SEVENTEEN
DESPITE THE TANGLE OF EMOTIONS THE wedding had stirred up, Hayley refused to let anything stop her from celebrating her best friend’s happily-ever-after. After a wonderful dinner, the group was dropped off at Zero Bond, NYC’s hottest members-only social club.
The club’s fourth floor was dark, lit only by a few scattered wall sconces that cast a warm, dim glow across the exposed brick arches.
Each table was framed by a plush, half-moon suede couch nestled into its own architectural nook, creating a small slice of privacy while leaving just enough room for servers to slip in and out.
With Caitlin Stone and Gemma Quinn’s high-profile reservation on the books, the staff had immediately ushered the group to the best table in the house.
They settled into their section—some of the women already dancing to the music pulsing through the speakers, others taking a seat around the deep cushions and waiting for cocktails.
Hayley was oblivious to them all, except one. That damn fiery red dress reminded her of the suit Maddie had worn to the Oscars—the one that had flooded Hayley’s mind with inappropriate thoughts about Maddie for the first time. She couldn’t peel her eyes away.
The ache of wanting to be close to Maddie pressed so sharply against her ribs that every breath hurt. She longed to feel Maddie’s lips again, to lose herself in her touch and dance the night away at her side. But cold, paralyzing fear held Hayley rooted in place.
Running was no longer an option, Hayley knew that. The life she once relied on had already turned to ash, and the only path forward was going to be the one she created. She drifted aimlessly through an emotional purgatory, every possible choice feeling utterly terrifying.
The thought of breaking Maddie’s heart was unbearable. Letting her go felt impossible. But giving her own heart away would be unsurvivable.
Hayley stood across from Maddie, the short round table acting as a safe barrier between them.
The bottle-service staff approached with a quiet, synchronized precision, wheeling over a sleek, custom cart topped with chilled silver ice buckets.
Three premium bottles of liquor rested inside, surrounded by crystal carafes of fresh juices and artisanal mixers.
A dedicated host stepped forward, offering a subtle, elegant nod of congratulations to the celebrated couple before deftly preparing their drinks.
Cocktails now in hand, the energy in the room began to rise. As the first round gave way to a second and third, bass thudded throughout the club, merging with Hayley’s own heartbeat. Vodka coursed through her veins as she watched Maddie move to the music with a hazy focus.
From the moment they’d arrived, Hayley had noticed that one particular server was lingering, eager to refresh Maddie’s glass the moment it emptied. She’d stand closer and smile brighter, giving Maddie a little more attention than any of the other women.
Hayley tried to brush it off as nothing more than a waitress doing her job well, but each time the woman circled back around, Hayley felt a sharp sting in her lungs.
It was the same pang she’d felt earlier, when she had walked into Gemma’s kitchen and caught Nina looking at Maddie with a spark in her gaze that Hayley recognized all too well.
Heat rose up in her chest, radiating from the inside out. Hayley couldn’t tell if the spots in her vision were from the club lights or the sudden rush of red-hot rage building behind her eyes.
Maddie was perched atop the back of the booth when the waitress approached again and wrapped an arm around Maddie’s waist, whispering something only Maddie could hear.
Hayley’s jaw tightened as blood began pounding in her ears. The woman’s hand had shifted, settling on Maddie’s thigh as if she were hers to claim. The two laughed, entirely unaware of the jealousy coiling inside her.
In one smooth motion, the woman dipped a finger past the top button of her shit, pulled a piece of paper from her bra, and pressed it into Maddie’s palm. Maddie pocketed it with a smile, and something heavy dropped inside Hayley.
She was going to be sick.
“Why the hell are you just standing there?” Gemma yelled over the music.
“Let’s take a shot,” Hayley shouted back, desperate to feel the burn of anything other than the scene she had just witnessed.
She poured out two shots of tequila, and Gemma tossed one back in solidarity without hesitation.
Caitlin approached, sweat shining across her face from dancing. She wrapped her arms around Gemma from behind. “Hay! Are you seriously going to let someone else swoop in on your girl?”
Hayley grimaced, moving closer so that Gemma and Caitlin could hear her without screaming. “I can’t keep running in and out of her life. It’s not fair to her.”
“Okay? So stop,” Caitlin stated as if it were that obvious and simple.
Could it be?
“It’s either that or you can stand by while Maddie goes home with that waitress tonight.” Gemma shrugged, looking toward Maddie and the woman. “She is pretty.”
