by K Webster
Bound Together
Copyright © 2020 K Webster
Copyright © 2020 Nikki Ash
Cover Design: All by Design
Photo: Adobe Stock
Editor: Emily A. Lawrence
Formatting: Champagne Book Design
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information and retrieval system without express written permission from the Author/Publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Title Page
Copyright
About This Book
Playlist
Epigraph
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Epilogue
K Webster’s Acknowledgements
Nikki Ash’s Acknowledegments
About Nikki Ash
About K Webster
From USA Today bestselling author K Webster and Nikki Ash comes an angsty, new adult, reverse harem romance.
Oh, look, Ashton Carter destroyed his life—again.
Dad’s disappointed in me.
No shocker there.
But with them, it’s worse.
We’re torn apart and I’m responsible for the shredding.
Selfish.
Liar.
Unworthy.
I’ve made a mess of it all.
I’m not sure it’s even fixable.
Four broken hearts…
Anyone got any tape?
I may be self-destructive and have sucked them into my mess, destroying everyone’s lives in the process, but I’m sure I can fix it.
It’s gonna take focus and determination, both of which I’m sorely lacking.
I’m a spoiled boy who’s used to getting what I want.
In this case, I want them. All of them.
And I sure as hell won’t stop until I succeed.
Not until we’re bound together by…
Me.
Bound Together is a full-length, mature, new adult, why choose romance between friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, with a bit of taboo thrown in. It’s the epic conclusion in the Torn and Bound duet. Torn Apart must be read first.
Apple Music
Spotify
Uninvited-Alanis Morissette
Come As You Are-Nirvana
A Long December-Counting Crows
She’s So High-Tal Bachman
Tears In Heaven-Eric Clapton
Use Somebody-Kings of Leon
Bad at Love-Halsey
Team-Lorde
Lie-NF
Secret Love Song-Little Mix
Close to Me-Ellie Goulding
ME!-Taylor Swift
Addicted-Saving Abel
Untouchable-Jana Kramer
Give Up On Us-Harry Hudson
Here With Me-Marshmello
The Bones-Maren Morris
She Will Be Loved-Maroon 5
Broken-Lifehouse
Just the Way You Are-Bruno Mars
Your capacity to love is limitless. The only thing stopping you is the way you think.—Unknown
What have I done?
Fuck.
My lips feel bruised from the kiss Brayden and I just shared, but it’s my heart that’s taken a beating. I fucked up. Badly. One minute I was pissed at him, taunting him, and the next we were kissing.
It was me.
I leaned down and planted my lips on his.
I just didn’t expect him to kiss me back.
“Mia,” I rasp, staring at the now closed locker room door.
Movement to my left steals my attention. Brayden rises to his feet, the erection straining in his jeans still on full display. My heart is broken and my world is fucked, and yet I still can’t help but think he’s hot as hell.
This is so bad.
“You told her,” I bite out, shoving my hormones down to harness my anger. “You did this.”
Brayden’s features morph from shock at what happened to fury. “Fuck you, Ashton. You did this to yourself when you messed around with Drew and then dry fucked me on the tile floor when you were supposed to be pursuing Mia!”
The fucking gall of this guy!
Stalking over to him, I shove my middle finger in his face. “Get lost, asshole.”
He smacks my hand out of the way and grabs the front of my shirt, yanking me until our noses nearly touch. “You can’t pin this shit on me,” he growls. “You fucked up. Own it.”
It’s true.
I did this.
It’s easier to blame him, though. To make him feel one iota of the hurt I’m aching from.
“Are you owning it?” I sneer, noticing his slight flinch at my words. “Drew didn’t look too fucking happy either.”
Low blow but fuck him for acting holier than thou.
He shoves me back, hard against a row of lockers. “What happens between Drew and me is none of your goddamn business.”
I struggle in his grip, but the fucker is strong. His hips pin me. I hate that fire lights a path down my spine and zings to my dick. Now, of all times, my dick needs to calm the fuck down. This is so fucked up.
“Fuck,” I complain, as sadness creeps in. “I hurt her. I fucking hurt her.”
Brayden’s brown eyes darken. He smells good—too good—and I would push him away if I had the strength. “You’re not the only one,” Brayden rumbles. His eyes dart over my face, an unreadable expression on his features, before he pulls away, taking his heat with him.
“I need…” I spear my fingers through my hair and tug at the strands. “I need to talk to her.”
The intensity that was burning between us only seconds before is snuffed out as reality seeps in. Everything is a mess. We both know it.
“Maybe you should give her a chance to cool off, man,” Brayden suggests as I snatch up my bag.
