NathanielA mistake.That’s what it should be.Every second from the moment she walked inside and I lost my fucking cool to when she detonated in my hold as if she’s waited her entire life for me to come along.As if she’s been saving up for me, for the moment she’d explode all around me, strangle my fingers, and refuse to let them go.And it all started with when I saw her hopping off the kid’s motorcycle. Her lips were red and her hair was blown by the wind and she was smiling. Wide.I should’ve looked the other way and kept my distance, as usual—that’s what I’ve done ever since I moved in. I make sure she has everything she needs from afar. Like her stock of vanilla ice cream, her milkshakes—vanilla again—and her favorite fruit, bananas, just because there isn’t a version of vanilla fruit.Martha has specific orders to let me know when those things run out so one of us can take care of getting more.It’s all because of Kingsley, I told myself. If it were him, he would’ve made sure
Something alarming, as in, someone probably asked her if I’m gay. That’s what her socialite friends spout off about me when I refuse to meet their prim and proper daughters. That I’m gay.I ignore Mom and her shallow entourage. The thought of her and Dad brings forward nausea I’ve been trying to get rid of for fucking decades.But Gwyneth and the not-some-normal bike kid are still talking and laughing. They’re still trapped in their own world as if the rest of their surroundings don’t exist.So I pick up my phone and call her.Her smile drops when she sees my name on the screen, and she swallows a few times before she picks up.“Hello?”“Have you finished the report I sent you this morning?”“I’m getting there.”“Getting there doesn’t mean it’s done, Gwyneth.”“I’ll be finished in a few.”“My office. Now.” I hang up and take the elevator to the highest floor, then head to my office and sit behind my desk.Soon after, there’s a knock on the door before Gwyneth comes inside.There’s a s
“I wasn’t flirting.”I stand up and stride toward her. She visibly shudders, her cheeks turning a deep shade of red.“What did I say yesterday?”“W-what?”“After you came all over my fingers, what did I say?” I extend a hand and she closes her eyes, her lips shaking before they press together, but I reach around her and click the door shut.At that, she startles, her eyes opening and moving up to look at me. There’s an expectation etched on her delicate features mixed with polar opposite uncertainty. She’s always been a spectrum of wild, uncontained emotions.“What did I say, Gwyneth?”“That you will…take care of my sexual urges.”“And do you know what that means?”She shakes her head slowly.“It means you’ll break up with that boyfriend, effective immediately. You’ll stop flirting with him or getting on his bike.”Her lips tremble, but there’s a fire in her eyes, the blue trying to overthrow the green and smother the gray. “No.”I grab her by the chin and use it to lift her head. “Wh
GwynethHe’ll teach me how to behave.That’s what he said. That’s what I heard, and yet I still can’t believe it.I can’t believe a lot of things since last night.When I woke up this morning, I thought maybe, just maybe, it was all a dream and I was still stuck in it, but then I smelled him. Those notes of spice and woods lingered on my sheets and on me long after he left my bedroom.So it couldn’t have been a dream, because Nate never goes into my room.Never.Oh, and my panties were missing. Yup. I slept all night without underwear and kept rubbing my thighs together in a desperate attempt to recreate the friction but failed miserably.So I left early this morning because I didn’t know what would happen if I saw him hovering over me at breakfast. That’s what he does sometimes since he moved in. He hovers, leaning against the counter with his legs crossed at the ankles and drinking from his coffee until he makes sure I’ve eaten something. Because apparently, drinking my milkshake doe
“You’d have to want me to want to play with me, Nate.”He narrows his eyes on me. “You’re supposed to say you’re not a toy and I shouldn’t want to play with you.”I lift a shoulder. “I don’t care.”“You don’t?”“A normal person probably would, but I’m a little weird and a very bad girl, so you can play with me all you want. I’ll be your toy.” At least that way he’s not putting a thousand walls up between us.That way, I can get close, even if only by sex. I’m fine with sex. I like the feelings it brings and the surrender of it all. And if what happened last night is any indication, sex with Nate will probably bulldoze through all my thoughts and expectations.As if to prove that it’ll go way different than I’ve fantasized, Nate reaches a hand to the waistband of my skirt and toys with the zipper, his thumb grazing my hipbone beneath my shirt. “You’ll be my toy, huh?”“Yeah.”“I can play with you?”“You can.”“Do you let boys play with you often, Gwyneth?”“Sometimes…”He doesn’t like
“Language.”“Mmm.”“Answer me, Gwyneth. Whose pussy is this?”“Yours.”“That’s right. Mine. So why did you give it to someone else? Why did another fucker look at my pussy, let alone touch it?”God. If he keeps talking this dirty, I might come here and now.“Because you weren’t there…you weren’t touching me, so I had to let the boys do it, but you know what?”“What?” He’s pulling my panties down my legs, and I don’t focus on the trail of wetness that’s coating my thighs. I don’t focus on how shamelessly I’m drenching his fingers, because I’m preoccupied with something else.His face holds me hostage. His beautiful, ethereal face that’s been stealing my dreams since I started seeing him as a man.I drop my voice, staring at him from beneath my lashes. “I was thinking about you the whole time they were touching me. I imagined your fingers inside me and your tongue licking me. Your hands were on me too, and they were so powerful and masculine that I can’t stop thinking about them.”He pa
