Five things, p.22
Five Things, page 22
Wrapping my legs around his back as he pushes inside me again, I clench my muscles, pulling until he fills me with his length. A satisfied smirk tips his lips, and he slides an arm under my back, rolling us until I’m straddling him.
“Take what you need, babe.” He holds my hips, pulling me up, and I whimper at the loss. My hands land on his chest, and he settles into the mattress, watching as I sink back down, a groan falling out of him as I seat myself fully, the new angle hitting my G-spot in an instant.
“Fuck, you feel so good,” I hiss, grinding my hips into him. He curses under his breath as I find my rhythm, riding him until stars prick at my vision. His arm snakes between our bodies, his thumb finding my clit, and he rubs frantic circles, pushing me closer and closer to orgasm with each move as I rock up and down, my eyes fluttering closed and my head falling back.
When his hands slip under the shirt I’m wearing, finding my peaked nipples, he pinches them, rolling his fingers over the buds, and my body trembles. He still hasn’t seen my bare chest, but I’ve gotten way more comfortable with him playing with my breasts, and when he pinches again, my back arches.
“Are you close, babe?” he asks, thrusting, meeting me move for move. “This is my favorite part of every day, you know.” His voice is a gravelly moan, and more pleasure rocks through me. “When your tight little pussy pulses around me, your juices dripping down my cock, there’s nothing better than that, Bumblebee.”
My climax comes barreling forward, but before I can fall over the edge, Mav slows when a knock sounds at the door. My hands still on his chest where I’ve been scratching at the skin, my legs trembling as I try to keep them still, but Maverick keeps moving inside me, his thrusts at a snail’s pace as he calls out to Nash. “Fuck off. I’m busy.”
A giggle slips past my lips, which he silences with his own, his tongue plunging inside my mouth as Nash calls again. “Yeah, you need to get unbusy and get your ass out here. Now, bro.”
“Motherfucker,” Maverick grumbles against my lips, pulling away with a grimace. “Raincheck, babe?”
He rolls me over, pumping once more, and a whimper falls from my mouth as he slides out of me. “Ugh.”
I already miss the feel of him. Rolling onto my front, I groan into the pillow, which only makes him chuckle as he grabs for his sweats off the floor, pulling them over his still-hard dick.
He winces when the cotton brushes the tip, glaring at me as if I’m the reason he didn’t get to finish. “You only have yourself to blame,” I quip, wriggling my way onto my back and pulling the comforter over my naked legs. “Now, go see what he wants and hurry. This will be the worst Monday ever if I have to go to Sociology without finishing.”
“You’re insatiable.” He leans over me, kissing me deeply as Nash pounds against the door once more. “I’m coming, dickhead, stop trying to give me a headache.”
Maverick saunters across the room, not bothering to find a t-shirt before he peels the door open and escapes into the lounge. The marks on his back from last night are raised and red, causing a flush to spread up my cheeks at the sight.
I roll over, grabbing the first item of clothing I can and pull the sweater over my head, hoping it covers the way my nipples peak through the cotton of Maverick’s t-shirt. As I’m standing, the sweater falling to my knees, the door slams open, and Nash stands watching me, his eyes wide as light footsteps sound behind.
“Nash, what—” Words fail me when a girl steps over the threshold, pushing Nash out of the way. Her wavy brown hair almost as familiar as my own, her stormy gray eyes—so like her brothers—staring at me with equal parts shock and disgust.
I haven’t seen Willow since the day she came to my house after Maverick’s trial, tossing all the things I’d left behind at her house over the years onto my yard before walking away without a single word. She hasn’t changed a bit, nor has the hatred etched into her features when she finds me in her brother’s bedroom.
“Bea—” My blood chills, my hands clamming under the weight of her gaze. Mav steps up beside her, dropping a placating hand on her shoulder, but she pushes him off, spinning to face him. “How could you? After everything she did to you?”
Maverick says nothing, his eyes moving between his sister and me, but it doesn’t matter anyway, not when Willow keeps going.
