Page 85 of Face Off
My head pops up from the mattress as I wait to see if I’m hallucinating, or if someone is really at the door.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
I hop off the bed and walk toward the door. “Cassidy—” I say. I stop mid-sentence to find a solemn-looking Brooks staring at me.
What the—
He looks like shit. Yup, his piercing blue eyes are bloodshot, and dark bags rest underneath them. It’s as if he hasn’t slept in days. I know the sentiment. I bet I still look like that now. Just more freshly showered than earlier today. But his appearance isn’t what had me caught like a deer in the headlights. It’s the fact that Brooks is here. Standing at the door to my villa after he left me alone and heartbroken only forty-eight hours ago.
“W-what are you doing here?” I stammer as I try to steady myself.
Nervously, he rubs the back of his neck before shoving his hands into his pockets. “Uh… Can I come in? Can we talk?”
I step aside, allowing him to enter the villa. Softly, I shut the door before walking further into the room. An uncomfortable silence wafts throughout the room as we stare at one another. “So, I…” we both say at the same time.
“Sorry,” I say, moving to take a seat on the couch. “You go first.”
He walks over to the love seat across from the couch and rests his arms on his knees. “Hayley,” he starts, voice filled with gravel. “I shouldn’t have walked out on you. I fucked up big time.” Dropping his head to his chest, he lets out a defeated breath. “I have trust issues and when you didn’t tell me probably one of the biggest things about your life, I shut down.”
And broke my heart. Again.
“Don’t you think telling me that I was dating the daughter of the guy who signs my paychecks was important?” he says, meeting my gaze.
“I wanted to tell you,” I say, breaking out of his gaze and falling back into the couch. “God, I wanted you to know the truth so bad. No one knows who I am. Not the media, not the public, barely anyone who works for the Skipjacks. No one.”
“What about Boyce, Burch, and Cassidy?”
“Those three are the exception. They’ve known me forever,” I say, thinking back to high school, when I thought being a Richards didn’t define me. Oh, how I was wrong. “My parents, though they lived in the public eye, were very private when it came to me. My last name was Richards all the wayup until I graduated high school. However, when I got pregnant and everything blew up with Boyce’s family, my parents were afraid they would go to the media for money. Boyce’s dad was a compulsive gambler, and he had swindled his entire family’s fortune away, except for Boyce’s trust fund, but that’s beside the point.” I press the heel of my hands into my eyes, trying to stop the tears from falling. “At first, they tried to accuse my parents of lying about the pregnancy to get money from them, because Boyce swore up and down Camden wasn’t his. Then they saw it as an opportunity to sell a story.‘Wade Richards’ secret daughter and how she tried to extort money from the Cameron’s.’Then once I graduated high school and got into med school, I changed my name. It was the first time I realized why my parents kept me hidden. It was the first time I was a target to being used.”
He stands and moves to sit next to me, pulling my hand into his lap. “That’s why you didn’t tell me. That’s why you were so cautious from the start.”
“It’s why I fought this for so long. Why I acted the way I did toward you,” I say, turning to look at him. “Brooks, I love you, and I wanted to tell you—”
His lips cover mine in a heated kiss. His tongue brushes my bottom lip, begging for entry as all thought of what I was going to say flies out the window. This. This is what I needed. What I’ve died for the moment he walked out of the locker room on me. His caress. His kiss. The security he’s giving me right now.
“I’m sorry,” I murmur against his lips.
“No. I’m sorry for being a dick and walking out on you,” he says, pulling back from me. “I don’t ever want to break you again.”
Our mouths reconnect as his hands grip my hips, pulling me onto his lap. My legs straddles him on either side as he pulls at the hem of my shirt, pulling it over my head and discarding it on the floor. His gaze sets me on fire as his eyes roam down my body, his thumb brushing against my pert nipple covered in a fine black lace.
A gasp leaves me as my head lulls to the side as he lowers his mouth, taking my nipple into his mouth. Sucking and biting on it through the lace, sending a jolt of electricity and warmth to my core. I grind down on his hard length as wetness pools between my legs.
“God, I missed his,” he says, pressing his forehead against mine. “I can feel how wet you are through your leggings.”
A low moan spills from my lips as I grind down on him hard again. Gripping my hips, he takes me with him as he stands from the couch, his lips crashing into mine as he walks us toward the bedroom. Laying me down on the edge on the bed, he slowly pulls my leggings down as I lift my hips to help him. After dropping them on the floor, he grips the back of his shirt, pulling it quickly over his head before popping the button on his jeans, pushing them down his thick thighs, his boxers shortly to follow.
His chest rises and falls in sync with mine as he takes in the sight of me. Placing kisses on my mouth, jawline, and collarbone, he slowly makes his way to my breast, pulling the cups of my black lace bra down, exposing my hard, erect nipple. Pulling it into his mouth, he sucks, nips, and bites as my hips buck, arching my back off the mattress. He hasn’t even entered me yet, and I’m ready to come undone.
“Brooks—” I pant out as his hand dips below my lace panties, rubbing small circles on my clit as he continues his assault on my breasts.
“So wet for me, Red,” he says, brushing a finger against my wet folds. Dipping a finger in, he moves at slow, measured paces before adding a second finger. My breath becomes ragged as he curls his fingers, rubbing my g-spot as he continues his thrust. My hips buck more wildly as I feel my need growing, ready to combust as he brings me closer to the edge. Just as I’m about to come undone, he removes his finger, taking them in his mouth, sucking off my juices. “Fuck, you taste so good, Red. But as much as I want to devour that sweet pussy of yours, you do something to me, and I have to be inside you.”
I lift my hips as he grips the sides of my panties, gliding them down my legs to reveal my wet heat glistening and ready for him. His lips find mine in a passionate kiss as he lines up his hard length at my wet folds. In one quick thrust, he enters me, stopping to allow me to adjust before moving again, slow at first before increasing his pace. My legs wrap around his waist, pulling him closer to me as he nips the sensitive skin on my neck.
God, how I missed this. Missed him. Brooks is like a drug. A craving that once I had a taste of, I knew I would never give up. I’m addicted to him. No explanation needed.
He continues his pace while kissing and nipping all the way down my neck, reaching the swells of my breast. Taking my nipple into his mouth, he bites it before swirling his tongue around the sensitive bud, causing a white-hot haze to fill me. My orgasm hits me like a runaway train as my hips buck off the bed, Brooks’ name falling from my lips as a second orgasm hit me.
