by Dawn Martens
I used to be so in control
No one could ever touch me
I'd tell myself I'd never fallA
nd nobody would catch me
Yeah, I can’t catch a break. I pull my earphones out.
******
I finish up my workout, and head into the kitchen.
“Kade, you told me you'd take me shopping!” Ashley whines. Her voice just pisses me off. She still has some faint bruising on her face from when I punched her out, which she’s tried to cover up.
“I’ve got some work to do, Ashley, but we can go after, okay?” Kade placates her.
Why? He doesn’t even baby Layla that much, and he freaking adores Layla.
Ashley pouts, “Fine. I’m going to sunbathe on the deck. She rips her already mini dress over her head right in front of Kade, basically shoving her small breasts in his face. She poses for a few moments before she walks outside in her pink bikini, giving me an evil look on the way out. Kade, oblivious as usual, gives me a smile in greeting. He opens the fridge and gives me a water bottle before I get the chance to get it myself.
“Thanks,” I mumble, taking a huge gulp of water.
“Wanna come shopping later?” Kade asks once I’ve finished drinking.
“Fuck, no,” I scoff. Kade’s eyes narrow.
“Why?” he asks, confused. He really has no idea.
“I just have a few things to do,” I say vaguely, then mumble under my breath, “Like I would go anywhere with her.” He searches my eyes for a minute before nodding, obviously not hearing my mumbled words. He knows we don’t like each other; I’m not sure why he insists on us getting along. It would never work.
“Okay, I’m gonna try get some work done,” he sighs. Kade is graduating soon. He has a heap of work he needs to get done. He playfully grabs my ass as he passes me, taking his hand back just in time to avoid my playful slap.
“Hands off the merchandise, buddy,” I say playfully.
He shakes his head and chuckles, retreating to his room, which is now the master bedroom.
As soon as he is out of view I see Ashley standing at the door staring daggers at me.
“He'll never be yours,” she spits out, her nails curled into her palms.
“Fuck you, Ashley,” I say in a saccharine tone before I head into the bathroom for a shower.
******
After Kade and Ashley depart, I hang out with James. He's been gone a lot more lately, and he's being very tight-lipped about it. I’m playing the new Tomb Raider game on PS3, and James is sitting beside me and laughing his ass off every time I scream and throw the controller. It’s not my fault that people and animals jump out of nowhere! He also finds my frequent cursing amusing, and laughs harder with each creative swear word. About an hour later Kade and Ashley walk in just as James and I had changed the game to Call of Duty. With one glance, I can tell she’s drunk. She’s clinging onto Kade and using him for support.
“Just gonna get her into bed,” Kade mumbles as he walks by us. Seriously? Which bed would that be? I’m having an Aubrey and Chase flashback.
Kade comes back a few minutes later. “Where did you put her?” I ask curiously.
“In my bed. Listen, Nikki, don’t get mad, but can I sleep with you tonight? I’ll keep my hands to myself, I swear.”
Shit, do I possess that much self-control? Him that close... All night long... Hmm. Shit. But the other option is him sleeping with Ashley.
“Yeah, that’s fine, as long as you don’t sleep naked,” I huff.
Kade chuckles, walking out of the room.
“So, James. You never did tell me the story between you and Sasha,” I say.
“I know,” James says with a grin.
“Care to elaborate?” I ask hopefully.
“Nope,” he answers, popping the P.
“You suck,” I grumble, making James laugh.
“Fine, I’ll just ask Sasha,” I pout.
“Just leave it alone, Nikki,” James mumbles, shaking his head.
“Don’t worry, she wouldn’t tell me anyway. We get along, barely, and only because of Layla.” I smile at him.
James frowns. “I am sensing a story here.”
I smile. “Oh, you know, we may have got into it once or twice, back in the day.”
“Care to explain it in detail?” James says, looking almost interested all of a sudden.
