A Drop of Pretty Poison: A Brother’s Best Friend Romance (Pretty Poison Trilogy Book 2)

When Hayes and I were sneaking around, I couldn’t stop imagining what things would be like if we were together. Like together-together. The hold-hands-in-public, kiss-me-in-front-of-everyone kind of together. And I pictured everything, or at least I thought.

I didn’t picture this.

I’ve been coming to Cam’s hockey games for years. At first, it was because I was dragged here by my parents. But as I got older and understood the game more, I came because I wanted to. Because I genuinely love hockey. And because I love my brother.

Okay, I’m full of shit.

It’s because his best friend had my attention in a fucking vise grip.

I really did start to love the game, though. The anticipation, the energy. It’s everything. But the absolute best part, the part I didn’t even think about while we were sneaking around, is being able to wear Hayes’s jersey, with his number drawn on my cheek in eyeliner as I cheer him on.

“You’re such a supportive girlfriend,” Mali says. “It’s gross.”

I snort. “And here I thought you were being sweet.”

“Clearly, you don’t know me as well as I thought you did.”

Monty chuckles, but he’s too sucked into everything to comment. This is the first time he’s been to a game—like ever. Apparently, when your dad is in politics, sporting events aren’t exactly high on the priority list.

“You know what I don’t know?” I take my attention off the game to look over at her. “What’s going on between you and Cam?”

She rolls her eyes, then nods her head toward the ice. “Boyfriend just got checked into the boards.”

“Nuh-uh. Not going to work,” I tsk. “Why won’t you tell me?”

“Because there’s nothing to tell.” She shrugs. “He beat the shit out of Isaac for what he did to me. That earns a certain level of my respect.”

Usually, I can read Mali like an open book. She doesn’t do very well when it comes to hiding her feelings. At least not from me. And it doesn’t look like she’s being anything but truthful. And I mean, I get it. What Cam did for Mali even earned my respect.

So, I drop the topic and turn back to the game.

Soon after, Hayes gets the puck and ends up on a breakaway. The whole rink is on their feet, screaming as it’s just him and the goalie. And when he shoots it right into the corner of the net, everyone goes wild.

The whole team celebrates by crowding around Hayes, but the second he’s free from them, he skates right over to me—high fiving me with both hands even though there’s glass separating us. He’s done it each time he scored tonight, making this the third. I can already tell this is a thing he started, and to be honest, I love it.

Mali snickers and when I look back at her, she nods toward a group of puck bunnies that have had a thing for Hayes. I guess they all thought they had a chance with him or something. I glance over to see them glaring at me, simply because they’re jealous. I give them a finger wave.

Okay, I may have lied. That might be the absolute best part.

“I have to admit,” Mali says as I sit down again. “I never expected him to be so cute with you. I didn’t think he had it in him.”

“I’m still wondering how it happened,” Monty chimes in. “Last I had heard, you were heartbroken and devastated.”

I shrug. “Our breakup showed him what was really worth it to him, I guess.”

Monty purses his lips and strokes his chin. “So…in a way…you could say that I am the one to thank for your relationship.”

“Ooh,” Mali coos, looking over at him. “That’s a risky little game. Tell Hayes that one.”

I give her a dark look. “What is this? See how many assault charges we can rack up for other people in a summer?”

She pouts. “You never let me have any fun.”

Chuckling, I roll my eyes playfully, and the buzzer sounds, signaling the end of the game. We win four to nothing, and Lucas gets his fifth shutout of the season. The guys all get in the handshake line, saying good game to the other team before skating off the ice. I go over to the railing to meet them there.

Cam fist bumps me as he passes, but when Hayes steps off the ice, I lean over the railing, and he pulls himself up the rest of the way to give me a chaste kiss. When he goes to walk away, Lucas comes out next.

“Hey, let me get one of those.”

I don’t know if he thought Hayes couldn’t hear him or if he genuinely has a death wish, but nothing beats the way Hayes turns around to glare at him.

