Chapter 24 Brady
Brady
I was pacing back and forth when Collins came into the kitchen a little over an hour later.
“Fully clothed in the kitchen this time?” Collins said with a grin. “Bummer.” I tried to smile back, but I’m sure it came off as more of a grimace because Collins asked, “Everything okay?”
I swallowed. “I have to tell you something.”
“We got nailed for trespassing by Sweetwater Peak’s singular law enforcement officer?
If it makes you feel better, Gerry is a dick, and I’m not convinced he has any sort of actual jurisdiction.
” I shook my head. “Okay, do you want me to keep guessing?” I shook my head again. “Words, Brady. You’re freaking me out.”
“Maybe we should sit?” I said, gesturing toward the couch.
“Okay…” Her voice was apprehensive, but she started padding toward the couch. “You coming?” she asked, looking back at me.
“Yeah, sorry,” I said before going to sit next to her.
“What’s wrong, B?” Collins put her hand on my bouncing knee. “You’re wound like a drum.”
“The company that made the offer on your parents’ properties was Sullivan Enterprises. Their headquarters are in Redmond, Washington.”
“That’s where you’re from,” Collins said. I could see her perk up. “Have you heard of them?”
“Yeah, I have,” I sighed. “I actually used to work for them.” Collins’s eyes widened. “So did Jackie—still does as far as I know, and they’re owned by Ed Sullivan.” I swallowed again. “Jackie’s dad.”
Collins blinked slowly a few times. Then she turned her head—like she was looking around for something.
“What are you doing?”
“Just searching for a camera to look into,” she said. “There’s no way this is real. Oh my god,” she muttered—more to herself than me. “What are the odds?”
“I know. I’m sorr—” I didn’t get a chance to finish because Collins burst into laughter.
“Oh my god,” she said again through her laugh.
“You’re telling me that your ex-fiancée’s dad is the one who’s trying to swoop in on my family’s livelihood, and that livelihood just happens to be in the place that you ran away to, and you and I are…
” Collins trailed off before bowling over.
She was laughing so hard that it sounded like she was gasping for air.
“Are you…are you okay?”
Collins straightened up and let out an amused sigh as she wiped a tear from the corner of one of her eyes. “That’s fucking hilarious,” she said, and looked up at the ceiling. “And when I thought maybe my life wasn’t a cosmic joke.”
I shook my head. “This isn’t the reaction I was expecting,” I said honestly.
Collins tilted her head at me. “What were you expecting?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I thought you might be mad or something.”
“At you?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
Collins’s hand found my knee again. “Unless you’re also telling me that you have some sort of in with the spirit realm, and you’re the one who blocked the ghosts from talking to me in order to send me to my own personal rock bottom, so I would become the down-on-her-luck photographer who would be forced to come home, only to make me like like you and then fulfill your incredibly detailed plot of owning an antique shop, this building, and one more dilapidated one down the road, I’m not mad at you.
” Her thumb rubbed back and forth. “Is that what you’re telling me? ”
“No,” I said immediately. “Of course not.”
“Okay, then,” Collins said, looking at me earnestly. “Then I’m not mad at you.” She gave my knee one more squeeze before leaning back on the couch and sighing. “I’m mad at the situation in general, though, and I have a lot of questions.”
“Shoot.” I nodded.
“Not tonight,” Collins said softly. “Today feels like it’s lasted eight million years, and I don’t want to spend what’s left of it thinking about my home crumbling around me.”
“We won’t let that happen,” I said, pulling her to my chest. It felt so normal to have my arms wrapped around her—to feel her forehead pressed against my sternum.
“My dad always says, ‘Today, you rest. Tomorrow, you fight.’ He said it whenever Clarke and I were struggling with something.”
“I like that,” I said. “So, tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow,” Collins agreed, and wound her arms around my waist. She was right. Today had felt long. I couldn’t believe Collins and I kissed for the first time just over twenty-four hours ago.
“So,” I said into her hair. “You like like me?” I felt her shake a little against my chest—laughing, I hope.
“That’s what you took away from my little monologue?”
“It stuck out,” I said. “Maybe because I haven’t heard anyone say that since I was fourteen.”
“I don’t know why we leave it behind,” Collins said. “It’s a good descriptor.”
“Is it true?” I asked. Collins was quiet for a few beats.