“No way. You give a little, you get a little. And you haven’t given me anything!” I grumble.
James just chuckles. Infuriating man.
We finish up the game and I head into my room, noticing Kade is already in my bed. He's sitting, propped up by my pillows, his hands crossed behind his head. His chest is bare. He's fucking gorgeous. He looks a little ridiculous against my pink bed sheets though. I grab my stuff to go into the bathroom to change. “You can change here, you know, I’ve seen it all before anyway,” Kade says, smirking.
I roll my eyes and head into the bathroom. When I come out dressed in my pajamas, I set the ground rules. “Okay, no cuddling, no copping any feels, stay on your own side, and keep the underwear on!”
“Can’t promise what I’ll do in my sleep,” he says with a cheeky grin.
I can’t either.
I crawl into bed and turn out the light. I can hear his breathing, smell his delicious scent. That alone gets my heart racing. How am I supposed to sleep with him right next to me?
“Night, Nikki,” he says quietly.
“Night,” I mumble back.
A few moments later I hear his breathing even out, and know he's asleep.
An hour or so later, I do the same.
Chapter Fifteen
I wake up in the middle of the night to find Kade cuddling me. God, this feels nice. My body fits snuggly into his. I should probably move over a bit, but I can’t help but savor the moment. I drift back to sleep moments later.
I wake up a few hours later, and the first thing I notice is that Kade isn’t in the room. I’m disappointed, but shake it off. I can hear raised voices out in the kitchen. Ashley and Kade, guess the bitch is still here.
“She’s just going to hurt you, Kade. Why couldn’t you have slept with me? You always did before she came into the picture. Do you really want to be with someone so insecure you have to cut out your friends? The real people who care about you?” Ashley says snidely.
“Ashley, knock it off. You don’t need to worry about me, okay, I’m a fucking man and I can take care of myself!” Kade counters in a steady tone. "She also never told me I couldn't sleep with you, that was my decision. Given the choice, Ashley, I'd choose to sleep with her. I love you like a sister, you know that. You also know I'd do anything to get close to Nikki,” Kade says patiently. His words stir something inside me.
“What would Damon say? Think he would like Nikki?” Ashley spits out.
Who is Damon?
“Don’t bring Damon into this, Ashley. But yes, I know he would. Hell, he would probably want her too,” Kade says.
“Right, I don’t see what’s so special about her. Big deal, she puts out. If that’s all you’re looking for, you could just come to me!”
“What the hell, Ashley?” Kade says in a shocked tone.
“Joking, Kade, joking.” She was so not joking.
I stop eavesdropping and jump into the shower. Kade is a great guy and all, but when it comes to Ashley, he’s fucking stupid.
Blinded.
******
I reluctantly get out of the shower, and get ready for work. I dress in a grey high-waisted skirt, a black blouse, and a red pair of pumps. I check myself out in the full length mirror, pulling my hair up into a bun. I’m about to leave when there is a knock at my door. I open it, and am surprised to come face to face with Ashley.
"What do you want?” I demand.
"Leave Kade alone. If you don’t, I'll make your life a living hell, and I'll make sure that in the end Kade hates you. He'll never choose
you over me." With that she flaunts away and I hear the front door slam.
God, I hate her, I wish I could slam her face into the wall. I play me doing just that in my head, and it makes me feel slightly better.
******
Kade, James, and I decide to have a games night. All three of us are around the pool table, in various states of undress. Kade had the bright idea to make it strip pool, and each time you lose a game you need to take off two items of clothing. I’m down to my bra and panties, and I’m not missing the glances both men are giving me. Totally checking me out. Kade shoots James a glare every so often when he catches him staring at me, which makes me laugh each time. I end up winning my game against Kade although I'm pretty sure he let me win so I wouldn’t have to strip down to my birthday suit in front of James. James shakes his head, which makes me think he knew Kade threw the game, too. I stifle a giggle. I watch as Kade removes two items of clothing, his shorts and his shoes. He's down to just a pair of boxer shorts, and he looks delicious. I really hope Kade loses the next game because I wouldn’t mind a sneak peak at that huge dick, and his ass is to die for, too. James and Kade play off, and I watch the game intently. James has a pair of basketball shorts on and nothing else. I have to say- his body is pretty damn fine. Kade growls and I pretend I’m looking at something else. Busted! They're both on the black ball and I’m rubbing my hands together gleefully. I’m totally seeing a fine naked man in about thirty seconds. When James sinks the black ball, I laugh.