“You know, you made a lot of great saves tonight,” he tells him. “But if you don’t get the fuck away from my girlfriend, there will be no blocking me from shoving my stick up your ass.”

Lucas cringes and looks up at me. “You really find that attractive? The whole I’m a possessive asshole bit?”

My gaze meets Hayes’s, and I bite my lip. “There’s nothing he does that isn’t attractive.”

HAVE YOU EVER STEPPED back and just looked at your man, thinking I am so goddamn lucky? Like really gave yourself permission to check him out the same way you did during your first date? Hayes has always managed to melt me with a single look, but I don’t think there is anything sexier than watching him work on the bar.

The guys that have the money to wine and dine you are nice, but the guys that aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty—those are the men you want. They’re the ones who will fuck you until three in the morning, when you’re so spent from orgasming over and over that you can hardly move.

I watch Hayes’s muscles flex as he hammers nails into the wood. Beads of sweat drip down his back, glistening in the light that shines through the window. Apparently, building a wall requires a lot of exertion, so it was only a matter of time before his shirt came off—but fuck, I’m not complaining.

Mali comes to sit next to me on the floor as I lean back against the wall.

“You’ve got a little…” She points to the corner of her own mouth.

I don’t, and I don’t even need to check. “If I did, could you blame me? Look at him.”

She tilts her head and hums. “Yeah, you’re my girl, but I’m not eye-fucking your boyfriend.”

Even if she did, it wouldn’t be anywhere close to the real thing. Hayes has a way of knowing exactly where to touch, and exactly how to move, to make me feel like my whole body is in ecstasy. Like every inch of me is his own personal wonderland and he wants nothing more than to get lost in it. Lost in me.

I squirm as my pussy clenches desperately, and when I let out a quiet whine, Mali laughs. “How you went from virgin to sex-fiend in a single summer is a mystery to me.”

“You’d understand if you felt what he can do with his tongue,” I tell her, not looking away from H.

As if he can read my mind, he glances over at me and smirks. “Are you just going to sit there and watch?”

“Mm-hm,” I say, nodding.

He barks out a laugh, putting the hammer back into his toolbelt as he walks over and bends down in front of me. I watch as his eyes rake over me slowly, like he’s getting his fill. And when they stare back at me again, his pupils are blown.

“That means I get to watch you later,” he murmurs, just before he grabs my chin and kisses me—immediately licking into my mouth.

It’s so quick, so effortless, but I’m breathless by the end of it.

“Great,” Mali scoffs. “I’m jealous of my best friend’s sex life. That’s just fan-fucking-tastic.”

Hayes and I both chuckle, and when he stands up and steps back, he winks at me. I’m so lost in him and everything he is that I don’t even remember my brother is in the room until his voice echoes through the room.

“Okay, I’ve been accepting of”—he waves his finger between Hayes and me—“this, but spending my day in a live-action porno of you two? Not on my list of fucking shit I want to do.” All of his attention turns to Hayes. “H, put a goddamn shirt on.”

“Screw that,” he argues. “It’s hot as fuck in here.”

Cam’s brows furrow. “It is hot in here.” He walks over to the thermostat and his jaw drops. “Jesus Christ. Who set the heat at eighty-nine degrees?”

Mali looks up at the ceiling, over at the wall, and down at the floor—anywhere but at Cam—and I look at her like she’s the hero I didn’t know we needed.

“I love you so hard right now that if I wasn’t so possessive, I’d let you borrow Hayes,” I say, gaping at her.

She throws her head back and laughs, just as Hayes’s phone starts to ring. He pulls it out of his pocket and what looks like nervousness fills his eyes. He looks over at me for only a second, trying to play it off like it’s nothing, but then he goes outside to take the call.

What the hell?

He’s never done that. Never been afraid to answer his phone around me. Not even when we were sneaking around. Don’t get me wrong, I have no reason not to trust him. It very well could be nothing. But something about it rubs me the wrong way, and I’m not the only one.

“What was that about?” Mali asks me.

