#Claimed by Crayson (To Marry a Madden #2) Read online

  Several people asked why they couldn’t tell us now, but Tyler’s voice was the one that stood out above the crowd. “Why all of the secrets? We already know you’re asking us to be in your wedding. Quit being all 007 with us.”

  Avery sighed. “We wanted it to be a surprise.”

  “Girl, please,” Tyler waved a hand. “The people you both trust most are standing in this resort lobby, so it’s obvious you want us all in your wedding.”

  Malakai clasped his hands together. “Well, since the cat is out of the bag, what do you say, gang? Would you do Avery and I the honor of being in our wedding party?”

  Tyler was the first to respond. “Hell yeah. You know I’m down.”

  “Glad to hear it,” Avery said with a smile. “So you’re good with being my HBIC?”

  Tyler placed his hand over his chest. “Why, Miss Avery, are you asking me to be the head bitch in charge? Because you already know I get shit done.”

  “Something like that,” she replied with a laugh. “Serenity, my sister, and a close friend of mine from back home are going to be bridesmaids. But, Ty, I want you to be the head bridesmaid in charge.”

  Tyler shrugged. “Bridesmaid. Bitch. Same thing.”

  Avery turned to Jordyn. “And, Jordyn, although I planned on asking you this in a really cute way … could you be my maid of honor?”

  Jordyn’s hands flew to her mouth. “Chick, are you serious? You want mwah as your maid of honor?”

  “Of course I do,” Avery smiled. “You’ve had my back since I moved to New York, and we’ve grown closer than I ever could have imagined. I would love if you could do me the honor of being by my side on the most important day of my life.”

  Jordyn teared up, and the moment caught me off guard because I’d never seen Jordyn get emotional over anything. Granted, most the time we spent together, she was chewing my head off about something, but this was a different look for her. The woman wasn’t even trying to give me the time of day, but my head was already too far up her ass to even acknowledge others in the room whenever she was in the same vicinity. And what an ass it was.

  The fact that Jordyn sometimes threw me off of my game was further proven when Malakai shook me out of my Jordyn-daze to ask, “Did you hear me, bro?”

  I slightly shook my head. “What did you say?”

  He gave my brothers a knowing look before turning his attention back to me. “You may be a pain in my ass sometimes, but I want to know if you could be my best man?”

  “Ya boy?” I joked, placing my hand over my heart. “All these cats and you’re choosing me to be your best man?”

  “You a fool,” Micah said.

  “Yes, my dude.” Malakai slapped me on the shoulder. “I would love for you to be my best man.”

  “Let’s do this shit then.” I was sure I was sporting a Chuck E Cheese grin as I pulled by brother in for a hug, but I didn’t care. When it came to love, Malakai hadn’t had an easy journey, so I was proud to walk by his side on the most important day of his life.

  “On that note,” Avery began, clasping her hands together, “maybe we should all get cleaned up and head to dinner?”

  Everybody nodded their heads or voiced their agreements, but my eyes were focused solely on Jordyn. I told myself to chill on the teasing, however I couldn’t help but say, “I guess we’ll be spending even more time together.”

  She rolled her eyes in typical Jordyn style before she followed the others to the escalators.

  It was cool that she was trying to ignore me. Someone should have told her that watching her walk away was one of my favorite pastimes.

  Two

  Crayson

  Man, where the hell did she run off to? Dinner had been over for a half hour and everyone was almost finished with dessert. Before folks had even finished their food, Jordyn had excused herself to go to the bathroom and I hadn’t seen her since.

  “Where’s your girl?” I whispered to Serenity so that I wouldn’t interrupt Avery’s official thank you speech for all of us agreeing to be in her wedding.

  “Where do you think?” she whispered back. “You ran her off.”

  I shrugged. “I didn’t even do shit. All I did was eat my food.”

  The look she gave me was of pure disbelief. “You’re always on some sneaky shit when it comes to her. So although I don’t know what you did, I know you did something to run her off.”

