by A. D. Ryan
“Shhh,” she said softly, wrapping her arms around me even tighter. “Do you want to talk about it?”
I shook my head, my breaths becoming more ragged the longer I cried. “I shouldn’t have said anything to begin with,” I sobbed brokenly.
Janet’s hands stilled and she forced me up until she was staring directly into my eyes. “Does this have something to do with Kaylie?” I nodded once—apparently I found it impossible to lie to any member of the Davis family, and I was pretty sure if she asked me specific questions, I’d tell her everything.
“Mom?” Jensen’s low, emotionless voice cut right through my heart, and I closed my eyes tightly, unable to see the look of disappointment on his face. “Can I have a word with Madison?”
Chapter 11. Me and My Big Mouth
This is it, I thought, clutching my hands together tightly in my lap to calm the shaking that had suddenly taken over my entire body.
“Of course, dear.” With a smile, Janet wrapped me in one more hug, and I responded to it by hugging her back—quite possibly tighter than normal because I was afraid it would be the last time. Giving me one more firm squeeze, Janet pulled out of our embrace and stood up before leaving Jensen and me alone.
I turned until I was facing forward again, my eyes focusing on the pavement as I toed at the step my feet were on. Behind me, Jensen huffed before sitting next to me, his body right against mine. “So?” He nudged my shoulder with his, indicating I should start talking.
“It was an accident,” I whispered hoarsely, wiping the tears from my cheeks with the back of my hand. “I’m so sorry. She just … confronted me and started saying all this stuff about me being a phase. I didn’t mean to say anything, I swear.” I dropped my face into my hands. “God, you must hate me.”
“What?” he said, completely shocked, as he grabbed and twisted me to face him. I still couldn’t meet his gaze until he placed his hands on my face and forced my eyes to his. “Madison, I could never hate you.”
“But I—”
Jensen sighed. “Did something I’ve been too chicken-shit to do. I’m not angry with you, baby. I’m angry with myself.”
Feeling relieved that he wasn’t upset with what I had unintentionally done, I threw my arms around his neck. He held me for a long while, occasionally placing a kiss in my hair before he pulled me away from him. “Wait …” I froze. “She said you were a phase?” I nodded slowly before he cupped my face in his hands again. “You know she was just trying to get to you, right?”
“Yeah,” I replied quietly.
“I love you, Madison. I’m not going anywhere.” His eyes held mine as he leaned in to kiss me, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me to him.
Sighing, I tightened my hold around him, hoping that I was able to convey just how much I loved him too. Even though I had accidentally outed Kaylie, he was able to forgive me; I only hoped his sister—
That was when I panicked. “Lilah!” I gasped into his mouth.
Jensen pulled his lips from mine and arched an eyebrow questioningly. “Not exactly the name I expected.”
“Oh, God, she must be so upset.” I pulled out of Jensen’s embrace and folded in on myself again.
Jensen shook his head. “Not with you, love. Mostly with Kaylie … and me.”
“Your parents?” I asked, turning my head to look at him.
He let out a dry laugh, running his hand through his hair. “My father assures me that while they didn’t know with one hundred percent certainty, they suspected something.”
“I still can’t believe I did this,” I whispered.
Jensen stood, pulling me to my feet with him. “From the way Lilah tells it—or rather, how she screamed it—you didn’t say anything that would have slandered Kaylie. She said that before Kaylie said anything about terminating the pregnancy, she thought that maybe I had told you that Kaylie was a bitch—or at the very worst, that she maybe cheated on me.”
What he said confused me for a moment because that wasn’t how I remembered it—at all. Quickly thinking back on everything that was said between Kaylie and I, I realized that he was right. I was elated that I hadn’t been the one to break the news by sticking my foot in my mouth—as I was so prone to doing ninety-nine percent of the time—but I still felt partially responsible.
“You still seem upset, love.” Jensen stopped me once we were back inside the hotel and looked down at me.
