by Penny Reid
Her hands came to my shoulders, and even though I was so lost in kissing her, I still felt them shake. She pulled away, her eyes pleading. I knew she’d let me take her here, I knew she wanted me as fiercely as I wanted her. But this wasn’t the place.
Still, I couldn’t help teasing her, lowering my voice to a rough whisper, “Eilish, we might be stuck on this lift for hours. We can do what we like.”
She whimpered. I grinned.
Whispering in her ear, I said, “And I would. I would take you here, against this wall, make love to you with your skirt around your waist, your knickers torn off, but . . .”
Her breathing was shallow, frantic, and her hands tugged at my shirt. I caught them before she could undress me, sucking and biting her lip into my mouth.
“I’m sure the security guards wouldn’t be amused. But turned on? Maybe,” I teased with a tender smile.
Her eyes widened in realization as she stared at me, lucidity warring with mortification. “Oh my goodness. They’ve probably been watching this whole time.”
“Probably,” I agreed, loving how embarrassed she got over a few kisses.
“And we never even pressed the emergency button,” she went on, rushing by me to slam her hand down on the red button.
I approached her from behind, brushed her hair over one shoulder, and kissed her neck. “God, I love you,” I whispered fervently. It wasn’t even a slip of the tongue. I’d meant to say it. I wanted her to know. I didn’t want any more misunderstandings between us ever again.
Her back arched instinctively against my body as she said, “I love you, too, Bryan.”
And that was the moment the lift decided to jolt back to life.
26
@SeanCassinova to @ECassChoosesPikachu and @THEBryanLeech: YOU’RE WELCOME.
* * *
*Eilish*
“I wouldn’t have trapped you in the lift if you hadn’t insisted on being so stubborn.” Sean twisted his cufflinks and cocked an eyebrow at me. “I accept your apology.”
“I didn’t apologize.”
“Yes, I know, darling. But I can tell you want to.”
I grinned, very reluctantly. “You overstepped.”
“Someone needed to do it.” He shrugged.
My cousin and I were in the extra office on the top floor of the sports complex. Bryan had driven me back, and I needed the lift since Sean had abandoned me at the solicitor’s.
Of course, I didn’t at all mind spending the extra time with Bryan, and we’d made plans to meet up after work. But that didn’t change the fact that Sean had locked us in a lift and then proceeded to spy on us via the security camera.
The last thing I wanted to do was finish my day at work, preferring instead to spend the rest of the afternoon snogging with my boyfriend.
That’s right. Snogging. With my boyfriend. You might have heard of him? Bryan Leech? He loves me. Just FYI.
My desires were completely unprofessional and maybe not very adult, but I didn’t care. I embraced these whimsical wishes as a reawakened facet of my personality.
“Someone needed to put you two in a room together and lock the door, throw away the key, etcetera, etcetera.”
God, I loved my cousin. There was no one else in the world like him, I was sure of it.
“Thank you,” I said softly, leaning forward and on my tiptoes to give him a peck on the cheek.
“You’re very welcome,” he responded warmly, catching my shoulders before I could step away. “You know I love you, don’t you? I only want what’s best for you and Patrick. You’re my family.”
He sounded so earnest, maybe a little vulnerable, I felt a lump rise in my throat. “I know, Sean. And we love you, too.”
He nodded, his eyes moving over my face as he hesitated a moment before saying, “Don’t let Bryan get rid of those suits.”
“What?”
“Patrick’s suits. I had them tailored so that we can let them out as he grows.”
“Why would Bryan get rid of Patrick’s suits?” I shook my head at my cousin, giving him a bewildered look, the inner workings of his head worried and astonished me.
“Because he’s going to be a proper father now, to Patrick.” Again, Sean hesitated, clearing his throat before adding, “You mustn’t forget, he’s a Cassidy, too.”
