Theirs (4 page)

Cash was about to interject but Alex held up her hand and shook her head.

“No, I’m not finished.
I sent you both emails and didn’t hear from either of you. But then again, I didn’t expect to. After all, you got what you wanted. You got to use
me
for
your fun and games and discard me when you were done
!
Sorry but I’m not interested in renewing a friendship that was probably all in my
head
to begin with and I’m definitely not going back to Bradfordville.
Sorry
,
you’ve come all this way but it was a waste of time. And don’t use my grandmother as an excuse either
,
because I don’t have one according to her.”

Cash, feeling restless
,
stood up and walked to where Alex sat. He knelt next to her.
“Give her a break,
Alex.
She’s an old woman who realizes
she made a mistake. She hasn’t been in the best of health lately and wants to see you. Regardless of how things went down, she raised you since you were a baby. She cared for and nurtured you.”

Alex snorted. “She was very good at putting on a show in front of her beloved Bradford family
, but
the Ida Mae Bryant you knew
,
wasn’t the one I did. There wasn’t a day that went by when she didn’t remind me how I was going to end up just like my mother.
If I had a dime for all the times she tol
d me I’d never amount to anything, or what a
burden I was, I would be a millionaire. Whenever I was sad and needed the support from the only family member I knew, I never got so much as a hug. No, she saved all her affection for the two of you. She liked to pretend that she cared for me, but she didn’t really.
I’m sure she felt justified in kicking me out when it turned out the apple didn’t fall very far from the tree. Well, I’m sorry she has regrets
,
but I guess she’ll have to live with
them
. I did for eighteen years.”

“We didn’t realize…” Cash felt like an idiot for not never noticing. Miss Ida Mae had always been so warm and friendly toward him and Rusty. If Alex had had any issues with her grandmother, she’d done a good job at hiding it. Perhaps they had been too wrapped up in their feelings for Alex that they didn’t bother to pay attention. It was no wonder she was so angry. Alex probably believed they’d sided with her grandmother and that wasn’t exactly the case.

“Of course you didn’t. Like I said, she was good at making people see one thing when what was going on was actually something else.” Alex
stood up
,
then marched to the door
,
and opened it. “I’m going to need you two to leave.”

Rusty was on his feet in an instant. “Hell no
!
We’re not leaving until—”

“Not now Rusty.” Cash shook his head. “We’ll leave
,
for now. But this isn’t over. Just know that we’re not leaving town until you come
with
us.”

Alex tightened her lips and
tilted
her head in the direction of the hallway.

“Come on Rusty.”

“Really?”

“Yeah really. Let’s go.”

“This is bullshit. What the hell did we come all this way for
,
if not to take her back with us?”

“We will. Just not tonight.”

Rusty flared his nostrils and glared at him before stomping past the both of
them
. As Cash headed out the door
,
however
,
he paused at the threshold to look Alex in the eye. “As I said, we’re not going home unless you’re with us. We’ll see you tomorrow.” And with that
,
he turned to leave but something stop
ped
him. Abruptly
,
Cash
whirled back arou
nd and pulled her against him. He just needed one taste to make
it
to the next time he’d see her.

He
lowered
his head
and
before she could protest
,
Cash pressed his lips against hers. Alex p
laced
her hands against his chest with the likely intention of pushing him away, but Cash wouldn’t budge. It had been so long since he’d held her, touched her, and reveled in her nearness. He’d dreamed of this moment for years, imagining how good it would be to have her in his arms again, but the fantasy had not prepared him for the reality.
His cock stiffened to the point of pain. More than anything he wanted to toss her on the ground, rip her clothes off and fuck her s
enseless. He wanted to be buried
so deep inside of her that it would be difficult to tell where he ended and she began.

This
eight
-
year
drought of not so much as touching another woman was worth this moment of having Alex in his arms again. And despite her initial protests, he could tell she wanted him too, could feel the heat from her pussy.

