Page 74 of The Promises We Break

37

HUDSON

We managed to sneak out of the club undetected after the most intense sex session I’ve ever experienced. The orgasm high lingered over half the flight, then a slight tinge of guilt settled in, realizing I spied on my best friend DP’ing his wife with their significant other. I have no idea how I’m going to tell him, or if ever, but it was still the hottest goddamn thing I’ve ever witnessed. It wasn’t the scene that made it so unbelievable, but the sexy woman seated next to me in yet another emergency exit aisle.

It feels like we’ve come full circle at this point, with everything we’ve experienced in the short amount of time we’ve been together. We’re over halfway through ouragreement. I hide my internal eye roll, saying the words in my head. Even though things are nowhere near what they were like in the beginning, a part of me is still terrified she’ll find any excuse to end this at the end of ourbusiness arrangement,when there is no, and I mean no good fucking reason to stop.

I’m going to lay everything out on the table this weekend. I don’t want to wait for her to make plans to go anywhere elsebut with me. At this point, there’s no other option for me. She’s it. She’s everything.

The plane taxis and we exit with our luggage and head straight to the car rental place. The hotel isn’t far, thank god, because my legs feel like I lit them on fire after running a double marathon.

I told her I could squat like that all day, but I don’t typically wall squat while impaling the most gorgeous redhead with my cock, bouncing incessantly while attempting to control an orgasm.

Needless to say, I’m glad I don’t have a game for a few days because I now need to recover from the brutal beating I put them through.

Worth every fucking minute, though.

“I love hotels with you,” she says as we walk into the one we’ve reserved for the weekend. “It reminds me of when we met.” She smiles at me with a shyness I only see when she gets vulnerable.

I want to take advantage of this moment to tell her how much I feel the same, tell her how much I don’t want this to be fake anymore.It’s never been fake for me.But I pause too long, unsure of my words.

“I’m going to shower. I am filthy.” She gives me an astute look, like it’s my fault.

It is, but still, the nerve.

“Think we can just sleep in and then do absolutely nothing until the party tomorrow?” she asks.

“I think that’s the best idea you’ve ever had.” Agreeing with her wholeheartedly as I unknowingly rub my quad muscles by instinct.

“Before we go to bed, I’ll give you a massage. Your legs need it.” She turns around, walking to the bathroom, carrying toiletries in her hand and way too much self-satisfaction in the other.

“All day, little red. I could have done that all day,” I yell out with a smile, making sure she can hear me before walking through the bathroom door.

She uh-hms me, then shuts the door.

I don’t just love hotels with you. I love everything with you.

Pullingup to the driveway in front of a mammoth-sized colonial house, there are cars lined up along the long circular driveway, already doubling up since we passed through the gate. It was an advanced level Tetris game trying to find a spot to park. Ember hasn’t talked much about her family life or specifically her home, so I’m surprised to discover her family is royalty in this small town, being that the entire town appears to be here at their party.

The house must be five thousand square feet, on multiple acres of land. It’s surrounded by lush green trees and a wrought iron gate. Having their party here makes total sense, since it feels equivalent to driving up to Buckingham Palace, Midwest style, and I’m certain no place in town could come close to competing with this.

Ember shared that her father has been the mayor of this town and dedicated to the town and the local counties heavily over their years here. In most towns, a mayor doesn’t have much pull in the grand scheme of things. But based on what I’m hearing, her parents are deeply involved in the political scene, both locally and statewide, and he uses his connections wisely.

Her parents, well, father, specifically, paid for all her brother’s educations, and they contributed nothing for her. That was irritating enough. Now knowing she grew up like this and she had to pay her own way through college. Well, that just pisses me off.

Her eyes look vacantly at the house with a pained appearance in them. I know this moment has been weighing on her. For a while, I thought it was introducing me to her family, but after she shared with me the text messages she received, I realized a couple of things.

One, Elliot is deeply embedded in her family and wants her back. Two, they don’t care about anything else except getting her back home to live a mediocre life that she doesn’t want.

Neither one of those is happening today or ever.

“Are you doing okay?”

She blinks and turns to look at me, opening her mouth to reply, but closing it quickly. Instead of using words, she grants me a thin-lipped smile and nods before shifting her gaze back to the house.

The silence between us is deafening. We’ve been living in our own world, and it’s really been just the two of us in this so-called fake relationship. We’ve been able to ignore almost everything else around us, and it’s been literal heaven.

Sitting outside her parents’ house is a reality check I don’t think either one of us is ready for. If they are anything like I think they are, they will manipulate her into coming back home or making her feel guilty enough to give up on everything she wants to make them, or Elliot, happy.

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