Forever Together (Forever Love #2) (15 page)

"Seriously Brady, you gonna whip your dick out?" Noah grins, his anger obviously fading.

"Fuck off."

"Why the hell would you say that?" Liv shakes her head.

"I got a way bigger dick than that prick. Right Cinders?"

Are they serious? Just a moment ago there was almost a brawl in the middle of Annabelle’s quaint little coffee shop and now they’re cracking jokes about Brady’s stupid dick pride.

"I'm not a bone." I almost growl though with my soft voice; it comes out as more of a cracked squeal.              

"Huh?" He frowns.

"You." I point towards the door. "Just. Acting like I'm a piece of meat."

"He was being a fucking ass."

"He was only being an ass to annoy you. Four years of high school and he never once took an interest in me in a romantic way." Quite the opposite actually. I was one of the chosen few he liked to constantly rip apart.

"Douche was probably biding his time." He grumbles.

"She’s right, he was just pushing our buttons." Noah runs his hands through his dark hair. "Fuck, I could have got fired if I hit him."

"Don’t worry babe." Liv consoles. "I don’t think there’s a person alive that wouldn’t like to teach that asshole a lesson."

"You saw him the other day." Brady glares at me. I don’t particularly like his tone. It sounds a bit too accusing for my liking.

"Excuse me." I'm a little confused with where the conversation is going around me and frankly, last I checked who I saw was none of Brady’s business.

"You saw him. " He grates out.

"Yes, he was here. It was the day after I got into town. Liv was here." My voice rises with every word. "Why, what difference does it make?"

"Just don’t get why you wouldn’t mention it."

"Ok." I nod. "I'm leaving."

"What?" I'd have some sympathy for the panicked look on Brady’s face right now if he wasn’t acting like such an ass.

"I said I'm leaving. I haven’t got time for this Brady and you're acting like a jerk." I don’t know why I’m feeling so pissed off but I know that right this second, the balls have made a comeback and I need to step away.

I ignore Brady’s grumblings as I stand up and make my way round the table to give Liv a hug and Noah some kind of fist pump. I give Brady a look that I hope makes
it
clear that he should have just kept his damn mouth shut.

"Bye Brady." I wave and walk away with my head held high.

I'm feeling pretty proud at the moment. I manage to navigate around the cluttered tables without once banging my hip into a corner or tripping over my own feet. I also don’t look back at all. Gone are the days of being a pushover and this feels so good. I don’t know why I didn’t do this before.

"Cindy, wait up." I hear Brady’s voice just as I reach for the handle of the door but completely ignore it.

I'm on a roll here. I'm walking away from the disagreement or situation or whatever it is with my pride intact and feeling pretty damn good about myself. The bell rings and I step out into the humid Georgia heat.

"Cindy, seriously." I feel a large hand wrap around my arm carefully, not too hard and finally come to a stop with the door hitting Brady in the ass.

"I’m sorry." He says.

"What for?"             

"Well, um, fuck."

"You don’t know do you?" I ask.

He shrugs, looking genuinely apologetic but I have a feeling he’s more apologetic over not being apologetic than over anything that’s just happened.

"Look, I’m fucking sorry if I just embarrassed you."

"Where have you been the last week?" I whimper out, shocked at my own forwardness as well as embarrassed by the weakness in my voice.

"Why, you missed me?" He smirks, his eyes lighting up with something I can’t quite put my finger on.

"You were just forward the other day, I thought I'd hear some more from you or you'd at least try harder. I guess you lost interest huh?" Wow. I'm on a roll here. I even raise one eyebrow without looking all weird. At least I don’t think I do, but seeing as Brady hasn’t burst out laughing I'll take that as a good sign.

A lost look takes over Brady’s face as if he has no idea what I'm talking about.

"Why the fuck would I have lost interest?" He frowns. "I told you I missed you. Told you I wasn’t letting you get away."

"And then radio silence."              

"Well I put my cards on the table Cinders. I'm not a stalker or anything." He looks behind him through the glass of the door, right at the table Noah and Liv are sitting at if I’m not mistaken.

"What do you want from me Brady?"

"Just you." He shrugs. "Always just you. I'm just too much of a damn fool not to have appreciated you when I had you."

