Hayley
“ Y ou look like shit on a cracker,” Cassidy says as I answer my front door. “Have you been wearing that same pair of sweatpants since I last saw you?”
No.
“Gee, thanks,” I say, stepping out of her way as she pushes into my entryway. “Aren’t you supposed to be in Arizona? The game is tomorrow. You should be in the arena, making sure Tanner isn’t screwing up.”
“I’m getting ready to head that way soon. Just had to get some things tied up here,” she says, looking around my messy living littered with tissues and ice cream cartons. “You should come with me.”
“What! No!”
She walks into the living room and grabs some of the trash. “Seriously, Hayley. You’re never like this. Come with me. It could be a nice distraction.”
Distraction? Yeah, being in the same state and going to the game where both my exes are playing. That’s not a distraction. That’s dousing myself in lighter fluid and running into a burning building.
“Maybe not the best distraction.”
“Not for the game. For me. To help me wedding plan,” she says, walking into the kitchen and discarding the trash into the waste bin that appears to be overflowing.
She lets out a strangled breath before turning to look at me.
“I only have two months after the finals to get this wedding in gear. We could go dress shopping, and you could finally see the venue we picked.”
God, I’ve been such a horrible friend. I’ve been so caught up in my own drama that I almost forgot Cassidy is marrying Vince. Even if I think it’s a huge mistake, it’s my job to be there for her. Support her even if it’s wrong.
“Fine,” I say as I walk toward the stairs. “But I’m not talking to Brooks.”
She presses her lips into a firm line before releasing a breath. “Fine. But if he happens to be in the same area as us, you’d be willing to at least be cordial with him. Right?”
“I don’t think you have to worry about me. He’s the one who wants nothing to do with me.”
Cassidy chews on her bottom lip as she if she’s withholding something.
But I don’t press. I don’t have the energy to fight.
I take the steps two at a time, scuffing my slippered feet to my bedroom.
It looks worse than it usually does, but that’s because my entire life that I kept at Brooks’ is scattered across the room.
Camden’s room isn’t much better. I left the game and packed our stuff as quickly as possible.
I didn’t want to risk running into the man who broke me.
So yeah, it’s now scattered throughout my room.
I pull out my carry-on suitcase and pack a few different outfits and toiletries.
I catch my reflection in the mirror and cringe.
Cassidy is right. I look like a dog chewed me up and spit me back out.
My eyes are still red rimmed, and my hair is a matted mess.
And I can’t tell whether the stench is coming from me or the two-day-old sweatpants and t-shirt I’m wearing. Probably both.
“Also, shower before we leave, please,” Cassidy says, peeking her head in my bathroom, the look as if she smelled something sour written all over her face. “You stink.”
My father insists we use his private jet after I text him that I’m going to meet Camden and them in Arizona, not for the game but to support my father.
I know he’s trying to bribe me to come to the game, but I thinks it’s best I don’t.
Two hours and forty-five minutes later, we touch down in Arizona.
We’re staying at the same resort from Thanksgiving. Great. Just great. That trip wasn’t exactly filled with fond memories. We unload our car and walk to our rooms. I decide to stay in a villa again, just in case Camden wants to stay with me.
Okay. So that’s a lie. I opt to stay in a villa so I can cry as loud as I want.
“You sure you don’t want me to stay with you?” Cassidy says as we reach my villa.
I stare at my lonely asylum and sigh. I should be sharing this with Brooks, but I’ve fucked that up. “No,” I say with a nod. “Being alone is what I need.” Especially when I ugly cry.
She nods before leaving me to my solitude. And solitude it is. It sucks not being here with Brooks. Having him hold me in my arms to comfort me. Tell me everything is going to be okay. But here I am. Alone because I couldn’t buck up the courage to tell the man I love who I really was.
I plop down face first on the king-size bed and let the tears fall.
God, I’m pathetic.
I have no one to blame for this but myself.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
My head pops up from the mattress as I wait to see if I’m hallucinating, or if someone is really at the door.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
I hop off the bed and walk toward the door. “Cassidy—” I say. I stop mid-sentence to find a solemn-looking Brooks staring at me.
What the—
He looks like shit. Yup, his piercing blue eyes are bloodshot, and dark bags rest underneath them.
It’s as if he hasn’t slept in days. I know the sentiment.
I bet I still look like that now. Just more freshly showered than earlier today.
But his appearance isn’t what had me caught like a deer in the headlights.
It’s the fact that Brooks is here. Standing at the door to my villa after he left me alone and heartbroken only forty-eight hours ago.
“W-what are you doing here?” I stammer as I try to steady myself.
Nervously, he rubs the back of his neck before shoving his hands into his pockets. “Uh… Can I come in? Can we talk?”
I step aside, allowing him to enter the villa. Softly, I shut the door before walking further into the room. An uncomfortable silence wafts throughout the room as we stare at one another. “So, I…” we both say at the same time.
“Sorry,” I say, moving to take a seat on the couch. “You go first.”
He walks over to the love seat across from the couch and rests his arms on his knees.
“Hayley,” he starts, voice filled with gravel.
“I shouldn’t have walked out on you. I fucked up big time.
” Dropping his head to his chest, he lets out a defeated breath.
“I have trust issues and when you didn’t tell me probably one of the biggest things about your life, I shut down. ”
And broke my heart. Again.
“Don’t you think telling me that I was dating the daughter of the guy who signs my paychecks was important?” he says, meeting my gaze.
“I wanted to tell you,” I say, breaking out of his gaze and falling back into the couch. “God, I wanted you to know the truth so bad. No one knows who I am. Not the media, not the public, barely anyone who works for the Skipjacks. No one.”
