Chapter Five

EVERLEIGH ISN’T SURE WHAT happened. One moment she finds herself lost in the feeling of Brooks and the next he is walking out of her apartment after telling her he had brought someone else to be his date for her sister’s wedding. Her heart had gone from being filled with elation at seeing him again to dropping into the pit of her stomach. Crushed and squeezed and milked for everything it had and then left out to rot in the sun.

And that is exactly how she feels as she curls into herself on her bed, she feels like she is rotting like she is nothing more than a decaying version of the person she had always wanted to be.

Knowing that she only has a small amount of time before she needs to head back to the pharmacy, Everleigh composes herself as best as she can and dresses to return to work. Her head fills with visions of her past, her reasons for shutting people out, and the feelings of anger and pain swirl inside her, igniting a fury she buried down deep inside.

Taking each step slowly the weight of the world bears down on her shoulders. Her neatly crafted bubble seems to be splitting apart at the seams and she hasn’t even had the opportunity to describe to Brooks her reason for holding back, her reason to keep him at a distance. A distance she aches to bridge across.

Stepping through the pharmacy she begins to unlock all the doors, welcoming her customers back into her store. She holds the front door open for the librarian Myrtle and just as she begins to follow her inside she looks down the block and the sight before her leaves her breathless. Brooks has pulled into his designated parking space, but the surprise comes when a statuesque woman steps from his vehicle with his assistance, her classical features even recognizable to Everleigh. Brooks didn’t just bring any woman home to Carson, no, he brought home a better version of her.

Everleigh tucks her chin against her chest and quickly moves back inside, shielding herself from others seeing her visible pain. It is one thing for her to hear that he has brought someone home; it is another to witness it herself. A beautiful woman that can give Brooks everything he needs in a wife and family. Something she still isn’t sure that she is capable of. She had been willing to try, had been taking the advice of her sisters and friends, but now it all seems moot.

She has witnessed his smile, heard his laugh, and she cares for him too much to disrupt that for him; to be a kink in the chain.

Suddenly she feels her shoulder yanked as she twists around to meet the gaze of her sister.

“Cassidy, what…?” she begins, but Cassidy quickly shuts her down with a stern look.

“Don’t. I know that you saw them next door and I know what the gossip tree is saying. But ignore it. Stick to the plan.”

And in a flash, her sister spins around and exits just as quickly as she came, leaving Everleigh to wonder if her sister knows more than she lets on.

Can she keep to the plan? Can she try to seduce the man she knew she was in love with? Or would her past hurt and fear keep her from claiming something she had thought would never be a possibility?

Just when she begins to get into the correct frame of mind a nurse from next door comes barreling down the walkway.

“I have something for you. I was told it was urgent.”

The young woman flits off back down the walkway after tossing the letter in Tamara’s direction who promptly hands it to Everleigh.

Her finger slides across the lip of the envelope, breaking the seal as her heart begins pounding in her chest.

The heavy paper weighs brutally in her hand as she unfolds it, letting the words sink in.

“What’s it say, Ms. Everleigh?”

 

I’m Sorry.

 

Two simple words that hold significantly more meaning than they should. Everleigh flips back and forth on the secrets that they hold. She lets Tamara’s stare linger as she contemplates its importance.

Finally, she comes to a conclusion and smiles coyly.

“It doesn’t say much, Tamara.”

But all Everleigh can focus on is the anticipation and adrenaline coursing through her veins.

Game on, Brooks. Game on.

 

THE LONG NAVY CHIFFON dress swirls around her ankles and calves, caressing her skin as if its satin. Each step brings her closer to her destination, to that point of purpose, but she can’t focus on her goal. Instead, she feels the eyes penetrating her back, specifically one set of eyes that sends shivers down her spine.

She hasn’t seen him, didn’t seek him out for fear that she would rush up to him and seal his mouth with hers, or worse yet, confront his date and make a fool out of herself. And as the saying goes, ‘Mama didn’t raise no fool’.

She finally makes it to the front of the church, luckily without tripping on her feet, and she takes her spot as her sisters, Avery and Sydney, quickly follow. Her brothers stand handsomely on the opposite side of Harlan as they all anticipate Cassidy’s arrival. Only their mother has seen the custom creation by Monique Lhuillier, so all of the sisters are just as eager as Harlan.