As
he
p
ushed
his tongue past t
he seam of her lips, Cash
tightened his arms around her
. He
r
lips were so soft and she
tasted
like
warm honey,
mint
,
and her o
w
n unique flavor. Exploring
the
deep recesses of
her
mouth, he couldn’t figure out how he’d gone so many years without her. Cash knew then
,
that he’d merely been existing without her. With Alex, his soul had reawakened from its deep slumber.

Alex wasn’t exactly immune to his kiss
judging from her reaction
. She sighed into his mouth as the hands that had tried to push him away
only moments before
,
now held a fistful of his shirt. She parted her lips wider, allowing him to deepen the kiss. His cock strained painfully against his boxers.

“I missed this so much,” he whispered against her lips.

Suddenly,
Alex stiffened and twisted her head away. She released the hold she
had
on his shirt. “No!”

Cash wanted to throw her over his shoulder, carry her back inside and fuck her
until she couldn’t walk straight
, but he couldn’t
, at least not yet
. Though he was sure she wanted him just as badly as he did her, she was still trapped in the past. There were
several
issues they needed to work through before he could finally make love to her properly.
He would give Alex
the time she needed to accept that the only way this would end was with him and Rusty. The way it was meant to be.

Reluctantly, he released her and pulled away. Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears as she looked up at him.

“Alex—”

She shook her head
and
cut him off. “Don’t.” And before he could say another word, she rushed back into her apartment and slammed the door in his face.

Chapter
Four

As soon as she closed the door, Alex placed her back against it and slid to the floor. How dare
they storm back into her life and make her feel things that were better left in the past. Alex didn’t want to respond to Cash’s kiss but her body had betrayed her. She was no long
er the
awkward
eighteen
-
year
-
old
who’d shared her body with not one but two men, who had initiated her in the ways of love
.

She’d tried to deny it but after seeing them again, it confirmed what her heart knew all along: they had ruined her for other men. It wasn’t that Alex didn’t try to date, she did. But that only led to her comparing every guy with Rusty and Cash. Even when she tried to be intimate with another man she felt absolutely nothing. She’d come to accept that she was destined to be alone or at least wait for someone to come along and sweep her off her feet.

She didn’t expect those someones to be the very men she’d tried to forget. But
that embrace from Rusty and kiss from Cash
sent a thrill through her body she hadn’t felt in years. Alex had been tempted to wrap her legs around Cash’s waist and beg him to carry her to
the
bedroom
. She wanted to be sandwiched in between Rusty and Cash’s taut bodies while they worked her body into a frenzy
. She was eighteen all over again, so madly in love and caught up in s
omething she knew was wrong but felt so right. She’d never meant to fall in love with either one of them, let alone both
.
But
she had and because of
that,
she’d allowed herself to act on those forbidden feelings,
and
her life had been destroyed in the blink of an eye.

After Rusty had kissed her, she found herself in Cash’s arms. Alex probably would have allowed them both to go on kissing her but
she remembered two things: the
conversation she’d had with their mother days earlier, and
the fact that
they were still in school. Anyone could catch them even though the halls were empty.
“I ugh, gotta go,” Alex excused herself. What the hell had gotten into her? She ran down the hallway until she was out of their line of vision.

When she found an empty classroom, she ducked inside and hid until she was absolutely certain they weren’t looking for her.
How could she have been so foolish to allow them to kiss her so openly or at all? Those were her first kisses and they meant the world to her because it was with her two closest friends she had happened to be crushing on. But despite her infatuation with them, it wasn’t right. There was no way anything could ever come of this? There were two of them and only one of her. What would everyone say? If it got out, people would label her a tramp. Tabitha already made her life a living hell. Alex could imagine what that evil bitch would do to he
r if she had found out. It took a lot of thought and convincing herself that it was just a one-time thing but Alex finally did it.

Later that night as she tossed and turned in bed
,
the realization hit her that she
was in love with them, but not the teenage crush kind of feeling, but full blown love. She’d never been in love before so she had no actual comparison but deep down, she knew this was the real thing. Why else would this be tearing at her heart the way it was. She could think of no other reason why when she woke up they were her first thought and when she went to sleep, she dreamed of them. Whenever she saw either one of them, she was happy and when they were apart, she felt empty. What else but love could possibly make her feel this way?