Hayley had heard enough. She pushed past the other women, sliding around to the other side of the booth where Maddie now sat atop the backrest alone.
“Cute,” Hayley scoffed, not even trying to disguise the sarcasm in her voice.
Maddie tossed her hair over one shoulder, her gaze following the waitress. “She is, isn’t she?”
“Then why don’t you go home with her? I saw her slip you her number.” Hayley felt the threat in her own words. She was playing a dangerous game and needed to get herself in check before she said something she couldn’t take back.
“Maybe I will,” Maddie countered, crossing her legs. “She does think I’m gorgeous.” She leaned closer to Hayley, dropping to a whisper. “She also mentioned something about running her tongue up the inside of my thigh until—”
“Stop!” Hayley’s voice ripped out of her at a pitch she’d never heard before. “Don’t,” she pleaded.
“Don’t what?” Maddie’s eyebrows pulled together, challenging Hayley with feigned confusion.
Hayley had pushed too far. The thought of Maddie being touched by someone else, even hypothetically, was more than she could handle.
She was suddenly furious. Her entire life, Hayley had gone after exactly what she’d wanted with unstoppable determination, yet when it came to Maddie, she couldn’t seem to make the final move. She needed to change that, now, before she lost Maddie for good.
“Throw away her number.”
Around them, the club pulsed with a deep house track, but Hayley barely heard it. Her world shrank to the space between them, the crowd dissolving until only those turquoise-green eyes remained.
“Why should I?” Maddie shot back.
Hayley stepped closer and gently uncrossed Maddie’s legs.
Slowly and deliberately, she knelt on the bench cushion between them.
Looking up at Maddie, Hayley slid her palms up Maddie’s bare thighs.
She leaned in close, her mouth near Maddie’s ear.
“Because I am insanely jealous, and I want to be the only one who gets to take you home.”
Whether her courage came from the alcohol or the possessiveness prickling her skin, Hayley had finally stopped holding back.
“Keep going,” Maddie murmured, a devilish smirk playing across her face.
“I want to be the only one who gets to touch you.” Hayley’s lips ghosted over Maddie’s.
“The only one who gets to fuck you, to hear the sounds you make as you come undone.” She felt Maddie’s body tense beneath her fingertips as they slipped under the hem of her dress.
“I want to be the only one who knows exactly what you taste like.”
Maddie gripped the back of Hayley’s neck with both hands and drew her in, her eyes urgent. “Promise me you’re done running.”
“I promise.” Hayley meant it with her entire being. She would do everything within her power to stay in Maddie’s world, no matter what that meant. There was no turning back.
Maddie’s thumb brushed across Hayley’s lips, a question in her gaze.
Hayley nodded slowly. She craved the closeness they had shared the night before.
Maddie leaned down in a heartbeat, pressing her lips to Hayley’s in a kiss that left no room for hesitation.
It suddenly felt like neither of them had a choice anymore—maybe they never had in the first place.
An overwhelming, undeniable need surged through Hayley, lighting up every nerve beneath Maddie’s touch.
Hayley slid her tongue along Maddie’s bottom lip. Her mouth parted, responding with the same level of desire. They intertwined together in a way that felt instinctive, every shared breath swearing a sacred promise to one another.
The intimacy of the moment was so all-consuming, so raw, that Hayley felt exposed for the first time in years. It was as if a lifetime of carefully built defenses had melted away in an instant. The thought of losing this connection, even for a second, felt unbearable.
She wrapped her arms around Maddie’s waist, holding her close, their mouths moving with the rhythm of the music. Heat pooled between Hayley’s legs, and she probably would have gotten them kicked out of the club that night if Maddie hadn’t eventually pulled away.
Hayley chased her lips, unprepared for the cold.
“My God,” Maddie breathed, her chest heaving. “I would have made you jealous sooner if I’d known that’s how you’d react.”
Their first kiss had been soft and slow, full of tender vulnerability. The second had hit Hayley like a brick wall, full of such a fierce intensity that she was left breathless and shaken.
Hayley snorted a laugh, struggling to regain her words.
“Turns out I like it when you get possessive of me.” Maddie’s voice was still husky.
She moved to kiss Hayley again, but pivoted at the last second, her mouth landing right against Hayley’s ear.
“I wish you could bend me over this couch right now.” The whisper sent a rush of goosebumps down Hayley’s neck.
