Brightest (Brighter #2) Read online

  I sat up straight. “But she was at the party! With him!”

  “He went and got her.”

  “Where was she?”

  “Antigua.” He scratched his chin. “Or Anguilla. I forget.”

  “Crazy.”

  “Actually, I do have news. Remember the birthday party we hosted last week? That girl who wanted to rent the bar?”

  “You said she rented the restaurant instead, right? Upstairs?” I nodded, remembering. “You never told me how it went.”

  “Went well. Ivy thinks we should rent it out more. Advertise it as a venue for weddings and events.”

  Warming to the idea, I nodded. “That’s really smart. I feel like Ivy’s got a good head for business.”

  “She does.” He turned his gaze to the road. “In fact, she and Ariel are going into business with a friend of theirs from the states. Wedding planning.”

  My stomach curdled, the way it did whenever Princess Ariel’s name came up. “Down here?”

  “Between here and St. Thomas. Ivy said they want to keep it local.”

  I side-eyed him. I wondered if this meant Ariel’s stint as a paralegal or whatever was done in St. Thomas. Was she going to be floating around the fringes again?

  Jude glanced at me.

  I cocked my head, going for a topic change. “What about Limetree Brewery?”

  He smirked. “Lime and Tree. That’s the one I had problems with today. Strike two, so, we might have to check somebody else out.”

  Jude and his dad sourced locally when they could, from the food they prepared upstairs at the restaurant to the beer they served at the bar.

  “What else?”

  He shifted gears as we began the ascent up and around the winding hill that led to the house. “Pretty sure you’re up to speed on everything else.”

  I probably was. Between social media and texting, there likely wasn’t much I’d missed. Or that he’d missed about me, either. I walked my hands up his arm, evading him when he tried to grab me. “Concentrate on the road.”

  Glancing at me with a playful smile, he switched gears and revved the engine. We shot up the hill, the headlights barely making a dent in the darkness. Familiar, little blue lights appeared as we turned the last corner, and the pock-marked road became a stately, circular driveway. My stomach tightened in anticipation.

  Cutting the engine, Jude made his play, grabbing me and going for my neck until I shrieked, giggling as I tried to pry him off. “You like to play cute, eh?” he whispered.

  I held him off, barely, heart pounding. After our dry spell of being apart, finally being together—having access to each other—was like Christmas. I didn’t want to be away from him ever again. Not for so long. That could be a good thing, right? It was okay to need someone.

  I hoped.

  He kissed me, breaking away to grab my bag from the backseat. “Come on.”

  I followed him inside, eyes adjusting as we moved through the dusk-darkened house. Memories came back with every light he turned on. It’d taken us a while to get together, but in the end, we’d spent a lot of time up here. Stopping in the kitchen, he emptied his pockets, riffling briefly through a stack of mail on the counter. The muscles in his arms shifted with his movements.

  My gaze drifted to the sliding glass doors, out to the patio where we’d had our first kiss. I remembered how, when we’d finally crossed the line from flirting to more, I’d never wanted anyone the way I’d wanted Jude. He was as beautiful now as he’d been to me then.

  But I needed a shower, so I left him in the kitchen and went to the bedroom. His bed was made—barely—inviting me to just jump into it, but first…that shower. Leaving my clothes on the floor, I made my way to the bathroom and turned the water on. It was just as heavenly as I remembered: vetiver-scented with water falling like rain, the stars winking overhead. I stepped inside with a shiver, sighing with gratitude, enjoying the steamy goodness.

  But eventually the glass door opened—as I’d expected it to—and Jude pressed his chest to my back, his hands tight on my hips.

  I turned my face up to the soft fall of water. “Hey.”

  “Hey,” he said, trailing kissed down the column of my neck. “I’ve been thinking about this all day.”

  “Me too.” I turned around, and he kissed me long and slow, sucking my tongue into his mouth. Sliding my arms around his neck, I moved back until I was against the wall. He was hard and warm against me, and I pulsed deep inside.

  He smoothed his hand over the curves of my body, holding my breast in his hand, smiling into our kiss. “All week.”

  I smiled, too, opening my eyes to look at him. Droplets of water clung to his eyelashes. “I missed you, Jude.”

  His eyes softened. He kissed me again, pulling on my hips even though I couldn’t be any closer to him. “Good. Then you’ll stick around this time.”

  “I will…if you make it worth my while.” I slid my leg up his, wrapping it around him until he got the hint and hitched it higher. Interlocked like this, there was only one place to go.

  “We’re still good, right?” he asked, his fingers slipping between my thighs.

  I nodded, heart racing. “Yeah.” After making love to Jude with nothing between us, it’d been impossible to go back to anything else. Keeping up with birth control, even while we we’d been apart, was a no-brainer.

  He bit his lip, entering me slowly. I grabbed his shoulders, adjusting to the position…and to having him inside me. He felt good—so good—but it had been a while. Meanwhile, Jude looked like his eyes were about to roll back. I muffled a giggle, caught between amusement and the intense pulses of pleasure coursing through me.