NathanielI’ve never been one to play games.They’re a waste of time and lack purpose—something that fools do to feel cunning or important. That type of affirmation means absolutely nothing to me.If anything, I’m the one who makes the games and sets the rules that everyone needs to follow.So imagine my fucking surprise when I find myself dragged into a game I didn’t sign up for. A game that shouldn’t have existed in the first place.I’m in the middle of it now. Right there where the game—Gwyneth—is.You can play with me all you want. I’ll be your toy.Those mere words turned me into a fucking insatiable beast. I didn’t only win her in the middle of the game, but I also had every right to play with her, torture her, torment her.A week now. It’s been a week since the day I broke my own protocol and brought sex to my workplace. When I ate her out and tasted her sweet cunt.I don’t mix business with pleasure.Ever.It’s unprofessional, bothersome, and fucking distracting.Or that’s what
When I open them again, Gwyneth is jumping to the music, screaming with the singer about silence. The same silence she’s massacring right now.She turns in my direction at that exact moment and freezes, her eyes going wide, with her spatula mic still at her mouth.“Nate.” My name comes out as a flustered sound in the middle of the loud music before she clears her throat and shouts, “Alexa, stop.”The music comes to a halt and she grimaces. “Was I too loud?”“You think?”“Sorry. I thought you had noise-canceling headphones or something since you’ve never complained about the music before.”That’s because I come out to watch. But I don’t say that, continuing to observe her instead. She has flour on her cheeks, which have turned red from all the singing and dancing. A cap covers her auburn strands, but a few stubborn ones are peeking through and she blows on them whenever they get into her eyes.“I’m baking,” she announces, motioning at the bowls, the flour, the butter, and the mess on t
EpilogueRachelSeven months later.I’m heavily pregnant, and I feel like the broad side of a barn. I can’t see my feet. I can’t feel my ass. I’m just fat everywhere, and I love it so damn much. I haven’t had the easiest pregnancy, but it’s been wonderful nonetheless because my dreams have finally come true.After we made-up, things went into hyperdrive. Max settled in New York, buying a huge apartment for us to share, and I moved in with him right away. We converted one of the spare bedrooms into a nursery, and my boyfriend has been going crazy furnishing it with a crib, dresser, and a plethora of stuffed animals that our baby won’t be able to play with until he’s at least a year old. But even if it’s over the top, I love it. Max is beyond excited to be a father, and I’m so happy that that’s the case.Not only that, but Max has cut back on his traveling because he wants to be here for me and the baby. Don’t get me wrong: my boyfriend is absolutely in demand, but he restricts his busi
“I know,” she says in a muffled voice. “And I’m so sorry for the mix-up.”I merely wipe her tears away with my thumb.“Rachel Champion, I can’t believe you think I’d take up with a brat like Katy when I am desperately in love with you.”At that, she looks up, her eyes wide and surprised.“What did you say?” she whispers.But my motivations are true, and I pull her against me once more.“I love you, Rachel. I think I fell into lust that first afternoon when I came upon you sunbathing by the pool. But it turned into something more during the time we spent at the cottage, and now, I want to be with you, sweet girl. Permanently.”She sobs even harder, and I stroke her hair and continue.“I’ve been trying to figure out how to get in touch with you over the last few days, and came up with nada, so honey, don’t be angry, but I went to your parents’ apartment and got your address.”She gasps then, staring at me.“You told Maurice about us?”“Your mom, too,” I say with a small smile. “Thankful
MaxI rush to the East Village like a madman. I wouldn’t be surprised if my hair is on fire, I’m that desperate. But when I come to Rachel’s apartment building, I pause for a moment. There’s no sense in looking like a crazy person, even if I am one.Fortunately, one of her neighbors exits right when I’m entering, so I don’t have to buzz up. Instead, I climb the rickety stairs to the third floor and stand before Rachel’s door with my hand poised. Then I knock in what I hope is a firm, assured manner.To my surprise, the curvy girl answers immediately. She must have been expecting take-out because she’s got her wallet in one hand, already open. But then she gasps, her eyes wide.“Max?”I look at her for the first time in far too long and notice all the little things. She’s gorgeous. Her hair is in a messy bun piled on top of her head, and she’s in baggy sweats, but they don’t do anything to conceal those sassy hills and valleys. If anything, she looks better natural like this, and very
