Forever Together (Forever Love #2)

by Jade Whitfield

  The whole table bursts out laughing. Liv rolls her eyes, her head leaning on Noah’s shoulder but even she’s smiling.

  "You guys are fucking idiots." She shakes her head.

  "Hey, serves that fucker right, yeah Tuck?" Brady cheers, high five-ing Tucker.

  "Hell yeah, shouldn’t have acted all hoity toity and like I was some white trash. Did you see his face?"

  "Man, you two need to get a life." Noah stands up from his seat leaving a pouting Liv behind. "Who wants another drink?"

  "I will in a sec. I need to find my Mom." I say, looking around the yard. I haven’t seen her in forever. She seemed a little tipsy last time I laid eyes on her. She was nattering on in Rachel’s ear while stroking a table cloth.

  "Um Cinders, I don’t think you're gonna find her." Brady purses his lips but his eyes are dancing with amusement.

  "What, why?" I frown.

  "Because I’m pretty sure I saw your Dad and Luke carrying her into the house like an hour ago. I think she had to go lay down." He snickers. "She was singing about going to Ibiza whatever the fuck that means. She got a vacation booked?"

  I groan. She actually sung her signature drunk song in the middle of this classy party? My Mom doesn’t make a habit of drinking. I think I've only ever seen her drunk like three times in my entire life. Unfortunately, those were times when I so didn’t wanna see her like it. Namely, Luke’s graduation, which started as a sobbing fest and ended with her doing the rumba and my graduation which started much the same way and ended with her attempting to do the limbo with an uncomfortable Aiden and Brady holding either end of a scarf she forced them to hold straight while she shook her shoulders under it. The latest humiliation was Christmas when Brady and my Dad had to somehow wrestle her to bed when she started throwing flour around and s creaming that aying it was snowing.

  Me and my brothers and sisters definitely won’t let her forget this. Oh no, not the way she hounds us about binge drinking. Pot kettle anyone?

  "So you want a drink, Cinders?" Brady asks, standing up to join Noah.

  "Sure." I sigh, shoving all thoughts of my drunk ass mother down for now.

  Him and Noah leave the table, leaving just me, Liv and Tucker, who's looking pretty uncomfortable.

  "Yeah, I think I’m gonna go with them too." Tuckers adds. "Because you know, you two are chicks and you might start talking about tampons and shit. I get too much pussy to have that thought in my head."

  "You’re a pig." Both Liv and I chime, each throwing the nearest thing at Tucker's head.

  "Just saying the truth ladies." He walks backwards, his hands up in surrender.

  "Yo, Tucker get your ass over here and explain to Noah how Megan Fox was way better than Rosie whatever-the-fuck-she’s-called in Transformers!"

  This time, Liv and I both roll our eyes.

  "Men!" She says, throwing her hands up in the air.

  "Well, you're gonna be tied to one for life soon." I smirk.

  "Yeah." Envy shoots through me at the smile on her face. That just makes me feel like crap. "Part of me wants to jump for joy because it’s totally fucking awesome. That’s the grown up Liv. Childish Liv wants to hide under the bed in case she catches cooties."

  "You sound like Bailey. Actually no, you sound like Avery." I laugh

  "Well then you got some pretty kickass sisters, huh? You can keep them though. If I had sisters I'd have probably strangled them. Too much drama."

  Definitely too much drama. I don’t know how I haven’t strangled one of them over the years, especially Bailey. Though the way she acted earlier when she was concerned over Brian makes me wonder if she’s not so bad after all.

  Brady, Noah, and Tucker return to the table, each with flutes of champagne in their hands.

  "Miss me Cinders?" Brady smiles, handing me a glass. I straight away take a gulp, the fizzle and bubbles running down my throat. "Hey, I was thinking we could get outta here."

  "What about the fireworks? They’re gonna be on soon." I say all out of breath from the drinking.

  "We'll be back in time for the fireworks. We're not gonna be long. I just wanna take you somewhere quickly."

  I look at him for a few seconds debating whether or not this is a good idea. What harm could it do though? It’s not like I’m with a stranger, although Brady's probably much more dangerous to me than any axe murderer or crazy psycho.

