he pulled all the way out, momentarily leaving me.

  “Us.” He slammed back in, burying himself to the hilt. His statement affecting me as much as his body.
r />   Chapter Twenty-Six

  Brice

  I spent my Saturday morning with Hollie. We went for a run down by the lake, then we had brunch. We drank Bloody Marys, and then came home and had sex in the shower. The sound of her screaming my name echoed around the tiled walls and made me feel like a fucking king.

  I didn’t know if Hollie hadn’t had a lot of epic sex in her life, or if the two of us were simply that explosive. Either way, I was addicted to her body and the sounds she made. I wanted to be inside her every second I could. I never knew it could be like that. I’d never understood that truly knowing the person you were with made the fucking better, not boring.

  Hollie knew what I liked. She knew how to drive me wild. And I knew how to make her come so hard her knees would buckle, and I’d have to hold her up. All I’d done for the past week was work, and spend time with a girl who used to hate me.

  Declan texted me every few hours with threats and rants. He was pissed, but the fact that he was still talking to me meant we’d be okay. Eventually.

  “What time are we supposed to be there?” Hollie was in my bathroom, putting on her makeup while I shaved. We weren’t being domestic. I’d bent her over the bathroom sink about ten minutes ago and now we were running a little late.

  “We need to leave here, like now.” I checked my watch and started to shave as quick as I could without nicking my jugular. Exactly what I needed to happen, bleed out on the bathroom floor and miss the gender reveal. Cassie and Dec would never let me hear the end of it.

  Hollie disappeared into my bedroom and then came back three minutes later wearing a short black sweater dress with over-the-knee gray boots.

  “Holy shit.” I went to reach for her and she dodged me.

  “No way, we don’t have time for any more quickies.”

  I lunged again and this time I caught her around the waist. “One more? Please? That dress is fucking smokin’.”

  “Thank you.” She smacked a kiss on my lips and then sucker punched me in the gut. “But we’ve got to go.”

  ***

  Declan had rented out the back room of a swanky restaurant near the end of Greenville Avenue. There was one long table down the middle of the space filled with flowers, candlelight, and several bottles of wine. Wyllie was seated in a high chair in between his grandmas, eating a loaf of bread like a candy bar.

  When I walked in with Hollie by my side, all conversation came to a screeching halt. My dad looked confused, Dec looked a little murderous, and my mom looked like she might have started to cry a bit. Wonderful.

  Cassie got up and came around the table, hugging me tightly and then Hollie. “It’s so good to see you. I’m glad you came.” She looped her arm through Hollie’s and she sat her in the empty space next to my dad. Everyone said hello and they were kind and happy to see her. But every single one of those fuckers kept darting their curious gazes back to me. My parents would have a million questions, which was irritating as hell.

  Couldn’t I have a friend who didn’t have a penis?

  I decided to ignore the stares and the underlying excitement pouring off my wishful mother. Instead I plucked Wyllie from his high chair and flew him around the room making airplane noises. “When did you get so big, wild man?” I’d gone to Florida for a visit a couple of months ago, but he’d doubled in size since then.

  “Bricey! Again!” he squealed, and I flew him around the room, making him land in my father’s arms with a smile on both their faces.

  I made my way around the table, saying a few words to everyone, kissing my mother’s cheek, and then taking my place in the chair next to Hollie. And across from Declan, who was glaring at me like I’d ruined his mint condition Mickey Mantle baseball card. Which I had when we were sixteen and sneaking into his room drunk off our asses.

  I clenched my teeth and leaned forward, reaching for the bottle of wine. “Stop looking at me like that, you look constipated.” I poured Hollie a glass, and then one for myself. Declan watched my every move, like a real creeper.

  I rolled my eyes and took a sip of the merlot. “Cassie, can you tell your husband to stop trying to make my head explode with his evil mind waves?”

  “No.” She smiled sweetly and then winked at Hollie. “He’s been in a real shit mood because you can’t seem to keep your little dick where it belongs.” She pointed down at her rounded stomach. “Only one of us has permission to be moody right now, and he’s stealing my thunder.”

  “My dick is not little.” I smirked at Declan and then put my arm around the back of Hollie’s chair. “Tell them, baby.”

  She turned to look at me, a smile playing on her perfect pink lips. “No.”

  Her face was close to mine and I wanted to kiss her so fucking bad. I had to bite my lower lip, trying to distract myself from how desperately I wanted to throw her over my shoulder and fuck her in yet another bathroom. “It’s not little though, right?”

