Ivy

by Willa Nash

Her father had taught her long ago to hug her enemies close. Not that Ivy was necessarily her enemy. But grenades were built to detonate. There was always the chance that the pin would shake loose and boom. Decimation. Ivy Clarence made a beautiful bomb.

Aston had done a hell of a job recruiting handsome men.

No. This wasn’t happening. Was he going to end this? Had they already had their last night? She hadn’t savored it. She hadn’t committed every second to memory.

Even though she’d been friends with Ivy for what felt like her entire life, Elora hadn’t known Zain from their youth. Being nine years older, he’d been long gone from the Clarence home by the time Elora had been old enough to notice boys. He’d simply been a face in framed photos. But that night freshman year, one look at him in person and she’d been mesmerized. After three years, she was still under his spell. He was even more breathtaking now, after all this time.

No man compared to Zain. No man had ever captured her attention. Maybe they’d agreed no rules, no expectations, but she hadn’t even thought about another man. Why would she need one? She had him. And now she’d lost him.

She’d forget Tate—whatever his last name—soon enough. It was just taking longer than expected.

His blue eyes sparkled as his smile widened. Two dimples. He had two dimples. Damn.

Elora Maldonado’s personal life might be a failure, but academically, she was a star.

It was Tate who spotted Elora staring. His smile fell as he leaned closer to speak in Zain’s ear. Zain’s eyes shot her way. His shoulders stiffened.

Was this his plan? To hurt her the way she’d hurt him? Well . . . it was unnecessary. She was plenty capable of punishing herself.

Elora wished she had the strength to resist him. But that ship had sailed years ago, so she rolled onto her back and spread her legs wider, making room for him in the cradle of her hips.

They fit together like puzzle pieces. Her edges weren’t so jagged when he held her close.

She let him curse her. She closed her eyes and let him fuck her. And because this time had to be the last, for her heart’s sake, she memorized every stroke.

The slight smile around Elora’s eyes said she was probably teasing, but Cassia had never met someone who could hide nearly all emotion from their face.

In that month, he hadn’t gotten any less handsome. Or dangerous. A wicked smirk tugged at his soft lips as he walked to her table and pulled out the chair across from hers.

Past the lawn, the sea was endless. A flock of gulls squawked as they flew overhead. Take me with you.

“Goddamn you. Don’t use that crude little mouth to shove me away.” This was the problem. They’d been together too long and he’d learned too many of her tricks. “You like my crude little mouth.”

The hole in her heart was shaped like Zain Clarence, with blue eyes, high cheekbones and a chiseled jaw. With a magnificent mind and a magnetic touch.

Tate stared at Ivy the way a man stared at a woman he desired. A woman he had every intention of claiming.

She hadn’t been that brutally honest in, well . . . years. Especially not about her family. They were flawed, but they were hers.

She studied his face, memorizing the details she wanted in her dreams tonight. The bridge of his nose. The shape of his lips. The bump of his Adam’s apple. The stubble on his face. Never in her life had Ivy seen a more beautiful man.

“I’m proud of you.” Elora had spoken so quietly he couldn’t have heard. But then his hand came to her knee, giving it a squeeze, before it returned to the handlebar and they left his neighborhood behind.

“What can I get you?” the bartender asked. “Drunk,” she answered, taking a stool.

Ivy knew all about boundaries. And how much men liked to cross them.

“You’re distracting me.” “I’m not even sorry.”

“Don’t look so smug.” She rolled her eyes. “The majority of first dates never lead to a second.” “You just made that statistic up.”

“I said beautiful twice because it deserves to be said twice.” He reached out and ran a knuckle over her cheek.

“Am I not good enough? Am I too young? Give me a decent reason.” He crossed the room in a flash, forcing her against the counter. “Because I want you to crave me just a fraction of how much I crave you. Because I want you so worked up you can’t see straight.”

“You know what I think I like most about you, Red? You don’t want anything from me.” No, that wasn’t true. At this exact moment, she wanted him to keep hold of her hand.

When he shifted his attention to her, it was like she’d been standing in the rain and he had the only umbrella. “Hi.” “Hi.”

Could he see it? Did he know that she loved him? He was her heart. She loved Zain Clarence with her soul.

It was fitting, for the last time to be the best time. To have a climax so powerful and passionate that she would remember it until the end of her days.

“I won’t be a secret,” he said. “I won’t play games. I won’t fuck around. I have no desire to be a whatever. We don’t need a label, but I sure as hell won’t pretend you don’t mean something. Clear?”

She’d read books with alpha males. Now she was sharing a meal with one. Her pulse raced and a wave of desire curled between her legs. Who was this Edwin and was he willing to fuck her later?

Cassia placed her hand on the table, palm up, ready for his when he needed hers.

Tate bent, bracing his hands on the chair as his nose nearly brushed hers. “You can push me. You can push as hard as you want. But I’m not going anywhere. We’re done if I say we’re done. Not a minute sooner.”

He leaned closer, his lips just a breath from hers. “God, you are gorgeous when you’re jealous.”

They came together effortlessly, like lovers who’d spent years, not hours, perfecting sex.

She craved him a little more. Hoped that the promise of them would come true. She wished for Tate.

“Has it ever been like this for you before?” she asked. “No.”

There were a few faint freckles on his shoulder. She traced them, connecting the dots into different patterns. She’d learn everything there was to know about his body before they were done. And if by that point he still wanted her, she’d start all over again.

Those labels sounded so trivial, even in her head. She wanted to be more. She wanted to be his entire world. She wanted to be so wrapped up in his life that no one would be able to tell where he ended and she began.

He took her hand off her lap, weaving their fingers together before kissing the knuckle on her ring finger. That was one of his favorite places on her body to touch his lips, the spot just below the four-carat diamond ring he’d given her a year ago and the diamond-studded wedding band he’d added six months later.