“God, no fucking wonder you’ve been avoiding my texts and my calls,” she shouts to him, stomping out of the doorway and into the lounge. “I bet you didn’t have the time to check them when you’ve been sticking your dick in the person who tried to ruin your life. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself? That you so easily let her back in? Not just your life but your bed, Maverick. What the hell is wrong with you?”
Shame curdles inside me, heat pricking at my eyes as tears threaten to puddle at the surface. I turn quickly, grabbing my leggings from the pile of clothes strewn on the floor from last night. Dragging them over my legs, I make quick work of slipping into my shoes and bolting from the bedroom.
Maverick and Willow step aside when I reach the lounge, letting me pass. Only Nash offers me anything, his eyes softening as he watches me head to the door.
“Baby Bea,” he starts, but I pay him no attention, tugging at the handle and leaving without a word. It’s only when I reach my dorm minutes later, my feet aching from the gravel I hobbled on, my shoes still hanging limp from my hands, that I let the tears fall.
I knew. I knew the bubble we’d been living in would pop. And, my God, did it. Not once did he try to speak up for me. He told me that his family thought I was to blame for everything, that they were the reason we couldn’t be together . . . but then he claimed me anyway, and I thought he was willing to push past all that for me.
How wrong could I have been?
I used to believe I deserved the vitriol, deserved to lose my friends, thanks to my own stupid actions, but he made me change my view on that. Made me see that while I made the wrong choices, I wasn’t to blame. But today, he couldn’t find those words to utter to his sister. To stop me from leaving.
Not that I blame him, not really. His family is everything to him, they always have been, and never once would I expect him to choose me over them. But it doesn’t stop the way my heart shatters at the realization that he wouldn’t anyway.
My back slumps against the door, sliding down until my knees curl into my chest, my head dropping against them as the tears I thought dried up drench my leggings.
I’d tried so hard to convince myself that I deserved it. That I could give it a real shot, but I know now that the dread settling into my stomach over the last few days isn’t unfounded. The other shoe was waiting to drop—like I said to Maisie—right when I needed it not to.
My eyes fall to a wide envelope at my side I didn’t notice when I first came in. This is different from the other letters—the shape, the size, the weight. I peel it open, refusing to hide from the truth any longer.
Pictures fall to the floor as I tip the envelope. An array of them, depicting every moment Maverick and I have shared over the last few months since I came to BU. Pictures from inside my dorm of me on my knees and him on top of me in bed.
Bile crawls up my throat, and I force myself up, making it to the kitchen sink where a wave of sickness floods from me, retching into the metal basin. My clammy hands stick to the counter, my hair dampening as a cold sweat beads on my forehead.
I rush to the bathroom on shaky legs, brushing my teeth and shoving my hair up into a messy bun. My bones grow cold, and my body trembles as panic threatens to overwhelm me, the familiar black spots dancing in my vision.
When I’m back in the kitchen, I peel open the drawer where all the envelopes have been stuffed. Out of sight, out of mind was my motto. But now I need to know.
One by one, I tear apart their seals, white sheets flooding the kitchen floor. Almost every one has the same message scrawled over the paper when I read them.
I told you what would happen, beautiful, and you didn’t listen.
A chill runs over my body, and I clench my eyes shut as tears roll down my cheeks.
The one lie I kept to myself that day Maverick asked me why. I was scared, that was true, but it wasn’t me I was scared for. Sebastian has a vile temper, but his family also has a lot of power. He promised to ruin Maverick if I didn’t pull my statement. Threatened he’d make sure he would never play football again or make anything of his life.
I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t let him do it then, and I can’t let him do it now.
Stark clarity hits me, and another wave of emotions overwhelms my senses, pulling me to the floor. I love Maverick Brady. Maybe I always have.
And just as he said to me, I don’t know that there will ever be a day where I don’t.
Letting go of him will be the hardest thing I’ll ever do, but after seeing the way Willow looked at me today, and finally opening these letters, I know the truth. If he stays with me, I really will ruin his life this time, and that isn’t something I’m willing to do.