Ignoring him, I storm out of the locker room and past the pool. I don’t need to let her cool off. I need to find her, hold her, kiss her. I need to apologize for being a rotten asshole. I need to do something… anything.
“See you at the meet,” Aaron, another swimmer, calls out as I pass.
I tip my head in acknowledgment and keep walking. Brayden is following me, which pisses me off. What the fuck is he even doing here? All he did was blow shit up with Mia and me. I’m not even sure he planned to do it either. He clearly had every intention of showing up to put me in my place. But then…
&nbs
p; I try not to think about the few seconds leading up to the kiss.
He was so fucking pissed, but sexy as hell too. I’d thought nothing in that moment except for the fact I wanted to taste him. I didn’t make a split decision, rather just gave in to instinct. My lips brushed along his for a teasing taste, but then he groaned. Needy and curious. I craved to swipe my tongue over his. To nip at his lip and grind my dick against his.
Curiosity ruined everything.
It ruined her.
Now I’m hauling ass across campus, hoping to save my relationship with Mia. She hates me. I hate me. I’d begged her to let me explain before she bolted, but the truth is, I don’t know that I can explain it to her. I sure as fuck can’t explain it to myself.
“Ash,” Brayden clips out. “Stop, man.”
“Can’t,” I grit out when we make it to my apartment building. I fling open the door and choose the stairwell rather than the elevator, taking the steps two at a time to the third floor. By the time I reach the landing on the third floor, I’m losing energy fast. After my swim session, where I put in everything I had, to the kiss with Brayden, and then to this, I’m running on fumes.
I trot down the hall until I make it to her door. It’s locked, so I start beating on it.
“Mia! Let me in! I want to talk to you!” I bellow. “Mia!”
No answer.
I’ll just go grab my key from next door and let myself in. I turn on my heel, rushing to my apartment. After letting myself in, I hunt for the key in the kitchen drawer, but feel a presence behind me, making me pause.
“Why are you still here?” I snap, refusing to look at Brayden.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting a fucking key. You can go now.”
He walks up to me and pushes me away from the drawer. His hip knocks it closed before he leans against it. “You can’t barge in over there.”
“The fuck I can’t!”
“She locked her door for a reason,” Brayden says in a calm voice that gets on my last nerve. “Give her some space.”
“Move.”
“I can’t let you do this.”
“This is not your fucking problem to worry about!” I yell, shoving at his immovable form. “Go the fuck away!”
His jaw clenches, but he makes no move to leave. “Are you done throwing a tantrum?”
“Seriously, asshole, get the fuck out of my apartment.”
He shakes his head. “Sorry, man. Not until you cool off.”
He’s serious.
Douchebag Brayden is going to play the goddamn hero.
With. My. Fucking. Girl.
“You think I’d hurt her?” My fury threatens to explode into a thousand pieces. “Because if you’re insinuating that—”
“I’m not insinuating shit,” he snarls, his dark eyes narrowing, “but I know Mia. This isn’t the way to deal with it. Making demands and being a total prick. Just calm the fuck down before you ruin it beyond repair.”
His words cut deep. I’ve fucked up. I don’t want to make it worse.
“How are you so calm right now?” I demand. “Things with you and Drew are fucked too.”
He flinches and it makes me feel like a dick.
“Whatever,” I grumble, digging around a cabinet until I find a bottle of tequila. I unscrew the lid and take a long, burning pull of the liquid.
I’m so sorry, Mia.
I wish I could say the words to make her understand. That I love her and need her, but… there’s this craving that pulls me away from her all the same. It’s unfair that I’m wired the wrong way. I just want to hold her and keep her.
I take a few more swigs, feeling all kinds of sorry for myself, until I realize Brayden has approached. It pisses me off that my hairs stand on end and my dick fucking reacts. My heart is screaming at me to go plead my case to Mia, but my body isn’t completely on board with my sudden epiphany with my sexuality. It knows a fine-looking man and is reacting accordingly.
“I can’t lose her,” I admit, my voice cracking with emotion.
His brows are furled together, but his eyes have softened. It’s in this moment—right in this second—that I see why Mia was so enamored with him. There are sides of him he guards. Right now, he’s not guarding shit. The antagonistic side of me wants to poke at this softness. See how deep I can go. Explore it. My therapist calls that destructive behavior. I call it curiosity.
“You won’t,” he assures me in a gritty voice that does unspeakable things to me, taking the bottle from my hands to drink some. “It’s Mia. She’s sweet and caring. But she’s going to need some time.”
Fuck, I know he’s right.
