Brady must have noticed because he scoots us down on the bed and spoons me from behind. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that, Sadie. I honestly don’t know what to say, other than that,” he whispers in my ear.
“I know,” I yawn.
“Just sleep, beautiful, you are protected now…and always.”
I pull his arms closer to me, knotting our fingers before I succumb to sleep.
Chapter 16
The next morning, I wake up to the bright sun of Niagara Falls filtering into the room. I guess we forgot to shut the blinds before falling asleep. I get up to use the bathroom when strong arms tug me back.
“Good morning, gorgeous,” Brady sleepily says, resting his arms around my shoulders.
“Good morning, handsome,” I mimic back. Oh, how different it feels to have someone there for you in the morning.
“I was going to go get us some coffee and breakfast, but I didn’t want you to wake up alone.” He stayed in bed this whole time for me. I know at this moment that Brady isn’t still carving his way into my heart, he holds the whole thing in his hands.
“Thank you,” I say genuinely.
“No need, baby, I’m your boyfriend. Your needs come first,” he tells me. I thought my feelings couldn’t get any stronger for this ‘knight with an edge’ as Brady refers to himself. “Now, let’s take a shower,” he winks. “Then we will go sightseeing. I’m taking you on that boat ride under the falls, maybe play at the casino…” He lists what he has already planned out for our day.
“Sounds great…let’s just start with the shower.” I’m more than ready to take it easy today and just enjoy being with Brady, especially now that we have made it past this hurdle.
“I’ll go warm the water,” he says and pushes the sheet off himself. A wide smile crosses my face as I watch his mighty fine naked ass walk into the bathroom.
I throw the sheet off me and check my phone for any messages. I don’t know who they would be from, maybe Jessa, I say to make myself feel better. As I walk across the room, I pick up our clothes from last night. I put them on the chair when Brady’s cell phone falls out of his pants onto the floor. I contemplate in my mind for all of two seconds if I should go through it, but shake my head no. I know I can trust Brady. I will not diminish what we have by snooping. Just as I set it on the table, a text message comes across from someone named Maura.
M - Hey B, please call me…urgent!
I freeze, not knowing what I should do but decide to place the phone on the table. I walk into the bathroom and Brady is happily humming some song I have never heard while he brushes his teeth. As I walk by the mirror, I catch a glimpse of my naked body. I hurriedly go over to grab the robe from last night and secure it around me tightly. Him seeing me at night by the moonlight is one thing, during the day in florescent lighting is completely another.
Brady frowns. “Hey, why so shy?” he laughs and pulls on the belt around my waist. He undoes the knot and the robe falls open. He lets the toothbrush rest in his mouth, while he places his hands on either side of my stomach to draw me near. Keeping one hand around my waist, he turns around and spits out the toothpaste in order to get rid of the toothbrush.
“I’m going to shower,” I say. “You had a text message come through,” I admit and his face goes blank.
“Oh,” he says and I can tell by his voice that he is wondering if I read it. “Let’s get you washed.” He spins me around, taking the robe off my shoulders. He opens the shower door and leads me in. I’m taken aback when he follows.
“Brady…I can wash myself,” I tell him.
“Remember my promise, Sadie?” he questions and I nod. “We would shower together in the morning and spend the whole day together,” he says, reminding me of his promise from that morning after Halloween.
“Okay, well then, I have been dying to get my hands through that hair. Bend down a little,” I instruct him.
I place a dollop of shampoo in my palm, rubbing back and forth to get a lather. I scrub it through his dark wavy hair and then rinse it.
“Now my turn,” he says and I happily allow him access. “Man, you have a lot of hair,” he comments.
“I know, I can do it,” I admit, moving my hands up to my scalp.
“Um…no,” he places my hands down to rest on his thighs and I try not to move. His excitement is evident from behind me.
After my hair is finally rinsed through, I turn to Brady. I soap his body, appreciating every inch. He in turn washes mine, concentrating on some parts more than others. Just as we are about to finish, I drop the soap and it falls to the shower floor.
“Uh oh…you dropped the soap,” Brady jokes and I start to laugh, bending over to pick it up. When I get up, Brady’s hands are on my hips and I feel his erection pressed up behind me. “Sadie, you are so beautiful, remember that always. Don’t ever think you are anything less than exceptional because in my eyes, you are everything,” he whispers in my ear and I can do nothing else but fall back into his arms.
“Now I know why you are such a talented musician; you know how to write lyrics,” I giggle.
“You’re my inspiration,” he admits, his hands grazing my breasts and tweaking each nipple while his mouth descends on my neck. “I love your neck,” he says, nibbling it.
I can’t control myself any longer so I turn around to him and crash into his lips as he pulls me up against the shower wall. I wrap my arms around his neck and he enters me in one swoop, making me gasp for air.
“Fuck, Sadie…I don’t think I will ever have enough of you.” His breathing is rapid as he drives into me harder and harder.
“You feel so good, Brady.” I grip his neck, trying to meet his every thrust.
“Don’t come baby, wait for me, okay,” he says. Knowing this is his second time making this request, it must be important to him.
