call a taxi or walk the five miles home.
“The night that Marybeth became desperate enough to settle for you,” Trevor said, making the decision for him.
A five-mile walk home it was then.
“Oh, come on!” Jason called after him. “Don’t be that way!”
Not bothering to look up from his phone as he headed towards the sidewalk, he raised a hand and gave his cousins the finger, which of course amused them.
“Look,” Trevor said, chuckling as he caught up with him, “we have a bet going with our wives, who are even at this moment questioning Marybeth and bugging the shit out of her until she tells them.”
“What’s the bet?” he asked, damn near groaning as he put his phone away and came to a stop so that he could face his cousins, because he knew that Zoe and Haley would have the truth out of Marybeth in a matter of minutes if they played their cards right, which basically meant that Haley sat there looking sad and hurt and Zoe used guilt and the fact that she was carrying their children for them to get what they wanted.
“Losers have to watch the kids while the winners get a weekend in New York to catch a game,” Trevor explained before adding, “and if you help us win this bet, you can come with us, all expenses paid.”
A free trip to watch the Yankees?
No Bradford in his right mind would be able to pass that up, which is why he rubbed his hands roughly down his face as he said, “Okay, this is what happened…”
Part III
Darrin’s Side of the Story…
The night that it all began all those years ago…
“I’m hungry,” Darrin grumbled as he tossed the remote on the couch cushion next to him so that he could rub his hands down his face with the hopes that the small movement would somehow give him the energy to stay awake.
“Me, too,” Marybeth said next to him as she laid down on her side and laid her legs across his, using him to get more comfortable as she released a small yawn and curled up, “I’ll take Chinese food. Thanks.”
“Why are you telling me?” he asked absently as he sat back and placed his hand on her knee, using any excuse to touch her, which in his book made him fucking pathetic, but what else was he supposed to do when the woman that he loved only saw him as the pain in the ass brother that she never really wanted.
It made him feel really fucking special, he thought dryly as he gave in to the need to gently caress her knee with his thumb.
God, he was fucking pathetic.
“Because you’re going to order the food and go pick it up. Thanks,” she said around another yawn as she reached down and picked up the pillow that she’d used last night when she’d crashed on his couch and made herself more comfortable.
“Yeah, I’m really not,” he said, deciding to use their exhaustion as an excuse to hold her.
He laid down on his side behind her, loving the fact that she shifted forward to make room for him, and curled his body around hers, promising his needy cock a cold shower if it misbehaved and gave him away.
“You really are,” she said she placed her arm over his rested over her side and began absently tracing shapes on his arm.
“I’m really not.”
“Would you like to place a bet on this?” she asked with a sleepy little sigh as she settled back against him, putting his ability to control his cock to the test.
“Sure.”
“Loser buys dinner?”
“Sure,” he said as he struggled to stay awake.
When she didn’t answer, he stopped fighting and let his eyes close as he told himself that this was enough. He wished he could believe that, but he didn’t. It would never be enough until she was his, but every day, about a thousand times a day, he told himself this lie, hoping that it would help him get through one more day.
But in the back of his mind, he knew that it would never be enough.
He wasn’t sure that he could keep bullshitting himself for much longer. God, he loved her, he thought as he tried to ignore the ache in his chest and gave in to the need to press a kiss against the back of her neck. When she settled back against him so that there was no space between them, he nearly groaned.
“Goodnight,” he whispered, closing his eyes as he promised himself that one day things would change.
Part IV
An R.L. Mathewson Chronicle
“Do not push back. Do not push back. Do not push back. Do not push back,” Marybeth told herself as her fingers dug into the couch cushion beneath her while she struggled to ignore the incredibly large, hard erection that brushed against her bottom anytime Darrin shifted.
Which was a lot.
God, he felt so good, too damn good.
No, this was wrong. It could never happen, because he was her best friend and deserved better than to be stuck with a woman that couldn’t give him…give him….umm…oh, God, that felt good, she thought, biting back a moan of pleasure as that freakishly large erection pushing against Darrin’s zipper brushed up against her bottom again.