  He grinned, cute and dopey. “What’s so funny?”

  “Nothing,” I said. “You.” I pulled his face to mine, kissing him.

  “You’re so warm,” he whispered.

  “Mmm…”

  “I missed that…”

  “Missed what?” I teased, crying out when he picked up the pace, driving into me with sharp, measured thrusts.

  “I missed all of you, but…especially…missed fucking you…like…this,” he said, breath heavy in my ear as he started a slow, dirty grind that hit me in all the right spots.

  My nipples hardened, crushed against his chest. Foggy with lust and half-surprised by how close I already was, I moaned. I couldn’t always come from sex alone, but I felt like I could now, my body wound tightly from months of celibacy, sexy texts and late-night phone calls.

  “I definitely missed that sound.” He sounded strained now, slapping his hand to the wall beside me and holding it there. “I’m not gonna last, baby. It’s too good.”

  “That’s okay…keep going,” I begged, tightening my leg around his hip. I didn’t want him to stop. I wanted him to crash against me like ocean waves on rocks, and I wanted to crash just as hard, shattering. “Don’t…don’t stop…” I was so close, so close, and then I arrived, squeezing him with my whole body.

  My eyes flew open just in time to watch his flutter shut. He came inside me hard and fast, squeezing my thigh so tightly it hurt. Smashing his mouth to mine, he kissed me as he slowed. “Sorry,” he said, massaging my thigh as he let it slide. “Kinda crushed you for a minute there.”

  “I like when you crush me.”

  Chuckling, he moved to the shower stream, grabbing my hand when I moved to give him space. “Stay.”

  My heart was so full it ached. “Always.”

  Our eyes met. “That was worth your while, eh?”

  Laughing, I looped my arms around his neck again. “I don’t know…you might have to show me one more time.”

  Chapter Two

  Conditioned by years of early morning classes, I stirred awake just before dawn. The fan whirred quietly above. Jude was still asleep, wrapped up in the sheets and breathing deep. My heart squeezed. I was exactly where I wanted to be.

  Rolling onto my back, I stared up at the ceiling. I’d missed this. There had been nights I’d gott
en off the phone close to tears, wondering if I was doing the right thing by keeping us apart. But now all of that was behind us. I was proud of myself for sticking it out, for finishing my first year of grad school on my terms. Now I was a part of UVI’s master’s program, one of eleven students from around the country, studying the island’s marine ecosystems.

  And I could be with Jude. Thank God, because I didn’t want to be apart from him ever again. Not like that. I watched him sleep until my eyes were heavy, and then I fell asleep too…only to wake up again to his hands pulling me beneath him. He was already hard, and I was still wet, and then he was inside me like he’d never left.

  Like we’d never been apart.

  The next time I woke up, it was to a chorus of birdsong. The sun had risen. Yawning, I sat up, twisting around to peek out the bedroom window. A pair of tiny, yellow sugarbirds flashed by, landing on one of the birdfeeders Jude’s mother had set out. I watched them for a moment, my heart light. Beyond that, the hillside rose in a gentle slope, green and gold, and shiny with dew.

  Slipping out of bed, I shrugged into an old t-shirt and went to the bathroom. Jude still hadn’t moved when I returned, so I tiptoed across the room and down the hall, admiring the rich, dark wood floors. Outside, the trees rustled in the breeze, pale green in the morning light.

  Measuring enough Columbian roast for a pot, I turned the coffee maker on. Our phones were on the counter, charging. I plucked mine up, scanning my notifications. I’d only been gone a day, but Miami already felt a world away—and not just in miles. St. Croix was a different world.

  Still, some things would be the same, I supposed. I’d enrolled in school. I had a six-month lease on an apartment and a job, waiting tables at Larsen’s. I smiled, then. I’d be doing all those things on a tropical island with the love of my life…somehow the grind didn’t seem as tedious as it had been back home.

  Pouring myself a cup of coffee, I gazed out the patio doors across the room, at a fresh burst of color sprawling up the patio latticework. More of Amelia Larsen’s blooms, probably. Jude’s mom was quite the gardener.

  “Morning,” rasped Jude, running his hands up my thighs and under my shirt. He nudged my neck, leaving a kiss beneath my ear.

  “Morning.” I arched slowly against him, my spoon dropping to the counter with a small clatter. “I didn’t even hear you.”

  He pressed close, his morning wood against my butt.

  “You can’t be serious,” I said, reaching back to touch him. “Again?”

  “Wha’ you expect, walking around like that?” He lifted my shirt and I spun around, laughing as I swatted his hands away. “No panties? I know what I’m having for breakfast.”

  I searched his eyes, my heart skipping all over the place. It was near impossible to resist Jude when he was so close. “I think…maybe…we already had breakfast.”

  “Yeah.” He peeked up at me from beneath those long eyelashes. “Yeah, maybe we did.” He kissed me lightly, dragging his hands under my shirt, lifting it and then dropping it.