My gaze stays focused on Hayes as he puts the phone to his ear but makes sure he’s facing the other way so I can’t read his lips. “I don’t know.”

I’VE ALWAYS TOLD MYSELF to trust my gut. It’s never been wrong before. But right now, I can’t figure out exactly what it’s saying. I don’t think I honestly believe Hayes would ever cheat on me, but as the secretive phone calls occur more often over the next few days, I can’t help but wonder.

I tried asking him about them, but he just claims it’s something for the bar. Something about the paperwork or the permits. But Marc is the one handling all of that, and even if that were the case, I don’t see him needing to take it outside.

He’s going over different floor choices with Cam, debating between the lighter wood or the darker, when it happens again. He glances at it and tells Cam he’ll be right back, then walks out the door. My brother doesn’t seem concerned, but it’s getting under my skin.

“You don’t think he’s cheating, do you?” My heart sinks at the mere idea.

Mali hums. “I don’t know, babe. You two are together all the time.”

“Except when we’re not.” I look over at Cam. “Is he here all day when I’m at work or does he leave?”

Cam snorts. “Are you asking me as your brother or his best friend?”

“It can’t be both?”

“No,” he answers. “But then again, I don’t think I’m going to answer, regardless. If you honestly believe he’s cheating, that’s between the two of you. But if you think that I would stand by while he fucks around on my sister, you haven’t been paying enough attention.”

He’s right. Cam is the most protective person I know when it comes to the ones he loves, and Hayes is included in that, but there are two versions of Hayes in his mind—the one that’s his best friend and the one that’s dating his sister. Protective brother would trump best friend, always.

“Okay,” I sigh. “Then my next question. Is he just not into me anymore?”

Honestly, I don’t know which would be worse. I’d be devastated either way. But Mali immediately shakes her head.

“With the way he looks at you?” she asks. “Not a chance.”

Hayes comes back in but stops when he sees Mali and me staring at him. “Something wrong?”

I shake my head and look away, but Mali isn’t the type to keep her mouth shut as she crosses her arms over her chest. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”

“Okay,” Hayes says hesitantly. “Do you want to fill me in on what it might be?”

Cam lets out an annoyed sigh. “They want to know if you’re cheating or if you’re just not into Laiken anymore.”

“Dude,” I hiss.

But my brother only shrugs. “What? There are way too many dangerous tools in here for Mali to be contemplating whether to kill him or not.”

My stomach is in knots, and I can’t even bring myself to look at Hayes. I never wanted to be that girl. The one who doesn’t trust her boyfriend or is insecure about her relationship. But as Hayes slowly comes over to me and puts his hand on my cheek to make me look at him, I realize I may not be completely rid of the feeling that he’s in this for a good time, not a long time.

“Lai,” he says softly. “You have me. All of me. Forever.”

It could be the honesty in his voice or the way he stares into my eyes to make sure I’m hearing him, but my breath hitches and my mind rests. There’s no one else. Not for him. Not for me. It’ll always be him and me.

“I love you,” I tell him.

He smirks, bending down to kiss me. “I more than love you.”

Mali gags and Cam mumbles something about never getting this shit done, but the two of us just stay there for a moment—lost in each other when I need it the most.

MY FEET SWING BACK and forth as I sit on the stool, eating ice cream while Cam makes Mali help him hold the new sheets of drywall in place. It would usually be Hayes, but he’s not here. He said he had something to take care of this morning and he would meet me at the bar after. It instantly made me worry, the same way I do when he refuses to let his phone out of his sight, but then I closed my eyes and remembered how the day Cam revealed my insecurities, Hayes made sure to show me how he feels every chance he got.

And just like that, all my worries dissipated into thin air.

“That piece is crooked,” I say, watching as they struggle to hold it straight.

Cam turns around to glare at me. “It wouldn’t be if someone were helping us.”

“I am helping,” I tell him. “I’m helping by telling you it’s crooked.”

Mali chuckles, while my brother looks like he’s contemplating shooting me with the nail gun he’s holding. But before he can fully plan out my murder, Hayes walks through the door.

