4. John

4

JOHN

This is too much. For years, I’ve kept my distance from Madison. She’s my younger sister’s best friend. She’s off limits, and I know she is. But yet, here I am sitting next to her, snuggled up to her, holding hands. I don’t even know who I am in this moment. I’m not a cuddler or even a person that shows much affection, but I can’t force myself to let go of her.

We’re quiet for so long I begin to wonder if Madison is asleep. I open my eyes and watch her, taking in her long hair, long eyelashes, pert nose, and full, pink lips. A small twitch in her breath lets me know she’s awake. “Why didn’t you come to me about Ethan?”

She inhales deeply but doesn’t open her eyes. “Why would I? I mean, I’m your sister’s friend. I just recently moved to Tennessee... I know you deal with a lot of shit with your job... I didn’t want to add my shit to it too.”

“Jenna said that Ethan’s friends roughed you up in LA.” I try to control my breathing, but just thinking about someone laying their hands on her is enough to make me crazy.

She shrugs, and her voice almost sounds bored. “It wasn’t a big deal. That’s one of the reasons my brother left California for Florida. It was a new start. I guess it didn’t go as planned. I really can handle this.”

“Look at me,” I tell her. There’s no way she knows what she’s dealing with here. Surely, she wouldn’t plan to meet up with a drug cartel.

She doesn’t open her eyes, and I say it again. “Look at me, Madison.”

She sighs, open her eyes, and turns her head. Our faces are inches apart from each other. “You shouldn’t be dealing with this. You shouldn’t be going to Florida to deal ... with this.”

She crosses her arms over her chest. “You never did like that I was friends with Jenna. I know you think I’m trouble, and you wish I’d stayed away from her like you told me to.”

I try to remember ever saying that. I search her face. The hurt is evident, and knowing I put it there does a weird thing to me. The fact that I could have hurt Madison is eating me up inside. “I never said that.”

She rolls her eyes. “Yes, you did.”

I wait for her to continue, but she doesn’t. I search my memory, and it all starts to come back to me. I did say that to her. Fuck, how did I forget that? It was the night of her and Jenna’s senior prom. Jenna and Madison had been friends since grade school, and it was only a few months before prom that my feelings started to change toward Madison. I didn’t look at her as my pesky sister’s friend anymore. She was beautiful and sweet and so full of sassiness she kept me on my toes even then. But it was wrong, I know it was. I was home on leave and watched as they were getting ready to leave. I stewed all night, wondering who she had danced with and if her date was trying to kiss her. I almost followed them and had to talk myself out of it. When she got home, I was a complete bundle of nerves. I didn’t know how to react to her, and when she called me out on staring at her, I said the one thing that would piss her off. I told her that she was a bad influence on Jenna. Which wasn’t true. Jenna’s always been sweet and a little na?ve. Madison was good for her. She was gutsy, and no one ran their mouth to her. I was glad Jenna had her on her side. But I didn’t say any of that. I said the exact opposite.

I hurt her, and until now, I never realized how badly I hurt her. “I didn’t mean it.”

She harumphs. “Oh, now you admit you said it.”

“I said it.” I swallow. She’s facing straight ahead instead of looking at me. I brush a piece of hair off her cheek and tuck it behind her ear. I’ve gone all these years avoiding touching her, it’s like I’m trying to make up for it today. “I shouldn’t have said it. You’ve always been good for Jenna.”

She must hear the sincerity in my voice because she doesn’t try to argue with me. Instead she asks the one question I don’t know if I should answer. “Why did you say it then?”

I let out a breath. There’s a child crying in the back of the airplane. The couple in front of us are bickering about whether to open or close the window, but I tune it all out. It’s as if it’s just Madison and me on this plane, and I know the way I answer is going to change things between us. I could lie and chalk it up to just being an asshole. It would be believable. But I don’t want to lie to her. “Because I was attracted to you.”

I ignore her gasp, and even though her eyes dart to mine, I continue. “You went from being my little sister’s annoying friend to a woman that I... wanted almost overnight. I was only on leave that week—"

She nods her head. “Yeah, but you didn’t stay the whole week. You left the day after our prom.”

I shrug. “I had to. You... you were too tempting, Madison. I had to get out of there.”

“You left because of me?”

I reach for her hand again. I don’t know if it’s what we’re facing tomorrow or just being close to her, but touching her gives me comfort. I’ve never been one to seek comfort, but I guess if it comes in the form of Madison, I need it. I’m craving it like a man in the desert without water. He’d do anything to have it. I wrap my hand around hers and bring it up to my chest. Her eyes round looking at our hands and then back at my face. “Yeah, I left because of you. By that time, I’d already been in the Army a while. I’m ten years older than you, Madison. I had to leave... before I did something that I’d regret.”

She opens her mouth and then closes it really fast. I’m about to ask her what she was going to say when the pilot’s voice comes over the speaker announcing our landing. Madison tenses next to me, and I release her hand, pull her into me, and put my arm around her shoulder. She’s taking deep breaths, and it’s obvious she’s on the edge of freaking out. It’s completely out of the ordinary for her. Madison is a badass, and I’ve never seen this side of her. It brings out a protectiveness in me that has me wanting to shelter her from the world.

“So takeoff and landing... that’s what bothers you?”

She takes a deep breath and blows it out. “Yep. In the air doesn’t bother me.”

I wrap my hand around her neck. “Look at me. Focus on me.”

She does as I ask and continues taking deep breaths, but at one point her breathing changes and gets choppier. She’s staring into my eyes, and I know she sees the desire in mine. I’ve hidden it for so long, and I just can’t anymore. “What can I do?” I ask her.

She blinks, and her long eyelashes flutter. “You really want to know?”

I nod and swallow.

“Kiss me,” she says, her voice soft and thick.

My forehead rests against hers. There’s no way I can deny her. Not anymore... and not when she’s asking me for the one thing I’ve dreamed about for what seems like forever. I only have to move an inch to press my lips to hers. As soon as we connect, I know there’s no pulling back. Not until I’ve kissed her, tasted her, and committed the feel of her to memory.

Our lips mesh together, and she gasps. I take full advantage and deepen the kiss. With one hand on her nape, I wrap my other arm around her and pull her against me. The kiss is all consuming. My cock is hard, pressed against my zipper, but I don’t care. I’m not stopping. There’s no concept of time. I kiss her lightly, deepen the kiss, and then nip at her lips. She’s with me the whole way, and it’s as if we’re getting to know each other on a whole other level.

A peck on my shoulder has me pulling back. The flight attendant clears her throat. “Uh, it’s time to depart.”

I lift my head, and there’s a line of people in the aisle waiting to get off the plane. Some of them are looking over their shoulders, snickering at us. I am completely off my game because usually I’m aware of everything. With Madison, it’s like I’m only aware of her. I nod my head at the flight attendant and look at Madison. Her eyes are wide and a darker shade of blue. Her lips are red and swollen, and she’s staring at me in shock.

I stand up and adjust myself. It’s obvious to anyone paying attention that I’m turned on and close to the edge. I lean down and kiss Madison again. I know we’ll have to talk about this eventually, but right now, we’ve got things to do. “You ready, Madison?”

I pull her up and start getting her bag out of the compartment overhead. I need to get her off this plane and put a little distance between us. It’s either that or make her mine. Those are my two choices, and the one is too tempting to resist.