I’m startled awake by my phone dinging.

After my restless night’s sleep, I agree with Brady. Sleeping is hard without him next to me. I sit up to get ready for class. Eight a.m. is too early for a lecture. I’m not sure what I was thinking when I scheduled it.

When I walk into the Student Center, I’m taken aback when I find Brady talking with Kara, and a pang of jealousy hits me.

When he spots me, he stands up and waves good-bye to her. He already has a coffee in each of his hands as he walks over to me. He rests them on the nearest table before he embraces me. His hug is so tight and strong as he lifts my feet off the ground.

“What a nice hello,” I say.

“God, I missed you. How the hell am I supposed to go this whole weekend without you?” he asks.

Thanksgiving weekend is going to suck.

“I’m sure you’ll manage,” I say.

I glance Kara’s way. Her eyes are glued on us. I wish I could take the words back. I have to remind myself that I trust him.

“She’s starting to freak me out a little. You might have to start a catfight, baby,” he jokes.

My eyes flicker to Kara. She’s blatantly staring at us with dislike written all over her face.

“I don’t know, babe. She might be able to take me. She seems kind of scrappy,” I admit as I giggle.

“Spend the night tonight,” he says, trying to change the subject.

His fingers rotate small circles along my sides, and my insides turn to mush for him.

“Okay,” I agree. How could I not? Maybe I’ll get some answers tonight.

“Great. Here’s your coffee.” He picks it up and hands it to me.

“Thanks!” I exclaim, kissing his cheek.

“You can thank me later,” he teases, his eye winking my way.

“Brady, what are you doing for Thanksgiving?” The question comes out as fast as I thought about it.

“Um…I haven’t really decided yet. I have some family in town, and I’ve been invited for dinner.” His mood comes down a little.

“Are all the guys going home?” I continue to question.

“Yeah, they’ve all asked me to come, but I won’t impose.”

“What about your parents?”

I can’t help but dig for information; he has given nothing so far.

“My mom is in Florida with her new husband. I’m not very close with her. My dad isn’t going to be around, so I don’t know. Mrs. Fletcher invited me over to her house, so maybe I’ll just swing by there. When do you leave?” he asks, changing the subject again.

I can’t help but feel bad that his parents don’t care to spend the holiday with him.

“Thursday morning.”

Silence sounds between us.

“Do you want to come home with me?” I ask the question before I can think of the repercussions.

“Really?” he asks disbelievingly.

“Yes. Why do you look so surprised?”

“I’m pretty sure your parents wouldn’t be happy when they saw me walking off that plane with you.” He smiles at me.

A twinge of guilt hits me. He’s right. But I love him, and my parents are going to have to face this at some point.

“Who cares? Come home with me,” I beg.

“Are you sure you’re ready to deal with this, Sadie?” he asks.

I’m disappointed he has no faith in us.

“Yes, I love you. Either they accept you or lose me,” I state.

He quirks an eyebrow my way.

He releases a deep breath before saying, “I love you, and I’d be happy to escort you home for Thanksgiving.”

Even with the worry lingering underneath, I’m glad I won’t be separated from Brady. “Thank you, Mr. Carsen,” I joke.

He chuckles.

---

That evening, we book the same flight for Brady as mine. He demands to pay even though I offered. He’s a true gentleman. We were lucky there was a seat left since the flight is on Thanksgiving Day.

I call my mom to inform her that Brady will be accompanying me home. She’s hesitant, but eventually, she says it’s okay. She keeps me on the phone, drilling me with questions about him.

“What fraternity is he in?”

I tell her that he’s in a band, not a fraternity, earning a small huff from her.

“What do his parents do?”

“I don’t know what his parents do, but they seem like jackasses since they don’t try to see him on holidays.”

I receive an, “Oh,” from her lips.

“Where does he live?”

“He has lived here his whole life.”

She’s silent for a minute before happily saying that she can’t wait to meet him.

Yeah, right. I doubt that!

---

On Wednesday night, the house is ours since all the boys and Jessa left to go home. We’re downstairs in the recording studio, relaxing on the couch while listening to music. I’m dreading going home but not because of Brady. He’ll only make it better. I just hope my parents don’t scare him away.

