“I love you, Baya.” I can feel his heart pound over my chest. He pulls back and looks at me with those smiling, silver eyes. “Now and forever.”
He crashes his lips against mine, and we indulge in a sweet kiss that seals our past, our present, and our future.
We’re about to carve a new path in life—one that is built for two.
A week drifts by, and I make my way across campus to my last class of the day. It’s already starting to get dark out, and it’s hardly three-thirty. A boil of storm clouds sift overhead, and if it gets any colder, Bryson said it might snow. My entire person tingles just thinking about him—about what a fun time we’re going to have this weekend. He invited Cole and me to spend Thanksgiving with his family.
“Baya!”
I spin around to find Laney and Roxy waving to me from outside the Hallowed Grounds café. It’s freezing out, but they’ve installed outdoor heaters that look as if they could melt all of Prescott Hall if they wanted. I head in that direction and grab a seat.
Roxy has her hair splayed out over her trench coat, and she looks like a porcelain doll, she’s literally that perfect. Laney pushes a cup of coffee at me, and I take a quick sip to heat my frozen bones.
“We’re celebrating!” She stretches to the sky with a victorious gleam in her eye.
“You got the part? You’re Whitney Briggs’ new Fantine!” I catch a breath as if I were about to star in Les Mis myself.
“Better. You’re looking at the new Madame Thenardier.” She touches her fingers to her chest and mock bows.
“Yeah”—Roxy pushes into her playfully—“the feisty keeper of the inn. You’ll really have to dig deep to channel your inner sarcastic bitch.”
“You think you’re funny, don’t you?” Laney cuts her a look before reverting her attention back to me. “Speaking of news—we’ve got some for you.” Laney tucks a sly smile in her cheek.
“About Aubree?” I’m still waiting to hear anything at all about her conviction. Personally, she still scares the hell out of me.
“Nope.” Laney spins her cup with a devious look in her eye. “Actually it has to do with Jeanie Waters.”
I suck in a breath. “God, did Aubree try to off her, too?” I can just imagine Thing One and Thing two quivering with fear.
“No.” Laney ticks her head back, and her dark glossy waves bounce around her face. “My roommate, Amanda Ester, agreed to room with her. And, now, I have a free bed. It’s yours if you want it.”
“Oh.” I pull a bleak smile. “Trust me, one week with Jeanie, and your roommate will be back.”
“Not true.” She holds up a finger. “I have enough dirt on Mandy to send her packing to the Alps if I wanted.”
“So it’s really mine?”
“It’s really yours.”
“Wow, thank you!” I lunge over and give her a big rocking hug.
“That’s great for you guys.” Roxy sets her lips in a pout. “I wish I could bunk with you. My roommate snores like she’s blowing bubbles under water all night. I swear I can’t get a wink in. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. What I really need is a place with a bona fide oven. There’s a big baking contest coming up—with a ten thousand dollar award on the line.”
“You wouldn’t think she needed the cash.” Laney rolls her eyes into me. “Her father owns half the country.”
Roxy nods. “My dad is a firm believer in me making my own way in the world. He’s paying for school, then I’m on my own.”
“She can’t even squeeze an oven out of his tight ass.” Laney shakes her head.
Roxy sighs into this sad reality. “Anyway, there’s an apprenticeship awarded to the winner at the Sticky Quickie bakery. And, I know for a fact, the owner is a master baker. This could be big for me. Especially since I plan on opening my own shop one day. I know I can ace this, I just need somewhere to bake a damn cupcake.”
“How about the caf?” Laney tightens her coat around her as the wind picks up.
“They gave me a big fat no.”
“Sorry to hear that,” I say. Poor Roxy. It’s the last thing she needed after nursing a broken heart all semester. “How are things going, you know…” I bite down over my lip half-afraid to finish the thought.
“With my love life? I’ve been eating a lot of forbidden sweets—translation I’m on the cupcake diet, and it sucks because I can’t even make the damn things myself.”