  "What about everyone else?"

  "They'll stay here. Like I said, we won’t be long."

  "Can I finish my drink first?"

  "You can bring it with you if you want. Though if you’re gonna get drunk and shit at least wait till I can get you out the truck before you go jumping out." He grins. H h e’s got no worries. No way am I going through that embarrassment again.

  "Ok." I nod, gripping my champagne and standing up.

  ***

  "Where are we?" I ask, looking out of the window of Brady’s truck.

  When he said he wanted to take me some place, I thought we'd be walking there. It seems our destination was a little further than I expected. As the truck finally parks up in the middle of nowhere, Brady stays silent.

  I sit in the warm leather seat, mirroring him, not sure exactly what’s going on. All I can see outside are trees, hundreds and hundreds of trees in all kinds of twisted shapes.

  "We're here." He says, shooting me a panty dropping smile that has my stomach doing somersaults.

  He throws the driver’s side door open and hops out while I unclip my seatbelt. Just as I reach for the door handle, it’s pulled open and my wrist is gripped in Brady’s hand.

  "Woah!" I squeal as I’m pulled out right into his waiting arms.

  "Now, what is it I've always told ya huh? I'll always catch you." Brady’s deep voice rolls over me, goosebumps raising on my skin at the heat it seems to send through my body.

  Once I've pulled myself together, I take in our surroundings. The sun is setting, bathing the sky in a warm orange glow. It’s my favorite time of day, when the sky is covered in all those Autumn colors no matter the season and the air starts to get a little cooler. This is Georgia, southern Georgia no less, so any air that doesn’t hit you like it’s being blown out of a furnace is a good thing.

  "Are we in a field?" I frown, looking at my feet where my heels have sunk into the ground that has little tufts of grass poking through the earth.

  "Not just any field Cinders."

  "A really muddy field." I lift my foot up to see the heel caked in mud. Looks like that’s another shoe for the dumpster.

  "Look around." He whispers near my neck. I scrunch my shoulder up at the sensation of his breath tickling my skin.

  I do as he says, trying to look around despite almost being buried in Brady’s body. I squint my eyes as if I'll suddenly recognize where we are. I pull away out of Brady 's arms and spin around, taking in the twisted trees covered in green leaves in all different shades.

  "It looks a little different because it’s summer." Brady explains. "Plus, it has been a while."

  The smile on Brady’s face, as if I should know exactly where we are, is starting to make me nervous and kinda guilty.

  "I don’t-" My voice trails off on Brady’s next words, right near my ear.

  "You're the most beautiful girl in the world Cindy Martin. One day I’m gonna make you my wife. I've waited too long, watched you for too long not to tell you exactly how I feel."

  I gasp loudly and spin around.

  "I... You... FUCK!" I curse. My eyes are wide and my cheeks feel hot. My smug looking ex stands in front of me, a grin on his face as if he knows he's struck me completely speechless. "What?... How?" I splutter.

  "I know I’m an idiot Cinders, but did you seriously think I'd forget that?"

  "Even I forgot it." My voice comes out impossibly high as I turn around again, taking everything in with new eyes.

  "You forgot our first date?" His eyebrows are nearly at his hairline but the smirk on his face tells me he’s not pissed.

/>   "Of course I didn’t forget. It was years ago though. It looks so different here now."

  It does look different. Back then, the branches of the trees were almost bare and the ground was littered with orange and yellow leaves. The mud under our feet was yellow grass, the sun having dried it out from beaming down on it all Summer long.

  We'd been to a diner just outside of town, Deb's Diner it was called. The name was a mystery considering it was owned and run by some middle aged guy called Bubba. It was sixties style with red leather booths and aluminum tables. It even had one of those old school jukeboxes that played all the classics like Elvis and Dusty Springfield. The diner was notorious for being one of the worst places to eat any kind of cooked food in Georgia. You could catch food poisoning just from looking at one of their greasy burgers. Their cheesecake though? That was notorious for an entirely different reason. Damn, my mouth waters just thinking about the biscuit base that melted in your mouth.

