Forever Together (Forever Love #2) (12 page)

"Holy shit." She jumps up in the air, the comforter falling down a little.

I don’t miss the jiggle of her tit’s with the movement and I suppress a groan myself. Holy hell! I can see the outline of her nipples. I haven’t had sex in over six fucking months and I can see the outline of her fucking nipples. I don’t know whether to thank God for the gift or to cry out at the fucking teasing of it.

Granted it takes me a few moments, but let’s face it, nobody can judge unless they’ve gone without for-fucking-ever and their personal fantasy is sitting in front
of them
with bed hair and pouty lips. When I do drag my eyes away, even though it's barely an inch, I realize what it is that’s covering up that oh so perfect chest of hers. Oh hell yes! A smile breaks out across my face and I’m mentally giving myself an applause for being so unforgettable. 

"Nice shirt." I quip.

Cindy looks down, her eyes widening when she realizes what I’m talking about and a cute as hell blush spreads across her face. She pulls the comforter back up covering not only the goods I've been staring at, but my shirt
too
. Yeah, that’s right. My shirt!

"Am I dreaming?" She squeaks.

"Dream about me a lot do ya?" I smirk cockily.

"Nobody can be this unlucky." She shuts her eyes for a few seconds before opening them up again and groaning. "This isn’t a dream is it?"

"Nope." I shake my head.

"And last night?"

"All real."

"The puking?"

"In the street, yep." I nod. "Oh, and the falling from my truck. Plus, the table. You've got moves Cinders, I never knew." I’m messing with her, it's cruel but that fucking blush is irresistible.

She collapses back onto the bed, throwing her arm across her face and I sit patiently because I’m all caring and shit and wait for her to deal with whatever it is she’s dealing with.

"How ya feeling?"

"Like I fell out of a window, or to be more precise, a truck." She uncovers her face and looks up at me. I'd be a barefaced liar if I said her lying there all small and natural with wide eyes and red cheeks didn’t pull at my heartstrings. "Why are you here Brady?" She sighs.

"I told you I'd be round to check on you this morning. We've got to talk." I pass her the water and pills and wait for her to swill them down before taking the water back and placing it on the table.

"No we don’t." She shakes her head.

"Yes we do." I nod.

"It’s too early for this." She moans and covers her head with the comforter which I quickly pull away. I know my Cinders. I know her better than anybody so I know she’s got an itty bitty problem with avoidance. As in, she'd probably throw herself under a bus before dealing with anything.

"Nuh uh, rise and shine. Breakfast is downstairs." I see her gulp. "You ok? You’re looking a little green."

"Please don’t talk about food." Ah a weakness! Well, if she refuses to talk to me I'll just start throwing bacon at her. She'll be singing like a canary in no time.

"You gonna come downstairs? I brought Brian to see you." Brian, my secret weapon.

"Brian?"

"Yeah, you know, small, looks like a feather duster with eyes." I don’t miss the glittering of her eyes. She's a sucker for small cute dogs. How the hell do you think I ended up with Brian?

"Where is he?" She asks, looking around the room.

"Downstairs so you better hurry up so you can see him."              

"I’ve gotta have a shower and get dressed." She bites into her thick bottom lip and I suppress a moan. There’s no way she cannot know what she does to me. Calm down Brady, can’t be jumping on her before you've talked!

"I'll wait downstairs." I force out, trying not to imagine her in the shower. "Need any help?" I ask hopefully. A guy's gotta try.

"No." She hisses, pointing towards the door.

"Ok, ok!" I hold my hands up in the air in surrender. "It was just a suggestion." An idea forms in my head as I reach the door and I quickly spin around. "Hey, make sure you wear appropriate clothing."

"Appropriate for what?" She asks warily.

"Our day together. I've got so much planned." I shoot her a megawatt smile, all my teeth on show.

"What?" Her voice is panicked and eyes are wide.

"Oh, I must have forgotten to tell ya. We're spending the day together."

"No, no, no-"

"Yes, yes, yes. Now get ready. I’ll be waiting downstairs beautiful."

"Oh my G-" I close the door behind me, drowning out whatever it was she was about to say.

This is turning out to be a good day. Oh yes, it's turning out to be a very good day indeed.

***

This is the closest I've gotten to my dark haired beauty in months. Seeing her still sleeping in my shirt, all beautiful and sleepy, I near enough fell to my knees and fucking begged her for another chance. I've got a little pride though. Not much, but a little.