My heart constricted, and I also had to clear my throat before speaking. “Patrick will never forget you, you know. Bryan is his father, but you’ll always be his Monkey Sean.”
He nodded tightly, releasing my shoulders, not looking convinced. “Yes. I know.”
I sighed, and I’m afraid to admit the sigh was a touch unsteady and watery, but before I could give the big doofus additional assurances, my phone rang.
“You better get that.” Sean shuffled away. “I have to check in with the defensive team about tomorrow’s match.”
“Fine, but I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Of course.” He grinned, looking more himself. “And hopefully, now that this silly business is behind us, you’ll be back to your post where you belong.”
I didn’t get a chance to respond as he hurried out the door, so I glanced at my phone screen, spotting Josey’s avatar and number.
“Hello?”
“Eilish! Tell me what happened. Are you okay? Did he get custody? Or what’s happening?”
“Calm down,” I walked to the office door and closed it, frowning because I hadn’t told Josey about the DNA test or the custody case. The last time I’d spoken to her was Sunday, eons ago.
“Firstly, who told you about the custody case?”
Her side went quiet for a protracted moment, and then she said, “Don’t be mad.”
That gave me pause.
“Why would I be mad?”
“Because your mother told me about the custody case.”
I felt my frown morph into a confused scowl. “My mother? Since when are you speaking to my mother?”
“Since she called me after you moved back to Ireland.”
What?
“What?”
“I can explain. She was worried about you, I was worried about you. So I may have let it slip that Bryan is Patrick’s father—”
I gasped, my hand flying to my mouth. I couldn’t believe my ears.
“—but, I swear, it was only because I thought, maybe if she knew she could help. You know, help Bryan do the right thing and step up. I had no idea he would file for custody instead. I thought things were going well when I saw you at the café, I am so sorry.”
“Stop. Just, stop talking.” I shook my head, willing these facts to be untrue.
How could she?
“Eilish?”
“Give me a minute here, Josey. I mean, how . . . why . . . what could possibly possess you to tell her? You know what she’s like.”
“She seemed genuinely happy when she found out Bryan was the father,” Josey rushed to defend herself, “and, I’m sorry, but he did need to step up.”
“But that’s between Bryan and me, not you, and definitely not my mother.”
“I thought she could help,” came her small voice from the other end, making me sigh again.
“Cara Cassidy only helps herself,” I responded harshly. “You know that. I can’t believe you would do this.”
“Well, what else was I supposed to do, Eilish? I never see you. I just thought, you know, if Bryan was in the picture. I mean, you’ve liked him for so long, you deserve happiness, and if your mother could help him see reason—”
“But she didn’t, Josey. She didn’t. She just spewed her poison all over the situation and made everything worse.”
She was quiet for a beat, then asked, “Did he get custody?”
“No.”
“He didn’t?”
“No, I’m not discussing this with you.” I hated how cold I sounded, but how could I trust her now?
“What?”
“I can’t talk to you about this. Not if you’re informing my mother.”
/> “You make it sound like I’m a snitch; I’m not. I just want you to have some free time to have fun, like before you got pregnant and everything went to shit.” Now she was yelling at me.
I yelled right back, “Everything did not go to shit, Josey. My life is not shit, it never has been. Patrick is the best thing—”
“See, you say that, but you can’t possibly mean it. Not unless it gets you Bryan, otherwise what’s the point?”
“Oh my God.” I sat down at the desk, my anger mounting to near uncontrollable levels. “That’s it. We cannot talk anymore.”
“Why? Because you don’t like hearing the truth?” she spat.
“No. Because you don’t listen. Patrick is precious to me. He is the most precious, the most wonderful, the most important person in my life. I love him soul deep and oceans wide. And you’ve never been happy for me.”
“How can I be happy for you? You gave everything up, everything.”
“You’re wrong. I am so lucky, so blessed.”
“You wouldn’t be saying that if Sean hadn’t come to your rescue, would you? Then where would your love for your precious Patrick be?”