Maverick
Beatrice rushes out of the apartment before I can even think, her eyes betraying her emotions as her shoulders slump in defeat. The door slams behind her, leaving awkward silence in her wake.
Nash passes me, grabbing her phone from where it’s still plugged in my nightstand. Her bag gets thrown over his shoulder next, and the look he gives me as he stalks out of the door following her footsteps is nothing short of disappointment.
Shit. I just really fucked up here if his expression is anything to go off, but I don’t know why.
“Fuck.” I rake a hand through my hair, peeling my eyes away from the door to face my sister. Having her show up is always a pleasant surprise, but something tells me her appearance here today changed the course of my relationship with Beatrice . . . and not for the better.
“Maverick,” Willow snaps, waving her hand in front of my face. “What the hell were you thinking? You really went and fucked Bea? After everything she’s done to us?”
My skin bristles under her question. “To us? She didn’t do shit to you, Willow, so don’t start with that shit.”
“You really believe that?” She gapes, her eyes wide in disbelief. “You don’t think it wrecked our family to watch you suffer because of her? To know that my best friend was the reason my brother wound up behind bars, almost losing everything he worked so hard for. Shit, Maverick. I welcomed her into our home. You might have gotten the brunt of her betrayal, but it didn’t stop there. She ruined pieces of us all that day. So again, I ask, how could you? How could you be with her after all that?”
Closing my eyes, I scrub my hand over my face, blowing out a slow breath. Willow’s words hit me hard, my chest splintering under the weight of them. While I knew my family hated watching me go through all that shit, I’d never thought of the impact it had on them.
“There’s so much you don’t know, Will. Things that aren’t mine to tell you, but she’s not the villain you think she is.”
“You’re defending her?” Her eyes drop, horror spreading over my face. “Does she have a magic fucking pussy that made you forget that she got you sent to prison? Jesus. Are you so dick whipped by her cunt that you can’t see the truth?”
“Say that again and you can walk back out the way you came. She might not be your favorite person in the world, but I won’t have you talk shit about her in my home, got it?”
“What the hell, Mav,” she whispers, dropping onto the couch beside me. Her eyes fill with tears, her mouth wide open as she stares at me. Other than Nash, Willow is my best friend. We’ve been attached at the hip for as long as she’s been alive, and never once have I spoken to her like I just did.
But Beatrice is Beatrice. And hearing anyone talk shit about my girl sends lead to my stomach . . . so I won’t take it back. I can’t take it back. If we have any chance when it comes to us, she needs me in her corner the way she’s always been in mine.
“I need you to talk me through this,” Willow starts, wriggling around until her legs are crossed under her and she’s facing me. “You’re going to need to help me understand, Mav. Cause when we last spoke, you never once hinted that you and Beatrice were together, and from how comfortable she was in here, I’m going to guess this has been going on for a while.”
“I told you, Willow, it’s not my story to tell.”
“Then tell me what you can,” she pleads, grabbing my hand and squeezing lightly. “I promise I’ll listen and say nothing. But, Maverick, I doubt there’s anything you can tell me that will ever make me forgive her. And I doubt Mom and Dad will either. So you gotta decide if she’s worth it. You nearly lost everything over her once before, are you willing to risk it all again?”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Beatrice
Someone pounds at my door, ignoring the shouts coming from the girls in my hall telling them to fuck off. It’s still only 8:00 a.m., which means classes haven’t started yet, so most people will just be waking up.
“Baby Bea. Open up,” Nash shouts through the wood, his knuckles rapping once more. “Please.”
I swipe away the stray tears on my cheeks, grabbing the letters and tossing them back into the drawer along with the pictures before closing it and making my way over to the door. Steeling my shoulders, I twist the lock, pushing the handle down and pulling it open.
Nash stares at me, a small frown on his face as he waves my phone in one hand and a paper bag in the other. “I come bearing your cell and goodies, so move aside and let me in.”