  She shook her head, one of her hands coming to rest on my thigh dangerously close to the body part in question. “I’m not about to sit at dinner with your family and discuss the size of your dick.” She was talking softly, the playful light in her eyes letting me know she wasn’t mad that I’d brought her into this mess tonight.

  “How ‘bout when we get home?” I put my hand on top of hers, moving it even closer to my cock. “Can we discuss it when we get home? It needs its ego stroked.”

  She nodded, the corner of her mouth quirking up like she was trying not to laugh. I lost the internal fight I was having with myself and leaned forward, placing a quick kiss on her jaw. This dinner needed to go a lot faster.

  I looked away from the girl who was slowly driving me wild, raising my hand in the air to signal the waiter who was waiting outside the door. We needed to order, and we needed to get this fucking show on the road.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Brice

  The waiter was going around the table, taking everyone’s order. And fucking Declan was still staring at me. Only now, he didn’t look as murderous as he did confused. I sighed, leaning back in my seat and taking another sip of my wine. Declan had every right to be pissed at me, I knew that. He’d told me to stay away from Hollie, over and over again. She worked for him, and she was important to Cueva. But it was more than that. It always had been. Declan had taken Hollie under his wing and she had become family to him. He trusted her with his company. He trusted her to do the right thing. And I’d broken that trust.

  It didn’t matter to him that it took two to tango. I knew that she was off limits, and I’d still let her kiss me and climb in my lap. I’d known what I was doing, and I’d done it because I was a selfish prick. I wanted what I wanted, and I took it when it was offered.

  Dec and I weren’t so different though, because he’d done the same thing with Cassie the night they’d conceived Wyllie. Eventually, he’d calm down and get over his initial shock and see that. But for right now, he felt betrayed, and he was worried about Hollie. And that was okay, and more than that, it was valid.

  “And sir? For you?” The waiter was poised to my right, a tablet in hand to take my order.

  I put my hand on Hollie’s thigh, interrupting my dad, who was talking to her, with a quick apology. “What are you getting?” Hollie never finished her full meal and I knew we’d have leftovers. I wanted to make sure we weren’t getting the same thing. It was smart midnight snack etiquette.

  “Uh…” Hollie opened the menu back up, her eyes searching. “The lobster fettuccini.”

  “Okay, I’ll have the veal—” I stopped talking when Hollie pinched the inside of my thigh. “I’m sorry, the chicken marsala and she’ll have the lobster fettuccini.” I grinned, handing him both our menus as he moved on down the line.

  I put my arm around the back of her chair again, scooting her closer to me when my dad stopped boring her so he could order enough red meat to clog every single one of his arteries. Some surgeon he was, huh? “We should have never watched that documentary about those
adorable baby cows.”

  Tears filled her eyes, like they had when we’d learned all about veal a few nights ago. “Don’t bring them up or I swear you’re going to come home one day and find liberated calves in your backyard.” I’d found I liked her kind heart as much as I did her sassy mouth.

  “Holland, have you started looking for another apartment?” Cassie was pouring some of her water into one of Wyllie’s sippy cups. “Did Dec tell you we have a rental house you’re more than welcome to use?”

  Well, look at that, there was no loyalty among siblings, I supposed. “Hollie has a place to stay as long as she needs it.”

  “I mean, you two can’t live together forever.” Cassie laughed lightly, like she wasn’t trying to be a pain in my ass. “That’s marriage.”

  She had a point, but she was also being real freaking dramatic. There was a big difference between a few months of cohabitation with mind-blowing sex, and marriage. Good lord, what was wrong with the people I was saddled with as family?

  “I haven’t had a chance to look this week. Work has been kind of hectic.” Hollie glanced at Declan. “We had kitchen inspections and the girls all had to renew their TABC certification. But I’ll find a place and Brice is right, a big empty house isn’t what I need. Thank you for offering though.”

  See, I knew my girl. Shit, wait. I knew this girl. The one sitting next to me in that killer short dress and fuck-me boots.

  “Thank you, Holland, for taking care of everything this week.” Declan’s eyes were still icy cold anytime he looked at me, but they softened when he addressed Hollie, and that was all that mattered. “I literally don’t know what I would do without you.” Which was why he was so pissed at me. He was scared I’d hurt her and she’d leave us all in her dust.

  “Just doing my job.” She tilted her glass to his. “And you’re welcome.”

  “Have you talked to Trevor?” Cassie propped her chin in her hand, a sympathetic frown on her face. “Has he tried to apologize at all?”