Best Friends to Lovers

Chapter 4

As the days and weeks turned to a month, we spent every moment we could together. Hayden and I had spent all our free time talking and getting to know each other. We found that we were more suited for one another than we first thought. The more time we spent together, the more I thought about what the future had in store for us,

Maddison and Brenden left us alone, other than meeting up with us a couple of times a week. Hayden and I went on dates. We went to a bar to let loose a little and dance. Hayden has cooked dinner for me and even sent flowers to my workplace. It has all been like a dream come true. On one such night, Hayden asked, "Melinda, will you do me the honor of being my girlfriend."

"Hayden, yes, I would love to be your girlfriend. I love you," I say. I felt like a queen. I never thought that a man could treat me like this. 

Another night sitting on the sofa, Hayden asked me if I wanted to keep him company on a business trip overseas. I agreed. We were out of the country for a week. I had had so much fun getting to explore the way of life in Germany that I didn't want to come back to the states.

"Kitten, I don't want to go back either, but that is where our friends and family are. So how bout I make you a promise? For our honeymoon, I promise that I will take you on a tour of as many countries as we can for over a month, then on every anniversary, I will take you to a new one. How does that sound?"

My mouth drops open. I look Hayden in the eyes, "You are planning a future with me," I mumble, shocked.

"Yes, I am. I love you and find that you are growing more important to me than I ever thought possible. You make my bad days at work fade away as soon as I see your face. I look forward to seeing you every day. Now let's get home and spend some time with our friends. I am sure they are missing us,"

"I am looking forward to the future with you. But, Babe, let's get home." I say, pulling him in for a kiss. 

"We will finish this later; right now, we need to get to the airport. All though I would rather spend the next few hours making you scream and moan my name." Hayden groans, pulling away.

"Let's get going. I want you to myself in bed for a few hours before hanging out with Maddison and Brenden," I say.

Once we are back at my house, Hayden instantly drops the suitcases, turns to me, and grabs my hips as he pulls me to him. We ended up making love; it wasn't just s*x. I felt like he told me how much he loved me without saying anything. After we finished our activities, we were lying in each other's arms. "Melinda, you know that Maddison and Brenden will be here in about an hour. We should hop in the shower," Hayden says, rubbing my back.

"Let's lay here for a few more minutes. You have worn me completely out,"

Hayden chuckles. "I'm nowhere near done with you, yet, kitten. I am ready for round two in the shower," he says as he picks me up and carries me to the bathroom.

***

"So, how are you two getting along? How was the trip?" Maddison asked us as we sat at a restaurant, waiting on our food.

"We are great. We are enjoying each other a lot. I hated coming back home. I wanted to stay there," I say, looking at Hayden.

"I miss her like crazy when I am away from her. I feel like my other half is missing when we are apart," Hayden says as he smiles at me.

"You two are too cute together," Maddison says.

"Hayden is head over heels in love; it would seem. So what have you been doing to my bro?" Brenden asked me, chuckling.

"Not a thing. Since we both have been in love with each other for a long while, we find our relationship growing pretty fast and easy. You and I being friends, while in love with each other, was possibly the smartest yet stupidest thing we have ever done,"

"I waited for this chance for years. Now that I have it, I will make up for the lost time. I don't care about what others think. My main goal is to make Mel happy," Hayden says, watching Brenden's reaction.

"Wow," Maddison and Brenden say at the same time.

A few minutes later, the waitress placed our dinner in front of us and walked away. We are all eating our meals, laughing, talking, and having a good time when Tanner walks in the door. He spots me and walks to me.

"Melinda, are you over your tantrum yet. I am ready to come home?" Tanner says as he smiles.

"Ha, we are over. Didn't I make that clear the night I caught you in my bed with your w***e? And the night you came by the house? The night I told you that if I wasn't good in bed, it was because the teacher wasn't all that good. Now, if you will, we are trying to have a meal here."

"You should get over it. It's not like you are anything special. You will be alone forever if you won't let me come back home." Tanner spats at me.

"Is that so. Do you think that I just sat at home over those few weeks and months crying over you? Well, think again. I am currently with someone. We are happy. He satisfies all my needs and wants, including my s****l ones. Stop thinking so boldly of yourself and find a w***e to screw. Maybe then you can learn how to give a woman an o****m,"

"What do you mean you are with someone, you f*****g slutty bit..." Tanner was saying before Hayden stood up.

