Chapter 20
It’s been a few days since I’ve seen Baddie Addie, but I needed to catch up with my best friend, Crew Nixon, and intimidate my sister’s new guy, Greyson Cress, before things got out of hand down there. Grey has a reputation that I don’t fucking like for my little sister.
Now I’m prepping for my annual spring party.
It sounds ridiculous, and that’s because it is.
Who the fuck celebrates the start of spring?
Apparently, I do. But it’s not just the change of seasons.
This tradition started the year I met Addie.
I needed a reason to see her outside of our morning run, and this party was the perfect excuse.
I remember it like it was yesterday. We became best friends that night, talking and laughing until the sun came up.
So now, every year, we throw this party to celebrate the beginning of spring, the beginning of us.
I'm expecting all the guys from the Seven Devils to show up tonight, plus the crew from my old college team, the Honey Badgers. The night should be filled with adulthood shit. Many of the guys on my new team have families, so it won’t be like the previous years where our main focus is getting shitfaced.
My sister, Mads, has dated not one, but two guys from the Honey Badgers team.
Damn, Madlibs, slow it down, please. As a big brother, it’s my duty to give them shit.
Her ex, Matthew Pearson, was already invited before the split, and I went out of my way to personally invite this new dude, Greyson Cress.
The guy’s reputation makes my blood boil.
I am putting out snacks for the party when Baddie walks in without knocking with two cups of coffee in hand. The smile on her face makes my heart kick against my ribs. I haven’t seen her since I ate her out on my kitchen counter for dessert.
“Hi,” she says, offering me the cup in her right hand, but I know better, so I take the left cup. “Hey,” she scolds as I take a sip of the richness of Baddie Addie . It tastes like her, and I fucking love it. She steals back the cup. “You’re always drinking mine.”
I lick my lips as I hand the cup back nicely and take the cup she was originally offering. “You know where my mouth has been.”
She scoffs, and I take the moment to steal a kiss. I peck her open mouth and run while taking a sip of my Cryin’ Ryan.
I hum in appreciation, watching her over the rim of the cup.
She’s fighting a smile, and it’s so fucking cute I can barely stand it. I want to reach for her and press her body against mine, but I force myself to keep my distance.
Slow, Wilder.
Take it Slow.
Slow …is why we’ve only been texting for the past couple of days. Normally I would think something is wrong between my best friend and I, but I’m forcing myself to take things slow. If she wants that, I can do that. I’m a yes man, aren’t I?
“What’s up, Baddie? Huh?” I say to mess with her. I take another sip of my coffee, keeping my eye on her. “The coffee hasn’t hit you yet?”
She rolls her eyes, but she’s grinning now. “You seem out of your mind happy right now.”
“You don’t like me like this?” I question with my arms out to my side.
“I’m just wondering what’s gotten into you.”
I do a little spin and say, “It’s what I’ve gotten into, actually.”
“Okay.” Her eyes go wide as she holds up her hand. She caught onto that one too fast. She says, “Let’s focus on the party.”
“You are the party, Baddie.” I waggle my eyebrows at her.
She purses her lips, not able to hold in her smile. I add, “My party.”
She points a finger at me, trying to be stern but missing by a mile. “Keep flirting with me, Wilder, and we won’t get anything done this morning. I’m here early with coffee as requested. You don’t even need the damn coffee, look at you.”
Yeah, I’m dancing. I rock my shoulders side to side, keeping my eyes on her. She laughs. God, it feels good to make her laugh.
“We have some time,” I say, lifting my shirt a little to show her these abs. “For this party.”
She shakes her head, blushing. I need this woman to know I’m fucking crazy about her, that she’s the beginning and end of everything for me. I can do slow, but I still need her. I will always need her.
I drop my shirt and take a long sip of my favorite coffee, savoring the rich flavor. “Thank you for the coffee, Bads.”
Before I can blink, she removes the cup from my hand and sets it aside. It takes me a second to register what’s happening. Then suddenly, her mouth is on mine, tasting like the delicious Baddie Addie coffee.
It’s uncalled for…not what I was expecting, but it makes me so fucking happy that I lift her into my arms. She wraps her legs around me and kisses me sweetly.
She makes this little sound, somewhere between a sigh and a moan, and I’m fucking gone.
My hands find her ass and squeeze it. Her nice fucking ass from years of running. Running with me.
I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to have her in my arms like this.