“I should have just walked away from her. I shouldn’t have said anything at all. Even if I wasn’t the one to out her, I engaged her. You should be furious with me,” I told him.
Jensen shook his head adamantly. “Nope. I’m not. While I’ll admit, the timing wasn’t exactly ideal; I can’t say I regret that they all know now. I only wish I’d have manned up when we first ended things. I could have avoided this altogether.”
He wrapped his arm around me. “Come on. Don’t worry yourself over everyone being upset. They’re not. I promise.” His words fell flat the instant we were outside the restaurant and could hear the violent shouts coming from within.
“You were my best friend!” Lilah shouted. “I comforted you after you and Jensen broke off the engagement, consoled you while he was away … And the whole time you were keeping something like this from me?”
Even as we pushed the doors open, we couldn’t see them, but I still tensed. Jensen tightened his grip around my waist protectively. From the sounds of it, Kaylie and Lilah were still near the washrooms off to the left, but there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that everyone in the restaurant could hear their heated discussion.
“It was nobody’s business, Lilah!” Kaylie rebutted, garnering a very unladylike snort of disagreement from Lilah. “I have a right to decide what I do with my body.”
“Nobody’s business?” she cried. “Nobody’s fucking business? What about Jensen’s right? That was his child, too. He deserved to have a say, regardless of his situation at the time!” Lilah let out a frustrated cry before there was a deafening pause. “You know what?” Her voice was surprisingly calm when she continued after a few beats of silence. “I’m not going to continue this discussion here. Or anywhere, for that matter. As far as I’m concerned, you are no longer my friend. Don’t call. Don’t email. Just don’t try to contact me at all, because I won’t respond. You are dead to me.”
Lilah emerged from the little hall near the washrooms, and I froze, unsure what to expect from her if she was that angry with Kaylie. I gripped the back of Jensen’s shirt and tried to prepare for the worst.
She glanced quickly at us and forced a smile on her face. “Let’s get back to brunch, shall we?”
“Lilah—” Jensen started to say before she cut him off with a sharp glare.
“No. I’m not going to get into this any further. We’ll talk—at length—afterward.” And with that, Lilah breezed by us and rejoined the table.
To say the rest of our meal was awkward was an understatement; there may as well have been a large pink elephant sitting in the empty chair across from me. Everyone glanced at the empty spot at least twice, but no one addressed it.
“So,” Gavin said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. God bless him. “Where are you guys going on your honeymoon?”
I looked across the table, being sure to avoid the empty seat, and looked at Lilah and Kyle. Kyle genuinely smiled and wrapped an arm around Lilah, who still seemed a little upset but kept her game face on. “Greece, actually,” he said, squeezing his new wife to his side before releasing her. Our plane leaves tonight.”
For the remainder of the meal, everyone at the table talked while I pushed my cold pancakes around on my plate. Jensen’s hand on my thigh brought me out of my silent funk, and I turned to him with a small smile.
“Not hungry, love?” he asked softly.
I shook my head and set my fork down. “Not really.”
After everyone finished eating, we stood, saying our goodbyes to those that were leaving the hotel to head home. As I stood t
o the side while the Davises and the Lewises spoke, Kyle approached me and wrapped one of his massive arms around me.
“You know that what happened wasn’t your fault, right?” he said under his breath, and I looked up at him with wide eyes. “She won’t be upset with you. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that this will bring you two closer.” He offered me a dimpled grin and a wink. “Trust me.”
“Thanks, Kyle.”
Giving me one last hug before he pulled away. “Anytime. Keep your chin up, Madikins.”
Jensen was back by my side soon enough, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “Should we go and grab our things before we get charged an extra night?”
“Sure,” I told him with a smile.
We had both just turned to leave when Lilah appeared in front of us. “Wait,” she said, her eyes moving back and forth between us both. “Can we talk?”
Inhaling deeply, Jensen nodded. “Yeah.” He turned to me. “Why don’t you go on up to the room?”
