Long Hard Road (Crestwood Valley)

18. Nate

When I was sure that Madison was able to stand on her own, I slowly pulled my hand from her pants and relaxed my hold on her. She turned and placed her hand right over my hardened cock.

“Your turn,” she said with a smile.

“Not right now.” I kissed the tip of her nose. “We’ve got plenty of time for that, but we need to get back downstairs.”

“Oh shit. Your family is totally going to know we were doing something up here.” She put a hand on her flushed cheek. “I can’t face them like this.”

Her distress was utterly adorable. “They’ll probably be able to smell it on me,” I said, bringing up my hand that was still coated in her arousal.

“You have to wash that right now.” She grabbed my other hand and started tugging me toward the nearest bathroom. “I can never show my face around your family again.”

“Relax, Madison.” I laughed as she turned on the faucet for me. “They will not be able to smell your orgasm on me. I was kidding. For all they know, we’ve been thoroughly examining the pictures in Mom’s gallery wall.”

“There’s a gallery wall?” Her green eyes were bright against her red cheeks. “With pictures of a young Nate?”

I went ahead and washed my hands even though I had no problem having her scent on me. “I’ll show you. I was a cute kid.”

After drying my hands, I pulled her down the hallway toward my parents’ bedroom. The entire left side of the hallway was covered with framed pictures. Most of them had been hung up by my mom years ago, but Dad had added some himself in recent years.

“Wow.” Madison stared at the wall like it was an art display in a fancy museum. “That’s a lot of family pictures.”

“Is it?” We had always taken pictures at holidays and birthdays, plus on family trips or at important events. None of it had seemed very excessive to me, but maybe other families didn’t document their lives so thoroughly.

“I think my parents had us take two family pictures in my entire life.” She pointed to one where we were gathered around a cake. “Is that little birthday boy you?”

“Yeah, that’s me. Sixth birthday.” I smiled at the picture, remembering how stoked I had been about the cake that was shaped like a race car. “Mom made that cake. There was no baker in Crestwood that would make something like that and it was all I asked for that year.”

Madison pointed to the woman leaning over me in the picture. “That’s her?”

“Yep, that’s Mom.” It had been so long since she died that I sometimes couldn’t remember what she looked like. “Harper is her twin.”

“She was beautiful.” Madison smiled at me. “You have her eyes.”

“Hey! You two need to stop humping each other and get down here! It’s time for War!” Chase’s voice carried throughout the entire second floor.

“War?” she mouthed at me.

“It’s a card game. It’s like the regular card game War that you play with one other person, only we’ve modified it into a complex game with four decks of cards that you can play with six or more people. It’s a fun time, but it gets super competitive. You’ll see.” Our War games were loud and chaotic and we all loved every second of it.

Madison seemed nervous as she settled at the table and Ronan began patiently explaining the rules to her. When he explained that drawing an ace would make your partner lose all their cards, she looked at me in panic.

“Don’t worry, angel. I’ll be your partner.” I winked across the table at her.

“No!” Harper slapped a hand on the table. “You’ll be all gross and flirty the whole time. That’s why Evan and Lily can’t be partners either.”

“I’ll be Madison’s partner,” Ronan offered. “Nate can partner with Lil. Evan and Chase. Harp and Tom.”

“Perfect.” Tom pointed at Harper. “Just don’t fuck this up like last time or I’m writing you out of the will.”

“He’s joking,” Ronan told Madison when he saw that she was still panicking. “The Sullivans are kind of ruthless with anything competitive, but I’m not. So don’t worry if you make a mistake.”

He wasn’t lying. More than one family game night had ended in a physical fight and some tears. Ronan had never taken any of our antics very seriously and he was the perfect buffer for introducing someone to the game of War.

Needless to say, we were all surprised when quiet, shy Madison ended up being a covert card game genius who also delivered brutal trash talk to all of us.

“Give me your cards, Sullivan,” she taunted at me after drawing the king of hearts. “And then you can finish crying into your beer.”

“Atta girl.” Ronan held up his hand for a forceful high-five. They had been winning for almost the entire game.

I shoved my cards across the table with a grunt. “This is bullshit. You should’ve been my partner.”

“Aw. Poor baby.” She grinned at me. “Now pay up.”

I tossed a handful of quarters into the bowl in the middle of the table. “Guess I won’t be taking you on a date anytime soon.”

“I don’t mind being your sugar mama.” She flipped over another card and everyone let out yells and groans when it turned out to be another king.

Ronan yelped happily and threw his arms in the air. “That’s my girl!” It took all of my self-control not to punch him. He caught my glare and laughed while moving his hands into a defensive posture. “I take it back. She’s obviously your girl.”

“She’s obviously a cheater and a scammer,” Chase said, pouting as he shoved his cards toward Madison. “There’s no way she’s never played this game. She’s too good.”

“We literally made up this game, Chase,” Harper said. “There’s no way she could’ve known how to play.”

“You said the same thing about Lily only for us to find out after she took all our money that you taught her how to play in college.” Chase shot a glare at Lily and she smiled guiltily.

“That sounds terrible. Now pay up!” Madison giggled when Chase stuck his tongue out at her. Over the course of two hours, Madison had taken all our quarters and held her own against my siblings and I had felt myself falling harder and deeper for her.

“I was wrong earlier when I said you’re our guest for this visit,” Dad said, leaning back in his chair with a satisfied grin. “You’re already acting like a Sullivan so we might as well start treating you like family.”

“Does that mean I get to help clean up?” she asked excitedly.