  After our date where we spent the whole time making moony eyes at each other and giggling over our Chocolate milkshakes, Brady brought me here. It was almost sunset then too. The sky matched the ground, the oranges and reds covering the landscape.

  We sit on our jackets on the hard ground. My stomach's on some kind of rollercoaster ride. I love the feel of Brady’s arms being around me, it makes me feel so safe. He tips my chin up with his fingers and I look into his eyes. I feel as though I’m gonna be sick with how nervous I am. The way he’s looking at me is something else entirely. It’s the way my Dad looks at my Mom. It’s complete devotion, like a date with me is now ticked off his bucket list.

  He leans in, taking my lips in a kiss that almost makes me combust. My entire body’s on my fire, my hearts close to giving out and my head is filled with fog. I don’t even have a clue how to do anything. I probably resemble some kind of fish, but I know for sure that this is the best moment of my life, nothing will ever beat this and no kiss will ever come close to this one.

  After he pulls away, he looks deeply into my eyes.

  "You're the most beautiful girl in the world Cindy Martin. One day I’m gonna make you my wife. I've waited too long, watched you for too long not to tell you exactly how I feel."

  At the time, I was completely high from the life altering kiss to pay any attention but hell , if I didn’t wonder what he meant for months afterwards. I never built up the courage to ask him and as time went by, I guess it just slipped my mind.

  Brady reminding me of this moment right now though brings all those feeling of new and fresh love roaring back. The feeling of everything being absolutely perfect. The feeling that life couldn’t get any better. How did I lose that? How did I lose the way he made me feel?

  "Wow." I croak out, my emotions catching up with me.

  "Cinders?" His concerned voice has me blinking away the tears building up in my eyes.

  "I-I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s up with me." I almost sob out.

  "Shit maybe I shouldn’t have-"

  "NO!" I yell, not willing to let him finish that sentence. "No, this is... this is perfect, just perfect. I’m sorry, just ignore me, I’m being a baby."

  "Hey." His hands cup my cheeks. "Don’t worry about it, ok? You wanna cry, you cry. You wanna start going fucking mental and smashing stuff up, you do that too. I'll give you whatever you need Cinders. You gotta understand though, I’m not willing to mess this up. I'm not willing to let you go. I know you need time and fuck it'll kill me but I'll try and give it to you. I need you to know how fucking much I've missed you though. I need you to know what you mean to me because hell , if I didn’t fuck it up last time."

  "I know, you’ve said Brady."

  "No that was me being an asshole and thinking of myself. The way you’ve been today, all smiling and shit, looking carefree. That’s my Cinders. I'm sorry if I took her away."

  I don’t say anything, opting to stay silent. If I speak I’ll cry and I spent way too long on my eyeliner to mess it up. Instead, I stare at his lips for impossibly long. They’re thick and pouty, the perfect shade of pink. The perfect shape for kissing. I look from those lips into his deep brown eyes which are getting darker and darker as his pupils dilate.

  The same thing that overtook me when we went mudding, the feeling that if I don’t get as close to Brady as possible he might disappear, overtakes me. I clutch onto his button up shirt, the crispness of the material rough against my fingers. The hard torso underneath sends my hormones into complete overdrive. Maybe it’s love, maybe it’s always been love between us or maybe it’s lust overtaking all of my senses and drowning me in a pool of desire. All I know is that if I don’t have Brady’s lips on mine soon, I may die. However dramatic that sounds, that’s just the way it is.

  Forget burying my head in the sand, forget brushing crap under the carpet, forget my mixed up feelings. This is what I need, this is what'll keep me standing upright. Brady holding me, Brady loving me.

  I stand up on my tiptoes, still staring into his eyes, my breathing coming faster. I can feel his heart beat under the finger tips twisted in his shirt. The muscle covering the organ can’t hide it. It’s probably in beat with my own, both of them making their own song that only each other knows.

  I press my lips lightly against his, my eyes drifting closed at the feeling. Neither of us open our mouths. There’s no tongue action, no teeth clattering, no moaning and groaning. But hell, if this isn’t the second best kiss of my life.

