Crave (The Gibson Boys 3)

Crawling across the bed, I dive into his spot. I burrow as deep into his sheets as I can.

“What am I going to do now?” I ask aloud.

The room gives no answers.

The sweet way he looked at me last night, the loving way he caressed me as he didn’t fuck me but made love to me more than a couple of times, gives me hope he will ask me to stay.

Surely, he wouldn’t make himself that vulnerable if he wasn’t in a different place. That has to mean something.

“Ask me to stay,” I whisper, my eyes fluttering closed. “Ask me to stay and I will.”

My phone rings again, and I pick it up. Holding my breath that the universe heard my request and is coming through, I look at the screen.

Damn it.

“Hey,” I say in the line.

“Hi, Hadley,” Samuel says. “How are you?”

“I’m good.”

Looking around Machlan’s bedroom and hearing Samuel’s voice triggers something deep inside me. Regardless of what happens with Mach, whether he finally realizes he can commit or not, doesn’t matter. My heart is not in it with Samuel. And even though I’ve prayed it would be, it won’t.

“I’m glad you called,” I say.

“Really? That’s promising.”

My heart sinks. “Listen, Samuel. You’re a nice guy. You’re everything a girl should want.”

“There’s a but, isn’t there?”

“Yeah,” I say softly.

He sighs, a heaviness in it that isn’t missed by me. “I really hope you find what you want. Even if it isn’t me.”

“I hope that for you too.”

“Promise me something, though.”

“What’s that?”

He takes a deep breath. “Don’t settle, Hadley. Don’t let anyone walk all over you or twist yourself up to make people happy. Your spirit is what I love most about you, and I’d hate for anyone to dampen it.”

“Thank you.”

“There’s no reason to make this longer than it has to be,” he admits. “You have a few things at my house. I’ll gather them when I get back, and you can come get them, or I’ll drop them off.”

“Okay.”

“And Hadley?”

“Yeah?”

“If you change your mind, I’ll be here.”

I open my mouth to tell him not to be, to meet some girl at his audit conferences and fall madly, deeply in love. To find someone who makes him feel what I feel when I’m around Machlan. To find someone he simply can’t live without. That he would fight for.

But before I can do that, the line is dead.

* * *

Machlan

A flashy sports utility vehicle flies up the road. The tires hit the dirt lot before the driver locks the brakes. The vehicle slides a few feet before it comes to a complete stop.

Spencer is over an hour late. He seems to either be unaware of this or completely without a fuck as his loafers hit the gravel.

He adjusts his tie as he strolls my way. I don’t get up from the bench I’ve been sitting on for the past thirty minutes. Fuck him.

“Well, good morning,” he says. “Glad to see you’re on time.”

“I was. An hour ago.”

“Really?” He looks at his watch. “I had a quick meeting this morning that apparently ran over. I apologize.”

He doesn’t. There’s not a hint of respect in his tone to lend any credence to that at all.

It’s not only that I left Hadley asleep in my bed and could’ve been there with her for the better part of the morning that has me annoyed, but also that the key wasn’t here like it was supposed to be.

“Wouldn’t have been so bad if I could’ve gotten in,” I say, alluding to the key.

“You mean a guy like you couldn’t figure out how to break in?” His laugh is loud and grating. It’s enough to bring me to my feet.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, nothing. Just a little humor to lighten the mood, you know?” He pats me on the back. “Let’s go inside. I have a couple of things I want to talk to you about.”

As he unlocks the door and makes a meal out of turning on the lights and inspecting the thermostat, I take inventory of the space.

Billiards tables will go along the back wall—two or three, probably. A kid Lance knows, Ollie, is going to make me some furniture out of old pallets for the area to the right. We’ll have game systems and a couple of computers. It’ll work great.

Spencer tosses a file down on the sole table in the room. “What do you think of the place?”

“It’s gonna work out great. The whole plan is in place. I’m just waiting on the signed contracts to pull the trigger.”

“Interesting choice of words,” he mumbles. “I’m just going to be frank, okay?”

“Yeah. Go.”

He walks around the table, effectively putting it between us. “On the advice of my attorney, we had an addendum drawn up.”

“Wait. What? What for?”

Everything was covered in the original contract. I had Blaire look at it, and it was fine. She didn’t love some of the terms, but she doesn’t love much of anything on the first try.