Unconditional

“When?”

“Fuck. Maddie…I don’t know.”

“My birthday?” she squeaks.

I freeze and stare up at her. I part her legs slightly and move the rest of the way down her body until I’m staring straight at her wet folds. Fuck. Maybe just a taste.

Her folds are spread, exposing her swollen clit that is staring at me begging me to lick it, suck it, devour it. The tip of my nose runs up her thigh and I let it hover over her pussy, breathing in her sweet scent. “Cal.” She’s white-knuckling the counter and I feel her sex moving closer to me. Her clit grazes my nose slightly and she moans which has a direct line to my dick and it throbs painfully. “Holy fuck. S—sorry. Didn’t mean…t…tto.” She stammers and I wonder if just that minor brush against me is about to have her coming. “I…I need to put clothes on. Or…whatever we can do that will make you touch me.” Her eyes find mine and I look from her to her glistening pussy.

“Maddie…” I groan as I close my eyes and stand up away from her sex. “I just can’t yet.”

“Yet?” The hope laced in her voice doesn’t just speak to my dick, it speaks to my brain and my heart, and I’m wondering if every part of me is starting to get on the same page as my raging fucking hormones.

God, I’m so fucked.

“You really want this?”

“I really do.” She presses her hands to my chest and leans up to kiss me. I pull away and shake my head and she frowns.

“We need to talk about a few things first.”

“Like what?”

“Like what? Like what this means for you and me. I can’t…” I rub my hand over my forehead and back away from her. I pick up the towel and hand it to her. “What happens to us once we go down that road? Shit, even this?” I point back and forth between us. “Where does this leave us when this ends?”

Her eyes well up with tears instantly and before I can reach out to wipe them, she gets off the counter and wraps the towel around her. “I hadn’t counted on this ending.” She bites her bottom lip before she leaves the bathroom without another glance.

I think about giving her space, letting her collect her thoughts before I go in and force her to talk to me. But then I remember she hasn’t exactly granted me that same courtesy. She bulldozed her way into my heart ten years ago, and then again last week in a completely different way. I’ve never had a chance to collect my thoughts before I’ve had to f

ace her, and if she’s asking for what I think she’s asking, then she needs to know how to talk to me. I follow after her and push my way through her closed door to find her pulling out a pair of underwear. She turns to look at me as she pulls her panties up her legs and lets them snap against her hips. Her chest is still bare and all I want to do is drop to my knees and feast on her tits. “Madeline, if you’re going to fucking run away from me every time I upset you, this is never going to work.”

“Well, I love you, and I want to be with you and you’re talking to me about when this ends…so I’m sorry for being a little emotional about that.”

“I’m sorry I said that…I guess I’m still playing a bit of catch up. I just think it’s going to be a lot harder than you think transitioning this relationship. I raised you, Maddie, and now…This is complicated. And what happens when you go away next year? You’re going to want to be free to explore and find yourself.” The last thing she needs is an overprotective…boyfriend? Following her around everywhere. And I know I fucking would. I wouldn’t let any of those frat fucks within a mile of her.

“Who said I was going away?” She sits on her bed and looks up at me. “I thought…I mean I was going to ask if I could stay here with you while I went to school.”

“Maddie…you’re brilliant and Ivy’s are already knocking on our door.”

“Ivy League schools are expensive.”

“Will you let me worry about that?” I didn’t want to tell her that I’ve been putting money aside for school for her for years, not to mention Margie, Henry, Aria, and Grant are all on board that we’d send her wherever she wanted.

“Since I’ve known you, you’ve always put me first. You’ve given me everything I’ve ever wanted or needed my entire life. I don’t want you giving up anything else for me. I don’t want you sacrificing anything else for me. I just want…you.” Goosebumps appear all over her body, and my eyes immediately go to her nipples that are turning to hard points.

I sit next to her and pull her hand into mine and run my lips over it before draping a blanket around her shoulders. “I’ll never not put you first, Maddie. No matter where things go between us.”

I PEEK MY HEAD OUT behind the red curtain, staring into the sea of people in the auditorium. Dozens of eyes stare back at me and it turns my stomach into knots. I don’t think they can see me through the tiny crack, but I back away slowly, my lip trembling with each step. “I can’t do it.”

A hand touches my shoulder and then her familiar perfume surrounds me. “Of course, you can, honey. I promise it’s not scary.” Aria kneels in front of me and smooths my hair into a bun. Though I don’t know how a hair could be out of place, she is hair spraying it down for a full twenty minutes.

“Cal’s not here.” Tears fill my eyes and one threatens to trickle down my cheek, but then I remember Aria’s hard work on my eyes. I look pretty. Like a model in a magazine or a movie star. It’s my first recital and my first time ever in front of an audience and all the makeup on my face makes me look like a pretty made up doll. I rub my nose absentmindedly and look up at her. Concern flashes in her green eyes and she tucks a strand of her newly chopped bob behind her ear.

“I know, and you know he wants to be here, but something happened at work.” She pulls me into a hug and squeezes before kissing my cheek. “He promised to meet us as soon as he could, remember? And I’m going to take a video. You’re going to be so good, Maddie. The best ballerina there ever was.”

Somewhere in the distance, they call for me and Aria stands up. “I have to get to my seat, but I promise everything is going to be okay.”

I look up at her and start to rub my eye, but I let my hand fall when I remember my makeup. “What if I fall?”