  It was true. Typically, I was doing something that pissed Jordyn off. But tonight, I had simply been enjoying her company. “Did she go to her room?”

  Serenity shook her head. “No.”

  She answered too fast. “What room is she in?”

  “Nope.” She shook her head. “My lips are sealed.”

  “Come on, Serenity. I already know you both are rooming together.”

  “Boy, did you not hear me?” she murmured. “I’m not telling you. I care too much about my life, and Jordyn will kill me if I tell you our room number.” She upturned her nose before she turned back to listen to Avery. Serenity and I went way back, so I knew that look. She wasn’t going to give up the room number, which meant I had to get creative. Especially since there were four floors in the lodge.

  I glanced at Caden who I knew had been listening to my conversation with Serenity. Growing up, my brothers and I used to tease Caden by saying he should wear bells around his neck because you never knew when he entered a room. He was quiet and tended to observe the situation before speaking. Him and Carter were alike in that way.

  When I caught Caden’s eye, I nodded my head in Serenity’s direction to get some assistance. I didn’t have to spell out the situation. He knew. He waited a few minutes before baiting her.

  “Serenity,” he whispered. “Did you hear about that bed bug scare they had here last week?”

  Serenity sat straighter in her seat. “Bed bugs? You can’t be serious.” Anyone who knew Serenity knew that there wasn’t anything she hated more than bed bugs. When she’d initially moved to New York, she’d purchased most of her furniture from a small store she’d seen an ad for on social media. After about a week of waking up to bites all over her body, she got rid of her bed and started sleeping on her couch, only to wake up to even more bites. She’d had her furniture for three weeks before she found out everything was infested with bed bugs, so she had to have the entire place fumigated. She’d been sensitive about the situation ever since.

  “Yeah, but the good news is, they only had to evacuate a few rooms on one floor,” Caden said, nodding his head.

  Her eyebrows lifted as she muttered, “Rooms. Did you just say rooms? What floor did this happen on?”

  Caden twisted his eyes to the ceiling as if he were thinking hard about her question. “I can’t remember. I think maybe it was the fourth floor.”

  “Thank God.” She placed her hand over her heart.

  My brother glanced to me before looking back to Serenity. “I meant the third floor.”

  “What!” she yelped. “The third floor? I’m on the third floor! I can’t handle another bed bug situation. Please tell me it isn’t room 305.”

  Caden looked to me and smiled. Bingo. The look didn’t go unnoticed by Serenity as it dawned on her that she’d been played by Caden.

  Serenity playfully hit myself and Caden on our shoulders before saying, “I can’t stand y’all.”

  I laughed before telling them what they already knew was coming. “If anyone asks, tell them I went to the bathroom.”

  I slipped away from the table just as Malakai started speaking. He made some joke about me leaving, but I didn’t care. I’d just ask Malik for the cliff notes version later.

  When I exited the elevator and headed to Jordyn’s room, I had an extra pep in my step. Although she may slam the door on my face the moment she noticed it was me, I didn’t care. As lame as it sounded, I just wanted to see her.

  I stepped up to room 305 and knocked. To my surprise, she opened the door right away. I was about to make a snarky remark about
her being happy to see me, but the sight of her in leggings and a plain white tee caught me off guard. It wasn’t until this moment that I recalled I’d never seen her in casual clothes before. Maybe jeans and a nice top, but never anything comfy-casual.

  Jordyn was one of those women who looked good in anything. Her edgy, short hairstyle was sexy on her diamond head shape, the curly cut making me want to run my fingers through it. A few times over the past few months, I’d noticed my hand raising at its own accord to run my fingers through her curls. Then luckily, common sense kicked in and I remembered black women would cut you if you touched their hair without permission.

  She must have been irritated that I hadn’t yet told her my reason for stopping by her room, because her voice was dripping with annoyance when she asked, “What do I owe the displeasure of this visit?”

  I smirked. “Can I come in?”

  “Not until I know why you’re here.”