“Cupcake therapy can only get you so far.” Laney pushes into her shoulder so hard she just about knocks her off the chair. “You got to get back out there.”
“No way. I’m swearing off boys for a good long while. They’re pigs—every last one of them.” She thumps her cup against the table as if to annunciate her point. “Well, maybe not Bryson. You got sort of lucky with that one.”
Definitely not Bryson. “Sometimes you just have to take a risk.” Sort of the way my boobs did that first day in Founder’s Square. I blush at the thought. “Hey, there’s a party at the Black Bear tonight. Rumor has it all the hottest boys in the tri-campus area will be there.”
“So soon after I’ve sworn off penis slingers?” Roxy mocks my attempt to get her mind off a boy by way of more boys.
Laney leans in as if to coax her. “Plus, Baya and me.” She blinks a smile.
“I’m in.” She raises her coffee. “To hot boys, who I still want no part of.”
“To hot boys,” Laney and I say in unison.
Only, Laney doesn’t seem that convinced either.
It looks as if I’m the only one lucky in love around here. I have Bryson Edwards—and that really does make me the lucky one.
Bryson
Bodies bump and grind at the Black Bear Saloon as an endless stream of people filter in, but it’s Baya I’m waiting for. I’ve had great news to share with her all day, and I wanted to do it in person.
“Dude,” Holt moans. “How many times do I have to tell you, we don’t need to run happy hour all night on weekdays.”
“Just Wednesdays,” I correct. “Besides, it’s hump day. It’s a perfect fit.”
“Oh really? Because this is what you get.” He shakes his head into the boisterous crowd.
“Can’t you look on the bright side? Pretend each one of these people has a dollar sign on their face. That ought to take the edge off the misery.”
“They suddenly look better.”
“Thought so.”
“Damn, they’re attractive,” he smears it with sarcasm. “You know we’re about to break fire code.”
“Relax, we’re not there yet.”
Cole struts up and knuckle bumps the two of us. We haven’t spoken since the incident. Not that I hadn’t tried to start up a conversation or two, he just simply left the room whenever I opened my mouth.
“You giving beer away again?” He nods over to Holt.
“That’s probably my brother’s genius plan for Thursdays,” Holt smirks, handing him a tall amber bottle. “I was just telling him we’re pushing the fire code.”
“Dude.” Cole slaps me over the shoulder. His eyes settle on mine, filled with a mixture of desperation and hurt. “Baya’s my sister. You know what that means right?”
I swallow hard because I’m pretty sure it means I lose my balls in some inglorious manner.
He closes his eyes a moment. “It means you’d better take care of her, or I’m coming after you hard. She means everything to me, and if you break her heart, I’m going to have to break your balls.”
“Got it.” A barely-there smile starts on my lips as I resume my normally-scheduled breathing. “I’m not hurting Baya, ever. She’s got my heart. All of it.”
Cole tweaks his brows before doing a double take at the door.
“Five alarm redhead, coming this way.” He slides his drink toward Holt as if disowning it.
I glance back to see Baya and Laney with Roxy Capwell.
Baya comes in and slips her arms around my waist, giving me that sweet smile I’ve waited all day to appreciate. I la
nd my lips over hers and a hard swat lands over my shoulder.
“Dude, try not to manhandle my sister.” Cole looks resigned to the fact we’re going to ignore him.
Baya glances up at the ceiling. “Laney, Roxy, please find a pool of sorority girls and throw my brother in.”
“Not so fast.” Laney gets a wicked gleam in her eye. “Cole have you met Roxy Capwell?”
Roxy rolls her eyes at Laney’s attempt at matchmaking.
“Cole Brighton.” My womanizing ex-roommate steps in and takes up her hand, which reminds me.
I pull Baya in and drop a kiss on her forehead. “You mind if I steal you away a minute?”
“I double dog dare you.” There’s a sexy as hell gleam in her eye that I’m accepting as a proposition.
I pull her behind the counter a moment. “I found a room for you.” A shit-eating grin struggles to break free, but I won’t give it.