“Thank God,” Cam grumbles. “I need your help. Laiken is useless.”

“I’m supervising!” I argue.

His patience is definitely being tested as his jaw locks. “You’re not helping!”

I puff out my bottom lip. “Aww, are you going to tell Mommy on me?”

Hayes snickers and looks at Cam. “Take a break. I’ll help you when I get back.”

“You just got here,” I whine. “Where are you going now?”

He smiles fondly at me. “Don’t worry, I’m taking you with me. I have something to show you.”

“It’s done?” Cam asks.

Mali and I speak in unison. “What’s done?”

But Hayes only nods as he puts out his hand for me to take. “Don’t worry about it. Come on.”

THE WHOLE TIME I’M in the truck is spent trying to figure out where he could possibly be taking me. It’s too early for a date, unless we’re going out to eat—but he’s not a brunch kind of guy. And besides, he said he has something to show me.

“Can you please tell me where we’re going?” I beg. “Not knowing is torturing me.”

He pulls up to the red light and stops. “Nope. Actually, I need you to close your eyes.”

Instead, they narrow to slits. “Seriously?”

But he gives me the smile that turns me into mush and I sigh as I listen, closing my eyes and covering them with my hands. And when I feel him toss a sweatshirt over my head for good measure, I can almost feel how much he’s enjoying this.

“Overkill, much?”

He chuckles. “As if you weren’t going to peek.”

Okay, so maybe he has a point, but who wouldn’t? He’s been acting secretive and now he’s got me practically blindfolded in his truck. I tend to lack patience on a normal day, but this is testing my limits.

“If you’re taking me to have a threesome with the girl you’re sneaking around with, it’s never going to happen,” I grumble.

His response flows out without even needing to think about it. “That’s okay. She has friends who are willing.”

My eyes shoot open but all I see is the sweatshirt. “You know, I started the joke but now I’m not really finding it funny.”

A bark of laughter shoots out of his mouth. “Good.”

We must have been close because within a few minutes, the truck turns and then comes to a halt. He turns off the engine and tells me not to move as he hops out. A moment later, my door opens, and he helps me out. He takes the hoodie off my head but covers my eyes with his hand.

“I still can’t look?”

“Nope.”

Hayes holds onto me as he leads us onto what feels like grass. The only thing I can think of is maybe a picnic or some incredible view he found, but none of those seem to click. As we come to a stop, he holds me close and removes his hands from my eyes.

“Okay, now you can look.”

I blink, adjusting to the light, and then I notice we’re standing in front of a house. More specifically, my favorite house out of all the ones we’ve seen. And when he pulls the key out of his pocket and shows it to me, it all falls into place.

“You bought it?” I ask in disbelief.

“Mm-hm,” he hums against my ear. “You want to go in?”

I nod rapidly. “I really do.”

I’m not naive. I know this isn’t my house. It’s Hayes’s. But there’s something about the fact that he picked my favorite of all the houses to buy…something that tells me he sees the same future for us that I do.

We walk up the steps and onto the porch, and I look around as it starts to set in. He opens the front door and gestures for me to enter.

This place is just as perfect as I remember it being. It’s not too big, but has plenty of room to raise a family. And I can just picture curling up next to the fireplace and reading a book on cold winter days.

“I love this place so much,” I tell him.

He smiles, staring down at me. “I know you do.”

My heart jumps at the intensity of his gaze, but just before I let myself fall into him, I see the mantle out of the corner of my eye. Where it was empty before, it’s now decorated with pictures of Hayes and me. I walk closer to get a better look.

There’s the one Mali took before the Thomas Rhett concert, and another that I snapped the morning after we got back together—when we woke up on our beach and decided to stay tangled up together while we listened to the waves crash on the shore. When we first saw this place, I remember rambling about how beautiful this mantel would look with some picture frames on it.

“You listened,” I breathe.

He moves to stand in front of me, sliding his hand to the back of my neck and rubbing behind my ear. “I hang on every single word you say.”