As Sydney takes her place in line the music changes to Pachelbel’s Canon in D by the pianist sitting in the corner, Cassidy’s song of choice since she was a little girl.

The large wooden double doors at the back of the church open with a whoosh and a glare of sunlight before her sister and her father walk in, arm in arm. The crowd all gasp in wonder as Cassidy begins her descent down the aisle, all eyes on her. Except for one pair Everleigh feels honed on her.

She tries to keep focused on her sister, but the feel of the magnetism draws her eyes away from her and towards the man sitting in the third row, his gaze permeating through her skin. Everleigh feels flush and heady by his stare as if he’s imagining something more than what he is seeing. He looks at her as if she’s the only woman in the room. Mirroring the way Harlan looks at Cassidy as she steps towards him, the way a man in love looks at his other half. And for the first time, Everleigh doesn’t feel herself shy away from that thought, instead, she feels herself embracing it.

But the moment ends too quickly as the crowd takes their seats, ready for the ceremony to begin, and she catches Brooks assisting the woman beside him, draping an arm across the back of the pew, tugging the woman closer.

Tears begin to coat her lower lashes as she thinks of all the inapprehensible damage she has done to their relationship all due to her fear. She just had to have the papers filled out, she just had to push the annulment, and she just had to push him away. Why isn’t she able to see that they could have worked through this, could have figured it all out. The chemistry has always been there, now she gets her wish and pushes him into the arms of another woman, a better woman.

Assuming she’s crying over the wedding, Avery hands her a tissue from the box placed in the pew, and she whispers her thanks. The ceremony is short and sweet and everything Everleigh wishes she could have. Cassidy beams at Harlan as the priest announces them as husband and wife and the crowd cheers wildly as he cradles her face in his large hands and kisses her as if she is the most precious thing on Earth.

As the joyful couple skirts down the aisle, stopping only a few times to kiss each other, the bridesmaids and groomsmen all follow behind. In an attempt to keep her emotions at bay, Everleigh keeps her focus on the flowers in her hand which is casually draped through her brother Austin’s arm. They don’t make it far before they have to stop behind the kissing couple.

She senses it before she feels it, the electricity, the spark, the power of his touch as he reaches out and strokes his hand down her arm, bringing their hands together and squeezing gently. The moment is quick, just a blip in time, but as her body jerks with Austin’s movements, breaking the touch, she can’t help but feel a sense of something more. Something more, lost and left to the wayside. Her attention turns away from the flowers for a moment and their eyes connect briefly, a silent message she’s unable to detect racing through his eyes. Brooks’ touch and his expression confuse her. One offering everything she never knew she could have, and the other a confession of regret. Neither of which she thinks she can handle now.

Luckily, Austin breaks her free of her musings as he whispers, “Are you ok?”

She turns her attention away from her heart’s desire and looks up to her brother with a fake smile in place, “Yep,” she lies.

They walk through the double doors and head towards the dressing suites.

“There is talk of paparazzi being outside. They somehow got wind of the wedding. Though I’m not surprised someone gave it away. I’m going to need you to help me keep them away from Cassidy, Harlan, and Ryker.”

Suddenly a voice from behind them echoes and Everleigh shrinks into herself just as Brooks and his date walk out of the church.

“Wow, look at that. Our town will be famous,” Rich claims as he steps up to Everleigh, wrapping an arm around her waist, his hand squeezing her hip harder than necessary.

The pain is harsh and unexpected, but she knows from years of being held in his grasp to hold in the flinch, otherwise, he will retaliate another way. Even though they have broken up years ago he still holds this sense of power over her and she hates it.

“Hey, Rich,” she and her brother offer at the same time. Everleigh continues, “I didn’t realize you were invited to the wedding.”

He hadn’t been. She had been in-charge of invitations.

“I came with my mom. My dad couldn’t make it.”

She just bets that’s the case.

In an act of her defiance, she feels him crush her hip bone tighter in his grasp and she bites her lips to stave off the pain while closing her eyes in reflex.

Why can’t my family see what an asshole he is? she thinks to herself as she balls her hands into fists.

“Hey man, I don’t believe we’ve been introduced,” Brooks says with an extended hand as he approaches them, his date nowhere in sight.

