Page 44 of I’d Be Honored

TWELVE

MADDIE WAS HAVING AN OUT-OF-BODY EXPERIENCE. Sitting in the quiet stillness of the town car’s backseat, she could still hear her own shrieks as the Thunderbolt had twisted them upside down, Hayley’s wild laughter ripping through the wind beside her. She could feel Hayley’s fingers grip her thighs again as they plunged down the ninety-degree drop and tore into the three-hundred-and-sixty-degree loop.

But nothing that evening came close to the thrill Maddie felt in that very moment, her hand intertwined with Hayley’s atop the leather interior. Maddie marveled at how alive she felt as they neared the West Village, her heart beating faster than it had on any of the rides.

The muffled hum of the city vanished behind them as soon as they crossed Hayley’s threshold, the door clicking shut softly.

Maddie let out a sharp gasp as Hayley’s hand immediately fisted her hair and pulled her in with a sudden, desperate hunger. Maddie’s fingers roamed beneath the hem of Hayley’s shirt, the scorching heat of her skin burning away the last of the evening’s chill.

Hayley claimed the side of Maddie’s neck with her mouth while she stripped off her clothes layer by layer, leaving a path behind them as they stumbled down the short hallway.

When Hayley pushed Maddie backward onto the bed, the intensity in her gaze made heat rush through Maddie’s body.

“Put your feet up,” Hayley demanded, her voice sharp.

Maddie obeyed, her soles pressing into the quilted comforter.

Hayley slid between Maddie’s legs, using her hips to spread them further apart. She dipped her head low and bit down into the nape of Maddie’s neck as Hayley pushed three fingers inside her.

Maddie moaned as Hayley fell into a relentless, driving rhythm. She clawed at Hayley’s back, trying to draw her impossibly closer as Hayley flattened her palm against her clit. A broken sob escaped from her throat.

“Oh my God, Hayley. Don’t stop,” Maddie groaned.

Hayley thrust her hips faster, her fingers moving with a frenzied urgency as she sank deeper, curling inside her.

Seconds later, Maddie’s body shook as she came undone, and Hayley fell beside her, breathless.

“Fuck,” Maddie choked out. She released a long, ragged breath, her body feeling weightless against the satin sheets.

Maddie rolled onto her side and faced Hayley. She trailed her fingertips along Hayley’s bare thigh, smiling as her own skin still hummed from the heat of Hayley’s touch.

For a moment, everything else in the world ceased to exist. Their gazes locked, and Maddie smiled at a bright new sparkle in Hayley’s dark eyes.

Hayley’s breath grew shallow as Maddie inched her hand higher, slipping between her legs.

Then something shifted.

Hayley’s face turned ashen with panic, and she bolted upright, leaping off the bed and away from Maddie’s touch.

Maddie watched in bewilderment as Hayley lurched toward the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

In Hayley’s absence, the air in the room turned unbearably icy. Maddie curled tightly into herself and stared at the closed door that separated her from Hayley. Her chest, bursting with euphoria only minutes ago, was now hollow with a dull ache.

She stayed like that until she heard the shower turn on, taking the running water as her cue to leave.

You knew what you were signing up for, Maddie reminded herself with a deep sigh.

She slid off the bed, slipped back into her jeans and T-shirt, and saw herself out. She let the door shut behind her with a heavy thud, and in the sudden silence, a tightness squeezed her throat.

A WEEK PASSED, AND MADDIE TRIED her best to give Hayley space, but she was growing impatient. She only had a limited amount of time left in New York, after all.

She had cautiously reached out again—a text here asking how the Brooklyn apartments were selling, another there planning logistics for Caitlin and Gemma’s bachelorette party. Slowly, a tentative routine began to form.

Hayley started to open up, venting to Maddie about other real estate agents in her group, and Maddie would respond with her own similar stories from chaotic movie sets. Each night before bed, Maddie sent Hayley the same soft text.

Maddie: Goodnight xx

Sometimes she got a reply, sometimes she didn’t. Yet each morning, Maddie would wake up to a new message.