Only One Night (Only One Series 3)

by Natasha Madison

  The way she wasn’t shy to ask for anything. The way she smiled right before she took what she wanted. The way she moaned out my name. The way she looked at me over her shoulder. The way she touched me softly, the way she cherished me as much as I cherished her. I shrug the jacket back on, and my stomach sinks.

  I just had the best night of my whole fucking life. I just had the best sex I will ever have. She literally fucked my brains out, and I love every single second of it. She made me fucking feel free, and all I have is her name. I don’t even have a last name. I don’t even know where she lives or what she does. I take one look around the room again, and my heart sinks when the door shuts behind me, the click of the lock making it so final.

  I hand the valet my coupon, and he nods at me when he brings me my SUV. “Good luck, Captain,” he tells me, and I don’t know if he’s talking about the game or finding the girl. I mean, how many Evelyns could there be? I put my sunglasses on as I make my way home.

  I park in the garage and walk into the house, hoping that I don’t get spotted before I change. Where I was free last night, stepping foot into this house is like walking back into a jail cell.

  “Well, well, well.” I hear Murielle and look over as she leans against the doorjamb of the kitchen. She is wearing a robe that is hanging open, and you can tell she isn’t wearing a bra. “Look what the cat dragged in,” she says, lifting her cup of coffee and bringing it to her lips to take a sip.

  I don’t even bother answering her. I just turn and start to walk to the stairs. “Well, if that isn’t the walk of shame, I don’t know what is.” She snickers, and I stop and look over at her.

  “Trust me, Murielle. Nothing I did last night was shameful. Can you say the same?” I don’t even bother waiting for her to answer. Instead, I walk up to my bedroom and undress. I step into the shower and wash away the smell of her. I don’t want to, but I know what it will mean for me if Murielle even catches a whiff. It will just be another noose around my neck.

  I close my eyes as the water runs down my shoulders and over my back, and it’s a mistake because the minute I close my eyes, I think of her. She smiles at me and looks up at me, asking me to kiss her. As soon as I think about her, my cock is rock hard, and I take it into my hand. I swear he moans when it’s my hand and not hers. I jerk myself off to the memory of her sucking my cock. Her name is on my lips as soon as I come.

  I walk out of the shower and wrap a towel around me before anyone sees the marks. “Evelyn.” I call her name softly, and for just one minute, I hope she knows I’m thinking about her. I hope she knows that what we did last night is going to stay with me forever. I hope she knows that for only one night, she gave me the world.

  Chapter 10

  Evelyn

  I hear the alarm, but I don’t want to get up. I don’t want to leave the dream I’m having. I don’t want to open my eyes and see the bed empty beside me.

  My hand slips out of the bed, and I know this is the last moment I will have with the memories of last Saturday. It’s during the quiet moments when I still see his face above me, on top of me, all around me. My hand hits the button, turning off the alarm. Rolling over in my bed, I open my eyes, and just like that, he’s gone.

  This week has been brutal. I’ve gone over that night again and again. I wouldn’t change anything that happened with the exception of one thing. I would have woken him up before leaving and told him good-bye.

  I flip the covers off and slip on my slippers, walking to the kitchen to start my coffee. Once it’s finished, I walk back to my bedroom to get ready for work.

  After finishing my shower, I look in the mirror and see that the little marks from last week have faded. He will only be a figment of my imagination now. My black pants hug my hips with a relaxed fit in my legs. I go through two shirts before I decide on the black silk long-sleeved that wraps around with beige stripes. I grab my black Louboutins and my black Gucci purse before picking up my phone and walking out of the house.

  I stop at Starbucks before making my way over to the office. Parking in my spot right in front, I walk in, smiling at Tonya, the receptionist. “Good morning,” I say, and she smiles back. “Happy Friday.”

  “I take it they didn’t give you the casual Friday memo.” She looks me up and down, and I just stare at her.

  “Are you saying I didn’t have to wear the most uncomfortable pair of shoes I own?” I joke.