Rich’s beady eyes give him the once over like the cocky bastard that he is and meets Brooks’ hand as he introduces himself. “I’m Rich, Everleigh’s boyfriend.”

“Ex,” she huffs as she rolls out of Rich’s grasp while he’s occupied. “We’ve been broken up for years.”

“Well, V, I was hoping that was something we could talk about. I know how much you love weddings. You used to talk about ours all the time.”

With everyone’s eyes on her she hesitates, not wanting to cause a scene at her sister’s wedding, but not wanting Rich to believe that he has the chance to manipulate her once again.

Leaning into his space Everleigh touches her hand to his chest, causing him to smile smugly. “We will never be getting back together, Rich. You wrecked me when we were younger and I won’t do that to myself again. Leave me, my family, and friends alone. You’re not wanted.”

With a firm pat on the chest, she turns to her brother only seeing Rich’s ears redden out the corner of her eye.

“What can we do about the photographers, Austin?”

“Brooks, can you walk Everleigh out? I’ll round up the guys and get rid of the paps.”

“Certainly,” Brooks says as he grabs Everleigh’s hand and places it on his arm while her mouth still rests agape.

The crowd disperses, leaving Rich huffing in place before storming back into the church through the side entrance.

“So that’s your ex? What a douche,” Brooks remarks as he eases them back down the hall and out the front doors of the church.

Instead of replying she responds with a question of her own through her clenched teeth. “Where’s your date?”

“Waiting in the car. She needed to make a call.”

“Oh.”

They walk in silence to the backside of the church where her car is parked, neither continuing the conversation.

“Brooks, I’m…”

He turns her to face him before she has a chance to finish her thought.

“Did you get my note?”

The note is the only reason she planned to go to the reception, so she could see him, make her move, she just needed a little liquid courage beforehand.

“I did.”

“Good, I didn’t hear anything from you. I never want to hurt you, Everleigh.”

“I know,” she whispers as she focuses in on the red car in the distance with an animated female talking on her phone in the passenger seat. “She’s very pretty.”

And although he doesn’t respond, she notices the soft nod of his head in agreement.

“I guess I should head to the reception,” she adds as she moves to enter her car, grabbing the spare key she keeps tucked under her floor mat when she doesn’t want to carry a purse.

He grabs her hand as she steps away and that same current from earlier flows through her body, igniting in her veins, like a dormant fire.

“Everleigh, look at me, sweetheart.” As she follows his command and gazes into his green eyes she loses her focus, it resides solely on him. “You looked so beautiful up there. So God damned beautiful that my heart stopped beating in my chest.” Everleigh watches as he takes a deep breath and runs a hand through his styled hair, leaving it a bit messier in its wake.  “I just wish it had been us up there. I couldn’t help picturing you in the white dress as I waited for you.”

Before she has a chance to respond Brooks turns around and retreats to his car. Everleigh stands stunned, but she also takes note of the hunched shoulders and bent head as he departs.

Maybe she still has a chance.

A whirl of activity moves around her as she steps into the kitchen of the pavilion and snags a newly poured glass of Champagne, the bubbles tickling her nose as she chugs it in one gulp.

Her sister Sydney arrives closely after, with Dylan, her FBI and chef husband, in toe and she inspects the cake she had delivered earlier.

“Hey, E. What are you doing back here?” she asks innocently as she manipulates a gum paste flower on the base of the four-tier cake.

No words are needed as Everleigh holds up her now empty glass of Champagne and Sydney nods in understanding.

As people start filing into the large room the photographer finds them and beckons them to the field next door for pictures.

Everleigh has kneeled, sat, jumped, and stood still far longer than one should be required while wearing four-inch heels. As the group mosies back to the pavilion for dancing and food after spending two hours taking pictures they all groan as the DJ begins to announce their arrival.

Everyone stands and claps at their entrance and they all form a circle around the couple as Cassidy and Harlan begin their first dance as husband and wife to the song Harlan has written and recorded for her sister. Everleigh loses herself in the music, swaying along to the melody and not noticing when the DJ calls for the wedding party to join the couple on the dance floor. Avery and Logan step up first, quickly followed by Sydney and Dylan, and her parents. Everleigh glances around the crowd aimlessly, watching as Jameson and Ryker pull their dates, a set of twins they had gone to high school with, out on to the dance floor just as Harlan’s parents join them.