Maddie’s words hit Hayley low between her legs, where a thrumming ache was already building. She stole another kiss, sliding her tongue into Maddie’s parted lips. Now that Hayley knew what it was like to be with her this way, she couldn’t imagine ever stopping.
Hayley let out a soft, shaky exhale.
Maddie held her gaze, the dim amber lighting caught the soft planes of her face as a heavy house beat pulsed through the brick arches. “There’s no one but you, baby. I’ve been waiting for you.”
Hayley kept Maddie near for the rest of the night.
They moved together as one on the dance floor, pressed close enough to feel each other’s body heat.
The throbbing need in Hayley’s center continued to build with every passing second.
It burned from somewhere deep within her like molten lava just waiting to erupt.
“Take me home,” Maddie urged at last, her breath tickling Hayley’s ear.
She didn’t need to be told twice.
Hayley ushered their very drunk best friends safely into the waiting limousine, sending them on their way home before immediately pulling Maddie toward the curb.
Her heart hammered against her ribs as she hailed their own ride.
The moment the taxi door clicked shut behind them, what little restraint they had left completely shattered, neither of them able to keep their hands off each other in the back seat.
Before they were even fully inside the apartment, Maddie pounced on Hayley. Hayley kicked the door shut with the tip of her heel as their lips melded together, Maddie’s fingers fumbling with the buttons of Hayley’s pants.
Hayley stopped Maddie, grabbing her by the wrist and roughly pushing her backward until the wall supported her weight.
Maddie let out a small gasp, and Hayley suddenly couldn’t wait another second.
Her bedroom was too far away. Hayley hiked up Maddie’s dress and tore off her thong right there in the hallway, needing to touch her now, to lay claim to what was hers.
“Tell me again,” Maddie demanded through ragged breaths, one leg wrapped around Hayley’s hip. “What you said at the club.”
“You’re mine,” Hayley purred as she thrusted three fingers inside Maddie.
“Oh God, fuck.” Maddie’s moan reverberated straight through Hayley’s body.
“I’m the only one that gets to feel deep inside of you, stretch you, mark you.” Hayley bit into the nape of Maddie’s neck, sucking hard until she could taste the metallic tang of Maddie’s blood.
“Hayley,” Maddie cried out, tightening around Hayley’s fingers. Her nails dug into Hayley’s back as her teeth bit down hard into her own lip.
Hayley quickly slid her fingers out and carried Maddie to her bedroom, setting her gently on the edge of the mattress.
Maddie ripped the red dress from her body, and Hayley followed suit, discarding the rest of her outfit onto the floor.
Hayley dropped onto her knees in front of the bed, where Maddie was waiting for her, legs spread wide. She grinned, then buried her face between Maddie’s thighs.
“Baby,” Maddie groaned, panting hard.
Hayley circled Maddie’s clit with her tongue until Maddie’s body began to rock with pleasure for the second time. She shuddered, but Hayley held her grip, savoring every last drop of Maddie’s orgasm through the very end.
Maddie had barely stopped shaking when she grabbed a fistful of Hayley’s hair, pulling her up until she was lying flat on top of her. Their sweat-slicked skin clung together, their hearts pounding frantic rhythms against each other’s chests.
“Jesus,” Maddie swore softly, her voice worn.
Hayley looked down at her and drank in the sight.
This fearless, glowing woman beneath Hayley had become everything to her—the very center of her gravity—in a few short months.
Every aching, soul-baring word Hayley had uttered that night had been the truth.
She’d torch every single belief she’d ever clung to, every hardened defense she’d ever built, and take the risk of a ruinous heartbreak if it meant that she could have Maddie like this, every single day.
The night felt too short for everything Hayley wanted to do with Maddie—to Maddie. But it would all have to wait. As they lay in bed, spent and surrounded by quiet darkness, the two faced each other on a shared pillow. Maddie’s fingers drifted through Hayley’s hair in soft, sleepy strokes.
“Hayley,” Maddie whispered. Hayley opened her eyes to find Maddie gazing at her intently. “I don’t want to change you. I know you’ll probably never wear your heart on your sleeve the way I do.”
Hayley let out a soft breath.
“I just want this,” Maddie continued. “Us. However much of you and your heart you’re able to give me.”
Hayley kissed her in silent acceptance, already beginning to imagine what their future might look like.
Maddie tightened her arms around her, and together they slipped into sleep with the soothing, hopeful promise of tomorrow settling between them.