She let her eyes close and sink down again. At the same moment the tension inside of her broke. Her orgasm started somewhere deep inside of her and rose to a crescendo. Every fiber of her body felt as though it were vibrating.
While she tensed and stilled, Jayden never stopped. He thrust up into her, all while stroking and touching, drawing the moment out longer.
“Fuck, Brandi.” Jayden groaned, the sound laced with frustration.
She wanted to do something about it, but she couldn’t. No part of her was in control of her body. Not right now.
Jayden thrust up and wrapped his arms around her. He turned, taking her with him, and laid her down on the sofa with him over her. The leather was cool against her heated skin. He braced one hand at her waist, the other above her head, and stared down at her.
He was her whole world. Everything precious to her right now.
Jayden thrust. Brandi gasped as her too sensitive body protested. She bit the inside of her mouth and held onto him as he moved over her in frenzied motions chasing his own release. She clutched him close and felt more of her walls come down.
There was no logical reason for this relationship to work, and yet she wanted it to.
“Brandi—” The rest of his words were garbled.
His body tensed and he rocked into her. She wrapped her arms and legs around them, clutching him close as he gasped his release and slumped against her.
What the hell had she gotten herself into?
Day 7: Saturday
Jayden’s nerves were strung tight. Just listening to the bacon pop was enough to put him over the edge.
Last he’d checked, Brandi was still asleep.
They hadn’t spoken much last night after curling up in bed.
He hadn’t wanted to break the perfect little bubble they’d created with words. And she’d seemed content to soak up the quiet. It had been nice to lie in silence, holding someone doing the same.
Unfortunately, his eyes had popped open at his usual time and there was no silencing his need to be up and doing something.
When he’d been little, this was the time he normally had to himself. At first, he’d gotten to play with whatever toy or video game normally had to be shared. Sometimes it was TV. As a teen, though in the Fullilove house, he’d begun spending that with Mom.
There was a natural order to Mom’s kitchen, and everyone was expected to help. So, Jayden had become master of everything breakfast. Mom had taught him her secrets, showing him how to get the perfect crisp on hash browns or how to make sure everything was finished at exactly the same second. He’d done a lot of dishes through the years. He didn’t regret a single one of them.
Though he should have probably learned his lesson by now about wearing a shirt when cooking bacon. Namely that he should be wearing one.
Another loud pop. He flinched and somehow remained unscathed.
Jayden glanced at the clock.
Almost nine.
How did people sleep so late?
He’d already done five miles on his stationary bike, showered and started laundry before cooking the real breakfast.
Was Brandi one of those people who slept in? Had he made a mistake?
He surveyed the almost done food with a grimace.
Waking her up was off the table. Too bad breakfast was the one meal where nothing tasted right reheated.
Jayden reduced the heat on the pans, then bolted across the living room. He tip-toed down the hall, his ears picking up sound he hadn’t been able to hear over cooking.
He peered into the bedroom. The windows were still drawn with the blackout curtains shutting out all signs of outside life. But the TV was on whatever passed for early morning cartoons these days.
Brandi was still burrowed into the bed, comforter wrapped around and over her like a cocoon.
He smothered a laugh and crept back the way he’d come.
Okay, so she was awake whether she wanted to be or not. Which likely meant she could stand to eat as well.
Jayden returned to the kitchen with new excitement. He was plating food when he realized his cheeks were hurting from grinning so hard.
Grinning?
He was fairly certain that before Brandi he hadn’t smiled half as much. There was just something about her. She was funny without trying to be. She brightened his day. And he wanted to do that for her. Somehow she had to want what he could offer outside of great sex as much as he wanted to give it.
Sex was fine. Intimacy like that was a human need. He’d be lying if he didn’t admit that he got as much pleasure out of sex as she did. But it was just one aspect of life. And he wanted to share it all.
Jayden piled a decorative tray with plates before realizing there was no way to move it all in one trip.
Best laid plans...
He carried the tray as carefully as he could through the condo and to the bedroom.
“Morning,” he called out.
The lump of human shifted and he saw dark hair and a pair of eyes squint at him.
“Does it have to be?” Brandi asked in a pitiful voice.
He chuckled and opted to settle the tray on his nightstand for now. “Only if you want to eat.”
Brandi’s gaze slid sideways to the food. She seemed to consider it. “Fine. You win.”
“Coffee? Tea? I think I have some OJ that’s still good.”
“Whatever you are having is lovely.”
He nodded and made the quick trip back to the kitchen for coffee and mugs. By the time he got back, Brandi was sitting up with the curtains drawn back. She wore one of his T-shirts where she hadn’t had a stitch on last he’d been in bed.
“Are you a hockey fan?” he asked.
She glanced down at the NHL T-shirt. “I know next to nothing about it. You?”
“It was free.”
Brandi tipped her head back and laughed. “You’re speaking my language.”
“Well, I hope you’re hungry.”
She took both the mugs and carafe from him. “You wore me out. What do you think?”