Unattached and dateless Everleigh slinks back into the crowd as the ballad continues, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible. Unfortunately, Cassidy catches her eye as Harlan twirls her in his muscled arms. As she clutches her new husband reasoning dawns on Cassidy’s face and she mouths sorry. Everleigh shrugs her shoulders knowing it wasn’t her intention to leave her single sister out of the moment, but it hurts none-the-less.

“Where are you off to, beautiful?” she hears murmured into her ear as she tries to retreat back into the kitchen.

The feel of his breath against her heated skin causes her nipples to pebble beneath the soft satin of her dress, the friction causing her to want to arch her back and press her breasts closer to the material. Dance long forgotten.

Need and desire rush over her and she grasps Brooks’ hand, leading him down a small hallway, darkened by the lack of light, and into a small utility closet. She turns to face him and even in the obscurity, she has no problem making out his form resting against the door, his formidable body relaxing against the hardened piece, allowing her to have a moment of control.

“I need you,” she says as she reaches out and runs her hands down the muscled planes of his chest. Even beneath the suit jacket and dress shirt, she can feel each ripple of his skin.

“I know,” he replies gruffly, but with his hands never moving from their residence in his pants pockets.

Taking a chance, she begins to undo the buttons of his shirt. Each tiny fasten bringing her one step closer to confessing herself to him. “I want to feel you. All of you.”

“I know that, too.”

Once the exposed portion of his shirt is riddled apart Everleigh leans forward and presses her lips against his warm skin. A hiss sounds from between his teeth, but all she can focus on is the flash of memories flooding her mind. Visions of their night in Vegas, the laughter, the drinks, the vow, and the sex. No, making love; that was what had happened that night. And as if her body finally accepts the notion that she loves him it melts away the stiffness in her bones, the rigidness of her muscles, and allows her to fully embrace the man before her.

Sliding her hands up his chest, around his broad shoulder, and across the back of his neck, she twists her hand into his hair. “Love me, Brooks. Please.”

She can feel when he bends his head, but she doesn’t need to guide him to her, their lips meet one another as if they were tethered as one; each set knowing exactly where the other exists.

His lips are gentle at first, sampling her, tempting her, but the kiss grows rougher as her tongue peeks out to savor his taste. Everleigh loses herself in the kiss, their tongues dueling for command, their teeth smacking as they try to bring each other closer. She’s so lost in his taste that she didn’t feel his hand work the zipper of her dress on the side of her body. The strapless design sliding down her body at Brooks’ command, her skin feeling each caress of the textile as it strokes her to pool at her feet.

With her nerves on high alert, she shutters against his body as the light touch of a fingertip begins to trail up her back, beginning at the lowest point of her spine, right above the waistband of her thong.

“Your skin is so smooth,” he whispers against her mouth as he sucks at her bottom lip. “So soft. I could touch it forever.”

“Yes, please,” her hoarse voice replies as another shiver overtakes her body.

As his hand glides over her shoulder Brooks gently traces the skin that dips around her collarbone.

“This is one of my favorite parts of your body,” he murmurs as he drops his head.

His lips caress the divot before his tongue presses flat against her skin, licking at the sensitive area that somehow sends a charged current straight to her center. Everleigh’s head falls back as Brooks reaches both hands around her and grasps the backside of her shoulders, arching her body into his. A soft moan vibrates through the room as his rough tongue traces a line from one collarbone, across her neck, and begins to nip and lick at the other.

“Brooks,” she whispers as her body flames under his touch.

He continues to move down her body, swirling his tongue around each nipple as he passes, but his focus rests solely on the lower part of her body screaming for his touch. One finger tugs her thong to the side while the other deft member moves across her thigh and softly runs across the outside of her folds. Everleigh’s body shakes as he continues to lightly touch the area she yearns for him most.

“Can you come like this, Everleigh; with me barely touching you?”

She doesn’t need to answer him, he can tell by the way her legs shake against his hold. Her body rung so tightly that each time he passes over her clit a quake vibrates in her core.