He barrels past me, not giving me the chance to fight him on it as he starts toward my bedroom, bounding around in there for a long minute before coming back into the lounge with my comforter and a couple pillows under one arm, and a pair of Christmas pajamas Maisie bought me the other day.
“Suit up. We’re playing truant today and gorging on all the popcorn and chocolate while we make our way through all the chewy Hallmark movies I just know you have lined up on your laptop.”
“Nash,” I start, grabbing the remote from his hand and dropping it onto the arm of the couch. “You don’t have to do this, really, I’m fine.”
The lie tastes bitter on my tongue, and I know he doesn’t believe me, but he gives me a little grace anyway.
“Yeah, well, I’m not. My best friend is a fucking asshole, and I don’t want to see him today. So I’m hiding out here, and I’m asking that you please hide out with me, because it’s boring if I have to be alone.” He bats his eyelashes at me, pushing his lip out into a pout as he tries the greatest titty lip he’s ever done.
Truthfully, I’m grateful for his presence, my intrusive thoughts are too much to live with right now. One more morning. I’m going to give myself one more morning of normal before life smacks me in the face.
“Fine, truant it is,” I echo, dropping down on the couch beside him. I toss the pajamas to the corner of the room, dismissing them as he covers us with the comforter, laying the pillows in between us.
“I may be disappointed in him,” he explains when I ask him why. “But even I am not willing to go against the wrath of Mav if I accidentally touch his girl. That man scares me.”
“You’re so dramatic. You touch me all the time, you buffoon.” Rolling my eyes, I settle into the cushion, letting Nash pick out a film to watch. I don’t bother correcting him on the Mav’s girl comment, even knowing everything changed today.
No matter what Maverick says next, I won’t be here to hear it. The only thing I can hope is I have enough of my heart left by the time I close that door that it can still beat without him.
“Don’t hog the popcorn, Bea,” Nash whines a little while later, reaching over to grab the bowl from my hand. He shovels a handful into his mouth, chomping as he rocks side to side to the musical number playing out on the TV.
“Hey, Nashville,” I say, pulling his attention to me. Pushing off the couch, I stand, tidying up the coffee table. “Not that I’m ungrateful for the company, but when are you heading out? You’ve been taking up real estate on my couch for a couple hours now.”
“You kicking me out?” He pouts, giving me his best kicked-puppy look, which only makes me laugh.
“Yes.” I snatch the bowl from his hand, dropping it on the coffee table. The duvet comes with me next, and I toss it back on my bed, grabbing my bag and keys before heading back out to the lounge. “I’ve got some stuff to do, so move it.”
“What stuff, Bea?” He raises a brow. Keeping my face blank, I grab his hand, helping him off the couch. I don’t answer his question, there’s little point. He’d only try and talk me out of it, and I don’t want to hear his words of wisdom.
“Come on.” I haul him from the room, locking the door behind me. We reach the parking lot, where we’ll split up for him to go back to his apartment and me to head over to the main campus.
“Bea,” Nash calls my name when I start away from him. I turn to him, my gaze landing on his nose. “Don’t do anything stupid, yeah?”
“When have I ever done anything stupid?” My throat dries at my question, and I struggle to swallow over the lump in my throat. “Actually, don’t answer that. The list is probably way too long at this point.”
“Talk to him before you make any rash decisions. Promise me? I know he fucked up today, but you can’t always expect him to get it right. This is a learning curve for both of you.”
I nod, not able to voice a promise I know I’ll break.
My mind is already made up, and when Nash runs over, giving me a tight hug, I think he knows that too. His hold lingers a beat longer than normal, his breath a shudder when he pulls away. He drops a kiss to my hair, whispering “I love you” in my ear and squeezing me once more before he turns and stalks away, his shoulders deflated.
Gripping the strap of my bag, I wade through the early afternoon traffic in the commons, coming to a stop outside the administration office. The pit in my stomach hollows out when the door opens, and the clerk stares at me, waiting for me to introduce myself, tell her why I’m here . . . anything but stare awkwardly at the door.