I just started to pull away when Lilah spoke up again. “No. Madison should stay. I mean, if not for her, none of this would have come out.”
Ouch.
Lilah must have realized the impact of her words, because her eyes widened with remorse. “Oh, no. That’s not how I meant it at all. I’m glad I know. Yeah, it sucks, but I’m glad.”
Lilah led Jensen and I back to the table, and we sat there for a moment until their parents and Kyle joined us. Once again, we sat in maddening silence, waiting for someone to begin. Thankfully Lilah was that person.
“So, spill it, Jensen.”
“What’s there to say that you don’t already know?” he replied, leaning on the table and clasping his hands in front of him. “Kaylie aborted the pregnancy when I went to prison. She told me, and then I never heard from her again.”
I looked around the table to see that Henry and Janet both seemed unfazed by this news while Lilah and Kyle looked as though they were hearing it for the first time. Lilah sat with her arms crossed over her body, her hard eyes steeled on Jensen as he fidgeted very uncharacteristically and Kyle’s brows were knit together as he absorbed everything.
“Right,” Lilah continued. “But why didn’t you tell us? We’re your family, Jensen. God! I had her in my wedding party. She’s in my pho—” A look of revelation flashed in Lilah’s eyes as she turned to find me smiling both apologetically and sheepishly. “This is why you suggested the change in some of the pictures.”
I shrugged. “I just wanted to make sure it was still a day you could look back on fondly. I didn’t want to interfere. Really.”
“No. Thank you.” Lilah’s eyes flashed back to Jensen. “Back to you.”
Nodding, Jensen continued. “After Robert …” Lilah’s eyes widened with what looked like paranoia as she looked between Jensen and me. “Well, you only really hung out with Kaylie. The two of you had gotten so close. I guess I just didn’t want to add any more stress to your life.”
“Okay,” Lilah replied slowly.
“I understand why you felt you had to keep it to yourself, darling,” Janet interjected. “But, you shouldn’t have had to bear that burden alone. We would have found a way to deal with everything.”
“I know. I know. I’m sorry. I really thought it was better this way,” he agreed in frustration, fisting his hair in his hands. For the first time since the incident, I found myself comforting Jensen in his time of need by running my hand up and down his back.
“Look,” Henry said, speaking up for the first time. “We’re not angry—” Lilah snorted her disagreement. “Lilah …” he warned.
She rolled her eyes before letting her hands fall to her lap. “Fine. I’m not mad. Just hurt that you felt you had to keep this from me. I never would have helped her through the breakup—especially knowing she likely didn’t care for you if she was capable of doing something so abhorrent.”
“You’re right, and I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you, Lilah.” He raised his eyes to her and smiled. “I promise I’ll never keep anything like that from you again.”
Even though I knew his comment wasn’t about me, there was a part of me that wanted to smack him and feel offended that he’d even think there was a possibility of something similar happening again.
Realizing the same thing, Jensen turned to me with an apologetic look in his eyes. “Shit. I didn’t mean to imply—”
I cut him off. “It’s fine,” I assured him weakly.
We sat there for a few more minutes while Lilah asked a few more questions which Jensen answered willingly. It wasn’t any easier to hear the second time around. I hated to see him so hurt over what Kaylie had done to him, and I vowed in that moment to never cause him the kind of pain that she had.
Eventually, Lilah and Jensen found their way back to a good place. It still upset her that he kept something so huge to himself, but she understood. We’d been sitting there for an extra two hours, and it wasn’t until Henry alerted us of the time that we decided we should grab our luggage.
Once back inside our room, I did one more quick check of the washroom for anything we may have forgotten in the shower before returning to the bedroom. Jensen was seated on the end of the bed with his head in his hands.
“Hey,” I said softly, stopping in front of him as he sulked. “You okay?”
Raising his head and moving his hands to encircle my waist, he looked up at me. “I think so. It’s just been an … intense morning.”
