Page 3 of Sweet as Sugar

I was so tired I couldn’t see straight. School was a pain and that jerk Bennet was picking on me all day. The last days of my sophomore year in college. I had been looking forward to it for years and now it was ruined, thanks to Bennet. I knew I shouldn’t go out with him. I wasn’t in love with him. I’ve never been in love with him. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. We used to be such good friends. Then all of a sudden when we went out he turned into a raging idiot. I mean, technically, I knew but I hoped that he’d outgrow it. That we could go back to being just friends. That’s all we could ever be. Because I’ve always belonged to Samson somewhere deep down in my heart and I knew it was all kinds of wrong and could mess up our little family but I couldn’t help it.

I’ve been attracted to my best friend since I first noticed boys. But he’s younger and I just didn’t want to mess up what we’ve had.

I got back to the gym early this afternoon and as soon as Samson saw me, we started butting heads. I was tense and weirded out and I just don’t know what to do about all thesefeelings swirling around inside me. We both worked at the gym that my dad co-owns. I also helped my mother when she has bookkeeping to take care of the gym. Neither one of my parents pushed me too hard to help. I just liked doing it. Samson, on the other hand, grumbled about being pushed to help at the gym. Probably because he’s a teenage boy and he wanted to be in charge of his own life. He didn’t want someone telling him what to do. Not even his parents.

My head popped up when the door slammed shut. The air swirled around me and my face flushed. “What are you doing in here, Sam? Everybody’s going to miss the birthday boy if you don’t head back.”

His dark tan flushed and his big hands trembled just a bit, trying to control his temper. Which he must have gotten from his birth mom because Jaxon, his father, is the sweetest man in the world. That man doesn’t have a raging bone in his body. I loved Jaxon just as much as I loved the other men that run the gym with my dad. They’re all beloved uncles to the pack of kids that each man is raising. If you needed help with something, you could always call on any one of them to help. If you were embarrassed to talk to your parents about something, there was a group of aunts that would listen to every word and give you advice. It’s amazing that they’ve managed to stay together after all this time, but all of these men and their wives are something special. I personally thought that’s one of the reasons their gyms became so successful. They care.

I’ve tried talking to Jaxon and Ruby about Samson’s attitude problem with me but I don’t think they understood my concerns. Partially my fault since I had no idea how to tell them their son is a major asshole. I cursed under my breath when my moment’s peace was interrupted by the asshole in question coming around the corner, gorgeous ice-blue eyes sweeping the gym and lighting up with triumph when he spotted me.

“There you are, Chloe. What the hell are you doing hiding back here?”

I shrugged my shoulders and pushed off the wall. “None of your business, Samson.”

For a big boy, he could move really fast. Before I could take a deep breath, he’d parked right in front of me like an immovable wall. A huge wall with muscles and a singular smell that was all him. Something like cedar and pine and man all wrapped up in one which was so weird considering that he was barely legal.

“Were you trying to hide from me, Chloe?” His big hands rested on the wall on either side of me, blocking me in. My breath stalled in my throat. His warm grin didn’t show in his eyes. The ice in them froze me to my core. My cheeks heated and I glared up at him, trying to ignore the strange flutter in my belly. I told myself it was nerves and that I didn’t feel anything else but that. “Why would I need to hide from you, Sam? You don’t own me. You don’t get to tell me what to do. You basically mean nothing to me.” Big words considering how very much I loved having him this close to me. But I shouldn’t. I knew I shouldn’t.

He growled under his breath and a flutter of unease trickled down my spine. Did I go too far? Why did I care?

“I don’t mean anything to you, huh, Chloe? Then this will mean nothing to you as well.” Before I could say anything to him, backpedalling the challenge that I threw down, his lips slammed down on mine. Confusion rolled over me. His hard lips delved into my mouth when I gasped, stunned. His tongue slid along mine, wrapping, twisting and dancing with mine. I grasped onto his tank top, fisting it in my frantic fingers like a lifeline to a world that had just been tipped on its ear. I moaned and slid one hand up to drive it into his shoulder-length chestnut hair, tugging and pulling, knowing that I was hurting him. But he didn’t stop. He lifted me up into the wall like I weighed nothing,balancing me with one hand while the other raked down my body, electric currents lighting up my nerve endings where his needy hands touched. He fondled my hips, one hand holding me hard while his big, heavy body slammed me into the wall behind us. I gasped and writhed in his bulging arms. He lifted his head and his heavy-lidded eyes gleamed sapphire with lust and need.

“I don’t think you really believe that I mean nothing to you, Chloe. You feel this?” His slim hips bumped into my core and I felt the bulge in his shorts. Shock hit me and I moaned and my eyes fluttered closed.

“Open your eyes, Chloe,” he demanded, voice rough and raspy. I forced my eyes open, almost weeping at all the emotions I saw in his clear eyes. I didn’t know when our friendship changed but there was obviously something else brewing between us and whatever it was, it was powerful and earth-shattering. Clouds of lust and desire hindered my brain, leaving me reeling. Which was why when he dropped me to the ground, I had to reach out and grab onto him, groaning when I accidentally brushed his rock-hard erection. He whispered in my ear and I shivered when his warm breath fanned across my overheated skin.

“Think about that the next time you think that I mean nothing to you.” He stepped back and growled while I tried to catch my breath. “I mean everything to you. You’re just too stubborn to realize it. You think I’m too young and I don’t know my own mind. But I do. And one of these days you’re going to wake up and realize that I’m right and we belong together. You’re mine just as much as I’m yours.”

I whimpered when his blazing eyes raked across me. Goosebumps danced across my skin. He gave a satisfied nod, then he strolled away, whistling while I struggled to figure out what the hell just happened.

CHAPTER 3

Samson

She’s here. My whole body freezes when I see her curvy little figure come through the doors, her glorious curls cascading down her back.

I have to close my eyes and fist my hands at my side to keep from running over there and throwing her over my shoulder.

The only thing that stops me is our parents. Hell, all of the parents. I’m pretty sure that they wouldn’t find that romantic or funny in the slightest. Most likely I’d get my ass handed to me by her overprotective daddy and mine as well.

She steps inside the doors like a cautious deer watching for predators. A smile curls my lips. Oh yeah, she remembers me. She remembers us.

I take one step forward and then a shriek rips through the air and both of us jump. About the same time a streak of short auburn curls and energy whips past me.

I can’t help but chuckle as Chloe’s green eyes get wide and she mouths, “Mom” seconds before Ireland hits her full-tilt and almost takes both of them to the floor in a tangle of arms and legs.

Finn gets to them before I do and catches them to him, dwarfing his daughter and his wife. “Chloe,” he growls. “As youcan see your mom missed you.” He scowls and then his face clears into a beautiful smile that he only gets around his family. “I missed you too, girl. And if you ever disappear like that again, I’m gonna spank your ass.”

I should be smacked for where the hell my mind goes to when he says that. If Finn knew what I was thinking, he’d rip my body apart with his bare hands.

I breathe in deep as I get so close to them that I can reach out and touch her.

If I could make it through her parents. And mine. Jaxon and Ruby have joined the dog-pile of laughing, crying people clinging to Chloe. Along with Stryker and his wife, Wren and Bishop and his wife, Adley.

Adley backs up a second later and swats her arm lightly. “You better never stay away that long, girl! If we all have to come hunt your ass down we will!”

Trust Adley to be the one to barrel into that threat. She still has no filter.

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