Jayden’s mind seemed to freeze, capturing a throwaway glance from her mixed with a smirk and those words. She said things that hit hard so casually. There was admiration and hunger of two kinds in the way she looked at him.
Was that different from how she’d looked at him yesterday? Was this progress?
While his mind was stuck, his body wasn’t.
He passed her a plate and took his coffee from her. They both settled on the bed.
“I am so nervous right now,” she muttered.
“Why?”
Brandi gaped at him for half a second. “White sheets. White comforter. Now mix in food?”
He shrugged. “It can be washed.”
“But what about stains? Grease?” She pushed the comforter down and placed her plate on her thighs.
“Then they’re memories.”
“I find it very hard to believe that someone so uptight as you wouldn’t care about a stain.”
He winked at her. “I know the secret to getting stains out.”
She arched a brow at him. “Do you? Are you sharing?”
He shook his head. “Family secret.”
“No fun.” She set the remote next to him. “Here. I just put on something I recognized.”
He winked at her. “None of your shows are on?”
She stuck out her tongue at him. “No.”
Jayden ignored the remote, opting to leave it on the cartoons. It was a newer show. He was vaguely familiar with it from having watched some with a much younger boy who had only been with Mom and Dad for a few weeks.
“I’m going to email my boss my decision today,” Brandi announced.
“Yeah? That’s good, right?”
She nodded.
“You’re going to do a lateral shift still?”
“Sort of. It’ll be complicated for a while until we hire two new people and they are trained, so for now I’m still doing three jobs.” She waved her
fork over her plate. “Let me guess, Mom taught you how to cook?”
Jayden nodded.
Brandi shook her head. “These are the skills you should lead with. I’m task oriented and can cook.”
“You think that’s what women are really after?” Though he only cared about what she thought.
“Yup. Someone who does what they say they’ll do who can also cook? That’s two huge selling points.”
“So, do those sell you?”
Brandi regarded him out of the corner of her eye as she chewed a piece of bacon.
It wasn’t an unrestrained yes from her, but she wasn’t saying no either.
They ate for a few moments in an awkward silence.
She wasn’t sold. They’d had fun together. They spent hours together saying nothing or everything. In bed they were fire. But he wasn’t enough.
“I’m really torn,” she finally said.
“How do you mean?” He prayed she would tell him. Really tell him. Give him something to do, some way to prove it to her.
“I mean, when it’s just us, we have a lot of fun. I can see this going somewhere. But then I look at it in the frame of my life and...” She lifted a shoulder. “It’s hard to see it lasting. There will be awkwardness and hurt feelings from Nicole. I’m super busy. You have this list of goals for yourself—”
“I’m not operating on a time table.”
“Yeah, it’s just hard to see a version of this where things don’t fizzle out. And that feels like the wrong ending.”
“So you, what? Want to end it now? Go out with a bang?”
Brandi frowned at her half-eaten plate of food. “No. No, that’s not what I want to do. Ug. I don’t have an answer for you. I just...”
Jayden reached over and took her hand. He couldn’t force this. Either he waited her out and showed her, or she chose to not take the risk.
“Do you intend to tell Nicole about this week regardless of what happens between us?”
One side of her mouth screwed up. “Yes. We don’t do secrets.”
“Then tell her.”
Brandi sighed and looked at him. Lines marred her brow and it was clear she was worried. “I’m going to have to. She got home early this morning and has already blown up my phone wondering where I’m at.”
“Did something happen?”
“Not that I’m aware of, but she hasn’t talked to me a whole lot the last few days. I know she’s really stressed about the class.” Brandi bit her lower lip.
“And?”
She rolled her eyes. “She might have thought one of her classmates was cute and told me about it, then flirted with him.”
“And you think something happened?”
“I don’t know what to think.” She peered sideways at him. “Before you, I was starting to wonder if Nicole would be happy as a nun. I was starting to wonder, is she asexual? Non-binary? Would she even realize it if she weren’t or be open to it? Whatever the answer is, I don’t care. I just want her to be happy.”
Jayden paused, chewing at that comment. A nun? Nicole had come off as very reserved, yet full of life. Was there more to it?
Regardless, he was fairly certain his plan to keep Brandi in bed all day was going to fail before it had even launched.
“It’s really nice how close you two are. Let’s eat so I can get you home,” he said instead.
Brandi studied him a moment. “You’re taking all of this rather well.”
He stared right back at her. “Isn’t that the point though? You throw problems out and see what my reaction is.”
Her gaze dropped to her plate.
Jayden could recall a time when he’d done something similar. Only he’d put his parents through it then. Always ready for them to send them off. Always ready for a smack or harsh word. And no matter how many times Jayden or Asher pushed the boundary, they were met by love.
He’d had time to heal. Time to grow.
Despite Brandi’s outward strength, deep down she was still healing.
“You lost your family in a painful way. It left a wound inside of you. Nicole is your family now, but that kind of healing takes a while. The family you have now isn’t a perfect fit for what you lost, either. Healing on that level takes a lot of time. Any man who wants to be part of your life is going to have to understand that. I’ve been there. I know that pain. And I’ve walked that road. Maybe that’s why I see potential? Because I’m further down that path than you are?” And maybe he could make it easier for her.
