A Drop of Pretty Poison (Pretty Poison Trilogy #2)

by Kelsey Clayton

“Because I’m falling in love with your sister.”

“I love you, Laiken. I am so massively in love with you, and I’m sorry that I didn’t realize it sooner.”

“I’m in love with you, too.”

“I would’ve deserved it. I knew the rules. But I couldn’t stand to be away from you anymore. The pain of missing you is worse than anything he could’ve done to me.”

“Lai,” he says, bending his neck and moving me away so he can look into my eyes. “You are the only future I see.”

“I need you.” My words come out like a desperate plea. Hayes deepens the kiss, only stopping for a second to respond. “You have me, baby. You always have me.”

He chuckles and stops his movements. “Then show me what you want, babe. I’m all yours.”

“Fuck me,” I breathe. “I want you to fuck me.” He slows down as he leans forward and kisses me. “Not tonight, baby. Tonight, I want to love you.”

“You’re flawless,” he tells me as he presses back in. “So fucking perfect. And beautiful. And mine.”

He smiles in that way he has and my insides melt. I know there isn’t a thing in the world I wouldn’t go through for him. All the pain and all the heartbreak—it was worth it because it got us here, where he’s loving me the best way he knows how.

“Never make me go without that again,” I tell him through labored breaths. He chuckles quietly and drops a kiss on my forehead. “Never.”

I chose the wrong road and lost the one girl who means more to me than anyone. So, I turned the fuck around and chose again.

She’s that once in a lifetime kind of person for me,

“I’m sorry it took me so long to come around,” I tell her. She reconnects the kiss once more and smiles. “It’s okay. You fell in love with me eventually.” I pull her just a little closer. “Hard and fast.” “Mm. Just how I like it.”

“I love you,” I tell her as I take a step back. She smiles. “I love you, too.”

“I shot a well-aimed hockey puck into his no-no place.”

He pulls a remote out of his pocket and presses a button, and the entire rink is cast in soft twinkly lights. They’re strung over the glass and go all the way around. In the middle of the ice, there’s a table, set with a tablecloth, two covered meals, one which has a rose on it, and a candle in the middle. Two chairs sit on either

anyway. “I love it. You’re amazing.” “You are amazing,” he corrects me with a kiss. “I’m just trying to be somewhat worthy of your attention.”

“I’m sure that will happen eventually, but you once told me I’m not allowed to skip steps. So, Laiken…” He pauses just to drive me insane. “Will you officially be mine? My out-in-the-open, hold-your-hand-no-matter-who-can-see girlfriend?”

“You can sit on my face for as long as you want.”

Exclusively. Officially. Completely.

“It’s a pipe dream.” I can’t help but smirk. “So was I, but you got me.”

I mentally add that to the endless list of reasons why I will love her for the rest of my life.

If there’s ever a time when this girl is all I have, I’ll be okay, because she’s all I will ever need.

“Are you? Because from where I’ve been standing for the last two weeks, you haven’t been fucking acting like it. I bet you don’t even know his dad died, do you? Or that today he went to pick up an inheritance check and that he was answering me all the way up until he said he was at the office and he’d call me after before he went radio silent? You claim to be his best friend, but you’ve been a really fucking shitty one lately, if you ask me.”

“Do I have to worry about you hurting her?” he asks after a moment. I shake my head without hesitation. “I’m crazy about her.”

Relief floods through me, numbing out all the feelings I was struggling with before. I love Laiken. I really do. And if she was all I had, I know that I would be okay. But if I have her and my best friend, nothing can ever bring me down.

He breaks the kiss and smiles. “You’re so important to me.”

Three things… 1. You’re gorgeous. 2. I’m the luckiest man alive. and 3. Thank fuck that live wallpaper is a thing.

I offered to take her out to breakfast, but when we noticed no one was home, I opted to eat her instead.

I’m not sure this house has any flaws, other than the price. It’s close enough to everything and big enough for us to have a family in one day. We may not be buying this house together, but that doesn’t mean we can’t end up spending our lives here. Besides, if she’s going to be over all the time, she needs to like it.

I’ve always heard that age-old saying, the one that says when you know, you know. Honestly, I used to think it was just bullshit that people said to buy into the whole idea of love. But sitting here, looking at her now, I realize they’re right. You just fucking know.

And I know without a fraction of a doubt that I will spend the rest of my life loving the woman sitting across from me.

can see it all. The two of us sharing the same space, raising a family and growing old together in the house Laiken fell in love with from the moment she saw it. And I want it all.

I put my hand over his and tap my thumb three times. I. Love. You. He smiles as he exhales and does four back on my leg. I. Love. You. Too.

Mali and I start to follow him back to the car when she leans closer into me. “You’re going to jump his bones tonight, aren’t you?” “Abso-fucking-lutely.”

“Someone should have brought a goddamn pop-it for her,” Mali says. Hayes reaches over and puts his hand on my knee. “You okay, babe?” “I feel like I might throw up,” I tell him. “Like projectile vomit all over everything.” He smirks. “You are so sexy right now. Keep talking dirty like that.”

And the one night I came close to having a breakdown, he laid with me and watched Gilmore Girls for hours while running his fingers through my hair.

This man is the best! We love a man who watches Gilmore girls

The way he stepped up so easily, even after not talking to him for a few weeks, it really showed he cares. Sure, technically he owed me after he involved himself in my and Hayes’s relationship, but he still could have told me to fuck myself. Plus, it’s a lot harder to stay mad about what he did when Hayes and I are in such a good place.

The reason why he cares is because he likes you… and he’s gonna try everything to get to you

They’re the ones who will fuck you until three in the morning, when you’re so spent from orgasming over and over that you can hardly move.

Hayes has a way of knowing exactly where to touch, and exactly how to move, to make me feel like my whole body is in ecstasy. Like every inch of me is his own personal wonderland and he wants nothing more than to get lost in it. Lost in me.

“Lai,” he says softly. “You have me. All of me. Forever.”

“I love you,” I tell him. He smirks, bending down to kiss me. “I more than love you.”

“I hang on every single word you say.”

“Believe it, baby. It’s all mine.” He bends down to kiss my neck. “And I plan to worship your body on every…fucking…inch of it. Starting right here.”

“We’re not hiding here, baby. There’s no one else in this place. It’s just us. And I want to hear you scream.”

He drops down to his knees and hooks my legs over his shoulders. “Let’s see just how loud you can be.”

“Give me it, Laiken,” he demands. “Come all over my tongue so I can bury myself deep inside of you.”

“Have you never…” my voice fades out, but he knows what I’m asking.

“Only you,” he confesses. “Only ever you.”