of my dress shoes. Her hands slide underneath my suit jacket and she wraps her arms around my middle. Then she lets her forehead fall to rest against my chest. I haven’t felt so much comfort from a hug since before my mom died.
“Hello,” she says softly.
“Hi.”
“My brother said he went to see you at work today.”
My only view is the top of her head.
“He did.”
“Was it terrible?”
“Wasn’t great,” I concede, careful to keep my hands off her.
She’s gripping me with everything she’s got and I’m holding her at arm’s length.
She must realize it because she steps back and nods.
“So then do it already. Say it.”
I frown.
She laughs like I disgust her. “You think by staying silent, you’re not speaking, but I hear it all loud and clear, Ben. So do it.” She whirls around and tosses her hands in the air. “God, it’s so predictable. You’re so predictable.”
I can’t lie to her. I can’t tell her I don’t want her or say I’m not falling in love with her. So, I settle for the simple truth. We have to get it all out if there’s any hope of moving forward. “I’m not the man you should be with.”
She fists her hands. “Of course you’re not! I’m sure my father said that. Colten too, yeah? I bet I can recite the whole conversation word for word and get most of it right. They warned you to stay away from me? Not to break my heart? Big deal! They’ve said that to every guy who’s ever walked into my life. You’re not special. You’re not any more ‘bad’ than the rest. You…you’re—”
She rears back and shoves me with everything she’s got, her hands pushing against my chest until I hit the wall behind me.
“You’re a coward,” she says, spitting venom. “You’re scared.”
She’s a ball of rage.
I grip hold of her biceps to keep her fists from pounding on my chest. “Of course I’m scared! I care about you,” I say, voice booming. “I want life to be easy for you. I want you to be happy. You said yourself you want to be with a man your family approves of.”
“Well guess what?! I fell for you instead!” She groans with everything she’s got and then flings my arms off her. “I’m so mad I can’t even think straight.”
“Tell me the way forward then,” I say, coming up behind her, turning her around so she has to look up at me. I want her looking in my eyes as she lays out her master plan. “Tell me how this works. You defy your father and keep sneaking out of your house to see me? I want more than that, Madison. I want—”
Before I can even finish that sentence, she’s on me, pushing me up against the wall, crashing her mouth against mine. I’m so angry I could shred her clothes, pull her hair, bite that lip. Clearly, so is she. I’ve had enough with the games and the silly shit. No more pushing her out of her comfort zone under the guise of a birthday resolution. No more pretending what we have is just a friendship.
She fists my shirt and kisses me back with an angry vengeance. Our mouths slant together and our tongues touch and I’m grinding into her, gripping her ass, pulling up her legs so they wrap around me.
The gloves are off. The time for indecision is over. I came here with two options: fight for her or give her an easy out, a chance to leave me behind. It seems we’ve made up our minds.
I’m not going to walk away from Madison. She’ll have to find a new family—I’ll be her family. I’ll take care of her and shelter her and if her dad doesn’t like that, tough shit.
She melts against me, gripping, writhing, moaning. Her hands are unbuttoning my shirt and my hands are up under dress, pushing beneath her panties. I have her ass in my hands and I grip it like I’m as angry with it as I am with the last few days. We’ve been in hell and this is our reward, our light at the end of the tunnel.
“Ben,” she moans as my mouth trails down her cheek, her neck, her chest. I spin us around so she’s up against the wall. I use it to my advantage, leaning back and gaining better access. Her sweater dress is just stretchy enough that I can tug the neck to the side and expose one