  “I mean, you look fabulous as always,” she says, and the phone rings, so I walk away while she answers it.

  Making my way to my office next to my brother’s, I say hello to everyone there. I stop at my brother’s door, and I see him at his desk already. His button-down shirt is rolled up at the sleeves, and I know he’s wearing jeans. “Morning, asshole,” I say, and he looks up and sees me.

  “Oh,” he says when he sees me dressed up. “Casual Friday.”

  “Fuck you,” I say, walking to my office and turning on the light. Putting my purse on the filing cabinet that I have against the wall next to my desk, I pull out my chair and boot up my computer.

  My father started this financial planning firm when he graduated from college. My brother followed in his footsteps, and when he joined the practice, they brought on consulting and investment management. The staff went from three to twenty-seven and is now at over fifty.

  My father always wanted me to join the firm and never let me know he was upset when I didn’t come back from Chicago. He would drop hints every single time I came home to visit, or he came to visit me. He even tried to convince Dex to join him.

  Now that I’m here, he has decided to retire. Or semi-retire, he’s calling it. In other words, he’s handing me his clients for now, and then he wants to travel the world starting next year.

  “I could have sworn I mentioned it to you,” my brother says, walking into the office, and I was right about the jeans. He is two years older than me, and we have always been very, very close. He made sure everything was ready for me when I finally moved here. He and Veronica are my ride or die people.

  “Lies, Timothy.” I use his full name, and he laughs. “All lies.”

  “How about I make it up to you by cooking for you tomorrow?” He sits on one of the chairs in front of my desk. “Caleb has a hockey game at eleven, so how about you spend the day with us?” He mentions my eight-year-old nephew.

  “I might be able to forgive you if you grill me a steak and baked potato,” I tell him, knowing it’s the only food he actually knows how to cook and do it well.

  “I can invite Mom and Dad,” he says, taking out his phone and typing something. Then he looks at his calendar. “Shit, I have hockey tickets tomorrow.”

  “Fun,” I say sarcastically. “That’s fine. How about we do lunch, and maybe I can take my nephew to see a movie and have a sleepover?”

  “Ooh.” He looks up. “That would give Veronica and me some alone time.”

  “Ew,” I say. “Ew, ew, ew.” He laughs, getting up.

  “Lunch works but let’s do a family lunch on Sunday. It can be your welcome home meal.” He walks to the door.

  “We’ve had that five times already.” I remind him of all the dinners we’ve had since I got here. “Besides, I have a bridesmaid fitting on Sunday, so . . .”

  “Oh, that’s right. How was the bachelorette party?” he asks. Manning’s face flashes in my head, but it’s not just any face that I see. Nope, it’s the one with him pounding into me as his hair falls onto his forehead.

  “It was uneventful,” I finally say, swallowing the memory. My phone rings, saving me from talking more about the weekend.

  My father peeks his head in about thirty minutes later, and now I don’t feel as bad since he’s dressed in slacks and a button-down with a sweater over it. “Hey there, sunshine,” he says, and I smile. “We have five meetings today.”

  “I just saw my schedule,” I tell him, getting up to hug him. “You are not messing around with passing on the baton,” I tell him, and he hugs me t
ight. I turn back to my desk, grabbing a legal pad and a pen. “Let’s get a head start,” I tell him, and we walk to the conference room with his arm around me.

  The five meetings go smoothly; all his clients were comfortable with the switch. I mean, semi-comfortable. At least they want to see what I have to offer. I reassure them that I have their best interests at heart and promise to send them my plan of action, so that gets them on board.

  When the last client leaves at four, I’m ready to burn these shoes.

  “That went better than I expected,” my father says, walking back into the conference room with me. “He was a hard nut to crack, to begin with.” He mentions his oldest client. “But you have him eating out of the palm of your hand.”

  “No.” I shake my head. “The fact he is going to make more money is what got him eating out of my hand.”

  My father throws his head back and laughs. “Money. It makes the world go round.”