I've got one chance to show Cindy what she’s missing, to show her that I’m not the same douche she walked away from six months ago. How I’m supposed to fucking do that, I don’t know. I mean, it’s not like I’m Einstein or anything. I need an expert for this. An expert on being pussywhipped.

While pacing the floor and dodging Barbie dolls, I whip my phone out of the pocket of my jeans, debating calling Tucker who'd probably be about as much use as a fucking brick in this situation. The guy doesn’t have much experience past the awkward morning after. Instead, I settle on Noah, he’s all experienced in this romance shit. After all, it’s gotta take a pretty suave guy to work his way into Liv's affections. That girl, as pretty as she is can be mean as hell.

I open a text up and get halfway through tapping out a message begging for help. Fuck that though, I ain't got time to get into some kind of text conversation. Cindy will either take her time in the shower, putting off the inevitable or she'll zoom through it so she can get down here and give her excuses. I can’t risk it being the latter.

Clicking the little telephone icon, I pull it up to my ear. The ringing seeming to go on for-fucking-ever.

"What did you do this time?" He answers with a sigh.

"Brother, why do you always assume the worst? Maybe I’m just calling to ask how you are." He hit the nail on the head but I don’t want him to think he’s right. 

"Well I’m good th-"

"Yeah, yeah whatever." I snap. "I haven't got time for this. I need your help."

"Ok, well I'll repeat the question then. What the fuck did you do this time? If it's illegal I can’t help. I already got you out of a ton of speeding tickets."

"Nothing like that. I need some advice."

There’s silence on the other end of the phone as if he's waiting for me to ask how to skip the country after robbing a bank.

"Ok, what do you need?" This is why I love my boy. Even though he’s turned into a high and mighty annoying motherfucker ever since getting that uniform, if I need him, he’s there and vice versa.

"How did you woo Liv?"

"What do you mean, how did I woo Liv?"

"Yeah, you know, how'd you get her all drooling over your dick? I know you already told me the story, but I've gotta be honest, I had to block it out. You were annoying and soppy and I nearly threw up. I felt my balls disintegrating just listening, but now I really need to know."

"Fuck you man. I’m sorry me being happy and in love makes your fucking balls ache or whatever."

"Disintegrate, they were disintegrating and only because you get that weird look on your face when you’re talking about her. It looks like you're about two seconds from blowing your load. It’s disgusting."             

"Is this the only reason you called me? To insult me, because I gotta tell you, I got about five minutes left on my break and there are better things I could be do-"

"Blah blah blaaaaaah." I groan.

"You're a real ass, you know that right?" Noah snaps. I haven’t got time for this shit. Why does he have to be so fucking combative?

"So I've been told. Just tell me how you got the ice queen that is Liv Preston to go all gaga over you."

"I'm gonna tell her you called her an ice queen."

"Ok, bro we don’t need to start making threats and shit. I just wanna know what you did because let’s face it, you ain't no poet." I snort.

"Brady." He sighs. "Just be yourself or even better, steamroll her, that usually works."

"You don’t think I've already thought of that? I don’t think going all me Tarzan, you Jane is gonna work." I run a hand through my hair in frustration.

              I miss the good old days when you could take a girl to the movies, they’d blow you in the back row and then love you forever. Well, love you until you got sick of their ass and had to hide in trash cans and shit to avoid their crazy asses... Shit, I've turned into a fucking groupie myself now. This is my karma.

"Brady, what’s going on?" Noah’s voice interrupts my thoughts.

"I told Cindy we're spending the day together." I sigh "But I wanna make it special. Show her what she’s missing, you know?"

"My boy is finally growing up." I roll my eyes at the damn pride in Noah’s voice. I'm way more mature than him. He thinks I don’t know he does donuts in his police car. "Ok, here’s what you're gonna do. You're gonna be yourself minus the asshole. So basically just be like ten percent of yourself."

"That your plan? Just be myself minus the asshole." I repeat because let’s face it, that’s the stupidest idea I've ever heard.

"Brady, Cindy knows you so I’m guessing she’s not expecting candles and violins and shit. Listen, breaks nearly over and I gotta get back to work. I'll call you later ok. Just... Just don’t do anything stupid."

"Why the fuck do you people keep saying that to me?"

"Oh, I have no idea." I can hear the sarcasm in his voice and I don’t like it. Not. One. Bit.

