“I thought we already discussed this last night. Yes. I’m with Madison. But I’m not sure why you are so damn concerned about it or talking about her as if she’s still yours.”
“You don’t think I’d ask questions when I show up to find my ex and my former best friend together? Just seems a little odd to me. Like maybe something was going on the whole time she and I were together.”
Madison scoffs at him. “You are so full of shit, Chase.”
He’s about to respond when I hold out my hand for him to stop. “I think that’s about enough. You cheated on her multiple times. You lied about it. You have no further say in her life. Stop trying to upset her. We all know you are just trying to get a rise out of her.”
James turns slowly to Chase as my words sink in. “The fuck? It was more than once?” His eyes, green just like his sister’s, glitter with anger, that fiery jade color blazing hot.
Madison rises from her seat and lets go of my hand. I think she’s reached her breaking point, seeming increasingly uncomfortable. “I’m done with this conversation. James, I’ll see you later.” She blinks a few times, lashes fluttering as her focus lands on me. “I’m going to find something to eat.” She turns to walk away without another word for Chase.
We watch her walk away, and then James lets loose on Chase. “You aren’t to have any further contact with my sister.”
“Whatever.” He shakes his head and laughs.
James’s face turns bright red at the brush-off at the same time my anger boils and spills over.
My words are low and gritty. “Leave her the fuck alone, man. I’m warning you.”
Chase stands, rolls his eyes, and, just as Madison’s about to turn the corner, shouts, “He’s not going to want you when you tell him!”
Now, just what the hell is that all about? I shove Chase hard and he stumbles backward and goes down hard on his ass.
I spin on my heel, and follow Madison out of the room. I hear James’s confusion as I walk away. “What the actual fuck is going on here?”
Chapter 25
Madison
I’m shaken. The entire conversation with Chase had been a shitstorm of epic proportions. I hadn’t known what to expect, and I’d actually thought we may be on the right track when he’d started with an apology. The truth is he’s not sorry and doesn’t even understand what he should be sorry for, which is just baffling. Then he’d all but blurted out that I’m hiding something from Shawn. But … I am.
Oh God, I’m a horrible person.
My feet keep right on going until I hit the far side of the room where the reception had taken place last night. To my surprise, the cake table is still set up. And even better—I think there just might be leftover cake. There are about twenty take-out boxes stacked in piles. When I take a peek inside one and my suspicions are confirmed, I let out a ragged sigh of thanks to the cake gods. Or the wedding gods. Or whoever left all this cake here for me when I needed it most. Next to the boxes is a pile of forks and a piece of paper, on which someone has scrawled, Please eat the cake!
Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you.
I pull a chair right up to the serving table, flip open one of the boxes, and take a deep breath, inhaling the decadent scent of the cake. Nothing like eating your feelings. The only problem is, I don’t know if there is enough cake to make me forget what just went down.
For a couple of beats, I shove everything to the back of my mind and just concentrate on moving the treat from the box to my mouth. The luscious cake and sweet, sugary frosting would normally have me doing a happy dance, but instead it just makes me sad. Why can’t anything ever go my way?
Here I thought maybe everything was finally going to work out for me. Shawn and I have this fantastic chemistry, we talk about anything and everything, and I’ve never had someone anticipate my needs the way he does. I’ve never had anyone understand me and be okay with who I am. I glance around the room, memories of the first time we’d kissed washing over me. My eyes drift over to the exact spot where we’d finally admitted with our lips that things were changing between us, and then later that night we admitted it with our whole bodies, too. Hell, with our souls.
My heart sinks. Are things going to change between us again when I tell him what I’d done?
I shovel another bite into my mouth just as I hear footsteps behind me. I’ve just been busted eating cake like it’s my job. Awesome. I swivel around to see Shawn standing a few feet from me.
I can’t even say anything, my mouth is so full of cake. I cover my mouth with my fingers.
“Caught ya.” He smirks at me, then grabs a chair from behind him and slides it right next to mine. “Do you have another fork?”
