It's Not Over

by A. L. Zaun

“What are the two of you doing?” I sat on the table in front of them, wringing my hands. “Where’s Madison?” I swiveled around, looking for her.

  They both just shrugged their shoulders and giggled.

  “What does it look like we’re doing? Duh, we’re kicking back, drinking, and relaxing.” Estrella took another sip of her drink. “Did your girlfriend ditch you at your own party?”

  “I saw her with some guy,” slurred Liz. “Come sit with us. Or is that no longer allowed? Someone has you on a tight leash.”

  “Did I see you with Valentina? I like her,” Estrella sighed, looking out through the glass doors. “The two of you would make such pretty babies. She’s a really nice girl. She kisses mom’s ass like no one’s business.”

  “That guy is my friend.” I ran my hand through my hair. “And I’m not making any babies with Valentina.” I shuddered at the idea “Nice is not a word I’d use to describe her.”

  “Why not? She’s pretty. I know the two of you have…you know,” Liz said before covering her mouth.

  “You know, what? That she sucked my dick? Because if she said I fucked her, she’s lying.”

  They flinched.

  I continued, getting angrier by the second, “If you knew the details, I don’t think you would be campaigning for her. Now—”

  “We need the four-one-one,” Estrella demanded. “I probably won’t remember anything in the morning anyway, but right now, I’m in the mood for your raunchy talk.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Seriously?”

  They nodded their heads.

  “Let’s just say, we weren’t alone.”

  Their mouths fell open.

  “Now, you answer me. Have you two been behaving?” I pressed, needing to know what they’d done that would make Chris send me that text. I checked my watch. Where the fuck is Madison?

  “And the Oscar goes to…” Estrella said, raising her hand. “I didn’t even say anything when she was talking to Gabe. What grown woman talks to a nine-year-old? I sent him home with his father. You can’t be too safe.”

  Liz licked the mousse off of her spoon. “That was the excuse you used to get Fernando out of here since he was staring at her—along with all the other men.”

  Estrella shoved her. “She’s very pretty, Rick, too pretty. It’s not natural. It’s like she’s photoshopped,” Liz said.

  Estrella ran her free hand down her body while Liz laughed at her.

  “Yeah, and she’s skinny, like anorexic gringa skinny. What happened to some Latin curves? Don’t you feed that girl? She needs some carne con papa.”

  “With a side of maduros and yuca,” Estrella added.

  “Cuban food?” All I could do was bury my face in my hands and shake my head to keep from going apeshit all over them. “You two are exhausting.”

  I needed to find Madison. My sisters were drunk and talking out of their asses. God only knew if they’d said something to her, but considering they weren’t pulverized, I was assuming they hadn’t.

  What the fuck did Chris mean by his text?

  Estrella kicked my leg with her foot, and I looked up at her. She shook her head and made a goofy facial expression. “Hey, what’s wrong with you? You’re becoming a bore. Come here, and give us some dirt and make us cringe with your disgusting details.”

  “Yeah,” Liz chimed in, patting the space between them. “You have to update us on the graphic nature of your relationship, and then I’ll go wash my ears with bleach. Although, after watching the two of you dirty dancing, I’m surprised you didn’t just pull it out in front of everyone. You’re such a pig. Why do women put up with you?”

  I felt like I was in the twilight zone. Where the fuck is Madison? It doesn’t take this long to go to the bathroom. I just stared at them. This was all so fucking new to me—not the relationship part, the giving-a-shit part. Madison had this way of turning my life upside down. It would have been so easy for me to sit down between them with a drink or two, maybe even three, and talk shit and laugh with them. Then, I’d roll my ass over to my old bedroom and crash for the night, but easy wasn’t appealing anymore.

  “You want me to tell you about my sex life? Nice.” I was at a complete loss. “I guess that’s what happens when there isn’t any bedroom action going on in your lives. You need me to be your porn central.”