Everleigh is so focused on the feel of her body’s pleasure that she didn’t recognize the movement in front of her. Brooks kneels on the floor with one of her legs propped on his shoulder, his free hand spreading her folds farther apart as he dips a finger in and out of her hot channel.

“Feels so good,” she moans as she reaches up and handles her own breasts, their weight heavy in her palms.

“It’s about to feel better,” he adds as he leans forward and presses his mouth against her center.

She groans as he uses the force of his strong hold to tilt her hips towards him and he plunges his tongue into her channel repeatedly while his thumb rubs circles around her bundle of nerves. As the waves begin to crest he removes his tongue and replaces it with his finger, the thrusting motion leaving her pulsating in his arms.

The black abyss surrounds her and Everleigh feels herself cradled in his arms as her body grows limp from the explosion. As she finally comes back into herself she regrets not having a chance to look into his eyes, the place she has always been able to see exactly what emotion is swirling through his mind. Instead, she is faced with the awkwardness of knowing she tried to seduce a man that just left her in a puddle at his feet.

In her moment of uncertainty, she stands and attempts to pull the dress back onto her body, rushing to tug the zipper up over her hips, but the latch getting caught on the material.

“Dammit,” she grunts as she tugs at the zipper, her heeled feet stomping in agitation at the incident, and the fool that she feels like.

A calm hand reaches out to help her and she freezes for a moment before dropping her hands as Brooks offers to assist her, zipping up the dress in a flash.

Flooded with embarrassment Everleigh opens the door in a flash and steps back into the deserted hallway. Her hair hanging haphazardly around her face and she attempts to finger brush the subtle waves back into submission. Beside her, Brooks buttons the top of his crisp white shirt, looking like a man that has stepped out of GQ, not a man that just devoured her body in a utility closet.

The party continues to play on in the other room, but Everleigh and Brooks stare at each other, both still lost in the small world they created for a few short minutes.

He reaches out and tucks a piece of hair back into acquiescence as his lips tilt up in the corner.

“Do I look ok?” she asks as she glances down at her dress, inspecting it for any evidence of her whereabouts.

“Everleigh,” he commands in a deep voice. A command that sends a sensual awareness around her, so far from the orders her ex use to direct. Their gazes connect and she holds her breath, waiting for the rejection, waiting for the hurt, but it never comes. “You look beautiful. You always look beautiful.”

In a moment she steps towards him, lost in his words, in his feelings. A sound breaks her free from his stare and she watches in horror as his date comes sauntering towards them.

Panic-stricken Everleigh steps away from the man that holds her heart. Noticing her retreat, he whispers her name, hoping to gain her awareness, but she is too ashamed to look at him, at a man who has a woman waiting for him.

“Brooks, I’ve been looking for you. You must be Everleigh. It’s lovely to meet you.”

Her head snaps up in attention and she stares in confusion at first at the woman standing beside Brooks and then at him.

“You told her about me?”

“Wow, you’re just as pretty in person as he said. My my my,” the woman alludes as she wraps her hand around Brook’s forearm and begins to tug him with her. “Come on, they’re getting ready to toss the bouquet and I’m hoping to catch it. This is so much fun!”

The couple leaves her in the shady vestibule, sad, humiliated, and alone.

How could she have come onto him when he had a new girlfriend?

But her feelings were too strong, and after the wedding dance fiasco she just wanted to let go and he came when she needed him most.

Stepping back into the party she considers that perhaps she truly did miss her opportunity with him as Everleigh watches him gaze at Charleston in amusement, waiting for her to trample the other women for the bouquet.

Heartbroken she heads back towards the kitchen to find the one thing that had never let her down. Reaching into the upper cabinet where she knows the liquor is stashed for the party, she grabs the bottle of choice and makes her way back to her table.

A hearty guzzle of the clear liquid and the tequila burns as it travels down her throat.

“Hello, my friend, it’s been a while,” she murmurs to the bottle as she rests her arm on the table, promptly followed by her head, not wanting her family to watch her shed tears over another man.

 

***

 

BROOKS HAS SPENT MOST of the party with Charleston but keeps a keen eye on Everleigh as she sits hunched over with a bottle of tequila. Luckily, Cassidy and Harlan have left through a rainbow of sparklers and the reception has started to die down.