Does it make me weak that his words send my stomach into freefall and practically place the remaining piece of my heart still in my chest right into his hands.

"Oh." I answer, dumbly.

"Listen, Bob the bastard is having that fourth of July bore fest he does every fucking year. Come to it with me."

I stare at him for a few seconds, debating whether to tell him I’m busy or to jump in his arms and agree to go. I’m still not completely pacified over the whole week long silence thing he had going on. I’m trying to be a new Cindy though, not runaway Cindy who buries her head, sweeps crap under the carpet and hides a shaking hand under the table because there may be an argument.

"Ok."

Chapter 11

Brady

I’m a genius. I’m a goddamn motherfucking genius. Noah said it was stupid, Tucker thought it was crazy but I knew. I knew that being all forward and shit with Cindy and then giving her some space would do the trick. She’s practically eating out of my hands.

Of course I had a backup plan, no genius would not have a backup plan. Seems I don’t need that anymore though.

"You ready boy?" I look down at Brian, who cocks his head at me. Whoever the fuck said I need to get the little guy trained knows nothing.
H
h
e’s as loyal as they come. Now I’m just hoping he'll be a good boy and shit all over the grass at this barbecue. Hopefully Bob steps in it or Sandra slutface the hoe bag secretary.

Standing in front of the floor length mirror, I button up the last button on this damn fucking penguin shirt I’m being forced to wear. They can fuck themselves if they think I’m having it tied right to the top. This day's gonna be torture e-fucking-nough without being choked too.

I gotta say, I look pretty damn good. Who knew I could clean up so nice. Ha! Who am I kidding? With a face like this, I should be on the cover of Vogue or some shit.

Walking over to the bed, I look at the black leather leash and collar lying on the comforter with disgust. Who the fuck does that bastard Bob think he is making my dog wear a fucking leash like some slave? I usually only carry it out in public in case some half
-
assed douche starts spouting shit off about dog safety laws.

Well, the stupid barbecue isn’t yet so Bob can fuck himself. I'll put the collar on my guy when I’m good and ready. I got a good mind to just let Brian loose on the yard that they’ve spent the last three days decorating. He'd have all them fancy ribbons and buntings lying in tatters within minutes. I don’t know how I resist letting out some evil cackle just thinking about it. Bob would be ripping out the last bits of hair on his head.

I pick Brian up off the floor and hold him under my arm as I walk out my bedroom. Upstairs is thankfully people-free as is the whole house at one of my Mom’s parties. Probably why she only has them in the Summer. Can’t exactly shove people outside in the Winter though fuck knows why. This is Southern Georgia; not like we get snow or anything.

When I’m halfway down the stairs, I take a moment to take in the fucked up scene in front of me. Waiters are scurrying back and forth with big ass platters of food. It’s the first barbecue I’ve ever been to with platters.

There’s a sound that makes my fucking blood turn cold. The sound of clicking. Fuck!

"Oh! Brady, there you are." My Mom says and I don’t even bother hiding the groan. She asks me to do shit and I’m outta here. No way in hell am I carting in fancy ass food nobody’s gonna bother eating.

“I’m not doing shit.” I say, shaking my head back and forth.

"I just wanted to confirm who you have coming today. The party planner said you reserved some seats."

“Oh.” I smirk.

I try to go through the list in my head of who's coming. Cindy’s coming obviously and I can’t fucking wait. Noah, Liv, Tucker and my plan B of course, Cindy’s entire family. I was gonna get her here one way or the other and if I had to rely on Deena’s emotional blackmail, then so be it.

I rattle off the list to my Mom, her face lighting up on hearing Cindy’s name.

"I’m so happy Cindy and her family are coming honey. I haven’t seen her in so long." She doesn’t mention the break up mostly because she doesn’t know about it. It’s not like she’s here enough to know shit about my life.

"Sure thing. Anything else?" I’m staring at the door and fucking praying to whoever’s up there that she doesn’t have some shitty job for me to do.

I've been waiting near on three days to see Cindy since I asked her to come here. I just wanna get to my dark haired beauty and then I'll be a happy man, well, as happy as a man can be at one of these bore fests.

"Oh no honey, the first guests should be arriving in about half an hour. Are you going out?"

"Yeah, I’m gonna go pick Cindy up."