“I’m hanging up now. I love you Josey, I do, but I can’t keep doing this with you.”
“Wait, I—”
I didn’t wait. I hung up, tossing my phone to the desk, wanting it out of my hand, which was shaking with anger.
“Eilish?”
I turned at the sound of my name, relieved to find Bryan hovering just inside the door.
“I knocked,” he tossed his thumb over his shoulder, “but you didn’t hear me. Are you okay?”
I nodded. But then, realizing I didn’t want or need to pretend with Bryan, I shook my head. “No. No, I’m not.”
“Then why are you over there?” He opened his arms and admonished me softly, “Come here.”
I huffed a laugh, I couldn’t help it. He sounded so serious. I stood and walked into his embrace, melting against him as he gathered me to him.
“Are you going to tell me who that was on the phone?”
I snuggled closer. “It was my friend Josey.”
“She upset you?”
“She just admitted to being the one who told my mother about you being Patrick’s father.”
I felt Bryan stiffen and then gather a deep inhale. “Wow.”
“Yes. Wow. I had no idea until just now. She heard about the custody case somehow and called to ask what happened.” I filled Bryan in on the rest of the conversation.
When I was finished, and I was marinating in my anger and exhaustion and hurt, Bryan leaned away and slipped his fingers under my chin, tilting my head back. Then he placed a sweetly seductive kiss on my lips, sweeping his tongue out and catching my bottom lip with a soft bite.
When he moved slightly back so he could see me, I gazed up at him and smiled. “What was that for?”
“You’ve been through a lot today.”
“So have you.”
“Yes. We’ve been through a lot together. So we should kiss each other until it’s all better.”
Despite everything, that made me laugh.
“You think so?” I gave him a quizzical smile. I especially appreciated that he didn’t jump in and try to tell me what to do. He just offered his support.
“What’s that look for?”
“It’s just, I’m impressed with you. Instead of giving me unsolicited advice or trying to fix things for me, you listened. And then you gave me a kiss. That’s impressive.”
Bryan stood a little straighter, looking pleased with himself. “One thing we learn in recovery is that no one can fight our battles for us, and we can’t fight other people’s battles either. I’m—or I haven’t been—so great at keeping my nose out of your battles. But what happened this last week, with everyone thinking our business was their business . . .” he paused, his expression growing contemplative, “I’m going to trust you. You let me know if you need my help and I’ll be there.”
A sense of rightness and wonder fell over me, like a gossamer blanket. I couldn’t help my smile, which had grown so large it made my cheeks ache.
“Bryan—”
“Oh!” He released me, stepping away and taking a folded up piece of paper from his back pocket. “I have some good news.”
I accepted the paper, casting him an amused and suspicious glare. “What is it?”
“Take a look.” He dipped his chin toward the sheet in my hands.
Carefully unfolding it, I skimmed its contents. It was a memo from Coach Brian to the entire team announcing that Connors had resigned effective immediately.
My eyes darted to Bryan’s. “What is this?”
“You know how Connors kept stealing people’s lunches?”
“Yes, but I didn’t think it was widely known.”
“It is . . . and it isn’t. Anyway, Alice didn’t know it was him who’d been stealing lunches, so she put dye on her bento box and caught him—literally—red-handed.”
I sputtered a laugh at Alice’s detective work, then said, “But I thought he was related to the general manager? I can’t imagine it’d be easy to have him let go.”
“He is. Connors is his cousin, but Alice is our GM’s niece.”
I shook my head at the absurdity of it all. “So he was fired for taking Alice’s lunch?”
“No. He was fired for threatening Alice because she had the audacity to put dye on her lunch container, waving around red hands like a madman. Coach Brian witnessed the whole thing and gave him two choices: either he’d be fired or he could resign.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah. Wow. And thank fuck. Not sure I could handle another season with his grubby paws on me,” he said with a shudder and then winked at me. “I’d much rather yours.”