I nod my head, still chewing, and his blue eyes watch me with amusement as my fingers fumble on the table for another fork.
He accepts it from me and, eyeing the cake, plunges the fork in, picking up a huge chunk.
My mouth finally empty, I glance up to find him watching me. It’s now or never. “Shawn, I—”
He aims the fork right into my open mouth, surprising the hell out of me, and effectively stopping my confession.
He pats my leg. “Listen. Whatever it is, you don’t have to tell me. I don’t want to know. I’m pretty used to Chase being full of shit at this point.” He scoops up some more cake and fills his mouth.
Now we’re both incapable of speech, so we just stare at each other.
Over and over again in my mind and with my eyes, I tell him I’m so sorry.
After we gorge ourselves on cake and bring an emergency stash back to the room with us, it really sinks in that we’ll be stuck here for a while longer. We sit on the bed together, backs against the headboard, watching the snow fly past the window.
“This storm is insane. How long do you think we’ll be stuck here? Because now that I know Chase is roaming around, I don’t want to leave the room. I don’t even want to think about him. He makes me feel sick.”
“You don’t have to. You don’t have to talk to anyone you don’t want to or say or do anything you don’t want to do.” He reaches over and squeezes my thigh with his big hand, then leaves it there. The warmth of both his hand and his words leave me strangely contemplative.
I swallow past the lump in my throat. “Is it weird that I kind of love being stuck here? Nothing to do. Nowhere to go.” I sneak a look at him out of the corner of my eye and watch his lips curve into a smile.
“Nah. Not if you’re with the right person.”
“Shawn, are you the right person?”
“For you, you mean? And you for me?”
I turn my head toward him and stare into the deep blue of his eyes, my green ones begging him to say yes.
“Maybe. I may need to do a lot more research before I can say for sure.” He turns to look at me with an exasperated sigh, giving me a quick wink.
A giggle slides from my lips. “Research? Like what?”
“Well, first—do you have plans to eat the rest of that cake tonight? Yes or no?”
I bob my head with a grin. “Um, yes.”
“Good answer.” He squeezes my thigh, his hand still warm against my leg. He doesn’t realize it, but he sends a pulse of desire through me every time he touches me like that. He nods his head, purses his full lips, and squints his eyes like he’s considering what to ask next. “Which side of the bed do you sleep on? Do you have an actual preference?”
I suck in some air. “Honest answer?”
“Of course.”
“Then, it’s whichever side is closest to the bathroom.” I wrinkle my nose. “I get up at least twice a night to pee.”
His fingers depress into the skin of my thigh before he says, “Um, that was a definite overshare, miss.” He chuckles. “Um, let’s see. Do you have a birthmark?”
I nod slowly. “I do.” Wait until he finds out what it looks like. I stifle a laugh. “I’ll let you look for it sometime.”
“Oh, is that how we’re going to play th
is game?” Without warning, he attacks me with mad tickles. He kneels between my legs and lifts the hem of my sleep shirt, peeking under it. “I don’t see it.”
I shriek with laughter as he sticks his whole head under my shirt and blows raspberries across my stomach at the same time his fingers continue their merciless assault of my ribs. “Oh my God, oh my God, stop, I’m going to wet myself!”
He chuckles, head still under my shirt. His lips trail just under my breasts before he lifts his head enough to flick my nipple with his tongue. He pops out from under my shirt with another question for me. “I know we’re going to eat cake later, but do you prefer sweet or salty?” He grazes my lips with his before his tongue sweeps inside my mouth. He kisses me slowly, taking his time before he breaks the kiss and edges back to look into my eyes. In a deep rumbling voice, he says, “I definitely prefer sweet.” His mouth lowers to my neck, where he places a hot, open-mouthed kiss. He licks at my skin and sends a shimmering, startling mass of tingles through my body.