  Before I can even think to pull away, if only to try and get myself together, a rumbling sound vibrates through Brady’s chest coming from his throat. The growl sends my temperature rising and before I know it, his lips are pressing harder against mine. His tongue is begging for entrance. I give it to him, my own tongue tangling with his, battling for supremacy.

  I let go of his shirt and my hands drift to his head and grip onto the ends of his dark blond hair.

  I don’t know what’s come over me. I don’t know if it’s the champagne or just the intoxicating feelings that always seem to overtake whenever he’s near. I finally feel like I've come home though. I finally feel like I’m back where I belong.

  I’m lifted from the ground and my legs automatically wrap around his waist. My body jolts as Brady walks with me in his arms. The sound of metal against metal doesn’t even come close to distracting me from the kiss to end all kisses. I let out a whimper when I slip slightly down Brady’s body, my lips separating from his. Intense coldness seeps through my dress and I slowly open my eyes to find myself sitting on the edge of the bed of Brady’s truck, his tall, strong, impossibly perfect body standing in between my open thighs.

  "I want you so fucking bad." He growls and all I can think of is the heat coming from his body, particularly his trousers.

  "Take me then." I say in a breathless whisper.

  He throws himself at me, his hands roaming my body as my hands run over his. I feel every bulging muscle in his arms, every tensing ab on his stomach. I feel my dress being roughly pushed up my thighs, laying me bare.

  I don’t know what comes over me but before I can stop myself, my fingers are fumbling with the belt buckle on his slacks, struggling to unclasp it. Our lips don’t part, not even for a second as I feel my underwear being yanked to the side. A gentle breeze in just the right place and I let out a little shiver.

  "I’ve missed you." Brady growls against my mouth.

  Finally pulling the belt apart, I drag the zipper down, the sound not even overtaking our moans and whimpers.

  Slipping my hand down his pants, past his boxers, I feel the silky smooth skin of his arousal.

  "We need a condom." I gasp out as Brady's lips and tongue explore my neck.

  "You came off the pill?"

  "No."

  "Then we don’t fucking need one." His breath rolls over my cheeks, my neck, leaving tingles in its wake. "You said you hadn’t been with no one else, Cinders. Did you lie?"

  "N-no, there was nobody else."

  "Well, good b
ecause I know full fucking well there’s been nobody for me. I can’t wait to feel you wrapped around me without shit in between."

  I nod my head jerkily, too caught up in the moment to care about anything. Instead of doing what responsible Cindy would do and putting a stop to this, I yank his pants down so they’re mid-thigh, taking his boxers with them. I can feel Brady’s hands travel to my ass, his fingers digging into my flesh as he groans.

  I’m pulled forward, my legs wide open for him. I put my lips to his ear, running them over his lobe with a feather touch. My hand snakes between us and grabs onto his hardness. I line up so he is right at my entrance, completely ready.

  He plunges in, taking my breath away.

  "Oh God." I groan, my eyes almost rolling into the back of my head as my whole body grips onto him.

  "I can’t believe I went six months without this." Brady grinds out, retreating from me before pushing himself back in. "You feel so fucking good."

  I don’t answer. I can’t answer. I can only whimper, my hands holding onto his shoulders and fingers digging into the hard muscle. I don’t know how I went without this for six months either. I definitely don’t know how I forgot how good it was, how good he could make it.

  We rock together, me clinging to Brady for dear life as if the moment I let go, I'll drift away. His pace becomes faster and faster. His thrusts become more forceful as he takes us to the edge. We're in this together, always together.

  Just as I think it couldn’t feel any better, we both fall over the edge simultaneously, both groaning out our release and clinging to each other.

  I fall back, Brady leaning over me as we fight to get our breathing back to normal. I can feel the sweat coating my forehead, droplets running down my temple.

  "Wow." I breathe. "That was-"

  "Fucking incredible." Brady smirks, looking up at me.

  "Yeah it was."

  "I hope you know what this means Cinders." His hands thread through my hair, pulling my face towards his. Our lips are so close I can feel his warm breath against mine. "I’m never fucking let you go, ever."