Alex wasn’t sure when it had happened
,
but
she was certain it was wrong to have feelings for two guys at once. It just wasn’t normal. Yet, Cash and Rusty had acted as if
it
was the most natural thing in the world. She shuddered as she imagined what her grandmother would say if she knew. Grandma would probably call her a loose woman and make her
go to church to pray at the alta
r until her knees bled.

Most of the girls at school already hated her because of the frien
dship she had with the Bradford boys
,
and Mrs. Bradford didn’t think it was a good idea that she hang out with her son
s
in case
people got the wrong idea. The older woman had even intimated that things would be
difficult
if her grandmother found herself unemployed. The threat had been clear. It was why she had been avoiding them these past couple weeks anyway. She wasn’t sure
why
they had to go and complicate things further. She
had originally
thought these newly formed feelings for them
were
just a simple school girl crush like her love for her favorite boy band, but this was so much more intense.

By
the
time
she finally drifted off to sleep at the first light of dawn, she was determined to strengthen her resolve and keep away from them. What happened at school was simply
an
aberration that could never happen again.

When she got to school the next day, she found that she didn’t have to avoid
them
. They stayed out of her way. In class, Rusty didn’t even look her way. Although it was what she had told herself she wanted, it hurt that he
didn’t
at least acknowledge her.

After
school
,
as she was gathering her books from her locker, she noticed Rusty pass by her and on his arm was Tabitha.
And from then on, whenever she saw one, the other wasn’t far behind. It was sickening to her how he could kiss her one day as if he meant it and then go run
ning
in
to the arms of her sworn enemy. As for Cash, he kept his distance
,
which wasn’t as difficult for him since he was two grades ahead of her. Whenever she’d see him in the hallway, sometimes he’d nod in her direction like she could have been anyone off the street. Other times, he wouldn’t acknowledge her at all.

The only perk from the Bradford brothers ignoring her was that Tabitha and her cronies left Alex alone. Things got a little easier when Cash graduated and went off to college but not by much.
But even though she didn’t hang out with them anymore, her feelings for them had not waned. She’d see them in a distance and her heart would ache. Alex told herself that she didn’t care, but every time she would see Rusty around town with Tabitha in tow, it was like a kick to the stomach. There were a few times when she’d caught Rusty looking in her direction and he’d quickly glance away making her think she’d imagined it. Those last two years of high school had
been an ordeal. She’d lost her two best friends but her feelings for them had lingered.

By the time her senior year had rolled around, Alex couldn’t wait to
graduate
and go to college far away from Bradfordville.
She’d been accepted into one of her top five choices and had received an offer of a partial scholarship.
She had the opportunity t
o apply for another one though an educational foundation, but that was based on her GPA. If she could get that she wouldn’t have to get any student loans to pay for college. She had everything all mapped out.

But then
,
something happened that no one could have predicted.
Mr. Bradford suffered a massive heart attack that had killed him instantly. Alex didn’t interact with him that much because he had always been at the factory but he had always been kind to her.
It seemed like the entire town
had attended the funeral. The church didn’t have the capacity to hold it
,
so
the funeral
had been held in the high school’s auditorium.

Alex attended alongside her grandmother who
balled
as if it were her own son who had passed away. It was the first time she’d seen Cash and Rusty together
in a while
and to her chagrin, her heart pounded as she remembered those stolen kisses. As the family lined up after the service, she offered her condolences and would have moved on, but both Rusty and Cash gave her a hug that seemed to last a little longer than it should have
,
much to the apparent annoyance of their mother who looked on with disapproval.

Cash had taken the semester off from college to help his mother sort through
their business affairs. Whenever she would see him around town, she’d run off before he coul
d get the chance to ignore her. It was Cash who had finally
broke
the extended silence between them when he’d sought Alex out at her job.

One day as she sat in the back of the local diner where she worked
,
study
ing
during
her
break,
Cash
walked in. Alex quickly lowered her head and pretended she didn’t see him
;
sure he would probably act like he didn’t see her
,
either. Instead, he pulled out a chair across from her.