Standing in a group he and Logan laugh at Austin’s joke, but it's forced when all he really wants to do is sweep up Everleigh and take her away from here. He’s not sure if it’s the wedding or her interaction with Rich earlier, but something inside her snapped. She had come onto him, something he never had imagined happening and now he can’t get it out of his head, especially the look on her face when she saw his date approaching them after their tryst. He had never wanted her to feel embarrassed by being with him, but from the look on her face that was exactly what she was feeling.

Did she really think he is a cheater? That he would bring one date and go off with another woman if they were official? She has to know him better than that.

Just as he takes a determined step in her direction Charlie comes to stand beside him with a hand on his arm.

“Do you mind if we get out of here? My feet are killing me,” she says implying more than what is necessary about what will go on when they get back to his place. A distinct growl sounds near him and he turns his head to find Austin glaring at him with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Sure, give me just a minute,” he adds as he turns back to Austin and Logan. “Look, I’m just going to drop her off then I’ll be back to take Everleigh home. I promise.”

“I don’t know what game you’re playing, man, but I don’t like it one bit.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s my game anymore,” he adds as they all look over to where Everleigh rests with her head on the table.

“I haven’t seen her like this in years. Not since she and her ex broke up.”

“I’m going to take care of it, ok? I’ll be back,” he declares as he rushes to get Charleston out of the door and to his house.

He has never been so thankful to live close to the small downtown of Carson. Immediately once arriving home Charleston tucks herself into the guest room while he goes back to retrieve the woman he wishes had been his date instead. But he knows he needs her to realize what she is throwing away, and by the look of the hunched over figure still gripping the tequila bottle, she does.

“Oh, sweetheart,” he muses as he crouches down beside her form, soft snores coming from under her curtain of hair.

Reaching over, he pries her hand free of the glass bottle and she groans at the movement. Brooks tucks some of her hair away from her face and places it behind her ear where a small diamond glitters in the dim light. That little diamond’s glint reminds him of the glimmer of hope he has been searching for but unable to obtain.

“We’re closing up, man,” an older man says as he begins stacking chairs onto the tables.

Nodding his head, Brooks slides the chair back and Everleigh stirs just as she’s about to drop her head. His arms skim across her back and thighs as he hoists her up into his arms.

“Brooks?” she whispers as she comes to and gazes at him with wide eyes.

“Hey, sweetheart. It’s time to get you home.”

Carrying her isn’t a hardship, not only does she weigh next to nothing, but with her head resting gently on his shoulder and her arms wrapped around his neck he feels like a man with the world in his hands.

“For what?” he asks as they step outside and he brings her towards his car still running in the pathway.

“For not telling your girlfriend that I had…that we, um…” she mumbles as she tries to find her words.

“That I ate your pussy like it was my last meal?” he adds for her and smiles as a blush rises on her cheeks. He loves that blush.

“Yes, that. You shouldn’t keep it from her though, so maybe tell her when I’m not around?”

Bending down, he opens the passenger door and then tucks her into the seat.

“Everleigh,” he begins as he buckles her belt, reaching across her body, bringing their faces an inch apart, and Brooks knows that he can’t keep this secret from her, that if they are to going try to be anything in the future then the games need to end. “She’s not my girlfriend.”

The door vibrates in his hand as he shuts the metal at the confused expression on her face. He hopes he doesn’t break Charleston’s trust, but Everleigh’s is far more important than his friend’s.

As he enters the car and gets ready to take her home Everleigh speaks up, “I don’t understand.”

Her eyes sparkle in the moonlight and he wishes that this scene was different, that her hurt and pain and secrets hadn’t brought them to this moment.

“She is far more interested in you than me if that makes sense.”

“She’s…?”

“A lesbian, yes.”

“Oh,” Everleigh promptly adds with confusion and then a smile before her head clanks against the window as she passes out.

I’m stealing home base, Everleigh, he thinks to himself.

Back at her house, he is thankful that most of the town keeps their homes unlocked, though he knows Everleigh probably only did so to keep from having to carry a purse, otherwise her house is locked as tight as her heart.

A snore sounds from the deadweight in his arms and he must stifle a laugh. She will kill him if she knew he had witnessed that non-perfect moment.