"Oh lovely, make sure you bring her over to me. You know how busy I get and I don’t want to miss her."

I nod along, pretending that I’m even listening to her and not mentally counting down the fucking seconds until this conversation is over.              

When she finally finishes prattling off about Cindy and I’m pretty sure some kinda wedding was brought up there too, I head towards th
e front
at
door. Damn, it’s like the finish line. All I need is to get through it and fucking freedom will be mine.

I slip through the door, nobody grabbing me thank fucking God. They probably should have though because at least then I wouldn’t have to see what I’m fucking seeing right now.

There standing in front of the house, the house that I fucking live in. The house that my Mom fucking decorated even though she paid somebody to do it, is Bob. Oh yeah, Bob and Sandra, the whore of Franklin.

She leans against his Porsche 911, a clipboard in her hands as she smiles up at him, sticking her flat chest out. If I was her, I'd at least stick a couple of socks down there, then she may not look like a ten-year-old.

I’m not gonna like anyone who has the nerve to cheat on my Mom, we may have our differences but she’s still my fucking Mom at the end of the day. I at least would have thought Bob would find someone better though, maybe even younger. Instead, th
e
at
guys downgraded, even he’s too damn good for that hoe.

I stand on the doorstep and stare. The conversation looks innocent enough but I've had my eye on this douche for the past six months. Slutface is clearly giving him the come on and since he hasn’t fired her ass because you’d have to be blind not to see through her, he’s gotta be dipping his stick somewhere he shouldn’t. I got my eye on him regardless, one false move and BAM! He'll have a wired jaw before he knows it.

Having seen enough to know that if I watch them any longer Bob will miss his party because he’s in the damn hospital, I walk towards my truck, parked behind the 911. Within an hour, the entire driveway will be lined with cars. Bob likes to be a fucking show off and make sure his fancy ass car is on show. I hope some fucker keys it.

"Brady." Bob calls just as I’m about to pass him and old slutface.

I take a deep breath and turn towards him, not even sparing the homewrecker a second glance. I raise an eyebrow waiting for him to say whatever it is he’s gotta say.

"Have you done those spreadsheets I asked for?"

I roll my eyes. No I haven’t fucking done those spreadsheets.

"Not yet." I shrug.

"I'll need them on my desk first thing in the morning."

"If you need them that bad do them yourself." Fuck him. He thinks that I’m gonna spend half the night copying shit from one page to another? No chance.

"Brady, I gave you a job that I pay you quite well for. You had a choice, college or work. You couldn’t handle college-"

"Yes I fucking could." I snap. He’s right, I couldn’t handle college. All those snotty professors and weird ass people did my nut in but I’m not gonna let him know that.

"Well, the fact that you dropped out says otherwise."

"Listen, you'll get your spreadsheets when I’m damn good and ready. You don’t like it? Fire me."

"I hope you know what your attitude is doing to your mother."

"I hope you know what you screwing the hoe over there would probably do to her." I scowl. It’s the first time I've mentioned it to him but if the fucker wants to throw stones, then so be it.

"Excuse me?"

"Look, I haven’t got time for this. I gotta get shit done for your precious party."

"Brady, I don’t know what you think..." The frown on his face seems pretty genuine but he’s probably just confused he's got caught.

"I gotta go." I walk backwards, still looking at the old fucker in the eye. "I'm watching you though douche."

Yeah I’m fucking watching him alright.

I climb into my truck, throwing Brian into the seat next to me. Bob has turned around and is walking back towards the house by the time I look through the windscreen. Slutface has disappeared, probably scurried off like the rat she is.

I roar up the engine and put all thoughts of Bob and the homewrecker out of my head. I’m gonna have my Cinders with me the whole day, that’s the only shit that matters.

Damn, I hope I get another kiss at the end of the night. She was lucky the other day that I didn’t chuck her in the bed of my truck and have her right then and there. If anything, the last few months have made the feelings I have for her more intense. How the fuck is that even possible?

The gravel crunches under the big tires as I drive down the driveway, indicating left once I get to the gate. I wonder if she realizes yet that her family are coming today too. Hard not to, I’m sure Deena's mentioned it to her. The question is, has Cindy put the pieces together as to why her family are coming?