“I like salty. You may need to go find me some pretzels later.” He lifts his head and I hold his cheeks with my hands. My thumbs skim over his stubble-covered jaw. I drop a feather-soft kiss there, loving the coarseness against my lips. I sigh contentedly as my mouth travels to his earlobe. I suck on it before gently biting down.
He groans. “I could do that for you. I’ll do anything if you keep doing that thing with your tongue.”
I feel a shudder roll through him, and never have I felt like this before—like I actually know what I’m doing. I’m busy using my tongue to tease him when he suddenly shifts his head toward me and whispers in my ear, “Madi, what’s your favorite place to be kissed?”
Chapter 26
Shawn
I carefully roll over in the tiny bed, taking Madison with me, so that I’m on my back and she sits astride me. Her gorgeous hair cascades around her face, and I gather it in one hand behind her head. “Well?”
Madison’s face flushes cherry red as she slicks her tongue over her lips. She swats at my chest. “Don’t embarrass me.”
I’ve never seen anything so beautiful as this woman’s face when the first blush of longing hits her cheeks. I know she’s got something particular in mind and just doesn’t want to articulate it.
“Baby, it’s just you and me, and these are important things to know.” With my hand still fisted around her hair, I bring her face down to mine and touch my lips to hers. “Maybe it’s here.” I brush my lips over her cheek. “Or here.” Slide down to her neck, nuzzling, before I put my mouth on her soft skin. “Maybe here.” I look back into her eyes. “No? Am I even close?”
She gives a little shake of her head.
“No, huh? Hmm …” All at once, I grab her by the waist and pull her up to straddle my face.
Her swift intake of breath followed by a little moan tells me I’m probably moving in the right direction.
I grip her hip with one hand while my other hand reaches between her legs, pulling the fabric of her sleep shorts to the side. I fully expect to find her panties as another barrier, only she’s not wearing any. My eyes widen. Oh my, fucking hell yes. Madison’s bare under these little shorts, and I’m struck dumb. I rein in my scattered thoughts and waste no time putting my mouth on her. The strangled sounds she immediately makes gives me my answer. My butterfly likes to be kissed between her legs. Who am I to argue with her?
I suck on her clit, lick and kiss her pink flesh as her hips rock. She’s cautious at first, but I can definitely tell when she gives herself over to me.
She begs me with every swivel of her hips.
She begs me with every moan.
She begs me with the hot desire flashing in her eyes.
And when the release unfurls and lashes through her body, I see in her eyes what I’ve wanted since the second we started talking at the bar—she’s mine.
Curled up next to me a while later, our little game over, she whispers quietly, “Shawn? Is what we’re doing real?”
My head dips, my breath a whisper near her ear. “Madison, the first time my lips met yours, we were real to me. When I touched you, you were mine. I’m a possessive guy. When I’m with a woman, she knows how I feel. I don’t play games. Can’t you see how I feel about you, Madison? Don’t you know?”
My phone rings on the bedside table. I snatch it up and see my brother’s ugly mug on the screen. “It’s Heath.”
“Take it. I can go into the bathroom or something if you want some privacy.” She sits up and unplugs her phone from the charger.
A growl wrests from my throat. “Woman.” I drop my phone on the bed, grab her by the waist with one arm, and pull her back to my chest. I kiss her neck. “I thought I was clear. You aren’t just any person to me. I don’t want you to go anywhere.”
She’s quiet for a second. “Okay. You’d better call him back, then. I’ll just have a chat with my girls while you’re talking.” She wiggles a bit, getting comfortable. She tucks her sweet ass against me, and I have the fleeting thought that I just may have found my heaven.
With a smile on my lips, I call Heath back. “Hey, brother.”
“Well, hey. How are the weary travelers?”
“We’re good. Just resting a lot today. Gorging ourselves on leftover wedding cake. Pretty much just chilling together in the room.”
“Is that what they call it these days? Chilling?”
I chuckle. “I’m pretty sure, yes.”
“So, it’s going well, I take it?”