  Estrella gave me a dirty look. “Um, excuse me, but you volunteer information all the fucking time.” Leaning forward, she placed her empty glass on the table. “Are you a prude now? Because your woman looks like she’s got some miles on her.” She plopped back on the couch. “Tell me that bony ass of hers can rock your world the way Daniela did.” She reached for Liz’s hand. “Remember how he told us Daniela gave the best blow jobs in the world?”

  Liz nodded her head slowly.

  “Does Madison hold the title now?” Estrella asked.

  “Do I hold the title for what?” Madison stood in the doorway, tilting her head to the side with her eyes fixed on mine.

  “Awkward.” Liz’s eyes widened.

  “The title to my heart.” I smiled and stretched my arms out to her. “Come here.”

  She walked over to me, never taking her eyes off of me. “I think you’re maxed out on your sappy comments quota for the night.”

  “She loves that shit,” I told my sisters as I took Madison’s hand. “Don’t let her fool you with her tough act.”

  Madison stared me down with a raised eyebrow.

  “Although she is the biggest badass I know, she loves it when I’m mushy.” I dragged her onto my lap.

  Maddy bit her lower lip, and her eyes danced. Whatever tension I’d been feeling eased off my shoulders. I could get drunk off the rush I got when I touched her. She was intoxicating, infuriating, and invigorating.

  “I’ll have to see if Pandora makes a cheese charm. If not, I’ll have them make one because that’s the next one I’m getting you,” I said, toying with the gift around her tiny wrist.

  “I love my bracelet. Thank you again.” Her eyes shifted toward my sisters before fixing on mine again. “I’m never taking it off. I don’t care if it matches what I’m wearing or not.”

  My sisters covered their faces with the frilly throw pillows my mom had on the couch. Weird.

  “Where were you?” I asked, drawing lazy designs on her arm.

  “I walked outside with Chris.” She laid her head on my shoulder. “We were talking about work.”

  Madison’s body sank into my chest in a soft and delicate way as my arms possessively circled around her waist. I could feel her heart beating against mine, and everything was right with the world. When I closed my eyes, I breathed in the sweet scent of the Chanel Chance perfume I’d given her, and my lip pulled to the side in contentment.

  Languidly, her arms wrapped around my shoulders, almost like she was clutching me in a non-clingy way. Just like her eyes, the way her body moved against mine said a lot. I wasn’t fully fluent in Madison’s body language yet, but this one told me she needed me to love her. Not so long ago, I’d wanted to wrap my hands around her neck and watch the life drain slowly from her eyes. I’d hated her so goddamn much. Right now, my arms instinctively responded to her by tightening their grip.

  “I have you, babe,” I said tenderly, kissing her head.

  There was more going on here than I could figure out at the moment.

  “Are we ready?” she asked, standing up.

  Her blonde hair fell softly in natural waves along her chest. I had to find out why the fuck that cocksucker, Bruce, had had a curling iron and had been touching her. Her lips had a seductive pout to them. Anyone looking at her would have seen a beautiful, confident, and strong woman who was sexy as hell, but I wasn’t anyone. Her eyes gave her away every single fucking time.

  For some reason or another, I knew this wasn’t the time or place. I took her hand and stood with a puffed up chest when I realized this monumental milestone. Pride ran through my body, and I nodded my head, impressed with myself. I
had finally figured out how to be mature about things. I was in fact that man everyone knew I could be. I had arrived—thanks, of course, to Madison—and life was fucking perfect.

  Chapter 30

  Madison

  “So, are you going to tell me what happened with my sisters?” he asked as we left his parents’ house and headed toward my place.

  I let out a small breath and closed my eyes for a moment. How did he find out? I hadn’t said anything to him, and I’d had no intentions of bringing it up. There was no point, and this wasn’t a hill I cared to die on. They were his sisters. To Rick, family was everything. Not only that, but I hated drama, and I refused to ruin his night with their petty bullshit.

  I licked my lips and shifted in my seat. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He cocked his head and raised an eyebrow in what looked like doubt.

  I reached over and ran the back of my hand along his face in assurance. “There’s nothing to tell.”

  He leaned his unshaven face into my palm. “I’ll just ask Chris why he sent me a fucked-up text, then. If it wasn’t for my mom, I would have eaten them alive.”