She should get up and return to her own apartment, she told herself, but for some reason she didn’t move. Maybe she was a masochist? she wondered as Darrin shifted in his sleep again, making her gasp as she reminded herself how wrong this was.
He was her best friend.
He wanted a family.
He deserved to be a father.
He deserved-
To cup her boob and pull her flush against him. He groaned in his sleep softly as he shifted, rubbing that erection that she was desperately trying to pretend was a flashlight against her bottom caressed her, making her nipples harden and making it even more difficult for her to do the right thing. She needed to get up and get out of here before they did something that they were going to regret.
Okay, so she might not regret it immediately, especially since she’d fantasized about him making love to her for as long as she could remember. He’d been her first crush, the first man that she’d ever fallen in love with and most likely would be the only man that she ever loved.
She just couldn’t do this to him, to make him think that they had a future when she knew that she couldn’t give him the kind of future that he deserved. She had to do the right thing. She was going to get up, walk back to her apartment and take a very long and very cold shower and if that didn’t work, she was going to head into work early and lose herself in her work.
That was the best plan.
Or at least it would have been if Darrin hadn’t pulled her even closer and palmed her breast in a way that made it difficult to take her next breath, never mind get up.
“Marybeth,” he groaned in his sleep as he kneaded her breast and ground his erection, that she could swear had actually gotten bigger in the last few seconds, against her bottom.
Okay, that was it.
It was definitely time to put an end to this before-
He kissed the back of her neck, making her shiver with desire as his hand abandoned her breast and slid down her stomach and-
“Oh, God,” she gasped, unable to take it any longer.
Telling herself that this was for the best, she went to sit up, but somehow found herself turning around and facing Darrin, who used her new position to place her on her back and settle between her legs as he continued his sensual assault.
She wrapped her arms around him, closed her eyes and tilted her head back, took a deep breath and decided to end this here and now before things got out of hand.
“Darrin, stop.”
Part V
“Darrin, stop.”
The words sent a chill down his spine as he slowly opened his eyes and looked down at the beautiful woman beneath him. He felt his stomach drop as dread slammed into him.
He’d just seriously fucked up.
God, he couldn’t believe how badly he’d just fucked up. All these years of struggling to stay in control, forcing himself to act like it didn’t tear him apart when she saw other men, that he didn’t want to kill every last fucking
one of them with his hands, but he’d somehow always believed the bullshit that they meant nothing and that one day she would realize what they had, but he’d just ruined everything because he couldn’t keep his fucking dick under control.
“I…,” he opened his mouth to apologize? To explain how fucking badly he wanted her? That sometimes he thought he’d fucking die if he didn’t find out how it felt to slide inside her and now he’d just ruined everything. He closed his mouth, swallowed and tried again, but the look on her face said it all.
He’d just ruined everything.
“Oh…fuck..no,” he whispered hoarsely as he slowly pulled away and climbed off the couch, unable to look her in the face and terrified that if he opened his mouth right now that he’d fuck this up even more. He needed to get away from her right now before it was too late.
He wanted her so fucking badly that if he didn’t leave the room and put some space between them right now then he was going to do something that he was going to regret and there was no doubt that he was going to fucking do something incredibly stupid if he stayed. Not because he would regret touching her, finally tasting her, because he would never regret that, but he would never forgive himself for pushing her away.
No matter how much he loved her, and God, did he fucking love her, she was his best friend and no matter how badly he wanted her, he couldn’t risk losing that. He just couldn’t risk losing her. It was the same goddamn reason that stopped him every fucking time he grew the balls to finally do something about it and tonight would be no different.
He’d back off, give her space, try to convince himself that neither one of them was ready to take this step and risk over twenty years of friendship for something that could blow up in their faces. He’d tell himself that he needed more time, needed to make sure that she was ready, that this wasn’t a mistake, and they weren’t going to ruin everything.
Time.
They just needed more time, he promised himself as he clenched his jaw shut tightly while he looked at the beautiful woman staring back at him. Her breaths were coming quickly as she closed her eyes while he tried to force himself to leave her, but he couldn’t.
He just couldn’t.