All the air leaves my lungs as I arch up and kiss him. This whole thing feels like a dream. I spent years mentally wrapped up in everything he is, and now he’s here, holding me and loving me the way I always hoped he would. It’s like I painted my own little fairy tale in my mind and made it come to life.

Pulling away, I break the kiss and rest my head against his chest. Sometimes, I love him so much I feel dizzy. But he wraps his arms around me, kissing the top of my head and rubbing my back. I could spend the rest of my life right here and never have a single complaint.

We end up venturing into the rest of the house, talking about what he could do with each room. There’s no garage for him to work on his boards, but there’s a shed out back that would suffice. He mentions wanting to turn the downstairs bedroom into an office, so he has somewhere to keep all the paperwork for the bar, and that he wants to paint each room a different color.

Because white is boring.

I listen, giving my input when I have some, until we finally end in the kitchen.

Honestly, this was one of my favorite rooms. It was the one where I could picture us so vividly—cooking dinner together and laughing when I tease him about the dishes. Even now, I can see it. And I want it more than the air I breathe.

“I can’t believe this is your house,” I tell him.

He steps closer, and my hips are pinned against the island.

“Believe it, baby. It’s all mine.” He bends down to kiss my neck. “And I plan to worship your body on every…fucking…inch of it. Starting right here.”

His hand slides up inside my shorts and pushes my panties to the side. He bends his fingers and goes right for my clit, rubbing circles into it like his sole intention is to make me cum as fast as possible.

“Fuck,” I moan softly.

He pulls his head back to look at me. “We’re not hiding here, baby. There’s no one else in this place. It’s just us. And I want to hear you scream.”

Pleasure builds inside of me. From his words, from the feel of his skilled fingers, from the way he watches me. And as my head falls back and I stop holding myself back, he smirks.

“That’s it,” he tells me. “That’s my good girl.”

His hands move to my hips, and he undresses me quickly, like he’s desperate for it. He grips my waist and sits me on the island. The feeling of the cold granite makes me squeak, but the heat of his gaze warms me to the point where I don’t care.

He drops down to his knees and hooks my legs over his shoulders. “Let’s see just how loud you can be.”

There’s no teasing in the way he dives right in, licking my pussy and sucking on my clit. I lean back and hold myself up with my hands as he eats me out with so much skill that I’m already on edge. He grips at the skin on my thighs, pulling me closer as if he can’t get enough. He needs it all. Every last bit of my pleasure is his and he won’t stop until he gets it.

As he presses two fingers into me, I move one hand to the back of his head and grip his hair. He growls against me while I pull him closer, letting the sound of my moans fill the room. Nothing else exists anymore. Just him and me and the way he sucks on my clit while I sit on the island that I pictured us preparing dinner on.

I don’t think any part of him was bluffing. He really will fuck me in every inch of this house, and just the thought of it has me squeezing my thighs against his head. That only spurs him on more. His movements quicken, and his fingers find that spot inside me that makes me see stars.

“Give me it, Laiken,” he demands. “Come all over my tongue so I can bury myself deep inside of you.”

There’s no use even trying to deny him. My body is his, and it knows it better than anything else. Everything he wants, he gets—including my orgasm. The pressure is so intense that when he sucks on my clit once more and drives his fingers into my g-spot, I scream his name and fall back onto the counter.

He follows my body, not relenting for a second as he sucks up every bit of what I give him. And the way he moans at the taste of my high is the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever seen.

The moment my body relaxes, he stands up and his eyes rake over me while he slowly pushes down his pants. He grips his cock and slides his hand over it as he watches me.

“You are a fucking dream,” he murmurs. “I will never get enough of you.”

My chest rises and falls with heavy breaths as he rubs his dick over my clit. I’m so sensitive and so stimulated from the orgasm that just rocked me that I instantly start to squirm. And when I feel him starting to slip in bare, it only makes me want him more.

“This okay?” he asks.

I nod. “I need to feel you. All of you.”

His eyes darken, and he bites his lip as he presses his cock into me.