"Whatever. Laters."

I hang up, still with no idea how to woo my lady, I drop onto the couch and lay my head in my hands. This romantic shit is hard. No wonder so many people get divorced. I look up, figuring the best way to get those brain cells spinning is to get some more coffee. I’m pretty sure there’s more pancakes in the warming tray too. All this thinking is making me hungry.

I spot Brian through the kitchen doorway, one leg cocked up.

"Oh no you fucking don’t. We don’t pee in other people’s houses Brian!"

I run towards him though inside I know there’s no point. There’s no way I'll get there before he pees up Deena’s barstools. Damn, hasn’t that dog got us banned from enough places?             

Now my excuse for what happens next is that I’m not good at Math so I don’t know much about distances and shit. That’s my excuse for slipping on my ass in dog pee and crashing into every stool. They drop like dominoes, one after the other. Fucker Brian’s watching safely from the other side of the kitchen, his tongue hanging out while I slip and slide all over the place.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you." I point at him, scowling. "You are dead to me." Damn my ass hurts.

A
The
whining noise comes from the back of his throat and his pleading brown eyes look at me with sorrow.

"We'll talk later. Mark my words though, you are-"

"Oh my God, what happened?" Cindy’s voice causes both Brian and my eyes to widen.

"Busted." I whisper, looking up only to have my mouth go dry and my jaw drop to the floor.

Cindy’s standing in the doorway to the kitchen, a puddle of water round her. She’s got the shortest sexiest little towel wrapped around her. I know, who knew a towel could be sexy? Her dark ebony hair is soaked, little droplets of water running down her chest.

"He did it." I point to Brian; fucker is on his own now.

Chapter 9

Cindy

I keep my eyes trained on the clock, wondering how long it takes for some clothes to dry. I’m not a huge laundry fan, but luckily it’s only a shirt and pair of jeans. Unluckily, it's Brady’s shirt and pair of jeans.

Yep, Brady Cooper is naked in my parent’s kitchen. He does look pretty embarrassed himself though, it’s nice to know that for once it’s not me blushing. Though Brady definitely doesn’t suffer from the patchy, like-a-skin-disease blush that I do. No, he has the whole rosy cheeks and bashful smile thing down.

That doesn’t mean I’m still not blushing like a teenager. After all, Brady is sitting on a stool in my parent’s kitchen wearing a pair of bright pink boxers. The feminine color certainly doesn’t take away the potency of his bare chest, sculpted to perfection. With every breath and sigh, his pecks lift up and I have to stop myself from letting out an embarrassing little squeak. I'm not sure what’s worse, the fact that I’m swooning over a body I've seen hundreds, no thousands of times, or that I rushed downstairs expecting to find a truck crashed through the living room in only a small flimsy towel. Actually, it was barely a towel, more like a face cloth, so small it barely covered my bare ass. And judging by the spluttering I heard when turning to go back up the stairs and the way Brady quickly dove onto his front, I’m not sure it even covered that.

Hopefully he'll be so embarrassed that he'll forget about spending the day with me and just go home even if that thought does make me want to burst out crying in the middle of the kitchen in front of a naked Brady and his quite proud looking dog. A proud looking dog who at this second is sitting at my feet, his fur tickling the bottom of my bare legs. At least my ass is covered with a pair of high-waisted stone wash denim shorts now.

"Hey little guy. You want a treat?" I ask the little ball of fluff, scooping him off the floor into my arms. "You are just the cutest little thing ever."

I nuzzle my face into the soft fur on his neck. I love dogs, the smaller and cuter, the better. It was the one thing my parents refused me growing up. Having so many kids was hard work enough, without any fur babies running around the place. Not to mention it would be a cold day in hell before any of us would agree on what type of pet to get. Luke always wanted some huge slobbering beast that was bigger than him while Aiden always tended to lean more towards the cold blooded scaly variety of pet. Avery, like me, always wanted a puppy but as soon as the boys suspected they'd be beaten, they'd unite just to thwart us. Assholes.

I can feel Brady’s dark gaze heating up my skin and meet his eyes just for a second. Already dark, they’re nearly black, his pupils dilated and that same look he always used to get when we were just about to... Never mind. I duck my head to avoid seeing the look of concentration he stares at me with, as if he can control my thoughts and actions with his eyes.