“Woot! Let’s see that ass, Kade!” I yell.
James laughs and scoffs, “I really don’t want to see my brother’s ass, later.”
He takes off just as Kade is dropping his boxer shorts. I stare, a lot longer than I should.
“See something you like, beautiful?” he says in an amused tone.
“Hell yeah! The most perfect ass in history!” I exclaim.
He laughs. “I’m sure that’s not all.”
“Of course not. You also have the biggest dick I’ve ever seen.” I say cheekily. “Hits the right spot every damn time.” I grin and then walk out. I hear Kade groan.
Game night was fun!
Chapter Sixteen
Layla and I are meeting up for lunch. She's starting to realize that what I told her about Kade and me was extremely vague, and I think it’s time I finally told her everything. I’m dreading it because I know her. She’ll try and push us together even more and I don’t know if I’m ready yet.
I pull up to a small café that we decided to meet at. I’m dressed casually in a pair of worn jeans and a tank top. My hair is piled on top of my head in a messy bun.
I don’t see Layla outside, but I do see her car, so I know she's inside waiting for me. I walk in and spot her instantly, sitting in a booth in the back, her eyes glued to her Kindle. The woman is a book nerd.
“Hey.” I smile at her, taking the opposite seat.
“Hey, you! I already ordered for us. I got you your favorite burger and fries,” she says with a grin.
“Awesome, thanks!” I also notice she got me a smoothie. I take a sip and moan. My favorite- strawberry banana. “You even got my favorite drink.” I beam.
She smiles up at me. “Of course I did.”
Our food comes minutes later, and she gets straight to the point. “So, I know there is more to this whole Kade thing. Spill it now, or I’m taking the smoothie.”
I grip my smoothie and sigh. I start from the beginning, and tell her everything. When I’m done she just grins. “This is perfect! Kade is perfect for you, and you are perfect for him.” She giggles and claps her hand. She acts like she’s five sometimes. I shake my head.
“It’s not that, I just don’t want to get hurt again,” I tell her, staring down at my food.
“Nikki, I’ve seen the way Kade looks at you. That man has it bad! And he's not Ben,” Layla says, tapping her hand on mine comfortingly.
“I know, but it’s hard, trusting him and all,” I mumble in reply.
“Kade would never hurt you or do what Ben did. And trust me, if he did, it wouldn’t be just Ryder punching him out. James loves you like a sister, as does Chase. Plus it would hurt me if he hurt you. All three men would whip his ass.”
I groan. “He has a nice ass.”
She chuckles. “I know.” With that we both burst out laughing.
After we eat, we decide to call up the boys and see if they wanted to come shopping with us. James and Kade both agree. I am so surprised. We thought they would say no. Oh well, they can carry all our bags.
******
We meet the boys at the baby store entrance. Kade is already acting like a child, riding around on a stroller. Seriously? I shake my head. James is egging him on. I see the store manager come out and tell them to put the items back or they will need to leave. Layla and I burst out laughing when Kade mumbles, “Party pooper.”
Layla wants to breastfeed, so we go down the aisle to look at some pumps. Of course, Kade and James have to fool around again.
“What would happen if I put this on Kade?” James asks.
We choose to ignore him.
“Layla, after you finish with the pump, can I have it?” Kade asks.
What the hell? “No, you cannot. Let me guess, you were gonna put it on your dick? Don’t you think it’s big enough?” I cut in.
