Tell Me Something (The Something Series Book 1)

by Bondurant, Aubrey

  “God, you take my breath away. And you’re so ready for me.”

  He wasn’t exaggerating. I was aroused beyond belief and clearly showing it, fully naked and astride him. “I know. We’ve had sex almost every night, and I feel like it’s still not enough.” Unbuckling his pants, I freed his burgeoning erection. Before he could work his way completely out of his pants, I sheathed his length inside of me.

  “Haylee, fuck…”

  “That’s what I’m doing.” Moving up and down, I enjoyed the loss of control on his face.

  There weren’t a lot of moments where I felt like I surprised Josh and got to take control, but I was reveling in it, riding him hard and fast. Without abandon, I ground my hips shamelessly into his and enjoyed the feel of his hands on me, guiding me. His fingers slipped between us and found my swollen sex. Massaging my sensitive clit expertly, he caused me to increase the pace. I chased my orgasm and found it—with both of us tumbling over the edge together.

  “Well, that was a nice beginning to the trip,” he said, grinning. He patted my ass, then lifted me carefully up and off of him.

  I sucked in a breath when he pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped me intimately. “God, Josh, you make me want you all over again,” I admitted.

  “That’s not a bad suggestion. I love you Haylee,” he murmured, shoving his face between my thighs.

  Josh told me he loved me more and more and I kept telling myself it was only because we were both making the most out of every moment we had left. I tried not to feel resentment that he was making it harder to leave.

  ***

  Josh reserved a private cabana by the pool, stocked with water, liquor, and snacks for Saturday afternoon. The grand opening party was later this evening.

  It felt sublime to get these moments with just the two of us. I spent a couple of hours in the sun but now enjoyed reading a book in my bikini with him rubbing my feet. “This is heaven, but I kind of feel guilty monopolizing you.” I looked up and smiled as he worked up my calf.

  “This is heaven for me, too, and tonight I’m going to be ridiculously busy playing host at the party and for the most part kind of ignoring you, so I’m enjoying our personal time now.”

  “So how private is this cabana?” I inquired, raising a brow.

  He looked at his watch, and I wondered what he had going on. His fingertips danced up my thigh before he got up quickly. “We have time. Let me put the sign on the outside, and it will be very private.”

  Swim trunks and bikinis sure made it easy to have a quickie in the cabana, I thought, giggling while he re-tied me from the back about twenty minutes later. But we both froze when we heard voices getting closer.

  “Well, he’s my son, and I’m going in,” a woman’s voice said.

  “Oh, shit,” Josh exclaimed.

  It didn’t register until Colby and an older, attractive woman came through the entrance that Josh had recognized his mother’s voice. My just-had-sex-hair had to have given it away immediately not to mention the cushions were scattered. Ten minutes sooner and she would have seen me in the doggie style position. Not exactly the first impression a girl wanted to go for when meeting her boyfriend’s mom.

  “Mom, you’re here early,” Josh recovered, crossing over and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

  Colby gave me a wink, and I blushed crimson, frantically looking for my cover-up.

  “Mom, this is Haylee Holloway, my girlfriend. Haylee, this is my mom, Patricia Singer, and you know Colby.”

  Holy shit, did he just say girlfriend?

  She glanced first at me, then back at Josh, and lastly toward Colby. “It’s nice to finally meet you, my dear. I’ve heard a lot of great things.”

  I was in stunned disbelief. “Nice to meet you, too, Mrs. Singer,” I replied politely.

  “Josh, a word please,” his mom requested.

  Josh followed her outside but not before kissing my hand.

  Colby turned towards me with a sympathetic look. “Sorry about that. I should have texted Josh to let him know we were ahead of schedule.”

  “Uh, it’s fine. I guess I didn’t know I’d be meeting your mom at all.”

  He chuckled. “Well, right after having sex probably wasn’t the ideal time. I did try to tell her that sign was for a reason.”

  I could feel myself turn beet red as Josh came back in with his mom again.