  “I can tell you when I come in.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “Serenity texted me saying that you and Caden tricked her into telling you our room number, so you might as well just tell me whatever it is that you thought you would accomplish by coming up here.”

  I peeked over her shoulder into her hotel room and spotted a bottle of wine. “I have a couple ideas about the engagement party we have to plan for Avery and Malakai. Some of the details can’t wait until we get back to New York, so I was hoping we could have a nightcap and discuss it.”

  Her facial features softened as she studied my eyes, obviously trying to see if I was telling the truth. The excuse I’d given her was complete bullshit, but I was damn proud for thinking of something that sounded like a legit reason I’d need to see her.

  Apparently, she believed me because a few seconds later she stepped out of the doorway and motioned for me to come in. The first thing I was hit with when I walked into the room was a sensual scent that came from whatever lotion or perfume she was wearing. I’d smelled it before, but at a bar or event, it usually mixed with other scents. This time, the smell slapped me across the face, causing me to subconsciously rub my jaw as if I’d really been hit.

  She poured herself a glass of red wine before taking a seat opposite of the chair I’d just sat down in.

  “Okay, shoot,” she said before taking a sip.

  I looked at her incredulously. “What about my wine?”

  “You don’t get wine until I decide if you’re really in my hotel room to discuss plans for Avery and Malakai or something else.”

  Something else. It’s always something else. “Damn, it’s like that?”

  “Hell yeah.”

  In that case, you better think of something. “Well, I’m not sure if you heard, but I’m opening up a new cigar lounge and the grand opening will be in a few months. I was thinking it would be nice to have the engagement party at my new location before it opens to the public.”

  She shrugged. “I’m fine with that.”

  “Great. When do you think you can come by and see the location so we can get to planning?”

  She scrunched her forehead in thought. “Before we get into that, why are we the ones planning the engagement party? Don’t the parents of the bride and groom usually plan that, and the maid of honor and best man plan the bachelor and bachelorette parties?”

  Yes, but I need an excuse to see you more. I’d be the first to admit that I wasn’t the relationship type. I liked my freedom too damn much to be tied down to one woman. But I wasn’t the type of man to screw over the women I slept with either. Any woman who laid in my bed knew damn well that I was the type to fuck ’em and leave ’em, and I was man enough to admit that. If they wanted to cuddle and shit, they had the wrong guy.

  Jordyn had called my card the first night we met, and ever since, she’d been ignoring my advances. In my opinion, and the opinion of our friends, she had every right to call me on my bullshit, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to fuck her. My dick had been craving to be inside of Jordyn, and it was in those rare moments when she stopped the façade and let her lust shine through those sexy brown eyes that kept me shooting my shot. The day I felt like she was truly uninterested would be the day I stopped trying to sleep with her.

  “My parents live in Arkansas and Avery’s live in Tennessee, so I’m sure both sets of parents plan on throwing a party for them in their hometowns, but you and I need to cover New York. I’d already mentioned it to Malakai tonight and he seemed interested in having an engagement party in New York.”

  Once again, I was spitting a load a shit, but it sounded like the truth. I knew I’d had her convinced when she nodded her head and told me, “Sounds good. If you give me the address, I’ll see how far it is from my bar so I can stop by at a decent time.”

  I was sure the smile that filled my face looked as sneaky as I felt when she asked, “What aren’t you telling me?”

  Leaning back in my chair, I crossed my hands in front of me. I should’ve told her the reason I was so amused right away, but I liked to fuck with her. A squirmy Jordyn was a bothered Jordyn, and a bothered Jordyn was a sexy Jordyn.

  A two-minute stare down later, she gave me an ultimatum. “You have two seconds to tell me what you’re holding back from telling me, or this nightcap is over.”

  I didn’t put it past Jordyn to kick me out. She’d kicked me out of her bar a few times for no reason other than the fact that I was annoying her. She placed her wine glass on the table and sat up straighter in her chair.

  “Spit it out, Madden.”