Like always, Brady can sense when I’m deep in thought.

“It’ll be fine, baby. I’ll be on my best behavior. I’ll hide my tattoos,” he jokes.

“You don’t have any tattoos.” I laugh. Then, I contemplate it in my head. “Why not?” I ask.

He shrugs his shoulders. “Honestly, I’ve gone to the tattoo parlor a zillion times with Trey and Rob, and I have no idea why I haven’t gotten one yet.”

“Do you think you’ll ever get one?”

“Maybe,” he responds, completely indifferent to the whole conversation. “Enough of this. I have you to myself for only a few more hours.” He picks me up and throws me down on my back, climbing on top of me.

“Brady,” I sigh.

“Say it, babe.” He smirks down at me. He started this game on Monday night.

“Take me.” I laugh.

“Is that all you have?” He kisses his favorite spot on my neck, licking up to my earlobe.

“Fuck me?” I giggle. I’m lost on this whole dirty-talk thing that he enjoys.

“Love the words; hate the conviction,” he says.

I can hear the humor in his voice as his hands roam up my shirt.

“Where do you want my hands?”

“Keep going…” I imagine my face is beet red at this point, but Brady stares, waiting for me to continue. “Cup my breasts,” I finish.

“Or another word?” he asks.

I hesitate, clearly embarrassed.

“All right. That’s progress, baby. Great progress.” He chuckles and continues his way up, bringing my breasts out from my lace bra. He pulls up my sweater to expose me. “I love your tits,” he says, enunciating the word I couldn’t say.

I giggle in response.

I love the fact that we can go at each other with enormous intensity or playfully joke around while making love.

His lips cover my nipple, and he sucks it into his mouth while his hand fiddles with my pants. The anticipation of his fingers on me makes my skin burn. I grasp for his shirt, and he pulls it off himself, grabbing the back collar. My hands make their way to his pants, unbuttoning and unzipping his jeans. With his lips on mine, he tries to shrug them off. Finding an ounce of courage, I push him up, so he’s sitting on the couch. I slowly get up and take off my sweater and bra, bending down between his legs.

“Take it all off, Sadie. If you’re going to suck my cock, I want you naked while doing it.” His face is serious, and although I can’t talk dirty back, when he speaks to me like that, I unravel and turn into a hot, wet mess.

I stand up, slowly pulling my jeans down and revealing my purple cotton panties. When I turn around to let Brady have a slow look, he grabs my ass and bites it hard.

“Ouch,” I holler.

He laughs.

“Just following directions, babe,” he says, rubbing the part of my ass he just bit.

I totally forgot my underwear says Take a Bite on the back.

“These might be my new favorite panties of yours.” He hooks his fingers on the sides and pulls them down my legs. “Just a little love bite; don’t worry.” He continues to rub the spot where he nibbled, chuckling to himself.

I situate myself between his legs, naked, as he requested. This is my first time doing this, and I worry I’ll be an utter disaster. I’m petrified that I’ll embarrass myself.

“Take it in your hands like this.” Brady’s hand wraps around mine, showing me exactly how to do it. “Now, lick up and down before you wrap your mouth around the top.”

I follow his directions, and I’m happy when I hear a moan escape his lips.

“Keep doing what you’re doing. It feels amazing. Don’t move your hand from my shaft while sucking me. Yeah…just like…that.” His head falls onto the couch, and his eyes roll back in pleasure.

Hearing the noises coming from his mouth brings me to the brink. I continue doing what Brady instructed. I feel him get harder and tenser, making me go faster. His moans rise in volume. I wonder what girls complain about because this is the most erotic thing I’ve ever experienced.

“I’m going to come, baby,” he warns me.

But I stay put, continuing. If I’m going to do it, might as well go full force.

“Baby…” he warns again.

Unable to stop it, he thrusts deeper, and I continue to stroke him while he pours himself into my mouth. Once his body relaxes, I swallow and stare up at him through my eyelashes.