  “I’m going to go get changed, unpacked, and come back down if you two don’t mind the company?” Patricia asked.

  I realized she was addressing me. “No, not at all.”

  Both she and Colby left, and I expelled the breath I was holding.

  “Sorry about that. She arrived earlier than expected,” Josh apologized.

  “You didn’t mention I was going to be meeting your mom and seeing Colby this weekend.”

  “I wanted it to be a surprise.” He studied my face.

  “I just thought you didn’t want me to.” I couldn’t figure out my feelings. I was thrilled he would finally introduce me to his family but confused as to why he would do this when we were winding down our relationship.

  “I love you, and I’m not ashamed of her knowing that if you aren’t.” He hugged me close.

  I leaned back. “Of course I’m not. It just took me off guard.”

  He kissed me softly and then straightened up the pillows. “Thank God she didn’t come in any sooner,” he jested.

  We both giggled and put the cabana back the way that it had been before we’d gotten frisky.

  ***

  Josh’s mom was polite and charming, but when she sent Josh and Colby to go get some food for us, I became nervous about being left alone with her.

  “So, Josh says you’re starting law school soon.”

  “Yes, at the end of August I’ll be heading up to Yale,” I replied.

  Her face expressed appreciation. “Good school. Have you met Mark?”

  “Yes, he’s been wonderful. He helped me get an apartment in New Haven and critiqued my essay.”

  “How did you and Josh meet?”

  Giving her the abbreviated version of the shoot in LA and then helping out Nigel, I hoped I wasn’t saying too much.

  She was especially interested in the vintage spread in Cosmo. “I saw those pictures. I don’t know why I didn’t recognize you. Those dresses were amazing, especially the wedding dress.”

  “Thank you, yes, that’s my favorite, too.”

  Josh and Colby came back in with a couple trays of food, and Josh handed me a cool beer.

  “Thanks,” I smiled.

  “So what you are you two talking about?” Colby questioned, nosy as ever.

  “Wedding dresses,” Mrs. Singer replied.

  Josh inhaled his drink wrong with that comment. Colby patted his back, looking amused.

  “Excuse me?” Josh finally made out.

  Rolling my eyes, I responded, “Easy, there. We were specifically talking about the vintage dress shoot for Catherine’s magazine. Your mom said she liked the wedding dress the best.”

  She nodded and winked at me.

  “Nice. Thanks, Mom,” Josh quipped.

  “Come on, dear. I want grandchildren, and I’m not getting any younger.”

  Whoa. I met Josh’s eyes and knew instantly his mom was not aware of his vasectomy.

  “Well, considering how irresponsible my little brother is, I’d be willing to bet there is a grandchild out there somewhere,” Josh contended sarcastically.

  Colby shrugged and played into it. “Not a problem as long as I don’t know about them, right?”

  “Not funny. Sometimes, Haylee, it isn’t easy being a mother of two boys,” Patricia said, shaking her head.

  I couldn’t help but laugh at her expression. I could picture the Singer boys growing up and many a time Patricia saying the same thing. My eyes met Josh’s and I wondered what he was thinking. Why would he bother to introduce us now, I wondered? Was he purposefully trying to make things harder to end
or simply making the best of our time left? At the moment I didn’t want to analyze it because it felt too good to enveloped in this family atmosphere and get a side of Josh I hadn’t seen before.

  ***

  My last week in the office was bittersweet as I knew it would be. It was Thursday and Nigel along with David were taking me out for dinner. Tomorrow I was only coming in to turn over my laptop and finish up paperwork, after which I would meet Will for lunch. I was leaving for Australia on Saturday for two weeks and wondered if Josh had anything planned for Friday night. Our last night. Sure I’d see him again before I moved, but by then I was convinced he’d be well on his way towards moving on. I tried not to think about the fact that he’d probably start dating again freely while I was in Australia. He’d never lack for company if he didn’t want to, that’s for sure.

  Josh left early for a meeting, and Nigel suggested we do the same.