“Really?” Her brows flex just the way I’ve seen Cole’s do a million times. “You’re too sweet, but Laney beat you to it. I’ll be rooming with her at Prescott. She blackmailed her old roommate into bunking with Jeanie.”
Crap. I blink a smile.
“So where’s the room?” She hikes her shoulders to her neck. “Let me guess. Alpha Chi wants to thank us for taking down the wicked witch of the East, and they’ve demanded I become their fearless leader?”
“Not quite.” I twist my lips as I pull her in close. “The guy next door moved to a different floor, so I took up the vacancy.”
“You’re going to be Cole’s neighbor?” Her eyes widen with a hint of confusion.
“And, if I’m lucky, so will you,” I say with apprehension.
Baya’s mouth falls open, her gaze shifts back to her brother.
“It’s okay,” it speeds out of me. “You can say no. I totally get it. Living with someone is a huge step—but, for the record, this is a two bedroom. I was sort of gunning for the hottest roommate in town.”
Her lips curve in a delicious smile. “Just town?”
“The universe.” I plant a kiss over her cotton soft mouth and linger. “But don’t worry about the room. I can always find some dude who hates hygiene as much as your brother.”
“Whoa.” She lays her hands over my chest. “Who says you can give away my room?”
My heart gives a quick thump. “You’re okay with it?”
“Of course I’m okay with it. As long as I have my own room, we can still maintain an air of mystery to our relationship.”
“Mystery—I get it.” I don’t, but, then, I’m not smart enough to understand women. A burst of adrenaline rockets through my veins, and I pick Baya up and spin her around.
“Will you save a spot for me on your bed?” She bats her amazingly long lashes at me, and my dick perks to life.
“It’s yours as often as you want it.”
“I’ll only want it on days that end in Y.”
“Damn. You know how to get me going girl.” I land my lips over hers and sink a kiss into her strong enough to fuel rocket ships. This is perfect love, something eternal. Baya and I made our way to one another in this crazy world, and, in a strange way, it was because of Steph.
I pull back and admire Baya’s beauty under the spotlight just above the bar. “You know”—I press my lips together a moment—“I never told you this, but that day I bumped into you in Founder’s Square it was Steph’s birthday.”
Baya’s fingers fly to her lips. “Oh my, gosh—I don’t know what to say. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be.” I press into her. “I was wandering aimlessly, and I remember thinking, I wonder what she would want me to be doing and with who—that’s when you flashed me.”
Baya’s face ignites a like a blowtorch.
“Really?” She blinks back tears. “You don’t think…” Baya bites down on her lip.
“I’d like to.” I give a sheepish grin. “She was always looking out for me. She wanted me to have the best. And I got you, didn’t I?”
“You’re amazing, you know that?” She rides her finger down my chest, and my gut cinches. “And, you’re also my new roommate, which means I have to apologize until I’m blue in the face to Laney.”
“About?” Laney comes around the counter to grab an apron with Roxy in tow.
“You just lost your roommate again. I’ve had a hotter proposition.” She bats her lashes into the girls. “Bryson took the apartment next to Cole’s.”
“What about me?” Cole comes up and thumps me in the chest. “Who’s going to cook and clean around the place with you gone?”
“Did you say, cook?” Roxy’s face lights up.
“Yeah.” Cole smacks me in the arm. “I had him whipping up five course meals and hand washing my boxers.”
Roxy narrows in on Cole. “I’m not cooking anyone a five course meal, and I promise I will never touch your boxers, but, if you’ll consider me, I can keep you in cupcakes.”
You can practically see Cole’s hard-on screaming, hell, yes.
“I like cupcakes.” He lowers his lids as if he’s luring her to the bedroom.
“Cool.” Roxy hikes her shoulder in his direction. “And don’t expect anything else.”
They take off into the shuffle of bodies, leaving me with Baya in my arms.
“It looks like it’s just me and you.” I hold her gaze stronger than steel. “I took a risk with my heart, and it paid off. Thank you for that.”