Up in her room, he gently places her on top of her duvet and goes to search for something to dress her in. He grabs a large tee shirt from her dresser and turns around to find her sprawled out on top of the mattress, arms and legs spread wide, hair forming a soft halo around her face.

He reaches up to his chest and rubs the spot above his heart where the ache begins at seeing this angel before him. Even in her drunken slumber, she is more beautiful to him than any other woman he has seen, including the models and actresses he has been linked to during his baseball days.

Brooks takes a deep breath, her sweet scent filling his lungs, and steps towards her in the hopes to help her undress.

“Come on, sweetheart,” he whispers as he pulls her up by her shoulders.

Her eyes flicker open, the deep brown watching him curiously, wondering if she is dreaming or awake.

She mumbles something unintelligible but he believes she says, “Not the first time I’ve heard that.”

Luckily, she doesn’t fight him, she raises her arms in the air and he shimmies the dress up and over her head, tossing it in the basket in the corner. It takes all of his willpower to keep from touching her delectable skin, but he keeps to his plan and brings the soft heather gray shirt over her head and tugs it down just as she falls back onto the bed.

“Don’t go to sleep yet. I need to grab you some water and pain meds.”

“But I’m so sleepy,” she exclaims as she begins to kick at the covers underneath her, attempting to push them to the foot of the bed.

He wanders into her bathroom and opens the medicine cabinet finding small cups and various medical reliefs; it figures she would have half of the pharmacy in her cabinet. Finding what he is searching for, he dumps out two tablets and returns the bottle to the shelf.

“Here you go,” Brooks assures as he helps her sit up in bed once more, placing the cup of water to her lips after she opens her mouth to receive the tablets.

For some reason this helpless Everleigh sparks something inside him, more so than when she was sick; it ignites his protectiveness, an instinct he always carries for her, but now seems more pronounced.

“Alright, now you can sleep, beautiful.” Bringing the covers up to her chin he smiles as she snuggles deeper into the duvet.

He stands at the exit, slowly closing the door as she speaks up shyly, “Can you stay with me, please?”

He doesn’t answer, instead, his body acts on instinct and he moves towards the other side of the bed opposite of her. Somehow his hands shift of their own accord and remove his clothing, leaving him in his black boxer briefs. Brooks’ body moves effortlessly in between the sheets, the coolness against his heated skin feeling like he has plunged into an ice bath.

Robotically he stretches his arm out, grasping her around her waist and tugging her against his body, where she belongs. The breath from her soft sigh floats against the back of his hand and he smiles into the back of her hair.

“Sweet dreams, Everleigh.”

The next morning Brooks rolls over to find the sheets beside him cold to the touch and he bolts up in bed wondering why he is alone. Taking in his surroundings, he notices that it’s much later than he normally sleeps as the sun shines brightly in the sky, well past the horizon. Typically, he wakes as the sun rises, a habit from his childhood when he had to be up bright and early to toss the baseball with his coach before school. His body must have felt its anxiety dissolve away with Everleigh snuggled close to him, the only other time that has happened was when they were sharing a bed in Vegas.

Gliding out from between the sheets he snatches the pants he left on the floor and shimmies them over his thighs as the smell of bacon wafts through the air. A growl sounds in the quiet room and he realizes that his stomach has awakened at the thought of food, especially as he realizes that he didn’t get to eat much the evening before.

Following the heavenly scent down to the kitchen, he stops mid-step as he watches Everleigh shake to the music playing in the background, a current pop starlet singing about finding her true love. Seeing her like this connects another puzzle piece for him of what makes up this amazing woman. She seems young and carefree, how Brooks always wishes that she would look, instead of fearing that her world will end at any moment.

She bends to grab a muffin pan from the oven and Brooks’ eyes practically bulge from their sockets as her gray shirt rides high, up past the sweet curve of her ass, and exposing the toned muscles of her upper thighs. Everleigh startles as the growl bellowing deep in his chest reaches her ears and she spins quickly, almost dropping the pan in her mittened hand, but her free one reaches out to catch the hot metal, burning her fingers in the process.

“Shit,” she cries out as she throws the muffin pan onto the counter and rushes towards the sink.

In full doctor mode, Brooks dashes forward meeting her at the sink, turning the faucet on to cool the wound.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Let me take a look,” he urges as he holds her hand under the running water.

