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“Hola,” I answered.
“Hey you. Just calling to see if you made it and how things are going.”
It was Tasha. Our relationship started out as just a working one, but we quickly grew into best friends as the time went on. She was honestly like a sister to me; someone I confided in when I needed to. Someone who had my back through thick and thin. She never steered me wrong and always did her best to consider me the same way I did her.
“You are not going to believe the day I had,” I said. “I hope you have a full glass of wine and both ears ready for the tale I have to tell.”
“Oh my goodness,” Tasha laughed. “If it’s any worse than the day I had, I am all ears.”
I held nothing back from her. Our friendship was an open book and I was the writer, so I bore it all. I told her about the condition of my mom's house and how she was nowhere to be found. I told her about my younger brother falling down the wrong path, and I saved the best for last. Brayden.
“He hasn’t changed a bit,” I said. If anything, he’s worse now than he was before. I can imagine it being because he lost his best friend, but I lost my brother. I should be way angrier and more annoyed with life than he is.”
“Wait, so his uncle invited you to stay at his cabin without telling you he would be there too? Wow. Is he at least good looking?”
An image of Brayden’s face popped into my head. He was very good looking. Sexy as hell if I had to be honest. His arms and chest bulged with muscles, his face was firm and toned, catering to the greenness of his eyes and darkness of his hair and pink lips. He was gorgeous. One of the most gorgeous men I had ever laid eyes on.
“Brayden is probably one of the sexiest men on earth,” I sighed, “but his attitude takes away from that. Not much, but enough. I'm just eager to see how this will all play out. At first, I wanted to leave. But I think I'll stick around. Who knows, maybe we’ll find some softness for each other again.”
Chapter Five ~ Brayden
Being under the same roof with Mia had more of an effect on me than I thought it would. I thought I'd ignore her, stay on my side of the cabin, and forget all about her being there, but that wasn’t the case. I felt this sexual pull toward her; the same way I always had. I could smell her perfume lingering in the air and it only distracted me more from my annoyance with her being there.
Having her so close reminded me of the first time we had sex. We were each other’s first. I had no idea what I was doing at the time, but she helped me learn my way around her body and the experience was one I'll never forget.
I was so turned on by her, I nearly exploded the minute she touched me. When she slipped me inside, the sensation was so magical, I felt myself grow extremely stiff and my hips started to move at a rhythm of their own. Hearing her sweet moans each time I plowed into her made me quiver with goodness.
“Slow down,” I remember her saying. “We’re both new at this.”
I slowed my pace and made things more enjoyable for her. When I did, it was like a new gateway had opened and we both flooded everywhere. I thought we’d be embarrassed by our sudden explosions, but we were too busy trying to catch our breath and wrap our minds around what happened.
“So, this is what sex feels like?” she asked.
“I guess so,” I said. “That was good. I never thought it would feel that way with an actual partner.”
At the time, I thought she knew what I meant. It wasn’t until we were a few years older that she reminded me of that moment and confessed that she learned of self pleasure as she got older.
I thought a little more about Mia and I while I waited for my nurse to arrive. I thought that as time passed and we spent more time in each other’s space, we’d eventually get over our dislikes and become friends again. I hoped so, anyway. It had been years since I’d seen her in person. Years since we even exchanged so much as a hello to one another. Although my anger got the best of me and steered me away from her, I still cared about her. No matter how hard I tried to tell myself I didn’t.
She was my first true love; the first woman I ever cared about, other than my own mother. She made me see the possibilities in life, little did she know. She just didn’t allow me enough time to transition from being a badass, to being the man she needed me to be. We were still young, and both had a lot of growing to do, but she grew impatient.
I tried not to think about the good times we had; pushed them to the furthest place in my mind and buried them with the dirt of my past. I figured if she could walk away from everything we shared and tried to build, then so could I. I had to. Otherwise, I would only drive myself crazy thinking about it.
My nurse showed up not long after. She was an older woman with a younger trainee in tow.
“How are you this morning, Mr. Knight?” Olga, my nurse, asked. “Did you sleep okay?”
“I slept fine,” I said. “The pain meds helped a lot.”
“Good,” she said. “Sleeping with third degree burns can be a bit difficult.”
I was sure doing anything with third degree burns was difficult. I couldn’t even believe I was a burn patient. After years of fighting fires, I fell victim. Surely myself and my ego needed a reality check.
“What’s on the agenda for today?” I asked. “I need to prepare myself for the pain I'm sure is coming.”
“Yeah,” Olga hissed like she was the one in pain. “We have to change your bandages today. So, we’ll clean the wounds, lather them up with ointment and put new bandages on. Then you’ll get a little PT in, as much as you can handle, and we’ll be out of your hair.”
Pain was something I didn’t do well with at all. I'd broken bones and got a few scrapes and bruises in my life, but nothing as severe as third degree burns. I wouldn’t have wished that kind of pain on my worst enemy. Unless it was Nate.