"If I were you, I would watch my mouth. I already want to beat the crap out of you. If you must know, I am Melinda's new boyfriend. If you keep insulting her, I will defend her by kicking your ass."

"So, you were f*****g her when she and I were together. I always knew she was a slut." Tanner says.

Hayden balls his fist at his side. "She and I never touched romantically while you two were together. How can she be a slut if you and I are the only ones she has had s*x with? Please fill me in." Hayden watches as Tanner looks like a fish out of water, opening and closing his mouth repeatedly, "I am waiting for your answer. Since you can't answer, leave us." Hayden says as he takes his seat and kisses me.

"You will pay for what you have done to me. No one makes me look like a fool and gets away with it. I can promise you that," Tanner says as he turns and leaves.

"Doesn't he get the hint you are over him? You don't want him. That dude is off his rocker," Brenden says.

"He must have thought that I wouldn't be able to function without him. I was doing fine before him. Why would I not be after him? In truth, he only brought me down." I say, laughing.

"That he did, Mel, that he did," Maddison says as she joins in.

We finish our dinner and head back to Maddison's to watch a movie. One movie became two. Hayden and I left and went back to my house. As we pulled into my driveway, I couldn't believe my eyes.

My flower garden was destroyed; who could have done this. My rose bushes and flowers were gone. On my front door in black paint were the words 'ALWAYS MINE!" I look over at Hayden and see that he is pissed. "Sweetheart, let's grab you an outfit and go to my place. We can send someone to clean this up in the morning." Hayden says.

"Tanner is such an asshole. Should have beat the crap out of him. He needs a good ass-kicking." I say as I climb out of the car and head to the front door.

Hayden chuckled. "He isn't worth the energy it would take to fight him."

"That is true, but he needs his butt kicked. Look what he has done to my home." I say, gritting my teeth.

"We will come back here tomorrow and clean this all up. So let's get your things and head to my apartment," Hayden says, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Yeah, because the longer I am here, the more pissed I get,"

As I was about to open my front door, I saw the bench on the porch was smashed. "Oh, hell, no! Hayden, look, the bench you made me a few years ago is ruined. The bastard is crazy," I say with tears in my eyes.

"It's okay, baby. I will make you another one. It will be better," Hayden says as he leads me into the house.

I go straight to my bedroom to grab an outfit for tomorrow and my toiletries. Then I called the police and came to the house to file a report. Hayden and I grab a soda, sit on the porch, talk, and wait for the police to arrive. As the police car pulls up and parks, I stand. "Thank you for coming," I say.

"My name is Officer Mason Conner. What can I do for you..?," he asked.

"Melinda, I am Melinda. I was out with some friends tonight and when I came home, this is what I found," I say, waving my arms to my yard and porch. "I want to file a report,"

"We can do that. Do you know who may have done this?" Officer Conner asked.

"Yes, I caught my ex-boyfriend cheating. I ended our relationship. When my current boyfriend and I were out with our friends, the ex came to us, arguing a little. He was pretty pissed when he left. I think it was him. No, I am sure it was him by the message written on the door,"

"Are there any cameras that can give us a look at who may have done this?" Officer Conner asked.

"No, I have never had a problem with vandalism. So I never thought to get the cameras installed,"

"I can't do much about this except file the report. If I were you, I would try to get some cheap cameras to see who has done what if this happens again,"

"All right, what do you need me to do?" I ask him.

"Fill this out and I will take some pictures. Have your friend here take some as well. That way, you have your documentation and can use it in court if you have to,"

"So, you think that it would be a good idea for me to install Cameras," I say, looking over at Hayden. "I may need help getting that done, babe,"

"We can look into it some more tomorrow, kitten," Hayden says.

"Let's get started. I have been pretty busy today and want to get this done before I get called to another place,"

As we all went about our task, I tried not to look around a whole lot. I didn't want to feed into my anger too much. Finally, I finished the statement, got up, went into the house, and watched TV as the guys finished up with the picture taking. After they finished, the officer asked me if I would stay here at my home or stay elsewhere. I told him that I would go to stay at Hayden's.