It’s the first year I've invited them. Hell, it’s the first year I've invited anyone other than Cindy. Usually we only stay an hour, eat some of the snotty ass food and make our escape. It only takes us an hour to get to the River Street fourth of July celebration in Savannah, the main place everyone in town goes
to
come the holiday. Laying a blanket down on the river front, listening to the live DJ and then watching the fireworks with my dark haired beauty in my arms sounds like heaven right about now.

I fucked up though. I fucked things up with us and now I'll take her however I can get her. Failure is not an option concerning Cindy. She’s my girl and I got no intention of letting her go. I'll damn well make her see it and remind her how good we are together. Then this time next year, we'll be back on that blanket on the river front, watching the fireworks and she'll have my damn ring on her fucking finger. No way am I ever letting her go. They'll have to fucking pry my dead hands off her first.

I got no idea why but I’m starting to get nervous. It’s not like I haven’t seen her. She’s actually agreed to today though, rather than me cornering her tight little ass and giving her no choice. Man, the pressure's on. I don’t like pressure. Pressure is the reason I had to retake my SAT paper. That and I got crazy drunk the night before and fell asleep in Tucker’s backyard. That’s just fucking details though.

"Well, boy." I look over towards Brian. "Let’s go get your Mama."

***

The breath whistles out of my lungs. Damn I know I clean up well, but shit, Cindy’s got me beat by miles as always. She’s so fucking beautiful I swear I could cry. I’m a pussy, I know.

This is my punishment I realize. All those girls from when I was a sixteen-year-old douche that I made cry, that I bashed and dashed, this is how God is getting his own back.
H
h
e’s gonna stick me in a yard filled with rich assholes and horny bankers with a girl I can’t touch who looks like a fucking angel. A sexy angel. A sexy angel that was put on the earth to torture me with those long creamy legs and that black mass of hair, those dark eyes that give her every emotion away and that ass. Shit, that ass is just on a whole other level and the white clingy material that sticks like glue to every one of her curves shows it off to perfection.

That’s it then, I’m going to jail. I’m going to jail because any asshole that even dares to look at what’s mine I'm gonna throttle. I'm gonna poke their eyes out and throttle them. It’s inevitable that with the way she looks right now, they’re gonna look and I'm gonna go fucking crazy. Fuck, with looks like mine I'm gonna be made someone’s bitch within a week. That soaps gonna slip out my hands once and then BAM! It’s bye, bye Brady, hello Horiche’s bitch.

Seriously though, isn’t there some fucking ancient law in the State of Georgia that makes it illegal for chicks, specifically my chick to be dressed like that? I mean they got a law that makes it illegal to keep a donkey in a bathtub, surely they coulda made one for guys like me that make it alright to cover their women with a burlap sack and carry them back to the cave if they look too good.              

My eyes trail up and down her body from the big bouncing black curls on her head all the way down to the pretty pink painted toes sticking out of the open toe of her gold fuck me shoes. If I wasn’t already completely head over heels, obsessively in love with her, those shoes would definitely do it. Hell yeah.              

It doesn’t help that I got her whole family standing around me. Nothing is gonna get your girl back like her parents pointing out the boner that’s currently tenting up in my slacks. This is all Cindy’s fault. If she didn’t look so good, then I wouldn’t be having this fucking problem. Yeah, I’m gonna blame the angel practically floating down the stairs.

The way I see it, there are four ways today can end. Either Cindy will realize I’m the guy for her, beg to suck my dick and then we'll ride off into the sunset together, or some douche will look at Cinders wrong, I'll poke his eyes out with a fork and then Cindy will realize I’m the guy for her, beg to suck my dick and promise to wait the ten plus years while I’m in jail being Horiche’s bitch. Or we might not even make it to this damn party because Luke and Aiden will notice my pants are doubling up as a tent, beat my ass, which I'll fight honorably, probably coming out on top and then Cindy will realize I’m the guy for her because I’m so tough, beg to suck my dick and I'll limp away with her in my arms. The last option isn’t my favorite. Jim will notice my hard on, get his shotgun and shoot me in the dick. Cindy will realize I’m the guy for her, beg to suck it but obviously I ain’t got no dick no more so she'll make me one out of a tootsie roll, we'll ride out into the sunset, AKA the hospital with my dick on ice but Cindy will be mine.