Chapter 2
Ambra sat outside in the parked rental car, looking at the Brooks’ grand chalet in the Swiss Alps.
She had so many memories of the times she visited there and spent time with Ben and Michael and the family. She smiled thinking of all the pranks that she and Michael had pulled on each other, or how they had ganged up on and tormented the family. The board games, the late nights sneaking outside after curfew to meet up, and even playing games of hide-and-seek. Michael loved that game. He got off on finding his hidden prey, as he liked to say, and she did too. Hiding from him and thwarting him at every turn had been a fun game between them, both trying to win until she’d get caught in her hiding place or their parents would come outside to get them.
They had eventually grown out of playing pranks but would still pull one here and there. This time, she thought she would play another fun one, as their lives were now getting busy. She and Ben were getting ready to launch a tech company, on top of him working with his brothers, and Michael had taken on more of the responsibilities at the hotels to lessen Carter’s load.
Their meet-ups had changed, as they had, and they were all going in different directions and getting involved in relationships. She had just wanted one more memorable moment; something that they could laugh about, but it had backfired horribly. She flushed with embarrassment as she remembered that day and the moment everything had gone horribly wrong.
“This is a bad idea,” Diamond hissed as she handed Ambra a paddle. The auction was in honour of one of the charities Diamond ran, raising money to build more shelters for the homeless. Ambra was so proud of her big sister because growing up, she never thought that she would be anything other than a trophy wife for her long-time boyfriend. Even though it was true that Diamond was engaged to Bryson Reid, a very famous quarterback whom she had been dating since private school, they had yet to get married, and she had found that she loved working with charities. It started out with just volunteering to get extra credit in school, but now she was running two charities; one for women and children who needed financial help and the other for building shelters for the homeless.
Tonight was an important night for Diamond. Not only would she be receiving the money to build more shelters, but there were also television news crews here covering the event, and that would give her charity organization more publicity for their cause. It was not the night for Ambra to pull her prank.
“Just pull Michael aside and tell him how you feel about him,” Diamond said in exasperation.
“Diamond, for the last time, we are just friends, and there is nothing between us. I will just raise my hand once or twice to freak the two of them out, then it will all be over with and his package will go to Summer.”
“Mark my words, this is going to backfire on you,” her sister warned.
Ambra bit her lip, reconsidering her actions. Her sister might be right. She was about to put back the paddle when she spotted Summer watching her with a smirk on her face. She recalled the words Summer had said to her one time when they had all gone out for drinks to celebrate Ben and Michael now helping to run the Brooks empire alongside their older brother Carter.
She had been in the bathroom washing her hands when Summer had walked in, flicking her long blond hair behind her. She had gone to stand alongside Ambra as she smoothed her nonexistent wrinkles from her face.
Ambra stiffened when Summer turned to her, a false friendly smile on her lips that didn’t reach her cold blue eyes.
“Enjoy your time with Michael while you can because once we become official, I do not share, and that time is coming very soon.” Ambra turned off the taps, water dripping from her fingers.
Summer reached into her small Chanel purse and pulled out her lipstick, putting the blush-coloured gloss on her overly plump lips, ignoring Ambra now as if she hadn’t said anything.
Ambra flicked her hands, letting the water splatter into the sink, and if some of it hit Summer, then that was just too bad. From the sound of Summer’s shriek, it did. Ambra grinned.
Ambra turned and went to the paper dispenser, pulling the paper out and drying her hands. “You clearly don’t know Michael or me well if you’re in here making that statement. We will always be in each other’s lives, whether you like it or not, and I don’t think you will need to worry about me so much because I doubt you will be together for long.”
Summer glared at Ambra, and then her eyes burned with vengeful glee.
“Sorry to burst your bubble, but you and Michael have known each other since private school, and he never noticed you as more than just a friend. But he has been pursuing me ever since the day we met. How that must burn, to not have the man of your dreams take any notice of you, hm. And you can try and say you are just friends.” Summer raised her fingers in air quotes.
Now it was Ambra’s turn to stare at her in cold fury.
“Anyone can see that you clearly want him from all your desperate attempts to get him to pay attention to you. If I were you, I would just bow out gracefully.”
Ambra felt a cold disdain for this uppity, entitled rich woman who knew nothing about her and Michael’s friendship. Nothing could come between the bond that they had.
And that’s why she decided to never mention to him that she was interested in being more than friends. She had developed a crush on him the moment he had dried her tears when she was turned down by a boy she had favored during their high school years. The end of summer dance was coming up, and she had asked Pearson to be her date, but he had turned her down.
