We fucking did it. I fucking did it. I’ve never felt like I accomplished something this big before. Sure, I’ve got great grades and I receive a small scholarship as a result, and I’ve worked my ass off to cover everything else I need. I’ve managed to support myself without the help of my parents since I started college, but this has all been out of necessity, and I’ve never really felt accomplished because the job is never really finished.
When you’re working double time just to stay afloat, just to make ends meet, it’s difficult to see the value in your effort. When you don’t have much to show for it, it’s easy to feel like you’re fighting a losing battle. But this contest—I’ve never worked this hard for something this big and succeeded. And knowing that I can finally do something for Brandon that he deserves? That feeling is unparalleled.
At one point, after we’d been at the condo for a couple hours, Ms. Beth has to take Odette back to her bedroom.
“Girl things,” Odette says with a smile. The moment they’re out of the room, Riggs has me pinned down on the couch, kissing my lips and my neck like a fiend.
“God, I cannot get enough of you,” he says against my lips, and I run my hands over his shoulders.
“You need to try,” I say with a giggle and give him a shove. “Your mom and Ms. Beth could be back any second.”
He shakes his head and kisses me again, working his hand over the button of my jeans. “They’ll be at least twenty minutes. I can make you come in ten.”
I gasp when he makes contact with my clit over my panties. Even through the fabric, his big fingers sliding over my slit has me panting.
“Will you let me make you come?” he growls and bites my nipple through my shirt. I’m so thankful I’m wearing a thin bralette and not something padded. His teeth on my flesh is heaven.
I pull him up and kiss him fiercely. “Fast,” I say against his lips, and he smiles before kissing me again. He slips his hand into my underwear and swipes through my slick folds, then rubs my throbbing clit. I gasp and hum, and if it weren’t for him moving his mouth from my neck to my chest, I wouldn’t have heard the door in the foyer open and shut.
Riggs goes rigid, and I shove him off me. I sit up quickly, straighten my shirt and fix the button on my jeans. When I flick my eyes to Riggs, he’s got a wicked grin on his face, and then he sucks his fingers into his mouth. My eyes flare, and he removes them just as footsteps enter the main room.
“Riggs,” a man’s voice rumbles, and I turn on the couch to see Riggs’s father. I know him from the canvas portraits. Riggs has his strong jaw, height, and broad shoulders, but otherwise, the resemblance is minimal.
“Dad,” Riggs says as he stands up. “You weren’t supposed to be back for a few more days.”
“New York is expecting a winter storm, so I left early.” He moves his piercing grey eyes to me, but continues speaking to Riggs. “And this is?”
His voice is strange. Not warm, like Odette’s, but dismissive. He’s not rude, but I get the feeling he doesn’t particularly want me here.
“This is Bailey Barnes, Dad.”
That’s it. That’s all he says. I clear my throat lightly before speaking.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Stanton.” I’m not surprised when he doesn’t correct me and tell me to call him by his first name. “You have a lovely home.”
He grunts and looks me over, then his impassive face morphs into a charming smile. I have to blink a few times, because I’ve seen that smile on Riggs’s face. I’ve come to think of it as his fake smile, though I never would have known had I not spent so much time with him this week.
“Thank you. Pleasure to meet you, Bailey.” Mr. Stanton looks at Riggs. “And why are you two here? Didn’t the team have training all week? You shouldn’t be here until tomorrow.”
Huh. I widen my eyes at Riggs. His Dad didn’t know?
Riggs squares his shoulders and meets his Dad’s eyes. “I wasn’t at training this week. Bailey and I participated in the Midwest Collegiate Holiday Bake Off. We won, actually.”
Riggs’s dad looks livid. His throat is tight, his shoulders stiff, and I have a feeling he would be popping off real bad if I wasn’t standing here to witness it. Before Mr. Stanton can say anything, Riggs speaks again.
“I squared it with Elbin. He gave me an independent training schedule for the week that I had to record and send to him every day.”
“Did you throw?”
“No sir, but Elbin isn’t worried. I’ll get the throwing time I need after the holidays.”
Riggs’s dad looks at me quickly then back to him. “You should have talked to me about this first.”
Riggs shrugs. “Mom knew, and my coach was fine with it.” They stare off for what feels like an hour, and I fidget awkwardly, because what the hell else am I supposed to do? I about weep with joy when Odette and Ms. Beth come back into the room.
“Antony,” Odette says brightly. “You are back early.”
His smile for her cracks my heart right in two. He may have been cold with his son just now, but there is nothing but warmth and love for his wife.
“Ma chérie,” he says before placing a gentle kiss on her lips. “You look beautiful.”
Odette laughs him off and whispers something that I can’t hear, then she looks at me. “Did Alex tell you about the baking contest that he and Bailey have won? I am just so proud.” She beams at us and Antony puts his hand over hers.
“Yes, he’s told me. So happy for them.”
“If you had gotten here a few hours earlier, you could have tried their desserts.” Odette smiles at me again. “They made my French silk!”
“It was delicious,” Ms. Beth chimes in.
“Next time, then,” Antony says to his wife.
Antony moves to sit in the chair next to Odette’s wheelchair when a melodic bell tolls through the house. I jump and look up at the ceiling, trying to find where the noise came from, and everyone laughs.
“That’s the doorbell,” Ms. Beth clarifies, then stands and heads toward the foyer. “I’ll see who it is.”
“Oh.” I say lamely. “Of course, it is.” I watch Riggs stifle a laugh and I narrow my eyes at him. He winks at me, then looks to his parents.
“Are we expecting company?”
“Not that I know of,” Antony says, then glances at me. “What are your plans for the holidays, Bailey?”
I start to answer when Ms. Beth walks back into the room with a familiar body trailing her. A tall, lithe body that moves with a dancer’s grace and a model’s confidence. Riggs goes stiff, Odette lets out a tinkling laugh, and Antony stands from where he was sitting and moves to greet her.
“Talia, my girl,” Antony says, “I thought you weren’t coming until tomorrow.” I watch, speechless, as he pulls her into a hug. Her wide eyes flit from me to Riggs and back.
“Well, um, since Riggs was already here...” She looks at Riggs and raises her eyebrow.
He still hasn’t said anything.
Talia walks over to Odette and kisses her on the cheeks.