“Yes,” I scream and dig my nails into his back.
“Shit babe, I’m going to lose it soon. Show me how bad you want me,” he pants.
I pull my body closer to him, wrapping my arms fully around his neck so my breasts are practically in his face and he starts picking me up and down off of him, each time going deeper inside of me.
“I can’t….hold…it, please,” I plead to Brady.
“Let go, baby…let go,” Brady says softly and comes inside of me. He rests my body against the shower wall, trying to catch his breath.
I slowly release my legs and Brady steps back and gets a towel from the rack, holding it open for me. “Thanks.” I’m desperate to get covered up. I briefly wonder if I will ever be comfortable being naked in front of him.
I stay in the bathroom to do my hair and make-up while Brady goes to get dressed. The text message comes back to my mind but I quickly disregard it. If this is ever going to work, I need to trust him. He has given me no reason not to. There are secrets in his past, but I will have to give him time like he gave me.
By the time we get to the Maid of the Mist ride, my feet are killing me. Brady has had us traipse all around town to see every nook and cranny of Niagara Falls. It’s a beautiful city though and I’m happy to experience it with him. We go up to buy our tickets and Brady looks at me, disappointed.
“What’s wrong?”
“You’re not wearing white,” he deadpans.
“I’m sorry.” I look around at the other patrons and see that everyone is in an array of colors. “Am I missing something?” I ask.
“I was just hoping for a little tease,” he laughs and stares down at my breasts before meeting my eyes again.
“Brady,” I say, playfully slapping him on the shoulder. “I believe you just had your hands on them not six hours ago.”
“You should be happy…you have marvelous tits,” he whispers in my ear, pulling me into him and kissing my cheek.
“I’m happy, deliriously happy, Brady Carsen,” I admit. This is the first time in my whole life that everything seems right. Except for Theo not being here, but for some reason, I can s
till feel him with me.
“Me too.” He winks and walks up to buy our tickets.
That night, I’m able to convince Brady to pick up some sandwiches and junk food and stay in. We sit at the small table and eat the dinner that somehow I still was unable to purchase. I thought I had it; my money was concealed in my hand. Since I ordered before him, I was first to the cash register. Just as I was ready to pass it to the cashier, Brady came up and held his card out. The girl cashier was so enamored with him, she took his card while staring at him the whole time, never even realizing I was there.
“Nice try, baby,” he whispered to me.
“One of these days, Brady, I will buy you a meal,” I joked and the girl finally looked my way. Now she notices me.
The Falls look amazing all lit up at night. Brady rests back in his chair, looking totally relaxed. His phone hasn’t gone off all day and I suddenly wonder if he ever answered that text message.
“What are you thinking about?” he asks me.
“Nothing,” I lie. He raises an eyebrow but lets it go.
“Do you want to play strip poker?” he casually questions and tilts back on the two legs of the chair, gulping down his water.
“Um…no,” I respond.
“Why not?” he asks.
“Because.”
“Because why?”
“Who has the twenty questions now?”
“Payback,” he teases and holds his arms out for me. He places me on his lap so that my legs hang over his. “You have an amazing body, Sadie. Please don’t hide it from me,” he tells me.
“Brady…it’s hard. I’m not one of those girls,” I stare into my lap, unable to look into his eyes.
He places his finger and thumb around my chin and brings my face up to him. “I’m not sure I understand what you are talking about, but to me, Sadie, you’re perfection,” he says and a tear slips down my face. “Why are you crying?”
“Because…I love you.” I gasp and cover my mouth, shocked I let it slip.
“Finally,” Brady starts to laugh. “I’ve wanted to say it for weeks, but I didn’t want to scare you.” He places his hands on either side of my face and stares into my emerald eyes. “I.love.you.Sadie.Miller,” he says, pausing after every word and then kisses me deeply.
Later that night, we are making love and Brady is exploring my body. I have come to realize he loves to slowly relish every inch. I’m not complaining; I thoroughly enjoy it as well. When he gets to my outer thigh, I tense. There are small light lines of stretch marks from when I lost the weight. Although they are barely visible, I know they’re there and I hate it that Brady sees them. He doesn’t skip a beat and kisses that area multiple times before coming back up to me. When he kisses me, he says nothing about them, as though they don’t exist. I’m in awe of him again. Where did this man come from?
We are naked, wrapped up in a blanket and stretched out on the chaise lounge in front of the windows while firecrackers go off above the Falls. Out of this whole weekend, this is by far the most romantic moment. Brady nuzzles his head close to my ear and I hear his small oohs and ahhs when the bursts of colored flames light up the sky. I know now that I’m completely his.
The room is dark when I open my eyes, the lights of the Falls long gone. I notice first that I’m alone on the chaise. Where is Brady? I see the bathroom light on so I get up to move over to the bed when I hear him talking.
“Maura, I told you. I’m out of town. You will have to do it this time. I’m sorry,” he says, his voice angry but compassionate at the same time. “I deal with it all the time.”
“I know you have obligations,” his voice starts to sound drained.
