Page 20 of Connected By Stars
Chapter Nine
Bella
I shutthe door to the bedroom and lean against it, trying to come to terms with what just happened. Good lord, that man is built. I press my thighs together and can feel the wetness between my legs.
After that, there is no denying he wants me. I saw the want in his eyes just as much as I saw how swollen and ready he was for me. I can see why girls beg him for another night and get attached. I could never get enough of what I saw and how it made me feel.
I take in a shaky breath and walk downstairs. The girls and I got back from the spa feeling all relaxed and ready to have a good time tonight, and now I’m a ball of sexual tension and frustration. Sighing, I head straight for the drinks and pour myself a glass of chilled white wine.
“There you are. Have you seen Mav? The guys were looking for him?” Sophia pours herself a glass of white and takes a sip.
“No, he must be upstairs in one of the spare bedrooms getting ready.” I feel bad lying, but it’s not something I can talk about now. Not until I know where it’s going.
“Oh, there he is.” I turn to where she is looking as Maverick walks over to us and grabs a bottle of bourbon. He pours a double and takes a sip.
“Rough day?” Sophia says, laughing and eyeing the bourbon. “I thought you guys won.”
“We did. I just have a lot on my mind right now and need to take the edge off.” He glances at me before quickly looking at Sophia.
“Don’t worry about tonight. Everything looks great. Emma thought the balloons and cupcakes were hilarious. The bottomless mimosas might have something to do with that, but she seems happy and excited.”
He smiles. “I’m glad she loves it. Our moms did a great job.”
“My mom helped with this?” I look around and laugh. “I bet they had a blast setting this up.”
“I’m sure they did. We’re probably one wine bottle short, too,” he jokes.
“Of that, I have no doubt,” Sophia giggles.
The caterers come in, and Maverick sets his glass down to show them where the food goes. A few more people arrive, and I recognize a couple of guys that Noah and Maverick went to high school with that they have kept in contact over the years. They must have brought their girlfriends or wives with them because there are some girls I don’t recognize.
I see Emma talking to Sadie, James’ wife, in the corner. I’m glad she was able to come with us today. Harper was teething yesterday and was fussy, so Sadie skipped out on the dress shopping. James’ parents were able to watch her today, so they both could make it.
“Well, if it isn’t Noah’s little sister all grown up. You look amazing, Bella.” I smile when I see Eric walking over. He used to be over a lot with Maverick during high school, and he was always so sweet to me. He gives me a hug and grins at me.
“Eric, I haven’t seen you in forever. Where have you been hiding?”
“Well, I was away at school for a while in California studying law and ended up staying there longer than I thought. I recently moved back last year and work for a firm near Miami. I drove up for the weekend. There was no way I was missing Noah’s bachelor party.”
“Eric, I see you made the drive up.” I hear Mav say. I glance behind me and see him standing there.
“Mav, how have you been, man? It’s been way too long.”
“I’m doing good. Business is great, so I can’t complain.”
“Can you believe how grown up Bella is now? I should have been paying more attention to her back in the day than you dickheads.” Eric looks at me and winks.
I look at Mav and see his jaw tighten. He would always get on me about being so nice to Eric back then. He never did like the fact that Eric was always talking to me when he would come over. I was only thirteen at the time, but I only talked to Eric because I knew Mav would pay attention to me if I did. I liked it when he got protective over me. It’s when I started dating that it got worse to the point that I started getting annoyed with him.
“She was only thirteen at the time. She was jailbait when you turned eighteen.”
“Don’t worry, you and Noah made it perfectly clear she was off limits. Especially you. I still remember that punch you threw me.”
“Wait, what? Maverick hit you? Why?” I look at Maverick and then Eric. I’m shocked that I’m just hearing about this.
“I may have said something inappropriate about you. Which, looking back, I shouldn’t have, but I was seventeen and a dumbass. Mav let me know it, too.” Eric laughs and takes a drink of his beer.
He hit Eric because of me? “How inappropriate was it?” I ask, raising my eyebrows at Eric.