Still remorseful because I couldn’t apologize enough for today, I ran my fingers through his hair. His head rolled back, eyes closing as I used varying pressure on his scalp to try and soothe him. “Are you still up to going to Willow and Brandon’s for dinner? We don’t have to.” I wanted to go—more than words could express, but if Jensen wasn’t feeling up to it after this afternoon, I wasn’t going to push it.
When his eyes met mine, I knew his answer. “Would you be upset? I’m just … drained.” His fingers tightened on my hips.
I forced a smile. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t mildly disappointed, but I understood. “It’s fine. Willow will understand. We’ll plan for another time.”
“I’m sorry, love.”
I shook my head. “No. It’s fine.” I moved to turn around so I could finish checking the room for our belongings when Jensen pulled me back until I fell into his lap.
“Hey. You forgot something.” With a smirk, he pressed his lips to mine and kissed me softly. I was hesitant at first, considering everything that had happened, but just like every other time we were in close proximity, I was quickly dazzled. Putting everything I had into the kiss, I placed my right hand on his neck as our mouths slowly moved together, and I sighed into his slightly open mouth.
Jensen fell back onto the bed, taking me with him, before I propped myself up and broke the kiss. It wasn’t often I stopped things from progressing—okay, so it was never me who stopped things from progressing—but I knew one of us had to. “Um, I think your dad would prefer to not be charged for another night. We should pack up and get going.”
“Are you turning me down?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow.
I kissed him chastely on the lips and giggled. “I guess I am. But only because I’m trying to save your dad another four-hundred dollars here.”
Jensen and I wandered through the room, checking and double-checking that we got all of our belongings before he took our bags and led the way to the elevator.
Chapter 12. Home, Sweet … Intercepted
“It’s good to be home,” I announced, pushing the door open and walking through. The drive back from Memphis was better than I thought it would be; it was almost as though the events of that morning had never happened.
Willow was a little disappointed that we couldn’t go for dinner, but after I explained everything, she understood, and we made plans to get together another time. Jensen couldn’t apologize enough.
I heard our bags drop to the floor behind me before strong arms encircled my wai
st and soft lips were on my neck. “Mmm hmm,” Jensen hummed, the sound vibrating against my skin.
My entire body tingled with every pass his lips made over my neck. When his fingers snuck beneath the hem of my shirt and started trailing along my stomach, I shivered and turned quickly to plant my lips on his. The way his hands moved up my body, occasionally curling his fingers into my skin, had me sighing. My entire body was set aflame as his hands continued upward, stopping only once he found my breasts. I was starting to think he was obsessed with them. Unable to take it anymore, I quickly reached for the bottom of his shirt and started to tug it off of him.
Just as Jensen released my chest so I could pull his shirt off and have my way with him, there was a knock at the door. There had to be some kind of law that stated we were to be interrupted every single time we rounded second base in this house. And, if there was, I wanted it overturned. Stat.
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who it was without opening the door. My father always had impeccable timing.
“Welcome home,” I groaned quietly, effectively ending our kiss. “Would you mind taking the bags to our rooms? I’ll see what my father wants.”
“Sure.” He leaned down and brushed his lips over mine and along my jaw, the scruff on his face scratching my cheek until he stopped at my ear and whispered, “Don’t take too long.”
My entire body quivered as he moved around me with our bags. It may have taken me a minute to come to my senses as the heat from his smoldering eyes lingered, rendering me frozen. Another knock snapped me out of my trance, and I stepped forward to open the door.
“Hey, kiddo,” Dad greeted with a big grin. “I saw you guys pull up, and I just wanted to see how your weekend was.”
I narrowed my eyes playfully. “Dad, did you miss me?” I teased.
With a laugh, he shrugged. “I guess you could put it that way.” He cleared his throat nervously. “I also just wanted to let you know that you should feel free to sleep in a bit. We can handle the barn tomorrow morning.”