  I look at him. “True story. I knew coming here would be almost like starting over, and I’d have to prove myself to all of your clients.” I smile at my father. “And to be honest, I was excited about the challenge. This is going to push my portfolio out of the water with all these different clients. Who knows, I might be the most sought-after person at this firm.” I clap my hands. “Tim would die.” We both laugh now.

  “How are you settling in?” he asks.

  “Good,” I say, and he just stares at me. “Okay, fine.” I throw up my hands. “It’s an adjustment, but I have to admit I’m happy to be home. This is where I want to be. I want to meet someone and for them to be close to my family. I want to be able to go shopping with Mom.” He smiles. “I’m just happy to be home.” I smile. I don’t add that I might have found someone who he would love because I don’t even know this man’s last name.

  “Any news from Dex?” Just the name makes my skin crawl. It also shocks me that I haven’t thought about him this whole week. Not once did he enter my mind. Not once did I wonder if I did the right thing. Not once did I miss him.

  I shake my head. “It’s a done deal. The contracts are signed and money transferred, so I have nothing else to say to him.” I didn’t tell my parents what happened. The only one who knows is Veronica. I couldn’t even tell Tim, knowing he would have beaten his ass to the ground.

  “These things happen,” he says, frowning. “People grow apart.”

  “Yeah,” I say. When I called them, I just said that we had grown apart and wanted different things. Our path was at an impasse, and I had to go one way, and he had to go the other. Tim sort of knew it was bullshit, but he didn’t press me. My mother also wasn’t sold on the explanation, and she let me have my moment. My father was the only one who fully bought it. “Well, you never know. Absence can make the heart grow fonder.”

  I don’t bother letting him know that no amount of absence will make my heart grow fonder when it comes to Dex. “I’ll be fine,” I tell him, getting up. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some work to do.”

  “It’s almost five o’clock,” he says. “If your mother finds out you are working this late on a Friday . . .”

  “Well, I’m not going to tell her.” I wink at him. “I’m not going to stay late,” I reassure him. “I’ll bring some of it home to do.” I lean down and kiss his cheek. “I might swing by on Sunday afternoon.”

  I walk out and go to my office, seeing that most of the people have gone home. I see Tim’s light off in his office before walking into mine. I don’t know how long I sit at my desk before my cell phone rings.

  “Hello?” I answer when I see it’s Tim calling.

  “Hey, where are you?” he asks, and he sounds out of breath.

  “I’m at the office. Why?” I put the pen down.

  “I need a huge favor,” he says. “I’m stuck about two hours away. Veronica is with a patient, and Caleb is at hockey practice.”

  “Okay,” I say.

  “Can you go get him? He gets off the ice in twenty minutes,” he says, and I stand, going over to my purse. “He usually comes out in thirty-five minutes.”

  “Where is the arena?” I ask.

  “It’s about twenty minutes from the office, depending on traffic,” he says. I’m already walking out of the office and getting into my car.

  “I’m in the car now,” I tell him. “Send me the address, and I’ll go right over.”

  “Thank you.” He huffs out, “I owe you.”

  “This list is growing more and more,” I say, and he laughs as he disconnects. I wait for him to send me the address, and then I make my way over there.

  When I pull up to the big gray building, I grab my purse and walk in. I see a staircase right in front of me, and when I walk past the staircase, I see a white brick wall with another staircase. When I get to the second staircase, I look down the right hallway and the left hallway, but they both look the same. A television screen hangs there, and I see four areas.

  I call Tim, and when he answers, I ask, “What rink is he on?”

  “His team is called the Hawks, so check the screen,” he says. I look up and see that he’s on the second rink. “You can watch upstairs if you want or stay in the lobby, and he will come out.”

  “Okay,” I say and hang up. I’m about to go upstairs when I hear the sound of kids coming from one of the hallways. I look down and see kids coming out in different shirts.

  “Auntie Evelyn.” I hear him calling me and look down to the right, seeing him come off the ice with his teammates. He talks to the boy beside him and then walks over to me. “Auntie Evelyn,” he says, running over to me on his skates.