Part VI
Nothing happened, she told herself as she curled back up on her side and faced the couch, terrified that if she moved or said something that she would make things worse and Darrin would go away and-
She swallowed hard as she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to pretend that she wasn’t terrified that today would be the day when Darrin finally have enough and leave her before-
Before what?
There was nothing that could ever happen between them. She’d made sure of it and now she was lying here in the dark, feeling sorry for herself and praying for something that she knew could never happen. He deserved better than to be tied down to the one woman who couldn’t give him what he wanted more than anything and she deserved to live a life where she could open her eyes every morning and look at herself in the mirror without feeling like the most horrible bitch around for ruining his life.
Keeping her eyes closed, she listened as Darrin continued to stand there, wondering what he was going to do. Part of her hoped that he would climb back on the couch, curl up behind her and tell her that nothing else mattered. Another part of her hoped that he would do the right thing and walk away, start putting some real distance between them and end this before she was forced to do it, but she knew that he would never hurt her and push her away no matter how much better off they’d both be if one of them had the balls to finally end this thing.
That left it up to her to do the right thing, something that she’d been struggling to find the courage to do since she was fifteen. Maybe tonight was finally going to be the night where things happened for the best. He’d finally get sick of being brushed off, move on and she’d be happy for him, she told herself as she clenched her jaw so tightly that it actually hurt right along with the muscles in her body rebelling at the idea of walking away from Darrin once and for-
She choked out the words, “Oh my, God,” but she wasn’t sure that she’d managed to get the words out or even knew how to say them. Not that she was really all that concerned with her vocal abilities at the moment. Although, she vaguely thought, maybe she should ask him why he was taking his pants off and shoving his boxers down, revealing a part of his anatomy that seemed very excited to see her.
She should definitely be looking away right now, she tried to tell herself, yet no matter how many times she chanted that mantra in her head she couldn’t seem to get around the fact that her best friend, the man that she’d been in love with for more years than she could count, was completely aroused, naked and had somehow managed to pull her pants and underwear down before it registered in her mind.
“Oh my God,” she was able to get out, somewhat coherently this time when he ducked his head between her legs and traced her wet slit with his tongue.
If there had been any concerns that this had been another one of those wonderful dreams that she seemed to depend upon more and more lately to get through the day, he’d destroyed every single last one of them as he dipped his tongue between her lips and flicked her clit with what she was quickly coming to realize was a very talented tongue.
“Darrin,” she managed to gasp out his name even as she realized that someone was tearing off her shirt and bra and by the time that she realized that that someone was her, he had her on her back, her legs spread wide open and he was licking her pussy slowly, savoring every last drop.
She tried to figure out how they’d gone from two best friends trying to pretend that nothing was between them to her, naked, spread and moaning his name between groaning threats of violence if he ever thought about stopping.
It was definitely something to worry about later, she abruptly decided as she felt a very thick finger part her lips and slide deep inside her, making her back bow, a sigh of satisfaction escape her and made her idly wonder how much of that large cock hanging between his legs she could swallow before he had her screaming to be fucked.
Part VII
This couldn’t really be fucking happening, he told himself even as he moved in closer, his large, hungry cock bobbing its approval every inch of the way. He wasn’t sure if this was a dream, another fantasy to keep him going during another boring day at work or if after all this time, he’d finally grown a pair and was finally taking what was his.
Whatever it was, he really didn’t give a flying fuck, not as long as he could still savor her on his tongue. Just thinking about that sweet flavor had him licking his lips as he leaned in for another swipe of her pussy. He closed his eyes, ran the tip of his tongue through her pussy and groaned wildly when that sweet flavor that he was sure that he’d imagined, coated his tongue and made him desperate for more.
She tasted so fucking good, better than he could have ever imagined, and he’d imagined about it constantly, night and day, but nothing could have prepared him for just how sweet she really tasted. God, he could happily lick her pussy out all day, he thought even as he noted just how soft her pussy lips really were. He could just imagined how soft her lips would feel cupped in his hand, pressed against his chin as she rode his mouth, or supported his balls as he slid inside her.