To feel her cling to me, the volume of which her body is screaming that her words aren’t.
I’ve had my fair share of negative thoughts these past couple of days.
I’m worried as hell that the feelings I have are not reciprocated, but this.
Her fingers in my hair… her tongue flirting with mine…
The fact that she’s all over me proves I’m not alone.
I gently pull away to ask, “Do you want to take this to the bedroom?”
She nods, pressing her head against my forehead. “Please.”
And just like that, I’m powerwalking down the hall to my bedroom as I bury my face in her neck.
After we have not-so-vanilla sex, we walk out to the kitchen and greet our cold coffees with a chuckle.
I say, “So any sex now –– sec . I mean sec.”
She smirks over her shoulder while at the kitchen sink.
I continue, “Like second. You know, there’s sixty of them in a minute. Yeah. Any second now, my sister and Crew will be here. I think Sydney’s with them too.”
She gleams at me, her rosy cheeks have toned down since the bedroom. I like to see the effect I have on her.
“I love that you invited your old team and your new team.”
“And my dad,” I add, nodding. I don’t think I told her that yet.
“Your dad?” Her eyes widen. “You invited your dad?”
I nod. “Is that a mistake?”
She laughs. “Probably.”
“Yeah. You’re probably right. Should I uninvite him?”
We look at each other with matching grins, knowing damn well I can’t do that.
“Yeah, can’t do that,” I nod my head. “But what am I going to do with you ?” I walk over to her, pulling her back to my front and kissing her hair. “I’m serious. I can’t control myself when I’m around you.”
“I’m your fake girlfriend.” She nods. “Right?”
“Okay,” I scoff because her tone is borderline annoyed. “Everything’s changed between us,” I argue, smelling the vanilla on her skin. This scent is imprinted in my brain.
She turns her head, a note of seriousness in her tone, “I know we have to fake it, but if you can refrain it, please, you can’t tell Maddie, okay? Not until we figure this out.”
I stare into her eyes, trying to figure out if she’s embarrassed or what’s rumbling inside that head of hers. I can’t tell. I nod anyway, willing to give her whatever she needs. “Yeah. I won’t say anything to her. She’s got a lot going on, so I don’t think she’ll suspect anything.”
Relief flashes across her face as she leans her head on me. “Oh, right. Is Grey coming?”
“Yeah, he should be. I invited him.”
I release her and tend back to the snack bar I was setting up before she showed up.
“Cool.” She pulls out her phone, frowning down at the screen. “Crap, I need to run back to the coffee shop. I've got to go figure this out.”
Disappointment hits me. “I can come with.”
She's already shaking her head, pocketing her phone. “No, it's okay. I'll be back later.” She kisses my cheek, a platonic thing we’ve done a thousand times before. I rest my hand on her lower back and kiss her back.
“What time will you be back?” I ask as she walks away.
She just smiles until she reaches the door. “Don’t watch the clock, Wilder.”
And then she’s gone, breezing out of my house right after another hookup. I stand here for a long moment, staring at the door like a fool. Christ, I am so whipped. Completely and totally head over ass for my best friend.
Take it slow, Wilder. Slow.
One second, Baddie is leaving. The next, Madison and Crew are walking into the house. Apparently, Sydney is interested in the coffee shop, so Addie took her with her. I’m taking a break, watching the replay of a hockey game I missed.
While prepping for the party, my sister drops a bombshell about her and Greyson Cress.
We’re all in the living room, me, Baddie, Crew, Sydney, and my sister, when she spills everything that’s been going on with her and Grey.
I, honestly, can’t stop staring at her horrible eyebrows.
They are painted black on her face, and it’s a terrible look on her.
Okay, back to her bombshell. Apparently, her douchebag ex, Matthew Pearson, wouldn’t accept their breakup, so she turned to Grey for help, which he declined at first. After he finally agreed, she claims that Grey is actually stepping up for her.
I decide I need to lay off on the guy because I can tell my sister really cares about him.
I’m glad that it all makes sense now because Madison Wilder and Greyson Cress do not go well together.
It’s not like peanut butter jelly, it’s more like peanut butter and lasagna.
Crew seems to be more rattled than I am, but he’s way more invested in it because he’s on the same team with Grey and lives with Madison. I’m glad Mads has Crew watching her back when I can’t. Their bond has always been more like siblings, and I’m grateful for it.