“Okay…I’ll try to call someone, but I can’t make any promises.”
“Kara? No, I’m not calling her. She has some kind of stalker thing going on with me recently.”
“Yeah, I’m with her.”
“She’s asleep.”
“Listen Maura, I’ll figure it out but I can’t keep doing this. I’ll stop by when I get home tomorrow.”
I fumble back to the chaise and pretend to be asleep, but Brady doesn’t come back out yet. I hear his muffled voice talking to someone else. All I can catch is thank you and that he owes them one. He turns off the light in the bathroom before he opens the door. I close my eyes and try to slow my heartbeat. Brady picks me up off the chaise and places me on the bed before curling up behind me. “God…I hope you love me half as much as I love you. You’ll have to in order to deal with this bullshit,” he says softly before I eventually feel his body relax into mine.
Chapter 17
Brady drops me off at my dorm and walks me to my room. I’m reluctant to leave him; I don’t want us to separate. He tells me he will call me tonight, but he appears distracted now. I wish he would let me in, maybe I could help him. He gives me no reason to worry, kissing me before he leaves and telling me how much he loves me. If he is cheating on me, he would win the Oscar for best actor.
I open the door to my room and Jessa isn’t there; she must still be at the boys’ house. Everything starts to float in my head now that I’m alone. Where is Brady going now? I can’t help but feel a little upset that he hasn’t shared his problems with me when I have revealed everything to him. I decide if I’m going to be naked around Brady all the time, I better keep my body halfway decent. I look up the schedule for fitness classes and decide to go to a spin class.
On my way there, I notice that Vodka Vince’s bench is vacant and I wonder if he ever got a coat or has somewhere to stay during the winter. I get to the class in plenty of time, so I adjust my bike and hop on. Slowly, I let my legs warm up for the work-out they will soon endure. The class starts to fill up and I’m relieved when Kara isn’t in attendance. The instructor comes in. A god-like male creature, but way too drill sergeant for me. He hops on his bike and his legs move a mile a minute, while he spouts out facts about the bike and what route we will take. The door opens and a lady in her thirties hurries over to the bike next to me.
“Sorry everyone,” she says and puts her water bottle down, climbing on the bike. “It’s been one of those days.” It takes me a couple seconds before I figure out she’s talking to me. “Kids have been crazy, family drama. You don’t know about that yet, but you will someday.” She smiles over at me. Her hair is up in a sloppy ponytail on the top of her head. Her shorts and shirt are mismatched, as though it took every ounce of energy for her just to get here. I wonder how she will complete the work-out since she already appears exhausted.
“Oh, yeah…I’m sure I will,” I respond and smile her way.
“Let’s go, you two in the back…stop talking and start pedaling,” Mr. Drill Sergeant yells from the front of the class.
“Sorry, Chad,” the lady screams out to him over the music. “He only cares about our physical well-being. What about our emotional well-being? Sometimes you just need to vent, ya know?” she continues to talk and I’m torn what to do.
“Anytime now, Professor O’Brien,” Chad jokes and winks her way. Apparently they know each other.
“I’ll remember this in class on Tuesday,” she laughs.
For the rest of the class, this lady to my left entertains us with her quick wit and funny outbursts. She is a spitfire and I instantly want to befriend her. The class ends and she says her goodbye to me, making some joke about how one day I will have to work my ass off to keep up that body. If she only knew.
I don’t bother with the locker room today. Instead, I throw Brady’s sweatshirt on and head home. A surprise greets me when I walk up the hill. I spot the professor who was just spinning next to me, towering over Vodka Vince. They appear to be in a heated, one-sided argument. Vince seems unfazed by her words and instead of responding, he just stares my way. She looks back and sees me, giving me a tight smile and a small wave of her hand before she shakes her head and storms off.
Brady’s words ring in my ear to stay away. Our relationship is going so well; the last thing I wan
t to do is make him angry, but Vince looks almost hopeful that I come over. As I pass him by, I see Professor O’Brien speed off in her black SUV.
“Hey ya, Sadie,” he says and I glance up, confused.
“How do you know my name?” I hesitantly ask.
“Grant. That’s a good boy, you know?”
“Yes, I know.”
“Have a seat, let’s chat,” he states and pats the seat next to him.
“Thank you,” I accept, wondering what on earth we are going to talk about.
“So, Grant says you don’t see him much anymore. That you got yourself a possessive boyfriend?” he questions.
“Unfortunately, I haven’t seen Grant. I do have a boyfriend, but I wouldn’t say he’s possessive…just protective.” I shrug my shoulders, curious why I’m even having this conversation.
“Protective is good, possessive is not,” he deadpans.
“Is Grant your good friend?” I ask.
“I’ve known him his whole life,” he answers.
“Oh,” I say, surprised.
“Well, it was nice chatting with you, Sadie.” Vince ends the conversation, stands up, and walks down the hill.
“You too, Vince,” I call out to him. He turns around, as though shocked I knew his name.
When I get back to my dorm, Jessa is back.
Don't Let Go Page 13