  “Why don’t we head out a little bit early? Josh won’t mind; he knows we’re taking you out tonight.”

  I smiled, grateful for the fact that they wanted to spend time with me before I left. “Sounds good to me. Is David meeting us there?”

  “Yes, we’ll see him there. You look lovely, by the way.”

  I looked down at my mother’s black Tahari dress and realized it would be the last couple days I’d be wearing these clothes for quite a while. They definitely didn’t have a place at school.

  “Thank you. And it’s so sweet of you two to do this for me.” I was going to miss my New York friends more than I’d ever imagined. I’d never felt like people were going to miss me before. My father’s business partner felt an obligation to look after me from afar and although I could say I loved my Aunt J, she’d never been around me enough to miss her. Everyone I’d met here didn’t have an obligation to me, they just seemed to genuinely want to be a part of my life.

  Upon arriving at the restaurant, we were led upstairs and towards the back. As we entered the room, a resounding “SURPRISE” shouted out.

  Holy shit, everyone I knew from New York was there in that room, including Josh. He caught my eye and gave me a wink as both Sasha and Catherine rushed over.

  “We wanted to give you a proper going-away party,” Sasha said.

  “This is—it’s just wonderful. Thank you.”

  I couldn’t believe everyone was there. Nigel and David, Mark, Brian, Will, and even Bart and Gina were giving me hugs.

  “My dear, you are to have the seat of honor,” Catherine said, leading me to a chair in the middle of a long table. Josh took the chair next to me.

  Cocktails were delivered, and then Catherine spoke up again. “Right now we are going to go around the table and each say something about how we met Haylee and how much we’re going to miss her.”

  I felt my face heat at the attention. Josh’s hand squeezed mine under the table.

  Catherine continued, “I’m going to go first. I met Haylee in the ladies’ room at a party in London.”

  I smiled in remembrance and hoped to God she didn’t go into detail about my needing a tampon. Thankfully she skipped that part focusing instead on our instant bond over vintage dresses.

  “You have become a good friend and I’m honored to have gotten to know you over the last few months. I’m going to miss you like crazy, but I hope I can talk you into coming to New York some weekends,” Catherine finished up.

  I nodded, fighting the tears as Brian went next. I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed as he described meeting me running in the gym.

  Then it was Sasha’s turn. She described the opportunity for Delayne and getting to know me setting up the proposal. “I wish you all the best, and we will definitely need to plan on girls’ weekends in the future,” she concluded.

  It was very emotional to hear about how everyone felt about me. Bart about had me in tears, and then Gina talked about the Bahamas shoot and seeing me in my mother’s wedding dress. Will recounted our very first model shoot and how we had become friends right away. By the time we got to Mark, I felt a little nervous. Just how the hell was he was going to recount our first meeting, considering it had been in the middle of the night in order to sign a NDA so that I could have sex with his boss.

  “Well, my story isn’t quite so eventful as Haylee and I met over a contract deal via video.”

  I took a large gulp of my wine and felt Josh clasp my fingers.

  Mark continued. “I was lucky enough to find out she was interested in Yale and even luckier that I’ll soon be able to have her as a neighbor up in New Haven. I know you’ll make a great lawyer.”

  I let out the breath I was holding and gave him a smile of gratitude.

  Nigel and David were as sweet as they could be with their kind words about my being there with encouragement through David’s treatments.

  I shifted in my seat when they got to Josh.

  “Everyone knows how we met, so anything you’d like to say, Haylee?” Josh said simply.

  I wasn’t sure if I was disappointed or thankful that he’d nothing to say. Swallowing hard, I finally found the words for everyone. “I can’t tell you what it means to have you all together like this. This last year was shaping up to be the worst year of my life, and then I came here and it has turned out to be the best. I have nothing but gratitude for each of you and your friendships. Catherine, Sasha: thank you for planning this. It really means so much.”

  Catherine interrupted. “We can’t take all the credit. It was Josh’s idea.”