“What about Boyce, Burch, and Cassidy?”
“Those three are the exception. They’ve known me forever,” I say, thinking back to high school, when I thought being a Richards didn’t define me.
Oh, how I was wrong. “My parents, though they lived in the public eye, were very private when it came to me. My last name was Richards all the way up until I graduated high school. However, when I got pregnant and everything blew up with Boyce’s family, my parents were afraid they would go to the media for money.
Boyce’s dad was a compulsive gambler, and he had swindled his entire family’s fortune away, except for Boyce’s trust fund, but that’s beside the point.
” I press the heel of my hands into my eyes, trying to stop the tears from falling.
“At first, they tried to accuse my parents of lying about the pregnancy to get money from them, because Boyce swore up and down Camden wasn’t his.
Then they saw it as an opportunity to sell a story.
‘Wade Richards’ secret daughter and how she tried to extort money from the Cameron’s.
’ Then once I graduated high school and got into med school, I changed my name.
It was the first time I realized why my parents kept me hidden.
It was the first time I was a target to being used. ”
He stands and moves to sit next to me, pulling my hand into his lap. “That’s why you didn’t tell me. That’s why you were so cautious from the start.”
“It’s why I fought this for so long. Why I acted the way I did toward you,” I say, turning to look at him. “Brooks, I love you, and I wanted to tell you—”
His lips cover mine in a heated kiss. His tongue brushes my bottom lip, begging for entry as all thought of what I was going to say flies out the window.
This. This is what I needed. What I’ve died for the moment he walked out of the locker room on me.
His caress. His kiss. The security he’s giving me right now.
“I’m sorry,” I murmur against his lips.
“No. I’m sorry for being a dick and walking out on you,” he says, pulling back from me. “I don’t ever want to break you again.”
Our mouths reconnect as his hands grip my hips, pulling me onto his lap.
My legs straddles him on either side as he pulls at the hem of my shirt, pulling it over my head and discarding it on the floor.
His gaze sets me on fire as his eyes roam down my body, his thumb brushing against my pert nipple covered in a fine black lace.
A gasp leaves me as my head lulls to the side as he lowers his mouth, taking my nipple into his mouth. Sucking and biting on it through the lace, sending a jolt of electricity and warmth to my core. I grind down on his hard length as wetness pools between my legs.
“God, I missed his,” he says, pressing his forehead against mine. “I can feel how wet you are through your leggings.”
A low moan spills from my lips as I grind down on him hard again.
Gripping my hips, he takes me with him as he stands from the couch, his lips crashing into mine as he walks us toward the bedroom.
Laying me down on the edge on the bed, he slowly pulls my leggings down as I lift my hips to help him.
After dropping them on the floor, he grips the back of his shirt, pulling it quickly over his head before popping the button on his jeans, pushing them down his thick thighs, his boxers shortly to follow.
His chest rises and falls in sync with mine as he takes in the sight of me.
Placing kisses on my mouth, jawline, and collarbone, he slowly makes his way to my breast, pulling the cups of my black lace bra down, exposing my hard, erect nipple.
Pulling it into his mouth, he sucks, nips, and bites as my hips buck, arching my back off the mattress.
He hasn’t even entered me yet, and I’m ready to come undone.
“Brooks—” I pant out as his hand dips below my lace panties, rubbing small circles on my clit as he continues his assault on my breasts.
“So wet for me, Red,” he says, brushing a finger against my wet folds.
Dipping a finger in, he moves at slow, measured paces before adding a second finger.
My breath becomes ragged as he curls his fingers, rubbing my g-spot as he continues his thrust. My hips buck more wildly as I feel my need growing, ready to combust as he brings me closer to the edge.
Just as I’m about to come undone, he removes his finger, taking them in his mouth, sucking off my juices.
“Fuck, you taste so good, Red. But as much as I want to devour that sweet pussy of yours, you do something to me, and I have to be inside you.”
I lift my hips as he grips the sides of my panties, gliding them down my legs to reveal my wet heat glistening and ready for him.
His lips find mine in a passionate kiss as he lines up his hard length at my wet folds.
In one quick thrust, he enters me, stopping to allow me to adjust before moving again, slow at first before increasing his pace.
My legs wrap around his waist, pulling him closer to me as he nips the sensitive skin on my neck.
God, how I missed this. Missed him. Brooks is like a drug. A craving that once I had a taste of, I knew I would never give up. I’m addicted to him. No explanation needed.
He continues his pace while kissing and nipping all the way down my neck, reaching the swells of my breast. Taking my nipple into his mouth, he bites it before swirling his tongue around the sensitive bud, causing a white-hot haze to fill me.
My orgasm hits me like a runaway train as my hips buck off the bed, Brooks’ name falling from my lips as a second orgasm hit me.
Brooks increases his pace, changing the angle and hitting me in all the right places as he continues to chase his own release. “Give me one more, Red,” he says as our bodies become one, moving in sync with one another.
I reach my hand between our bodies, slicked with sweat, rubbing circles on my swollen clit as another orgasm builds.
Brooks’ thrusts become short and frantic as I reach my climax again, falling over the edge as Brooks shortly follows, spilling ropes and ropes of warm cum into me, bracing himself so he doesn’t collapse on top of me.
“Fuck. Red, that was—”
“Perfect,” I say as I pull him down on top of me so I can feel his weight. “I love you, Brooks Miller.”
His breath is heavy as he places a light kiss on my lips. “I love you too, Hayley Richards.”
A smile spreads across my face. For the first time since this crazy journey began, I’m content. Facing off with love for the first time, with no regrets.