  “Hi there,” I say. Opening my arms, I hug him and then feel the wetness. “Gross,” I say to him, and he laughs. He takes off his helmet, and I see his wet hair matted to his head. “You stink. Like cheese and feet.” Both boys laugh when I tell him this and scrunch up my nose.

  He looks over at the kid that is with him. “Jaxon, this is my aunt Evie.”

  “Hello, Jaxon.” I smile over at him, and he waves at me.

  “I’m going to get changed. Can I have a slush?” Caleb asks, and I nod my head. “Go get changed, you two, and if it’s okay with your mom,” I say to Jaxon, “we can go get a slush.”

  “My dad is picking me up,” he tells me, “and he plays hockey.”

  “Oh, fun,” I say to him. “Go get changed, and we can ask him when you come out.” They both turn around and run back to their changing room.

  I send Tim a text.

  Me: The package is safe and sound.

  I put my phone in my purse, never expecting what is to come.

  Chapter 11

  Manning

  “I can’t wait to get home.” I hear Ralph beside me say, and I look over at him. “Road trips are the worst.”

  “I don’t mind them,” I tell him, getting off the bus and walking toward the plane waiting for us. The soft drizzle of rain coming out. Ralph, Miller, and I walk together. “I mean, I miss Jaxon, but I get away from Murielle, so it’s a vacation.” I walk up the stairs first, and the two of them follow me. After I store my bag, I sit down in the seat, and Ralph sits next to me. I grab my phone out of my jeans pocket and send Murielle a text.

  Manning: I am going to take Jaxon out for dinner after his practice.

  Murielle: Sounds good. I’m in the middle of planning stuff with the Oilers foundation. Wish I could join you.

  I ignore her whenever she says shit like this and look out the window. “Longest week of my life,” Miller says from behind me. “I can’t wait to see my woman,” he says, and for the first time, I’m actually jealous of what he has. I’m fucking jealous of going home to the woman you want to go home to instead of the one who makes my stomach turn to stone. The one who just won’t let me be. The one who stays married to me for the fucking perks of being the captain’s wife. The one always invited out. The one who is always the center of attention. The one everyone wants to be. Not for me, but just to be the captain’s wife. Ins
tead, she sticks around, ruining both of our lives, and there is nothing I can say to her, no amount of pleading will get her to leave.

  The last time I brought it up, she took off with Jaxon for two weeks, returning only after I promised not to bring up divorce again. He was six, and it’s been two years. I thought I could tough it out. I thought it would be okay, but now, now something inside me has woken up. The need to be happy. The need to be wanted for me. The need to just fucking live my life.

  This week, my mind has been all over the fucking place. My dreams are of Evelyn each night. The memory of those hours plays over and over again. The sound of her laughter, the sound of her voice, the sound of her breath hitching right before she lets go.

  “We play tomorrow night,” Ralph says, and I nod.

  Miller pipes in from behind me. “Any big plans this weekend, big guy?” he says, and I just glare at him.

  When I walked onto the plane on Sunday morning, Miller was the only one here. One look at me and he pointed at me. “You had sex,” he said right away, and I looked at him, shocked.

  “How the fuck do you know that?” I avoided his eyes as I stored my bag. My heart hammered in my chest, and my mouth was suddenly dry. I wondered if Murielle would have been able to tell. I wondered if she knew. The fear of her ruining the one thing I have in my life that she can’t touch.

  “You didn’t walk in with a chip on your shoulder.” He smirked at me, and I tried to ignore him. But he was Miller, and there was only so much ignoring you could do. “Plus, you have a bounce to your step, which makes sense since your balls have been drained.” I looked at him, not even sure how to answer him. “Was it the chick from the restaurant?” I glared at him, and he threw his head back, letting out the biggest laugh I’d ever heard from him.

  “Where the fuck is everyone?” Ralph said when he walked in and looked around, only spotting the two of us. “What are you two talking about?” He looked at us, storing his bag.