  I hadn’t been prepared to hear that and felt his hand stroke mine again. I turned towards him. “I would be remiss without thanking you, Josh. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have met one person in this room. You either directly introduced me or I met them because of the opportunity you gave me with the modeling and moving me to New York. So, thank you for the chance you gave me and, more importantly, for the friends I have met because of you.”

  He looked a little taken aback. “I should be the one thanking you. You’ve made me a better man, a better friend, and even a better boss.” He leaned over and whispered. “I’m going to tell them.”

  All eyes were still on us as recognition dawned as to what he meant.

  He brought my hand up to his mouth and kissed it.

  I could feel the blood start to rush to my ears and my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. No, no, no, I screamed inside of my head.

  “There was something special about Haylee when I met her. She was refreshing, candid, and I soon realized she had the biggest heart of anyone I’d ever met. She made me look forward to coming into work and even travel, which I hadn’t enjoyed for the last few years. When she gave notice, I realized that I was in love with her.”

  I couldn’t breathe, and I didn’t dare look at the other people around the table.

  “The timing is ironic to realize my feelings, considering she’s now leaving, but hopefully it will mean that you’ll see more of her in New York if I can convince her to try the not-so-long-distance route. And Mark, you’ll definitely be seeing me more in New Haven, too.”

  “I don’t know what to say,” I whispered, finally recovering. I was saved from having to talk anymore when the food started to arrive.

  “I’ll be right back, just need to go to the ladies’ room,” I said, turning to Josh.

  He stood up and pulled out my chair like a perfect gentleman.

  I forced myself to walk slowly to the restroom when all I wanted to do was run. Once I was alone in the stall, I felt myself start to panic. This wasn’t what we had discussed. Josh was changing things after we had agreed and doing it publicly just made it even harder to understand. It was tempting to sneak out the door, but all of these people had come for me. I couldn’t possibly do that.

  “Haylee, you still in here?” It was Catherine’s voice.

  “Yeah, just finishing up.” I flushed the toilet and pasted a smile on my face.

  “You okay?” she inquired, studying me as I came out of the stall.
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br />   “Yeah. Are we okay Catherine? I didn’t know that Josh was going to say that and—”

  “We’re fine, honey. Josh told me last week. He didn’t want to take me off guard. Although last we talked, he wasn’t sure he was going to do the group speech thing. It’s kind of out of his comfort zone.”

  I nodded, knowing she was right. Josh was an introvert who valued his privacy.

  “I just wanted to check on you. Josh wanted to make sure he didn’t scare you off. I assured him that you were probably just processing.”

  “Yeah, I was taken off guard.” I washed my hands and returned with her a short time later.

  The rest of the night was a blur as I engaged in conversation, smiled when appropriate, and finally said my goodbyes to everyone. Josh took my hand on the way home and thankfully left me to my thoughts until after we arrived.

  “Are you okay?” he asked as I turned to go into my apartment off of the elevator.

  “Yeah, fine. I just need to change.”

  He gave me a small smile and kissed my hand, letting me go into my space while he went into his.

  As soon as my door shut, I leaned against it, fighting the anxiety that was threatening to crawl over me and take over. I changed quickly and then lay in the middle of my bed in my cashmere pajama set staring at the ceiling.

  I heard Josh come in a short time later, not bothering to knock. His weight on the bed came before his voice. “Talk to me.”

  I sat up and saw the concern in his eyes. “Why did you make it sound like we were continuing things in your speech?” My voice was quiet even if my mind was screaming.

  His eyes softened, and he took my hand. “Baby, wasn’t it obvious? I took you on our first real date, I had you meet my mother. And tonight I made it public. You said you wanted more, and I’m showing you I can give you that.”

  I swallowed hard. “But we had agreed that once I left— I mean we want different things.”

  “I know we did, and I know it took a hell of a long time for me to figure out I want more. But I love you, Haylee. You love me.”

  I felt the tears. “Josh, I don’t—I don’t want this,” I whispered, watching the hurt flash in his eyes.

  “Help me understand. I thought you loved me.”