Anything was better than nothing.
BRANDI GLANCED AROUND the bedroom.
This place represented Jayden in every facet.
Soft gray walls. Bold black furniture. Stark white linens.
He was so neat and orderly. She was glad she hadn’t seen his place before now. After getting to know him and listen to what he was and was not saying, she saw this condo for what it really was.
A trophy.
He’d done it. He’d survived and he’d flourished. And now he had this pristine palace to call home while he celebrated that achievement.
“Forget something?”
Brandi turned her head to look at Jayden standing at the end of the short hall. “Nope. I’m ready.”
She still had no idea what she’d tell Nicole or how they’d get into it about Jayden. Brandi just hoped her gut was right and that Nicole really had no interest in Jayden. The truth was, at this point Brandi couldn’t walk back her feelings.
“Hey?” Jayden braced his hand on the wall, casually blocking her path.
“Hm?”
“Do you have plans tomorrow night?”
“Not that I’m aware of,” she said slowly.
“Would you care to swing by my parent’s place and have dinner? It’s a casual, weekly thing. No pressure.”
Inside, she locked up. Meet his family? Already?
“I don’t think so,” she managed to get out while sounding thoughtful. Or at least what she hoped passed for thoughtful.
“You don’t have to decide right now.” He held his hands up. “Just think about it.”
“The answer will still be no.”
Meeting family was serious.
She wasn’t ready for serious. She still didn’t know if she could do this at all.
Of all the times for a remotely decent man to step into her life. Why did it have to be now?
There was no groundbreaking reason why now wasn’t a good time. She was just sick of distractions and wanted to get beyond whatever this next hill in life was.
But wasn’t this what life was about? Making plans and adjusting to the unexpected reality.
“Okay, well, keep it in the back of your mind. There are lots of other Sundays,” he said.
And her answer would still be no.
Instead of getting caught up on TV, she’d spent time planning out her next moves. How to turn working for an engineer into being an engineer. That didn’t leave a lot of time for a love life. Especially with a man set on having a house, wife and kids. She didn’t know when or if those things were in the cards for her.
“Well, are you ready?” he asked.
“Actually.” She reached out and placed her hands on his chest. “I want to take a cab home. On the off chance Nicole recognizes your car or sees you... I’d rather start the conversation the right way instead of fighting my way out of the wrong end.”
Jayden frowned, just like she knew he would. She saw the struggle on his face and knew he wanted to squeeze out a few more minutes with her. She did, too. Which was the other reason she wanted to part ways faster. Because she found herself wanting to find those reasons to be around him, too.
“Okay,” he said with a sad smile.
Despite knowing it was the best way to leave things, Brandi didn’t like it. And she didn’t like it anymore as her taxi pulled up to the duplex half an hour later.
Brandi collected her things, paid the driver and got out. She was grateful to her past self for thinking to have flat
s in her purse. Plus, she could just wear the tank top and not her sheer over shirt and she almost didn’t look like she was coming home after a night out.
Almost.
There was no hiding her hair or that she’d slept in a full face of make-up.
She mentally prepared herself on the short walk up to the front door. Before she could unlock it, Nicole whisked the door open.
Sure enough, her shoulder-length blonde hair was curled and she wore a deceptively casual sweatshirt with a white button down under it, skinny jeans and gold glittery flats that went awfully well with the ridiculously long, gold tasseled necklace.
“Hey, where have you been? I was worried,” Nicole said.
Brandi swatted at the necklace, making the tassel sway. “That’s where my necklace went, huh?”
Nicole caught the necklace and did that cute-cringe thing only she could pull off. “Sorry, it just goes so well with these shoes.”
“Right. The shoes.” Brandi crowded her roommate back and got the door shut.
Almost immediately Nicole launched herself at Brandi and wrapped her in a tight hug.
“I missed you,” Nicole proclaimed.
Brandi inhaled the sweet vanilla fragrance she would always associate with Nicole. It was sugar cookies and cozy nights. Sneaking cold drinks out during the heat of the day. She was family.
“I missed you, too. Did you pass the test?” Brandi asked.
“I don’t know yet.” Nicole let go of her. “The automated emails have started going out though, so...soon. Where were you?”
This was it.
It was time to come clean.
Brandi opened her mouth, unsure how to start or what to say. Everything she’d come up with on the drive over had sounded stupid.
Nicole’s phone chimed from across the room. Her head whipped around and she scrambled toward the device.
Brandi blew out a breath and said a silent prayer of thanks for the momentary respite.
“Well?” She stepped out of her shoes and put her bag down by the door.
Nicole’s face went...odd. It was confusion mixed with sadness and other things.
“What is it?” Brandi asked.
“That guy from my class?” Nicole shook her head.
“Yeah?” Now this Brandi did want to hear. “You never told me how that went.”
The Wrong Perfect Match (Fullilove in the House Book 1) Page 16