  “And why is that?” I chuckled softly at his bravado.

  I’d become so accustomed to picking and fighting my own battles that Rick’s reactions to these situations were a pleasant surprise, especially coming from him. He took my hand and brought it to his mouth, brushing his lips over my knuckles. I shifted my gaze, trying in vain to suppress the warm blush crept up my neck.

  God, I love it when he does that.

  “It’s this irrational thing.” He rocked his head from side to side. “Even more so than my usual behavior. Not my impulsive bullshit that you accuse me of, which I think is an exaggeration on your part.” He nipped the tips of my fingers with his teeth. “I don’t want anyone to hurt you. If I think someone is messing with you or keeping me from you, I’ll go fucking insane.” The car rolled to a stop at a red light. “It’s who I am. Someone fucks with you, they fuck with me. I don’t care if they’re my sisters. They know better.”

  “You’re sweet,” I said quietly, unsure of how I felt about his overprotectiveness. I looked out the passenger window at the flickering red taillights of the cars ahead of us. “While I love it when you get protective, I’m not a victim. I can take care of myself.” I tucked my hair behind my ear and leaned my head against the glass. “If there was anything I needed to address, you know very well that I would have.”

  “You would’ve made them cry. I know that.” He drove forward into the Miami nightlife traffic on US 1.

  My eyes darted at the hand that he’d just laid on my lap, and then I quickly turned my gaze back to the cars we were passing. I didn’t do attachments. It was how it had to be. I didn’t do boyfriends either. Love was an illusion. I lived by that philosophy. I believed it. Even before Jonathan, I’d been jaded about the concept of love. That was the life lesson I had learned from my parents. Then, I’d met Rick, and everything had started to change.

  I glanced down to peek if his hand was still on my lap. That had been happening more and more often. His touch would meld with my body, and I would stop feeling him, but the moment he moved away, I’d be immediately aware of his absence. He wasn’t an attachment. He was an appendage, and we were fused together.

  I looked back out. The blur of the lights was hypnotic. My mind went to some of the conversations my grandmother and I’d had when we were in Florida together, walking along the beach, arm in arm. She had told me stories about the magic—how she had met my grandfather and the way she’d felt about him.

  On no particular morning, with the water lapping against our feet as the waves had rolled in and off the shore, she had said, “One day, Madison, you’ll meet him.” She’d placed her hand over my heart. “You’ll tell him all your secrets and let him in. It won’t be perfect, it never is, but you’ll know, Maddy. You’ll just know.”

  “And what if I don’t?” Without fail, I’d lay my head on her shoulder when I would argue her wisdom. “I just might be fine without all the drama that comes with that nonsensical pursuit of false bliss. Nothing personal, but what you and Gramps have doesn’t exist anymore.”

  She’d whimsically laughed and placed a gentle kiss on my head as she had always done in these situations. “Oh, Maddy, I think you enjoy being difficult. Trust me, you’ll just know.”

  She had started repeating herself in those days. She’d hold my face in her hands and tell me to remember her words always. Whether or not I believed her, she would say them over and over again until they were carved in my heart. You’ll know.

  And I did.

  I blinked a few times and came out of my daze. I looked down at his hand on my lap and laid my hand over his. He gave me a sideways glance, and I looked away from him, chewing on my lip to contain my smile.

  “What are you thinking?” he asked, turning his palm over and lacing his fingers with mine.

  “The chocolate mousse,” I answered him nonchalantly. “Was it good?”

  My response was a cop-out, but it wasn’t. I had every intention of telling him everything. The car just wasn’t the place.

  “Eh, it was okay. Chocolate’s overrated.”

  “You’ve got issues.” Insulted, I shifted in my seat. “Chocolate is anything but overrated. Creamy chocolate whipped to perfection and served chilled is a spoonful of nirvana. Overrated, my ass.”

  He shot me a sexy look. “No, your ass is anything but overrated. In fact, I love your ass. I loved the way it looked in your dress when you walked in front of me. I especially loved the way it felt when you rubbed it up against my dick when we were dancing.”