MaxIt’s been seven days since Rachel left in the middle of the night to go back to New York to deliver a baby. It’s been six days since I last talked to her. Five days since I got called away for a last-minute job doing make-up for a young debutante. Evidently, Katy Mellon is graduating from high school and wanted her hair and make-up done professionally. She’s a brat, but the job paid well, and I decided to take it.But now, I need to talk to Rachel. I’ve called her a million times, but she never picks up. Not only that, but my emails and texts have gone unanswered. What the hell?As a result, it’s come to this. I’m standing in front of her parents’ apartment building, ready to ring the bell. I need to get in touch with his daughter, and now Maurice is my only hope. Surely he won’t kill me for dating his daughter. Or will he?I groan into my hands. Of course he’s going to kill me because a man never expects his oldest friend to bang the little girl he raised. And I did it on his pro
My best friend gazes at me from the video screen with a concerned look on her face, likely because I’m pale and trembling.“I’m pregnant,” I say without any preamble.Her jaw drops. “The test results came back!”“Yes, they did. I am absolutely, one hundred percent pregnant. They did a blood test and all that.”Laurelin’s eyes go wide as she bounces her baby on her knee.“Holy shit, Rach. Do you know if it’s Danny’s child? Or Max’s?”I let out a slow exhale.“It’s Max’s for sure because Danny and I didn’t have sex for months before we broke up.”She lets out a big breath. “Oh, thank God.”“Small favors, right?”She nods.“So have you told the father yet?”I take a deep breath.“No, not yet. I mean, it’s just so unexpected! This whole thing, I don’t even know how to describe it. We were only at the cottage together because of a scheduling mistake by my parents!”Laurelin nods.“Yes, but Max knows how babies are made. And you did say you guys were going at it like rabbits.” I nod, biting
RachelI wake up the next morning feeling groggy and out of sorts. My muscles are sore from falling asleep in a weird position, and I stand to stretch. Oof! I need a massage, but that probably won’t happen today. Instead, I get up and head into the bathroom for a much-needed hot shower. The water feels good pounding on my frame, and by the time I’m dressed and made-up, I’m feeling more alive.I walk into the kitchen and open the fridge. The date on the milk is only one day out, so I open it and lift it to my nose. But the smell makes me so nauseous that I literally gag and run to the sink before pouring it out with my nostrils pinched shut. Ugh, that was so gross and I flush the entire mess with a bolt of water from the faucet. How disgusting.I decide to cook some eggs and waffles, but those also make me horrifically sick, so I give up and just nibble on some dry crackers. I wonder if something’s going around?At that moment, Laurelin calls and asks if I want to meet her for sushi at
RachelAfter four blissful days and nights wrapped in Max’s arms, suddenly I’m leaving. One of my clients has gone into early labor, and I have to get back to the city asap.I wake Max in the darkness of the pre-dawn morning. At first, he’s sleepy and growly, but then he sits up when he sees I’m dressed and packed.“What’s going on, sweetheart? Is everything okay? Are your parents okay?”I smile in the darkness.“Everything’s fine. I just have a patient who’s in labor really early. I need to head back to the city.”He lets out a breath and says, “Okay, give me a few minutes, and I’ll drive you.”I shake my head.“No no, it’s okay. Go back to sleep. Rest. I do this all the time, so I’m used to getting dragged out of bed for false alarms. The baby probably just wants to make herself known, so she’s kicking up a storm right now. It’s fine.”“You sure?” he asks, frowning.“I’m positive. Go back to sleep. We’ll talk soon.”He nods.“Okay. Will you be back tonight?”I sling my pack over one
Suddenly, it strikes me. Rachel’s absolutely beautiful. Not just her face and her curves, but her soul is gorgeous. I find myself regretting the fact that soon enough, life will take us on our different paths. Rather abruptly, I interrupt.“How long do you think you can stay at the cottage?”Rachel’s face falls a bit at the change in subject. She laughs, but there’s a regretful undertone to it.“To be honest, I probably need to head back before the weekend.”My heart contracts. Fuck. It’s already Tuesday, which gives us only a few more days together. Suddenly, I want her to stay, and I want our idyllic vacation to continue forever. But she can’t because there are babies waiting to be born, and I can’t either, because I have a business to tend to. So instead, I school my expression into neutrality.“Of course. A job is a job, and these kids come when they feel like it.”She merely smiles faintly. “Yes, that’s true. But what about you, Max? What does the next chapter hold for you?”I lo
MaxOur food arrives, and we dig in, the conversation dying down a bit. In the middle of her lobster roll, Rachel looks up and blinks.“Do you ever miss being in one place? After a lifetime of travel, do you think you could settle down?”Wow, that’s a big question, but this woman already means a lot to me, and she deserves an honest answer. I sit back from the table for a moment and just look at her pretty features. “I don’t know. I never did, at least not until recently. The Max Wyndham brand has been around for a while now, and it’s pretty established. I don’t have to hustle the way I used to, that’s for sure.”Rachel nods, her eyes wide.“Of course, everyone knows you, even people not in the beauty industry. You’re huge, Uncle Max!”I nod.“Yeah, and it keeps me on my toes. I have a deal with Sephora where I need to do an appearance whenever they open a new store.”Rachel gasps, her brown eyes wide.“But there are so many Sephoras, and they’re always opening new locations all over