  I smiled. Here goes nothing. “I wanted to tell you a month ago, but I was afraid that you’d never speak to me again. I didn’t even tell Malakai because I couldn’t risk him telling Avery who I was sure would tell you.”

  Her eyes widened, the annoyed expression on her face still in place. “Spit. It. Out.”

  “Do you remember Blackberry Restaurant?” I asked. “That place I used to love to grab breakfast at?”

  She squinted her eyes. “You mean the Blackberry Restaurant that’s right next door to my bar?”

  “Was next door,” I said. “It closed a couple months ago, but I know you already knew that because we were all talking about it at the bar one day. I’m sure you noticed the for sale sign was gone.”

  Dropping her head to her hands, Jordyn groaned. “Crayson, if you tell me you purchased the building right next door to my bar for your new cigar lounge, I will literally never speak to you again.”

  I shrug. “Not possible. We’re in a wedding together, JayJay, so you have to talk to me. Plus, we’re neighbors now.”

  “You’ve got to be shitting me,” she yelled. “You really did purchase the building next door? Did you do that just to piss me off even more than you usually do?”

  “Yes and no,” I replied, trying to refrain from smiling again. I couldn’t help it. Like I said, pissing off Jordyn was my favorite pastime.

  “I can’t believe this.” She stood and started pacing the room. “I have a lot going on already, and the last thing I need is this shit.” She stopped to glare at me. “Out of all of the buildings in Brooklyn, you had purchase one next to my bar! Don’t you see anything wrong with that?”

  “Not really.”

  She pointed a finger at me. “You’re kidding, right? You don’t think I deserved a heads-up?”

  I clasped my hands together. “Not really.”

  “Or even a conversation beforehand that you were thinking of purchasing that space?”

  “Not really.”

  “Ugh.” She started pacing again. “If you say not really one more time, I’m gonna lose my shit.”

  Any person with a decent bone in their body would understand that now wasn’t the moment to annoy someone. The right thing to do would be for me to leave her alone so she could process this news. A gentleman would excuse himself and give her some space. Don’t do it, Crayson. Don’t egg her on more. Be a man about this.

  She shot me a stern look before sitting back down
in the chair she’d vacated. “Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

  Her chest heaved up and down, and even though she was more pissed at me than usual, she still looked sexy as hell. Shit. I have to say it. “Not really.”

  “You asshole,” she yelled, tossing a throw pillow at me.

  I grunted. Tell me something I don’t know.

  Three

  Jordyn

  “That no good, cheating ass, stupid ass, ugly ass, dumb ass, still-lives-with-his-mama-ass, lousy excuse of a man.”

  I ground my teeth together as I stared at my ex-boyfriend and thought about all of the time I’d wasted on him. Looks wise, Luther wasn’t actually ugly, but he might as well be since his personality sure was. And I’d heard he’d moved out of his mom’s place a couple months ago. Not that I cared to keep tabs on him, but his mom still went to the same beauty salon that I went to, and in the salon, women talk. A little too much if you asked me.

  “Tell me how you really feel,” my girl Avery said as we both eyed the man who had put me through hell last year. Avery had never met him because she hadn’t lived in New York yet, but she and I had done a lot of Facebook stalking over a bottle of tequila a couple months ago when I’d heard that his new wife was expecting twins.

  “Out of all of the parties he could have attended, he had to show up to the one I was at.” I crossed my arms over my chest as I watched him talk to another couple who was with him and his wife. “Look at him with that smug ass smirk and those shady ass eyes, probably over there talking out of his ass.”

  Avery placed a comforting hand on my arm. “Girl, you’re better than this.”

  “Trifling ass,” I mumbled.

  “Sis, you’ve said the word ass about eight times already. And you know how frustrated you get when you go on these repetitive cursing binges. You’re a few curse words away from yelling every word you can think of.”

  She was right. I could already feel my body temperature rising the longer I stared. I wasn’t a virgin to cursing, and the moment I began saying the same curse word over and over, I was only a few minutes away from yelling every damn curse word I could think of.