"So, um... H-how long have you had Brian?" I just about stutter through the sentence, placing the dog at my feet and opening the refrigerator just for an excuse not to look in those eyes.

"A couple of months." Brady’s voice comes out as more of a rasp.

"When he was a pup?"

"I got him for... for you."

"W-what?" I spin around to face Brady, a small smirk on his face, probably at my discomfort.

"Why would you do that?"

"He was for your birthday. I found a breeder up in Savannah just before Christmas. The pups would be ready to take home in time for your birthday so I got him. I was gonna send him to you but I don’t think you can send dogs in the post. Your Mom said you weren’t living in your old apartment anymore so I wouldn’t have known where to send him anyway." He shrugs.

"Brad-" The shrill ringing of the alarm on my phone interrupts whatever I was about to say. "Your clothes are ready to be dried now. I'll go and put them in."

"Don’t worry about me Cinders." Brady winks, leaning back on one of the now upright barstools, his abs rippling under his skin. Seems those few moments from before when Brady wasn’t the joker or the clown are over. Flirty, cheeky Brady is back. "You know I love being naked." With a vengeance.

I slip through the door to the basement, closing it behind me so that Brian doesn’t follow me. He’s so small he'd probably get lost down here in all the clutter. Boxes of old toys are piled under the wooden stairs. Filled with old Barbie dolls and Action Men. My Mom is without a doubt a hoarder of kids toys.

I carefully move down the stairs, taking each step at a time. I haven’t a clue why my parents decided that the smartest place to put the light switch was at the bottom of the stairs. I also haven’t a clue how nobody's broken their neck yet going down the wobbly staircase most builders would condemn. My Dad swears it's safe, he’s been swearing it for the past ten years ever since the first little creak of the wood. Maybe I'll be the one to break their neck, at least I wouldn’t have to go back into the kitchen and face a shirtless Brady.

As soon as I feel the solidness of the concrete floor under my white Converse, I feel along the wall for the switch, pressing the little button that
i
l
l
u
a
minates about a tenth of the space down here. The basement spans the entire house, it's huge with the white painted walls and old furniture piled against them. It would probably make a pretty neat basement apartment if my Parents had any inclination to do it up.

Pulling the lid open to the top loading washer, the scent of the Honeysuckle and Sandalwood fabric softener drifts to my nose and I have to bury the urge to smother my face in the wet clothes. I slam the lid closed, opening the identical one next to it. After dropping the clothes in and adjusting the dials, the rumbling sound of the dryer comes on, filling the basement with a sound a lot like the one Brady made when smashing through the kitchen earlier.

I decide to leave the light on for when I have to come back down. I've already survived the journey down the stairs twice today, I don’t wanna push my luck.

On coming out of the damp basement, I give my eyes a few seconds to adjust to the much brighter light of the kitchen. Brady's gone from the stool at the breakfast bar and I spin around in a circle as if he'll jump out at me.

"Brady!" I call out, getting no answer in return.

I walk through the kitchen, into the den to find a naked Brady, his modesty covered in those ridiculous boxers, reclined on the couch with the dog on his chest. I lean against the door frame for a few moments, just to take in the sight in front of me.

His one arm is laid behind his head, the big rippling muscles tensing. He’s covered in muscle, always has been due to playing football in High School. Of course he’s kept up with his weight training since and the bulging biceps
are
is
proof of that.

In one hand is the remote, his thumb jamming on buttons, flicking through the channels. Brian is laid across his chest, his little head resting on his paws just under Brady’s chin.

He was gonna be my dog. Christ, that’s enough to break a girl already barely sticking together. It’s a sweetness I waited for in our entire relationship. That’s not saying Brady couldn’t be sweet or that he didn’t have his romantic moments, they were just few and far between. He was more of a pizza and movie kinda guy rather than the candlelight and opera type. And it was perfect. It just wasn’t enough.

I can feel the stinging of my eyes as they fill up with tears. Seeing him like this, so relaxed, so... Brady makes me wish for things that'll never be. Despite how much I may want it, despite how my heart aches for it, I need more. And Brady will never be able to give me that.              

Now I just need to convince my heart to understand.

***

I'm almost sorry that Brady needs to get dressed. Abs like that deserve to be shown off to the world even though just the thought of any other woman seeing Brady’s body has bile rising up in my throat. But who am I kidding? Brady wasn’t a virgin before we got together, I doubt he’s reverted back to one since.             