  I wanted him. But I wanted food, too. “Are you hungry? I’m in the mood for pancakes.”

  “Sure.” He emptied a brown paper bag that had been sitting on the counter. “We can have some of this on the side.” Mangoes, papayas, guava, sugar apples, and baby bananas tumbled out, fragrant and ripe. “Fresh from the farm in South Shore.”

  “These are cute,” I said, plucking a little banana from the bunch.

  “Banana figs,” said Jude, knocking the fridge shut with his hip. “They’re sweeter than regular bananas.”

  “Hey, is that a banana tree behind your room? Regular bananas?”

  “Yep.” He started in on a mango, peeling the skin with a small, sharp knife. The house phone rang. Cursing to himself, Jude rinsed his hands and answered it, balancing the ancient cordless between his shoulder and cheek. “Hello?”

  I measured flour and sprinkled sugar, stirring quietly, trying not to eavesdrop. When Jude didn’t speak, I glanced over my shoulder. Our eyes met.

  “My mom,” he mouthed, holding up a finger. Taking the fruit bowl and a knife, he stepped out on the patio, the low tones of his voice trailing after him.

  Hoping everything was okay, I put one of my favorite playlists on and got to work, frying the pancakes one by one.

  “Smells good,” said Jude when he returned, peeking at the completed pancakes. “You used the bananas, right?”

  “Of course.”

  He kissed me, sliding a bowl of sliced fruit my way. “These are done.”

  “How’s your mom?” I asked, stealing a slice of mango.

  “She’s fine.” He paused. I looked at him, but he was gazing at the sliding glass doors, out to the patio. “You know she’s always fretting over my father.”

  Nodding, I put the bowl down.

  “She saw a mole on his back the other day, so they went to Dad’s specialist. They ended up doing a biopsy.”

  My heart sank. “And what were the results?”

  Jude shook his head, returning the cordless phone to its charging station. “Don’t know yet. They’ll be back this week.”

  “Is that why she called?”

  “Yeah. She was reminding me to pray for my Dad.” He smirked. “And to ask if I was taking care of you.”

  My cheeks warmed. Smiling, I turned to hide them. “Does she always call this early?”

  He chuckled. “Only if she wants to catch me before work.”

  “But you’re not going to work today.”

  “Naw.” He sat at the bar, bringing a steaming cup of coffee to his lips.

  I glanced over my shoulder. “Your parents are still coming down for the gala in November, though, right?”

  Jude nodded, eyes glued to his phone as he checked his own messages. “That’s the plan. She’s still upset they missed last year’s.”

  Amelia was one of the founders of the Nature Conservancy’s local chapter. Since moving to the States, she’d stepped back from active leadership, but had remained a donor and an important part of its legacy on St. Croix. The Conservancy held annual fundraisers to raise money and awareness, and this year, the gala was being held at the Botanical Gardens.

  Jude usually attended, because he’d worked with the Conservancy on and off for years, but this would be my first time. I was going with Jude, of course, but not as his plus one. Thanks to the work I’d done with Nora and her friends during last year’s turtle hatches, I’d earned an invite of my own. I couldn’t wait. I’d snagged a fantastic dress from the sale rack at Nordstrom’s, days before leaving Miami.

  I put a plate of pancakes and fresh fruit in front of Jude. Setting his phone down, he pulled me between his legs and settled his hands on my hips. His hands, warm from the coffee cup, slipped under my t-shirt again.

  I cuddled closer. “Feels good, being here.”

  He smiled a little, his eyes searching mine. “When I woke up this morning, you weren’t there, but your spot was still kind of warm.” I slid my arms around his waist, listening. “And then I smelled coffee, and I could imagine you out here, poking around and doing Alina things.”

  “Alina things, huh?”

  “And I liked it.” He expression grew sober, and he brushed my hair from my eyes. “I like having you here, with me.”

  ~

  I stood in the middle of the apartment, surrounded by the new plants Nora and I had picked out. Living alone was new for me, and while part of me wondered what I’d gotten myself into, I mostly liked the solitude. There was no one to pick up after, and no one to make me pick up after myself. I could cook and listen to whatever I wanted.

  “Sadieeeeee!” Sydney’s teeny voice floated through the open louvers. “Ready or not, here I come!” Wandering over to the window, I watched the girls run circles through the yard, around the cars and beneath fruit trees. Barefoot, even though Nora constantly asked them to at least wear flip flops. They’d gotten bigger since last I’d seen them, just like that.

  I s
upposed I wasn’t too alone. The Taylors were right next door, bursting with loudness and flavor if I ever felt lonely. I returned to my boxes and plants, putting things away and moving them around until the space felt more like mine. Books, clothes, my favorite art…most of it came from home, but some was from here, like jam jars full of sea-glass, shells, and chaney—pieces of fine china found mostly along beaches and on plantations. (According to Jude, Crucian kids way back when used it as play money, combining the words “china” and “money” to come up with “chaney”.)