“Of course it’s true,” she whispered. Then she grabbed the collar of my shirt and pulled my mouth down to hers; I guess she didn’t care whether we had an audience this time. I dragged my hands down her body until I could slide one of my hands into the back pocket of her jeans.
“Hot,” she breathed against my mouth, and I grinned.
“Yeah, you are.” I backed Collins into the wall right next to the hallway that led to my side of the apartment—my room.
Collins snagged my bottom lip between her teeth right as one of her hands found its way under my shirt.
I moaned into her mouth, and her kiss just got more fervent.
“More,” she said. Her hands moved from my abdomen to my hips, which was all the leverage she needed to pull my middle into her.
I moved from kissing her mouth to her jawline, to under her ear, and down her neck. “Do you want to go to my room?” I asked right before I bit down on the space where her neck and shoulder met.
“Yeah,” she breathed. “I really do.”
“Are you sure?” I asked. “I mean…like you said, it’s been a day.”
“I started the day with you, and I want to end it that way—maybe try to not think about everything that happened in between. At least for a little while.”
That was enough for me. I hoisted her up into my arms, and her legs wrapped around me. It was her turn to give my neck some attention, and it was a miracle my legs didn’t give out as I walked backward and fumbled to open my door.
“Easy there, tiger,” Collins said as she pulled back. Her lips were swollen, and her eyes were hooded. I felt a deep satisfaction that she looked that way because of me.
Collins looked around. “It’s so clean in here,” she said.
“Compared to your side?” I asked. “I’m sure.”
“Hey,” she said, and gave me a peck on the mouth. “Don’t be mean to me when I’m getting ready to tear your clothes off.”
A low growl came out of my throat, and I kissed her hard.
My lizard brain had finally taken over. I couldn’t think about anything but Collins and the fact that it felt like there were too many layers between us.
I wanted her skin on mine. I wanted to lick my way up and down her entire body.
I wanted to watch her writhe and finally see what she looked like while she was taking me.
I did my best to get us to my bedroom without taking my mouth off hers, and for the most part, I was successful. We bumped into a few walls along the way, but she didn’t seem to mind.
Once we were in my room, I tossed her onto my bed. She didn’t have time to finish the gasp that came out of her when she hit the mattress because I was on her in an instant, swallowing it.
Her hands immediately went for the hem of my shirt, and I rose for just a second to pull it over my head.
Collins pushed up on her knees and dragged her hands slowly up my abdomen and chest. “Remember what I said about core strength?” she said.
Her eyes were hungry as she took me in. “I was so wrong. Absolutely dead wrong. Your core is delightful, and I want to bite it.”
I pulled her to me using the belt loops on her jeans and loved the way it felt when her arms wrapped around my bare upper half.
One of her hands tugged at my hair, and it hurt just right.
I slid my hands under her shirt and gripped her waist. My hands were big enough that my pinkies slid just under the waistband of her jeans.
“Jacket off,” I ground out. Collins shrugged off her leather jacket, leaving her in a white tank top that was more than a little bit see-through.
I pulled it up over her head, leaving her in a black bra.
“Fuck,” I breathed as I took her in. I knew about the tattoos on her arms, but now I could see one on her ribs, one on her sternum, and one disappearing into her jeans on her hip.
I made a plan to lick them all. “You’re beautiful,” I said.
We fell back on the bed and back into each other. When she went for my jeans, she pulled back and waited for me to nod. I did, and then she unbuttoned them and grasped my cock in record time. My hips thrust into her hand. “God,” I moaned. “Warn a guy next time,” I said.
Collins giggled, and I wanted to bottle the sound.
Our mouths made their way back to each other, and I let my hands roam over her body.
God, I was so fucking obsessed with everything about her.
I dug my fingers into her hips, and she gasped against my mouth.
I don’t know how long we stayed like that.
I didn’t care. All I cared about was her.
“Do you…do you want to fuck around?” Collins asked.
For some stupid fucking reason, I hesitated.
“Y-yes,” I said against her mouth, but Collins pulled back. The look on her face told me she’d caught the hesitation.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“Nothing,” I said, and I tried to kiss her again, but she turned her head, and I sighed.
Her chest was heaving, and I was having a hard time not staring at her. “Talk to me.”
I buried my head in her shoulder and groaned. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m…I got nervous.” I knew I was blushing—embarrassed. I wanted to be smooth, suave. I wanted to rock this woman’s fucking world the way she deserved.
“Keep talking,” Collins said. Her fingers were lightly tickling my back.