“Fine,” Madden said.
“Madden,” I started to argue, but he shook his head.
“I’m not a pussy and Andy has a nice mouth,” Madden taunted, dragging his thumb over his bottom lip. It made sense now. He wanted to fuck with Josh after what he pulled with Diana. For that, I felt a little less freaked over it and more grateful that he cared enough to fight for me.
Madden stood, grabbing my hand as he did. We took one last glance at everyone. Josh raged while Zack and Diana seemed smug. Cizdi, the poor girl, seemed as embarrassed as she was earlier from her truth.
He led me to a room down the hall past the kitchen. As soon as the door closed, he turned to me, pressing against the wall.
“Madden,” I breathed, unsure of what was happening. Don’t get me wrong, for years I wondered what his mouth tasted like. A sensation and fantasy created by our close bond and the dreams at night I constantly berated myself over. But we were family. Whether blood was involved or not, his dad was my brother.
“Gotta give them something to talk about, Andy.”
My chest rose and fell in rapid succession, nerves making me breathe faster. “You’re my nephew.”
“You’re my aunt,” he confirmed, but something in his expression made me think he argued that response with every breath. “It’s just a kiss. Might as well show Josh you’re going to find better.”
“Not with you,” I whisper-hissed. He smirked, his joy accelerating my nerves.
“He doesn’t need to know that,” he teased, leaning in close. “Just a kiss, Andy. I’ll smear your lipstick and he’ll want to be better. He’ll still fucking suck, but at least I’ll know what it’s like.”
“Just one kiss?” I asked breathily. The way I felt flustered had our chests brushing.
“Sure.”
I wasn’t sure what that word meant to him, but I didn’t have time to mull it over before his mouth crashed onto mine. Our lips brushed and heat exploded. He darted out his tongue, wetting my lips. The gentle way he edged his tongue across the divide of my mouth made me moan.
It was the most embarrassing thing I could do, but neither of us pulled away. If anything, Madden pushed into me more, forcing the space between us to disappear.
I could feel the hard planes of his chest and his hardness pressing to my stomach. Shit. This is so wrong.
I let him into my mouth and his tongue grazed mine. Again, I groaned, feeling too many emotions to decipher while also freaking the fuck out.
He brushed against me, his hands beside my head while our tongues danced as if they were made for that. The way I could taste the gum he had earlier and the beer we shared in my apartment reminded me how wrong this was.
It felt too good.
Too natural.
Like this was meant to be. No matter how immoral.
Pushing his chest a little, he let up. His lips had my lipstick on them, they were swollen, and the flush he had earlier had nothing on this one now.
He blinked a few times as if he knew this shouldn’t have happened but the heat in his gaze reminded me of my own. “Madden,” I whispered, internally freaking out.
“Don’t say it, Andy. Don’t fucking say it,” he awkwardly muttered, adjusting himself in his pants. But fuck, I couldn’t forget this. It’d burn itself into my skull and into my heart.
Because when Madden and I were a couple years younger, I wanted him more than I wanted to breathe, and this just reminded me of that craving.
He gave me a fucking taste and I needed to remind myself it would never and could never be more.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Play Date – Melanie Martinez
Present
Andy
Remembering a younger me and Madden created a seed of desire, it was already there, but somehow deepened by that single memory.
Recalling Madden at the party made my insides warm. He never thought anyone was good enough for me. Much like now.
I wanted him to kiss me again.
It’d been years but I wanted the taste of him once more.
It wasn’t easy being enamored by your nephew. No matter how many times he reassured me of our lack of blood relation, it didn’t help or assuage the guilt.
I wanted him.
He wanted me.
It was so goddamn wrong.
Brandon and I were getting married in three weeks. How the hell did I fix that? Did I just drop a relationship we’d built for a fleeting sexual desire?
There was no way Madden felt deeply for me.
Even then, I felt something for him, the kiss solidified it for me, but fuck, I was also a teenager in need of someone who gave everything up for me.
I was a grown woman now; my nephew was an adult too. If anyone—especially the press—found out about us and our relation, his career would end.
It only bothered me more that I’d told Brandon he was my nephew in the first place.
In all the years I dated—men and women alike—I didn’t tell them of my relationship to Madden.
Did I do it to put that final nail in our coffin? Was that subtly how I kept us apart? Yes. Subconsciously, it was there, the need to completely divorce us as a chance.
He left me.
What if he did it again?
My stomach churned, making me wish I had booze or weed. Madden was the last person I smoked with, he always convinced me no matter how proper we got, we still could enjoy the little things.
“Do you know Reaver?” Leslie asked as I made my way to the bar. Her, Tays, and Mari were still drinking, giggling. Mari handed me my vodka tonic, but the ice cubes already melted from me being away.
“Who?” I played coy, knowing my nephew had not once gone by Madden. Not since it came out that he was Dox’s kid. He’d used Reaver. Before that, it was Madden Black. To me, he’d always be Madden.
Madden, my brother’s only child.
“Reaver, the lead singer of Anthem Riot.” I made a face like I was confused but then I nodded.
“Yeah, but don’t tell anyone else.”
They all set their drinks down and then Tays jumped on the little tidbit. “Tell us more!”
With a smile, I lied the best way I could. With the need to protect his identity. And maybe, just maybe, with the need to keep us apart. Since apparently, they saw us together.
“He and I go way back, but he wasn’t famous back then.”
“That looked a lot more than going way back,” Les teased, taking a sardonic drink of her Mai Tai. Rolling my eyes, I laid it on thick.
“We made out during a dare in college once. That’s it.”
And it was true. We did. He made my legs quake and by the time we were done, I was wet and mortified. When we went back to the living room, the game continued, and I unfortunately found out Diana and Josh had been fucking for weeks and that threesome Cizdi was in, the person with Zack was also Josh.
I’d never gotten an STD test quicker. Which was ironic, since I never went bare with a single person I’d slept with over the years.
Knowing how Madden was conceived along with knowing the risks of STDs, it wasn’t worth the risk. Ever.
They asked a million questions after that, but I couldn’t stop thinking of how possessive Madden had always been. This wasn’t the first time, and sure as hell wouldn’t be the last.
But something about the way he avoided me lately, didn’t reach out, and how distant he’d been—in his own way, I thought he wanted to cut ties.