There are no words for this. No way to explain how amazing it feels to have him inside me like this. In the water was one thing, but this? This is sexual fucking paradise.

Hayes’s muscles flex and his eyes fall closed, overtaken by the feeling. It forces a thought through my mind, and I can’t stop myself from asking.

“Have you never…” my voice fades out, but he knows what I’m asking.

He looks at me with the same vulnerability he had that day on the boat. When we were both in the middle of a freefall that neither one of us could deny.

“Only you,” he confesses. “Only ever you.”

Fuck. There’s something about knowing I’m the only one he’s ever been with like this that has me clenching around him and using my heels on his ass to pull him in deeper. It’s so strong. So powerful. Feeling him fucking me raw like this makes me want to have him deep inside of me forever.

“God, that feels so good,” I moan. “So fucking good.”

His jaw falls open as he pulls out just to slam back in. “You’re mine, Laiken. This pussy. This body. It’s all mine.”

“All yours,” I agree.

He lets out a mix between a hum and a moan. “Good girl. Come here.”

Sliding his arm under my back, he helps me sit up and lifts me off the counter—still with his dick inside of me. He presses me against the doorway to the kitchen, thrusting into me a few times before carrying me over to the stairs. He slips out of me and places my feet on the ground.

“Turn around,” he orders me, and I do as I’m told. “Now bend over and grip the banister.”

The heel of his hand slides up my spine, guiding me into position and he lines back up at my entrance.

“Do you want me to put a condom on?”

I shake my head. “Just tell me right before you’re about to come.”

He slides into me, his hands gripping my waist, and I turn to look back at him. He watches as his cock slips in and out of my pussy. One day, I might even have him record it so I can see what it looks like too from that angle.

His movements start to become faster. Harder. His grip tightens as his fingertips bite into the flesh on my hips. And as my head falls forward again, I realize we’re standing right in front of the large living room window.

“H,” I pant. “There’s no blinds. Someone could see us.”

But no part of him seems to care as he fucks into me.

“Let them,” he growls. “Let them watch how I make your whole body tense up as you scream my name for the whole world to hear. I want everyone to know just who you belong to.”

He bends forward, sliding his hand around to the front of me and playing with my clit. With each circular motion, he thrusts in and out of me. I’m so obsessed with the feeling of every last inch of him that it’s only moments before I’m getting closer and closer to the edge. The pressure builds once more, and Hayes can tell because he’s chasing it.

He’s chasing it for the both of us.

“Fuck,” he moans. “I don’t want to pull out. I want to fill you up and watch as my cum drips from your pussy.”

God, I want that, too. And it’s so fucking tempting. But I’m not on birth control, and neither one of us are nowhere near ready forthe kind of responsibility that risk brings.

“Not today,” I tell him. “Today I want you to come down my throat.”

“But I’m—”

I turn my head to look at him. “I know.”

He licks his lips and adds just enough more pressure to my clit to push me over the edge. His cock is as deep as possible as I clench around him, letting him feel my orgasm with me—with nothing keeping us apart.

As I start to come down, he slams into me once, twice, three times.

“Shit,” he curses.

He pulls out of me, and I spin around, falling to my knees and opening my mouth for him to slip inside. I taste my own cum all over him as he thrusts into the back of my throat. I choke and gag around him, and it’s just enough to have him spilling everything he has into my mouth.

I stroke his dick as my cheeks hollow and I swallow around him. His hand flies to the railing, gripping it tightly. I look up at him through hooded lashes and do it again, just to see the look of sexual bliss on his face. And after I finally suck him clean, I pull off him with a pop and he smirks down at me.

“You’re incredible,” he says, as his thumb cleans some of his cum off the corner of my mouth. “I’m so fucking addicted to you.”

I smile because I feel it, too. Every time he kisses me. Every time he says my name. Every time I even look at him. He’s the only man I’ve ever loved, and he’s the only one I ever will love. Because this kind of addiction—it stays. It never fades. There’s no recovery. No chance of stopping.

It runs through my veins and claims me from the inside out.