He examines her reddened palm face up on his own and he brings it close to his face to inspect the burn more closely.

At the same time, she whispers, “I woke up early and thought I’d make you breakfast.”

Head still bent over her hand he looks up at her through his lashes and half-grins at the blush on her cheeks. “It smells great. I can’t wait to eat.”

He turns his gaze back down after a moment, but only after he notices her cheeks redden further almost darker than the red of her palm. “I think you’ll be ok, I don’t see any blistering. But there is one more thing I’d like to do. It’s something my grandmother used to do whenever I found myself hurt.”

“What’s that?” she asks breathlessly as he brings her hand closer to his mouth.

“Kiss it and make it better.”

Everleigh gasps as his lips press against the center of her warm palm. He can feel her pulse jump underneath her skin at the contact and it eggs him onward. With her palm still resting in his hand, he tugs it behind him, bringing her elbow to his mouth where he presses another kiss to her soft skin, loving when her pulse jumps once more.

Peering down as he presses a second peck in the same crook of her arm he notices how her bare breasts pebble under the thin material of her shirt. Her free hand clenches the bottom of the material in her fist as she absorbs his pleasure.

His mouth instinctively heads towards his favorite spot of her body and nips at her collarbone before moving towards the receptive skin just beneath her ear.

“You know what I want for breakfast?” he poses as he trails his hand up the outside of her thigh, gliding under her shirt, and resting on the globe of her ass.

“Bacon?” she responds in a husky voice with both wonder and inquisition.

“No, you. I want you for breakfast.” Hoisting her up into his arms she instinctively wraps her legs around his waist. “Kiss me, Everleigh.”

She follows his command as she sinks her hands into his hair, drawing his mouth against hers. Brooks reaches out and turns off the burners on the stove, never removing his lips from her possession, and then turns to take them back to her bedroom. His stomach may want bacon, but he plans on feasting on Everleigh until his hunger is quenched.

“Tell me how you got this scar,” she asks as they lay naked together on her bed having spent two incredible hours indulging in each other’s bodies.

The muscle underneath his shoulder aches as it does every time someone asks about his injury, but he knows she deserves his answer, the truth, not the played-up version sold to the television networks to save the team.

“I got the injury during my first real game, I mean I had been with the team for two years, but it was the first game where I started. Anyway, I was playing third base and a player on the other team tried to steal the base from second. It’s pretty common. He came running straight for me just as the pitcher noticed the steal. Well, I had a man running like his life depended on it and a pitcher throwing a ball at around 100 miles per hour. The runner hit the front side of my shoulder while the ball hit the back, shattering the bone. It was a one in a million hit to have both happen at the same time.”

“Surgery didn’t fix it?” she asks as her soft fingers rub against the scar that resides just along the curve of his shoulder.

“It did, but the physical therapy was brutal and by the time it was over so was I. Honestly, they gave me the option to return, but I didn’t take it.”

“Why not? It was your dream. You had worked so hard.”

He smiles at the confused look on her face and wraps an arm around her waist, pulling her naked body closer to his own.

“Sometimes dreams change. My grandmother had started showing signs of Alzheimer’s and I still had my pre-med classes under my belt, so I took the option to finish school. The league let me keep my contract payout and I enrolled back into medical school. Best decision I ever made.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because it all brought me to you.”

“Brooks…” she begins but it rings with uncertainty.

“How much do you remember from last night?”

“All of it.”

Their conversation pauses. Each of them letting their moment together sink in.

“I want to be with you, Everleigh, and I know that you have secrets. I’m ready to listen whenever you’re ready, but know that I will never judge you.”

“I want to be with you too, Brooks. I’m just not ready to give you everything yet. But I am trying.”

Leaning forward he strokes a hand across her cheek.

“That’s all I ask, sweetheart.”

Before he has the chance to press his lips against hers, to satisfy his craving for her taste, both of their stomachs rumble loudly.

With a chuckle, Brooks jokes, “Let’s go feed the monsters, and then we can feed the other monster.” His hips press against the soft skin of her thigh letting her feel his stiff erection.

Everleigh lets loose a melodic giggle and he smiles as he helps her from the bed.

He could listen to her laughter forever and he plans to make that fantasy a reality.