Layla bursts out laughing. “Yeah, I don’t think it can get any bigger.”
Kade just grins. James is distracted, picking up other contraptions and asking what they're for.
We finish up in the baby store, and take our items back to the car. We were gonna go into the lingerie store, but after how Kade and James acted in the baby store, we can only imagine what they would get up to. That would have been bad. I can just picture them pretending to try on bras.
After spending the afternoon with Kade, I am slowly considering taking a chance on him. I just hope I’m making the right decision.
Chapter Seventeen
Kade and I are getting on surprisingly well. We spend a lot of our time mucking around, laughing and going out to dinner, everyday things a couple would do, without actually being a couple. After talking with Layla, and seeing Kade really be himself, I think we're ready to take things a step further, I just hope I didn’t make him wait too long. I know I’m not the easiest person to love.
I walk out into the kitchen and spot Kade and James sitting at the breakfast bar together. When I walk up they both glance over.
“Hey, James, mind if I steal Kade for a minute?” I ask, my voice coming out a little croaky.
James raises an eyebrow at me, before nodding with a smile and departing.
“What’s up, beautiful?” Kade asks, turning around, and giving me all of his attention. I love it when he calls me beautiful.
“I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date tonight?” I blurt out, the words coming out rushed.
Gender equality and all that, women can so ask men out.
Kade looks surprised, and slightly amused. “Sure. Where would you like to go?”
“I was thinking we could go for dinner and a movie?” I ask. Way to be cliché, Nikki.
“I’d love to,” he says, smiling widely now. “What time do you wanna go?”
“Seven? The movies always start at about eight thirty, so we could eat and then go.”
Before he can answer, I move towards him, grabbing his face in my hands and bringing my lips to his. I kiss him greedily, my tongue battling with his. He groans deep in his throat, and I pull back with a small smile. “I’m ready to try, if you still want to,” I tell him in a gentle voice.
Kade immediately stands up gripping me by my ass, and lifting me in the air. “Fucking finally!” he booms out, laughing, planting sloppy kisses on my neck.
“Hey, what’s going on?” James asks as he comes sauntering in.
“Nikki and I are going steady,” he says in a serious tone, his lips twitching. I burst out laughing.
Going steady- like they used to say in the eighties or something.
James smirks. “About fucking time!” He shakes his head at us, exasperated.
Kade kisses me a little more, then reluctantly lets me go so we can get ready. I take forever; I can’t decide what to wear. After a while I get frustrated and decide on a black chiffon dress that is short in the front and long in the back. It’s one of my favorites and a different take on the classic LBD. I walk out of my room, ready for our date. I see Kade standing in the living room talking to James. When he sees me, his face lights up like a kid at Christmas. I go up to him and slide my arm around his waist. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah, beautiful. I’m ready. I’ve been ready.”
We walk into the restaurant hand in hand for our official date. I’m a little nervous, but Kade seems completely at ease. We finish our food while chatting, laughing, and having a really good time. We order dessert, Kade orders enough to feed an army, and I order a chocolate sundae. While we're waiting for it to arrive, Kade’s phone rings. He glances at the screen, sighs, but still answers.
“Hey, Ashley, what’s up?” he says. Ashley. What a mood kill. The woman can’t leave Kade alone.
“No, I can’t. I’m busy tonight.”
“Ashley, I said not tonight, I’m out on a date with my girl.”
“Yes, Ashley, my girl.”
I can hear her voice get louder. Wonder what the hell she’s saying.
“Yes, it’s Nikki. We finally made it official; she finally got her head out of her ass.” Kade chuckles and I glare at him. Pfft, head out of my ass, yeah, right. I hear more yelling. Then I look up, and Kade is staring quizzically at his phone.
“Well, that’s a first, she hung up on me,” he says, surprised.
“Still don’t believe me she wants you?” I deadpan.