“Bryson,” she whispers. “I love you insanely, you know that?” Baya jumps up and wraps her legs around my waist. “You know what I’m going to love the most about working with you—living with you?”
“Watching me walk around in my underwear?” I deadpan.
She wrinkles her nose and looks cuter than hell in the process.
“What? It’s the new dress code for bartenders.” I firm my grip under her thighs. “And I’m instating an apron-only dress code for you.”
“Just me?”
“Yes, but it’s limited to the apartment.”
“Very funny.” She tilts into me, her dimples cinch up on the sides, and my stomach bottoms out because she’s all mine. I’m the lucky one who gets to spend forever with her. “You know what I’m looking forward to the most?” She gives my waist a firm squeeze.
“Just hanging out—free to be you and me?”
“That, and those amazing 3 a.m. kisses.”
“To 3 a.m. kisses.” I lean in and brand my lips over hers. Baya tastes like strawberries dipped in sugar and every good dream I’ve ever had rolled into one.
“You know what I think we should do tonight after closing?” She gets a devious look in her eye, and, already, I like where this is headed. “Each other. On the bar.”
An approving groan rips from my chest. Forever isn’t going to be long enough for me to love Baya. “I double dog dare you.”
Thank you for reading, 3:AM Kisses. If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review at your point of purchase.
Look for Winter Kisses (3:AM Kisses Book 2) Laney and Ryder’s story coming November 1st 2013. Sugar Kisses (3:AM Kisses Book 3) Roxy and Cole’s story coming early 2014. Whiskey Kisses (3:AM Kisses Book 4) Holt’s story coming 2014.
Acknowledgments
I can’t even begin to thank everyone I need to for helping me with this book. My family has been my rock through every step of the way, and I’ll never be able to repay you enough for doing the dishes, helping with dinner, and, on those few occasions in which I do cook, for pretending to like it. We should go out sometime. Oh, and that whole laundry thing really isn’t working out for us. We’ll get it right someday.
To my readers: 3:AM Kisses was one of the best times I’ve had writing, and I’m thrilled to get to share it with all of you. I love all of your feedback, your comments, the time you take to let me know how you feel about my novels. I really do wish you could know just how much you mean to me. Big hugs to one and all!
To my sweet betas, proofreaders, and rockin
’ editor, thank you once again for putting up with my insane antics which often results in multiple Facebook messages, texts, and numerous and sometimes disturbing emails. Delphina Miyares, thank you for saving me from pulling my hair out! As always your input changed the course of many a chapter. BIG thank you for saving me again!
Christina Kendler, you are worth your weight in gold! Thank you for pulling me from the clutches of ultimate disaster. Every time I see a peacock, I think of you! You’re just as beautiful inside and out. Thank you for taking the time out of your crazy busy life to help me. It really does mean everything to me.
To Rachel Tsoumbakos, thank you for pulling me out of a pickle and lending me your sweet eyes! You are incredible at what you do. I so appreciate it. And, to my rock star editor, Sarah Freese. There aren’t enough Wicked Whoopies in the world to say thank you, but I’ll keep trying. You’re amazing girl, and you know it. Ready for another book?
And a big giant thank you to Regina Wamba and her gorgeous cover models, Dylan Prichard and Julia Plan. The three of you created magic together. The cover love for this book was through the roof, and it was all because of you. Regina thank you for putting up with me. I’m so glad I didn’t scare you off, but I’m sure I came this close. You rocked the cover like I knew you would. Big hugs and kisses for that!
To Him who sits on the throne—each day I smile with peace in my heart because I am forgiven. I owe you everything.
About the Author
Addison Moore is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author who writes contemporary and paranormal romance. Previously she worked as a therapist on a locked psychiatric unit for nearly a decade. She resides on the West Coast with her husband, four wonderful children, and two dogs where she eats too much chocolate and stays up way too late. When she's not writing, she's reading.
Feel free to visit her blog at: http://addisonmoorewrites.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Addison-Moore/140192649382294