I know Mia.
We both do.
I steal the bottle back and make my way into the living room. Brayden follows me and makes himself at fucking home on the couch next to me.
“What are you doing with her anyway?” he asks, angling himself to face me.
Question of the fucking year.
What am I doing with her?
Trying like hell—and fucking failing—to keep her.
“None of your business.”
“It is because it involves me,” he reminds me. “Just out with it.”
I scrub my palm down over my face and frown. “I want to be with her. I do.”
“But…”
“Maybe there isn’t a but,” I snap.
He thumps me on the arm hard, making my skin sting. “Don’t be a dick.”
“Says the dick who just thumped me.” Scowling, I rub at the spot that’ll now be bruised.
“Tell me the but, Ashton.”
I let out a heavy sigh of frustration. “But I still kissed your dumb ass. That’s the problem.”
“Mia deserves more than someone whose heart isn’t fully in,” he mutters. “Trust me. I already came to that decision tonight.”
“But my heart is in,” I argue. “I love her.”
His eyes dart back and forth between mine like he’s trying to pry inside my brain. I know how I feel about Mia. I’m just confused about the other shit.
“You know this is messed up, right?” I pass him the bottle. “I hate you and yet here you are fucking consoling me over this. It’s your fault for that kiss.”
A dark eyebrow arches up. I hate the way my gaze automatically falls to his lips as he drinks from the bottle—lips that were on mine twenty minutes ago. Full, soft, pink lips.
“Hate?” he asks. “Why do you hate me?”
“I wish I could hate you,” I amend. “But…”
“But I’m so hot it’s kind of hard.”
I flip him off, stealing the bottle back. Instead of letting go, he tightens his grip. His fingers are hot beneath mine. Fuck if I don’t imagine them wrapped around other things besides bottles.
Not. Fucking. Helping. Ashton.
“Ash.” Brayden releases the bottle but pins me with an intense stare. “You love Mia? Well then, fight for her. At the very least, you talk to her about your chaotic feelings.” His brows furrow and his head dips down, despair leaking into his features. “Losing your best friend because you can’t communicate over your emotions fucking sucks.” His brown eyes lift to meet mine, and the sadness in them reflects my own.
“How is it that you of all people understand what I’m going through?” I complain.
He chuckles. “I think God is punishing you for being an asshole.”
“I’m commiserating with you. Is God punishing you, too?”
Brayden recoils slightly, his entire body turning stiff. “Yep.”
Now it’s my turn to be concerned. We were joking, yet it’s clear to me he believes he’s being punished for something. For whatever’s happened between him and Drew? It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask, but he clears his throat and stands.
“I probably better go.” His voice is gravelly and pained. “You going to be okay now? I’m not going to get a call to come bail you out of jail for breaking and entering or stalking or some shit?”
A snort escapes me. “If I go to jail, I’d much rather call Dad. It gives me great joy to see how many shades of crimson his face can turn when he’s equal parts pissed and embarrassed. But you could totally come along to film it.”
“You’re such a dick.” His tone is no longer despondent, and I’m surprised that I’m thankful about that. “Seriously. Will you be okay?”
I don’t know why he cares.
Because we kissed and he liked it.
My blood heats, but I blame the tequila.
“I’m not going to drink myself to death if that’s what you’re wondering,” I tell him.
He stares at me for a long beat before turning his back on me. I can’t help but run my gaze over his muscular, masculine form. I fucking kissed him. I kissed this guy I supposedly hate because he’s hot and maddening and it felt good.
Mia deserves better than me.
Not some asshole who bounces—literally—from one dick to the next.
“Brayden,” I call out when he opens the door.
He glances over his shoulder at me, the sharp angles of his jaw clenching. “Yeah?”
“Thanks for…”
The pep talk. The unexpected quasi-friendship. Stopping me from further fucking things up with Mia.
And the kiss. The kiss. The fucking kiss.
“For what?” he asks, his husky voice setting fire to my alcohol infused blood.
“For tonight.” My eyes drop briefly to his lips, a painful memory lingering in my chest.
“See you around, Ash.”
The door clicks closed behind him. Misery clouds around me, reminding me I’m once again all alone. When Brayden was here, comforting me in unexpected ways, it was easy not to let this thing with Mia consume me.
He’s gone, which means my dick has gone back into hibernation.
My heart, though, is back to bleeding for the girl I love.
“Mia! Let me in! I want to talk to you!” Ashton yells from the other side of Mia’s front door. “Mia!”
I encircle my arms around Mia and bring her closer to me on the couch. “I can tell him to go away.”