Pearson had been her first high school crush, but those warm feelings had transferred to Michael when he was there for her when she had her first taste of a broken heart. For the first time, her best friend, who never took anything seriously in life, was not joking around or teasing her about wanting to date the class president Pearson McGee.
Michael had even stepped up and offered for him and Ben to take her to the dance, and she had accepted. They had dressed up in matching black pants, t-shirts, and black ties. The three musketeers.
That night, Ben had gone to get them some punch when a slow dance had come on. Michael had bowed dramatically in front of her, almost hitting his head on the floor, and she had giggled. The night had been so much fun with them dancing and laughing on the dance floor; she ended up feeling glad that she’d gone with them instead of Pearson.
Michael had taken her in his arms, keeping a distance between them, one of her hands in his and the other resting on his shoulder, while his other hand was on her lower back. She was suddenly nervous, feeling the heat of his hand on her back and the tingle where their hands met. She pretended to look around at the other dancers so that she didn’t have to look into his eyes. Ambra felt him move his hand slightly lower, almost down to the curve of her ass, and she stiffened, her eyes shooting to his to see laughter in his gaze and a grin that showed all his perfect white teeth.
She narrowed her eyes but then burst out laughing when he made a goofy face.
“That’s better; you were tense and acting like you didn’t want to be dancing with me. My feelings were getting hurt.”
She rolled her eyes because she knew that both Ben and Michael were well aware of how good-looking they were, but tonight they had decided to be with her instead of having their own dates, and that made their friendship very special. She would have done the same for them.
She relaxed and Michael pulled her closer. They were now cheek to cheek. Even though Michael was tall, so was she—they were almost the same height. Ambra was now resting on his hard chest, her bound breasts resting against his. Ambra had begun to develop fast when she hit 13, and she was now 15, almost 16 in a couple of months’ time. She was very developed, and as a runner and athlete, she needed extra padding and taping to keep her breasts from bouncing too much when she was running or doing sports. It had become second nature for her to just do that and not have to worry about her breasts spilling out.
But having them bound did not stop her from feeling Michael’s hard chest against hers, and she suddenly felt very hot. She shivered as a tingling feeling swept through her. She felt him stiffen, and he pulled his head back, his silver gaze searching hers, his pupils covering most of his silver irises. Her breath caught in her throat as his eyes lowered to her lips before flicking back up to meet hers. Her gaze was trapped by his as he stared intently into her eyes.
Her lips parted to say something, what she didn’t know, but then they heard, “Here you go. Sorry it took so long; I got distracted.”
They both turned and eyed Ben holding out the drinks to them. Ambra glanced over Ben’s shoulder as she took hers and spotted Diamond and her boyfriend manning the punch table.
Her sister looked composed and beautiful as usual, of course. She was wearing a sparkling silver dress, making her dark skin stand out, and the dress showcased her petite curves to perfection. Her sister glanced up and looked in her direction, her eyes narrowing slightly on Michael still holding her in his arms. Ambra pulled away, her face feeling slightly flushed, as if her sister could see that she now had a crush on her best friend. Diamond’s eyebrows lifted, and she grinned before shaking her head and getting distracted by the next person coming to get a drink.
Ambra sighed because she knew that when they got home, her sister would grill her on her dance with Michael, and she would tell her how she felt because she was confused about how Michael was making her feel and needed her older sister’s advice. Ambra and Diamond were like night and day. Ambra was sporty, while Diamond liked to look pretty and dress up, but they were so close and had a great bond.
“It’s okay, the song is almost over. If you will excuse me, I see Brinkley looking all fine and in need of a dance partner.”
Ambra switched her gaze to see one of the cheerleaders smiling at Michael and giving him a sultry look. Brinkley was a mix of Chinese and Black. Her skin was light brown, and she had long wavy hair that fell to her waist. Ambra sighed. Brinkley was one of the nice ones on the cheerleading squad, Diamond being the captain and the head cheerleader.
She felt Michael brush past her with his target in mind, and she sighed and took the other drink that Ben was holding out to her now that Michael had left. They spent the rest of the night together with Michael coming and going to check up on them, and at one point, they were all dancing together, including Diamond and her boyfriend Bryson.
That night, Diamond did try to question her, but Ambra told her she was tired and that there was nothing to talk about. And she was right. The next week, Brinkley and Michael made it official and started dating. After that, dating became a revolving door for Michael. Even Ben dated women here and there throughout the years, but not like Michael. And Ambra was no saint herself. Although she had serious relationships, she also sometimes had one-night stands.