“Well, Madison and I are fine. I didn’t get a chance to tell you about Chase being here.” I feel Madi stiffen against me. I lean over and drop a kiss behind her ear and she relaxes again.
“Oh. Well, I’m sure that’s been a boatload of fun.”
“Yeah, we’re good. My truck is probably snowed under, but other than that, I think we’ll be fine. How’s everyone at home?”
“Just stuck in the house. Ava’s been keeping us busy all weekend. It’s been a real chore to explain why we can’t go out in this kind of snow.”
I chuckle. “Oh, I can imagine. Well, tell her when Uncle Shawn gets home that if there’s still snow, he’ll take her out to play.”
“All right, man, but you’re asking for it.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because every time we take her out, she never wants to come back inside.”
“Uncle Shawn can handle it.”
Madison rolls over and gives me a look. “It’s a little weird to hear you call yourself ‘Uncle Shawn’ in the third person.”
Heath guffaws in my ear. “I’ve always liked that girl. Tell her I’m looking forward to seeing both of you when you all get home.”
“Will do. We’ll let you know when we are able to head out.”
In the background, I hear a scrambling noise, some shuffling around, and then a pint-size voice shouts in my ear, “Hi, Uncle Shawn!”
I pull the phone from my head with a laugh. “Hi, Ava. How’s the best niece ever?”
“I’m terrific!” She shouts again in my ear so loudly that Madison hears her.
She covers her mouth as she laughs, but somehow Ava still manages to hear her.
“Who’s that, Uncle Shawn? You bring a friend with you?”
“I sure did.” I pull Madison close to me again. “Her name is Madison.”
Madison and I both hear her exclamation of excitement on the other end of the line. “Oh boy, I get an auntie! Auntie Madi!” Before I can say anything else or tell her she’s wrong, she squeals, “Uncle Shawn, can Auntie Madi come play with me, too?”
Without any prompting, Madison leans toward the phone. “Yes, Ava, I’ll come see you soon.”
“Great!” We hear a big thump and then a muttered curse from Heath.
“Whatever you all just told her, she got excited, threw my phone in the air, and took off running.”
I laugh and Madison giggle-snorts next to me. She calls over her shoulder so he can hear, “Sorry, Heath!”
/>
Another rough chuckle escapes me. “Gotta go. Talk later.”
“Sounds good. Later.”
Chapter 27
Madison
While Shawn had been talking to Heath, there’d been a lively conversation going on in the group text message. I scan back over everything now that he’s off the phone and resting quietly beside me.
Sophia: OMG, you’re killing us. We know you guys slid off the road in the storm, but that’s about it.
Zoey: Isn’t the last time we heard from her right before the reception?
Quinn: Yeah, but Shawn texted Heath about the accident. Scroll up—Sophia was talking about it earlier.
Piper: Madison, I can’t even believe that you’ve kept us hanging all this time.
Hadleigh: Where’s all the juicy gossip? I need details.
I stifle a laugh and tap out a message that it sounds like there is much anticipation over.
Me: Please believe me when I say this whole weekend has been one massive whirlwind.
Zoey: There she is! And I’m not late to the party this time!
Quinn: Ooh, this sounds interesting.
Me: Obviously, you all know there has been one hell of a snowstorm.
Sophia: Oh yeah. It’s nasty out there.
Me: But there has also been an ex-boyfriend.
Hadleigh: Uh-oh.
Me: And there has been a former best friend.
Me: But also dinner and dancing …
Me: Getting to know Shawn a lot better …
Hadleigh: Get to the good stuff.
Zoey: Wait, are the BFF and the ex-BF the same person?
Me: Bingo. Chase.
Sophia: Nooo. Say it isn’t so.
Me: Oh, yes. It’s been quite the wild ride.
Hadleigh: How about the fun kind of ride?
Piper: Start small, Had. Did you kiss him?
Zoey: Who, Chase or Shawn?
Lost in You (Flirting with Forever Book 1) Page 15