“Hi, Alex.”

She glanced over her shoulder and looked around the diner before pointing to herself. “Are you talking about me? You can’t
be
because we don’t know each other.”

He sighed. “I deserve that. You look busy, so I’ll leave you alone. I just wanted to talk
to
someone who
doesn’t
have a hidden agenda.”

She could hear the sadness in his voice. Upon closer inspection, he had dark circle
s
under his eyes. The guy had lost his father
a couple months ago and here she was being a bitch. Alex grabbed his hand. “I’m sorry. Don’t go.”

He cocked his head to the side. “Are you sure? I don’t want to disturb you. Looks like you have quite the workload there.”

“I
,
uh, I’m just studying for finals. They’re coming up in a few weeks, and I want to do well. I mean
,
I’ve already
got
my dream
,
been accepted at
the university of my choice
,
but I have the opportunity to earn this scholarship I’d like to apply for. I
have to
finish my school year with a certain grade point average in order to qualify for it.”

A faint smile touched his lips. “I’m sure you’ll do well. You’ve always been smart.
You helped me with my
calculus
homework when you were just a freshmen in high school.
”

Alex shrugged with a nonchalance she didn’t feel. “Math just happens to be my thing. It’s not so hard once you get the hang of it.”

“That’s not what I meant. You’re just smart in general. You know things that most people wouldn’t. I’ve always been amazed by your ability to pull random facts out the air. I’ve always been in awe of you over that.”

She could feel her cheeks warm at his compliment. It was dangerous that this boy—no man
,
had the ability to make her blush like a little girl. Alex decided to steer the conversation to more neutral ground. “
I’m never got a chance to tell you, but I’m really sorry about your father. We didn’t interact that much but he was a nice man. I liked him a lot. How are you doing?”

“As well as could be expected
,
I guess. I miss Dad
,
of course,
but I’ve been keeping busy at the factory. My father left his stock to me, Rusty and Mom
;
evenly divided. But
,
Rusty and I won’t have control of our shares until we turn twenty-one.
I have another year, but Rusty has three.
In the meantime, I hope my mother
has
the good sense to leave everything in the hands of the current business man
ager
because she’s more interested in spending money than making it. My mother hasn’t done a hard day
’
s work since ever
,
so I guess we’ll see what she’s made of.
I’m concerned the workers will suffer if she gets the idea to take over the business.”

That was one of the many things Alex had always admired about Cash, he always seemed to put other people’s needs before his own.
Most people
would think that as someone growing up in the wealthiest family in town
, he
would be spoiled rotten
,
but not him. “I’m sure she’ll do fine. What about your
Uncle
Roger
?
Doesn’t he own shares in the factory
?”

“He does
,
but he just prefers to collect a check.
He
left
Bradfordville
with the intention of never coming back
,
but I guess he decided to hold
on to
his stock for the steady income. And since my father had
bought
out most of our other relatives a while back, Mom, Rusty and me have the controlling interest to make the decision
s
for the company.”

“So you plan on coming back
for good
to run the factory?”
Alex wasn’t sure why she felt a spark of hope at the thought of Cash returning to Bradfordville, after
all
,
she wouldn’t be around much longer and things had changed between them.

He shrugged. “I guess it’s always been expected of me
. I just never thought it would be this soon. I believed my Dad would be around a lot longer and I’d be able to finish college. Life has a crazy way of fucking up a person’s plans
.”

“Do you want to do something else? You shouldn’t let this place anchor
you
if it’s not your dream.”

“To be quite honest,
I never imagined doing anything else.
I’d
always intended to come back and help Dad out. The factory has been my family’s livelihood and it’s taken good care of us. Now it’s my turn to take care of it. Besides,
Bradfordville
is
where I belong
. Don’t get me wrong
;
when I’m away at school
,
I love
d
it. City life is exciting and there’s always something to do. One day
,
I plan on traveling and seeing the world. But
,
there’s nothing like coming home.
”