“No. It means you get an official standing invitation to Sunday night dinners for as long as you are in town. That means that even if my son fucks up, I expect to see you at this table next week.”

“Thanks, Dad,” I grumbled half-heartedly. I didn’t mind at all that he was already thinking of Madison as a member of the family, but I didn’t love his insinuation that I was going to ruin things with her.

“Don’t take it personally,” Evan said. “Lily got that same speech.”

She nodded. “That’s true. Tom also said he’d make Evan eat outside if he really fucked up and I didn’t want to see him.”

“Really feeling the love, Dad,” I grumbled.

“I love all my kids, but it hasn’t escaped my notice that you’re in your thirties and still haven’t settled down with anyone. If it was just one of you, I might be more sympathetic. But all of you?” He shook his head in mock disappointment. “At least Evan gave me a couple of grandkids, but I’m not getting any younger and I need more munchkins to spoil. I’m just trying to motivate you not to be a dumbass.”

“It’s not our fault,” Harper protested. “You and Mom ruined us by setting such an impossible example of what to look for in a marriage.”

Dad smiled sadly. “You might be right about that.”

“If it makes you feel any better, there’s just as much chance that I’ll be a dumbass,” Madison said, giving me a conspiratorial smile. It didn’t slip anyone’s notice how I melted at the sight of that smile.

“More likely you’ll just wise up and realize you can do better than my brother.” Evan’s next words sucked the oxygen from the room. “Nate, how’d you convince a literal celebrity to give you the time of day?”

Madison flinched and looked at me, a hint of accusation in her eyes. “I didn’t tell him,” I said quietly.

“What?” Evan looked around the table. “What did I say?”

“Madison is trying to lay low while she’s in Crestwood. She’s not exactly advertising her celebrity status,” Lily explained.

“Okay, but…” He glanced at me. “You know who she is, right?”

I nodded. “Of course. Emma would disown me as her uncle if I didn’t know.”

“Doesn’t everyone in this room know?” Evan looked at each of us and everyone nodded, even Dad. It turned out that Madison hadn’t been as successful at hiding her identity as we had thought.

“My granddaughter has your face on a shirt,” Dad said with a grin. “You’ve got a pretty face, dear, but that shirt is a little scary.”

Madison laughed and the tension left her face. “For the record, I begged my merchandising team not to do that.”

“I’m going to see if Em will let me borrow that shirt.” I winked at her across the table.

“Don’t you dare.” She narrowed her eyes at me.

“Wait.” Something concerning occurred to me. “If everyone in this room knows, who else have you told that Madison is in town?”

“I haven’t said a word,” Harper promised. The others all echoed that response.

“You didn’t tell Emma?” I asked Evan.

He shook his head. “I didn’t want to answer a million questions and listen to her beg me for hours to meet Madison. It was just easier not to say anything. She’s going to be so pissed at me when she finds out.”

“Can you keep it from her for another week?” Madison asked hopefully. “I just want a few more days before the whole town finds out. Maybe I could meet Emma next weekend at dinner?”

“I won’t tell her,” Evan promised. “It would be fun to surprise her next Sunday.”

“Cool. Thanks.” Madison’s eyes darted to me. “Oh, um, is that okay with you?”

“Didn’t you listen to Dad? You don’t need my permission to be here for dinner.” I gave her a reassuring smile. “We should head out. It’s supposed to start snowing again soon.”

“Yeah… snow…” Chase chuckled. “I’m sure that’s why you are so eager to get Madison home.”

“Charles.” Dad practically growled his name. Everyone started laughing because Dad only used his kids’ given names when he was incredibly frustrated or disappointed in them.

It took another thirty minutes for everyone to say their goodbyes and head outside. Light flurries had already started to fall when I opened the passenger door for Madison. Harper honked as she pulled away and we both waved.

“Thanks for letting Harper bring me tonight. I had a really fun time.”

“You’re thinking about that sunset, aren’t you?” I teased, tugging lightly on her hair. As her cheeks flushed, my blood started rushing too. I’d never had that kind of biological response to any other woman. “I’m sorry I didn’t invite you myself, angel. I loved showing you off to my family.”

“Your family is great. I almost feel bad for taking their money.”

I chuckled and kissed her cheek. “Don’t forget that you took my money, too.”

“I’ll make it up to you when we get home,” she promised.

“Damn right, you will. Get in the truck, babe.”

It was snowing harder as I drove toward the main road. Madison was looking out both sides of the truck. “I don’t see Jason anywhere.”

“Jason? We’re not at Crystal Lake, Madison.”

“Not hockey mask Jason,” she said with a laugh. “The bodyguard who followed me out here. He was going to wait in his vehicle at the entrance so I wouldn’t have to explain his presence to your family.”

“Did he know that you’d be leaving with me instead of Harper?”

“Shit. No, I forgot to tell him. He probably followed her truck out of here.” She looked at the time on the dashboard. “The bodyguards are due to switch out in less than an hour and Gino will be at the cabin when we get there.”

“Plus, I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

“I don’t know. You did have me moaning earlier.”

I reached over and put a hand on her thigh. “You’re not having any regrets, are you?”

“Only that we stopped so soon.” Her hand was warm on top of mine. “Will you stay with me tonight?”

“Yeah, angel. I’ll stay.” It bothered me that she’d sounded nervous when she asked. As if she thought I might say no. As if she thought that I actually could say no. I wouldn’t just be staying with her tonight. I’d be staying as long as she let me.