  I can’t argue with that. “True, my ass is amazing.” I raised my chin with a smile of satisfaction. “But let’s set the record straight, it was your very happy dick that was rubbing up against my ass, not the other way around.”

  “Believe whatever you want, but I know, and so does my dick, that you can’t get enough of us.”

  “Your dick has a really big ego,” I said flatly and arched an eyebrow at him. “I’ve always said that your overconfidence would be your downfall.”

  “My dick is really big. Some facts can’t be argued.” He spied me glancing down at his crotch.

  I raised my chin as I looked straight ahead.

  “Yeah, ego? Right.” He laughed.

  I wasn’t complaining, that was for sure, but I refused to stroke his cockiness. Stroking his dick was a different story. That, I liked.

  We were right around the corner from my apartment building when Rick pulled into a gas station.

  “I’ll be right back,” he said.

  “Hurry up. You know I don’t like waiting in the car,” I reminded him as I reached for my purse. “You should have been more organized earlier today and taken care of your responsibilities then.”

  He smirked, turning to me before he got out of the car. “Yes, your highness. I’ll make sure I don’t keep you waiting. In fact, I’m going to make it up to you.” He winked and closed the door behind him.

  I watched him walk into the convenience store as I fumbled for my phone in my purse. Rick had doubted I could go an entire night without checking in with Bruce. I hated he had been right, but I needed to know how things were going on our busiest night of the week—a night I always worked.

  There was too much on the line right now with my career. I still didn’t understand how the powers-that-be, especially Mason, had this an instant change of heart. Before Mason was hell-bent on making sure I never got this opportunity. Then, there was Alex. Why on earth would he try to get in my good graces when he’d been the epitome of vile contempt just weeks ago? Things weren’t adding up. I would be going up to New York in a couple of weeks to meet with Patrick—who now had time for me—Mason, my grandfather, and Alex. The one thing I was certain of was Rick’s reaction. He wasn’t going to like Alex’s involvement in this. Maybe hate was a better word. He’ll come around. He has to…eventuall
y.

  I pushed aside my wallet and felt the envelope. I closed my eyes as my fingers ran along the edges, and then I looked up to see Rick at the counter, paying. I sat still with my hand in my purse and released a deep breath. Tonight was about us. Everything else can wait, so I tucked my purse away.

  When I glanced up, he was strutting to the car. Opening the door, he winked and tossed a bag in the backseat.

  “Miss me?”

  “My life stood still, and I floated in a sea of meaninglessness while you were gone.”

  “Finally! She sees the light!” he teased and put the car in gear. “The sun rises and sets on me, too.”

  “It certainly does,” I said sarcastically.

  He laughed, nudging me.

  Before I knew it, Rick was pulling up to my building. Suddenly, I had an inexplicable empty feeling in the pit of my stomach. I rubbed my trembling hands together.

  Get a grip, Madison. You’re being pathetic and ridiculous.

  “Are you okay?” Rick frowned at me.

  “Why wouldn’t I be?” I flipped down the visor and wiped a smudge of eyeliner.

  He turned my face to his. “You’re beautiful.” He leaned over and kissed the corner of my mouth. “I don’t tell you that enough.”

  “Thank you,” I said in a hushed voice.

  Love. I had thought at one time that I had been in love with Jonathan, but what did I know? No matter how grown-up I thought I was or how wise and insightful I was beyond my years, I was still so naive. I had been right about one thing. My life hadn’t been the same since Jonathan Kingsley walked in and then out of it. For better or for worse, I was who I was in part because of that affair.

  I hadn’t vowed off relationships because of Jonathan. In fact, I hadn’t vowed off anything. That would have been too easy and melodramatic, like some Lifetime movie. Instead, I’d simply refocused my energies. The romantics could have their hearts and flowers. I was a practical, goal-oriented woman. Before Jonathan, I’d wanted Mark’s. After Jonathan, I’d needed Donovan’s.

  But now, I had competing priorities—Rick Marin and Donovan’s—and at that very moment, I held them both in my hands. One, I loved. The other, I needed.