“Do you have any idea how fucking fantastic you are? Jesus, Sadie…I almost came the second your warm mouth went down on me,” he says, bringing me up. “Now, it’s your turn.”

He stands up and grabs our clothes, pulling me with him. Walking me up the two flights of stairs to his bedroom, he places me on his bed. His lips and hands travel my body up and down before resting between my legs. He gets me to where I was last weekend in no time at all, but this time, he continues until I come undone from only his mouth.

Then, he wraps himself behind me, and we fall asleep. Right before my eyes give up the fight, a smile lands my lips because this is my life now. I’ve been assured that, when I wake up, Brady will be nearby.

---

The next morning, Brady’s lips kiss my shoulder and move up to my neck. “Wake up, beautiful. Time to see Daddy.” He chuckles and pushes the sheets off me.

“Brady,” I sigh. “Ten more minutes.”

“No can do. We have to get to the airport.”

I hear the zipping of bags.

“Why don’t you come to bed with me?” I use my best seductive voice.

“I want to, more than anything, but if you’re going to take a shower, you have to get up,” he says.

Sitting up, I see Brady’s dressed and ready. He has a fresh button-down shirt with khakis and a pair of black dress shoes. His hair is gelled like the other night, and his wrists are bare of the bracelets I love. This is Brady trying to impress my family.

I’m more alert, realizing what he’s doing, and I sit up straighter, swinging my legs over the bed. “Oh no, you don’t,” I say as I wag my finger at him.

“What?” he asks sheepishly. “Let’s not scare them off the first day,” he counters.

“Brady, I want them to meet you—the one hundred percent authentic Brady Carsen. Please put your bracelets back on, style your hair the way you want, and for heaven’s sake, put your jeans and T-shirt on,” I beg.

“Sadie, I feel like you’re asking for trouble,” he argues.

“Please, Brady. I meant what I said. If they don’t like you, it’s their problem,” I say with finality. I walk into the bathroom to take my shower, praying he takes what I said into consideration.

When I emerge fifteen minutes later, Brady is resting against the headboard in his now made bed, strumming on his guitar.

I crawl up and kiss him on the nose. “Happy Thanksgiving,” I say.

“Happy Thanksgiving, gorgeous,” he responds back. “You’d better get moving,” he instructs.

“I’m happy to see you listened to me.” I twist his bracelets around his wrist.

“Well, what can I say? You made a good point, but…are you sure, Sadie? I have no problem with changing my appearance for the first time I meet them.” He brings me onto his lap.

“Never, Brady. I love you.” I point to his chest.

“All right, end of discussion. Now, get that hot ass up, and get ready. I refuse to miss our flight and have your parents think I’m some lazy slacker who didn’t have the decency to get their daughter there on time.”

He slaps my ass when I stand up, and I screech.

An hour later, we run through the airport, trying to get through security. We might have gotten a little carried away before we left the house. Finally, we arrive to our gate, and we are the last two to be seated. I take the middle seat, leaving Brady the aisle.

I lean against Brady’s shoulder, and he smiles down at me. His leg is bouncing a mile a minute while his fingers tap on his knee.

“Are you okay?” I ask, my hand grasping his.

“Maybe a little nervous,” he confesses. “I’ve never met parents…at least not ones who I cared if they thought I was good enough for their daughter.”

“Relax, Brady. It will be fine,” I say, praying to God I’m right. I have no doubt that my parents will be nice and cordial to his face. They’re as fake as every other socialite. “Their opinion doesn’t matter.”

“It does to me, Sadie,” he admits.

When he turns his face to me, I can’t help but see the anguish in his eyes.

“Whatever happens…please just be yourself,” I request.

He slightly nods his head.

We land and file out of the plane. Brady remains quiet, and I feel bad for him. This situation sucks. I squeeze his hand on the way to baggage claim, and he silently turns toward me.

“Thank you, Brady,” I say.

“For what?” he asks.

“For doing this. I know this is hard for you.”

“It’s worth it, Sadie. Anything is worth it for you,” he says. He bends down to kiss me.

“I love you,” I whisper.

“I love you,” he whispers back.