I swiped him on the shoulder, though I had to admit his flirting gave me a little thrill in my belly. “And this all happened while we were gone this afternoon?” I went on, still curious.
“No. This happened on Wednesday, while you had the day off. The resignation just came through today.” His hand traveled from my neck, wandering down my spine to rest on my lower back. I shivered.
“Oh! So, what does that mean—”
“I ran into Coach downstairs,” Bryan gave me a wry smile, “he told me to put my goddamn personal drama on the shelf for the sake of the team.”
I winced. “Sorry about that.”
“No, no. It’s fine. I told him I never wanted you benched in the first place—which is the truth—and now he thinks I’m Mother Teresa. I come out of this smelling like a rose.”
Chuckling at his good humor, I slid my arms around his neck and nuzzled his jaw with my nose, then whispered in his ear, “You do smell like roses. Actually no, you smell woodsy, like a forest, so much better than roses.”
He groaned, his hands coming to my waist and squeezing. The action had me clenching my thighs together with need. It felt like a lifetime since we’d been together, and I desperately needed to reconnect. It wasn’t just physical either. No, sex with Bryan Leech was so much more than that. It was emotional, passionate, a balm for my soul.
“Can we leave now?” he asked huskily. “Or do you need to stay?”
I shook my head. “We can go.”
“Good.” Bryan cupped my face between his palms and gave me a quick kiss. “We need to go. Now. So grab your stuff. We’ll pick up Patrick, then I’m driving us home.”
* * *
After the emotional rollercoaster of the last week, pizza for dinner with my two guys was exactly what I needed. Unfortunately, Bryan couldn’t eat the pizza, not with a match the following day. He flexed his self-control muscle and ate a clean meal of veggies, fish, and quinoa salad.
Bryan offered to do the dishes, but I waved him off, insisting that he help Patrick through the bedtime routine. Truth be told, I enjoyed my quiet moments at the end of the day while doing the dishes. The sound of the water was soothing, and I liked heating my hands under the warm tap.
/>
Once I was finished, I checked on Patrick and Bryan, and found that Bryan had fallen asleep in our son’s bed. Patrick, however, was sitting on the floor playing with his train set.
As soon as he spotted me, he held a finger to his lips. “Be quiet, Mummy. Bryan needs his beautiful sleep, even though my bed is too small.”
I smiled at my son. “You mean beauty sleep?”
He nodded.
“Where did you hear that?”
“Monkey Sean said sleep is why he’s so stunningly handsome.”
I covered my mouth to smother my laugh. When I recovered, I threaded my fingers through Patrick’s hair and placed a kiss on his forehead. “You need to go to sleep.”
“But where will Bryan sleep?” He frowned.
I hesitated a moment, then said, “With me. I have a big bed. There’s enough room for both of us.”
Patrick nodded, like this made a lot of sense, then his eyes lit up. “Does this mean Bryan will be here in the morning? Can he watch cartoons with me? Or maybe we can build another fort.”
“I hope he’s here in the morning, but no fort. Unfortunately, we won’t have time for that since we have the match in the afternoon.” I hugged my son to me and placed another kiss on his head. “Come on. Help me move Bryan to my room. I can’t carry him by myself.”
Patrick gave me a funny look and gestured to his dad. His dad. A rush of emotion ran through me at the thought and my heart pounded.
“You can’t carry him. He’s too heavy.”
I chuckled at that, then moved to wake the big man up. Bending over him, I whispered in his ear. “Time to go to bed, sleepyhead.”
“What?” Bryan’s eyes fluttered open, and he seemed surprised by his surroundings.
“I said, time to go to bed,” I repeated softly.
“Oh. Is it?” He glanced around the room. “I guess I should be going.”
“No. You’re staying.” Patrick tugged on Bryan’s hand, clearly trying to get him to stand up. “You’re sleeping in Mummy’s big bed.”