As the t-shirt slips down over his rippling stomach, rock hard with muscle, I find myself following its path, eager to take in as much of his body as I can before it's all covered up. It’s not like I'll be seeing it again, once has already put enough strain on my fragile heart and wayward hormones.

"Thanks for washing my clothes Cinders. You're a doll."

"No problem, I couldn’t really let you walk around covered in pee could I?"

"No more than I deserve." He shrugs. "Listen-"

"Yoo-hoo, Cindy are you still here?" My Mom's voice sounds through the house.

"In here Mom." I call back, my eyes still stuck on Brady.

"Cindy, Cindy, Cindy." Bailey chants, storming into the room. She then proceeds to run circles around me, holding a plastic pink fairy wand.

"Hey Bails." I rub her dark head, tied up in a high ponytail that matches my own.

"BRADY!" The high-pitched scream causes shivers to run through me.

"Hey kiddo." She runs into his arms and is hoisted into the air.

"Look, I got a fairy wand. I can turn you into a frog." She raises an eyebrow in warning and I can’t stop the snort escaping at the look on his face.

"You're not though, are ya?" Brady gives a smirk that would melt most grown women but has no effect on a six-year-old Bailey.

"Ummm." She taps the wand against her mouth and squints her eyes in thought. "I don’t know, depends." She shrugs.

"On what?"

"Have you brought Brian?" I frown at Bailey's question. How the hell does Bailey know Brian?

"Look on the couch." Brady whispers, putting Bailey down. She runs out the room and screams, high and loud enough to crack glass. I have to put a finger to my ear to try and drown it out. Looks like she found Brian. Poor thing.

"She'll have that dog in a pram within ten minutes." I point out.

"Oh well." Brady shrugs his strong shoulders. "Serves the fucker right for getting pee on me."

My Mom walks into the kitchen carrying grocery bags that Brady takes out of her arms and places on the granite worktop.

"Thank you honey. Your Dad had a little trouble with Bailey in Savannah so I had to get her from his office. I thought you two were going out?"

"Erm, Brady had a clothes emergency." I hide my smile by looking down as Brady squirms.

"Oh really, like what?"

"Oh, we'll tell you later, Deena." Brady flicks his hand as if it’s of no importance. "We better get going Cinders, come on."              

"Wait, what?"

"Plans, we’ve got plans." He grabs my hand, a sizzling shock trave
l
l
ling through my body and heating me up. My face I’m sure is a picture of absolute horror though.

"Wait Brady, I th-" We come to a quick stop and he turns around quickly. We're nose to nose.

"I told you Cinders. We're spending the day together." His eyes look into mine and I let out the embarrassing squeak I've been holding in for most of the day. He smirks, a cocky one.

"Ok you kids, have a good day. Oh Brady, I can take care of Brian if you like while you and Cindy are out." The traitor! Wait, how does she know Brian?

"Thanks Deena, see ya later."

I’m yanked through the den, past a very happy Bailey and a very unhappy Brian who right now is wearing a pale pink bonnet. Despite Brady frowning at the sight and the tensing of his hand that’s still clutching mine and sending electric shocks through my body, he doesn’t stop.

"Brady wa-"

"Come on Cindy." He interrupts me, again. Can I not get one sentence out?

I’m pulled through the front door which automatically swings shut behind me. I yank my hand out of Brady’s, no matter how good it felt while there.

"Wait, please."

"Yes Cindy, how can I help you?"

"I'm not going out with you."              

"Why not?" He frowns in confusion.

"Because it’s weird. We are broken up, Brady. We're not together anymore." I take a deep breath, steeling myself for what I have to say next. "It’s too hard." My voice comes out softer, sadder than I thought it would.

"I know it is Cinders." Brady’s voice is equally as sad and that’s about all I can take for one day.

"I appreciate what you did last night and coming to check on me this morning was really nice but I’m not like you. You may be able to go back to how things were befor
e
e
when
we were together, but I can’t." And there it is. Something that I have barely admitted to myself and I've just gone and said it out loud. The thing that hurts nearly more than not being with Brady is how easily he’s forgotten. "It hurts too much."

"You think I’m going back to how it fucking was before?" I nod to his question, looking at the footpath under our feet. "Have you not been hearing me or taking any notice of the signals I've been giving out?"

"Signals?"

"I fucking missed you Cindy. You think you’ve had it harder? You think after four fucking years I just got over you? Moved on?"