“I’m going to stay with Brie.”
“You’re not,” I deny.
“She knows she’s not staying with us.” Brie narrows her eyes at Hadley. “We already talked about it. She knows she’s better off staying with you; she’s just being hardheaded.”
“You mean you talked about it,” Hadley says, taking a step away from me and turning to face her friend.
“Okay, I talked about it and know that even if you’re too stubborn to admit it, you know I’m right. Do you need me to help you pack?”
“No.” Hadley denies looking annoyed.
“All right, then I’m gonna head home.” Brie grabs her purse and gives me a wink then Hadley a hug.
When she’s gone, I look at Hadley. “I went and talked to your dad today.” At my statement, her body freezes. “He’s adamant that he had nothing to do with what happened last night. He said he was home with your mom and she could confirm that if I needed her to.” I pull in a breath and grab her hand, dragging her up against me. “He was concerned about you. Said he didn’t like the idea of you being here on your own, even after I told him that you and I are together.”
“I’m sure he was worried,” she mumbles, rolling her eyes.
Not wanting to upset her right now by digging into her relationship with her parents, I change the subject. “Did you call your bank and credit cards?”
“Yeah, they’re all canceled. I still have to get to the DMV for a new license, but that will have to wait until tomorrow after I meet with one of my clients.”
“Anything I can help with?”
Her face softens and she shakes her head. “No, but thank you.”
I kiss the top of her head and release her. “Go pack. I want time to show you around my place before I gotta leave for work.”
“Cobi—”
“I’m not arguing with you about this again. Go pack.”
“Maybe I need my head examined,” she huffs, before turning away and going to her room.
I listen to her talking to herself and the sound of banging then look at Maxim, who’s lying on the floor near the couch. “What do you think, bud?” He barks at me then gets up and heads into her bedroom, giving me his answer, and I smile.
Chapter 9
Hadley
I HEAR THE GARAGE door go up, and Maxim, who knows his dad is home, lifts his head off my stomach but otherwise doesn’t move. A minute later, I listen to the door open, the sound of heavy boots on the wood floors, and then the sound of keys hitting the countertop in the kitchen. When the bedroom door opens a couple of seconds later, I peek through my lashes and watch Cobi move quietly through the room. Maxim finally gets up and his tags rattle as Cobi talks quietly to him. After a few minutes he goes into the bathroom, shutting the door before turning on the light and Maxim leaves the bedroom, probably to sleep on the couch.
I squeeze my eyes shut when the shower goes on and visions of a naked Cobi fill my mind. Wide-awake with my body buzzing, my nipples tingling, and the space between my thighs hot, I pray for a miracle. This is what hell must be like, having something you want close but just out of reach. When the shower shuts off and he comes out of the bathroom, I open my eyes just enough to see him wearing nothing but a pair of sleep pants that hang low on his hips, accentuating the deep V of his abdomen and his tattoos, tattoos that make him look even more intense. I close my eyes once more and pretend to sleep while he gets into bed with me. When he rolls me over and pulls me against his warm, clean-smelling chest, I almost whimper and beg him to have his way with me.
“You asleep, baby?”
I don’t answer him. I lay as still as possible, hoping the throbbing between my legs will go away. Throbbing that started because of the book I was reading then got worse when I got into his bed and surrounded myself with his scent. I thought about masturbating, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
When his hand slides slowly down my back, over my simple cotton nightgown and comes to rest on one cheek of my ass, my heartbeat picks up. “Hadley.” His warm breath skims across the shell of my ear and a shiver slides across my skin. He moves his hand lower down the back of my thigh then back up, under my nightgown, over my ass and lace panties. “Fuck.” That one word is filled with hunger as his hips jerk forward, sending his hard cock into my belly.
A whimper I can no longer control escapes, and my hand wraps around his bicep to hold on. Before I can even pull in another breath he rolls me to my back and settles himself between my thighs. The new position sends my heart rate higher and my head spinning. Without a word spoken between us, I lean up as he drops his head forward and our mouths meet. The kiss is frantic and uncontrolled, as we bite, lick, and nip at each other’s mouths.