"Alright, so I will have the other officers keep an eye on the house; if you have any problems, please give us a call," Officer Conner says as he shakes our hands and heads to his car. He then stops, looks at me and says, "I was wondering who your ex-boyfriend is and if he has a record?"

"His name is Tanner McDonald. I am not sure if he has a record or not."

"How long were you with him?" Officer Conner asked.

"We were together for three years. Why?" I asked.

"Well, last year, my sister brought a guy home to meet us. She had been dating him for a year and a half. She told me that since they were getting serious, she thought it was time to bring him home to meet the family. His name is Tanner McDonald. They just moved in together about a month or so ago."

"Officer Conner, I kicked him out of my house the night I caught him having s*x in my bed. It was about a month or so ago. I also canceled his credit card that was in my name. He can't seem to keep a job, so I ended up supporting him most of our three-year relationship,"

"Thank you, Melinda. I will have to keep a close eye on him until he does something to get arrested. Talk to you later," he says as he gets in his car and drives away.

"I will be damned, that prick; he played me and made me look like a fool. Yet he thinks he is clever," I say as I look at Hayden.

"Yeah, he played everyone in our group as a fool. I thought he was madly in love with you until I heard you say you caught him in bed with another lady. The good thing is, Tanner got caught, and you left him. So now, you have me and I would never do anything like that," Hayden says as he grabs me by the waist and pulls me in for a passionate kiss.

"I know you wouldn't. I can't believe that I fell for all of Tanner's lies. I was blind. But I am glad that I caught him in the act because it has brought me to you." I say.

"That it has, kitten, that it has," Hayden says, then brings his lips to mine to kiss me again. "Let's take this back to my place,"

"Let me grab my things. Then we can leave,"

"Okay, hurry up. I can't wait to get you under and on top of me, "Hayden growls.

When we get to Hayden's, he carries my things into his room, with me following behind him. He sits my bag on the bed and then sits at his computer and looks at me, "I think we need to inform Brenden and Maddison about what we found at your house. Then we need to research which camera is the best for outside use," he says.

"You want to do that before we have some fun, huh? I hope that it won't take too long,"

"I figured we could use that as motivation to get this done. I can't wait to bury myself in you," Hayden says, winking at me.

"Let's call Brenden. I am sure Maddison will still be there. And we can tell them together. Maddison is going to be out for Tanner's blood," I say as I try to calm my body down.

"I know. We may have to mute those two for a few minutes; Maddison is going to lose her s**t," Hayden says, laughing.

We facetime Brenden, "Hey dude, didn't you talk to me enough at the restaurant?' he asked.

"I got Mel here. When we returned to her place, someone destroyed her lawn and porch. Someone smashed the bench that sat on her porch to bits and destroyed her flower gardens and rose bushes. With spray paint on her front door. We called the police and filed a report. Mel and I know who it was that did it, but we really can't prove it,"

"How do you know who it is," Maddison asked.

"On the door, 'ALWAYS MINE' was painted on it," I replied.

"That asshole, I am going to kill him. Does he have a freaking death wish?" she yells, her face turning red in anger.

"We can't prove it is him. We are going to look at getting some security cameras," Hayden says, then adds, "Here is the kicker. That asshole has been in a relationship with the officer's sister that came to the house when we called. Not only that, but it has been for well over a year and a half. He is now living with her,"

"Wow, I can't believe the nerve of this guy. What in the hell? I don't even know what to say," Brenden says.

"That son of a biscuit-eating mother trucker played us all. He acted like he was friends with us. When in reality, he was making us look like fools. He is so freaking dead," Maddison says.

"Maddison, I know he deserves a butt-kicking, but if we get cameras installed and he does something else, he will go to jail. Then he will get what he has coming." I tell her.

"Do you think he will come back?" Brenden asked.

"Yes, I do. Tanner is that type of person," Hayden says, with a smirk, then adds, "He isn't smart enough to leave her alone,"

"We need to start looking into the cameras. We will talk to you both later," I say.

After the call, we started researching what the best camera system was. Finally, I told Hayden that I would just call a company to install their best security system. "I can't make head or tales from this crap,"

"All right, let's go to bed," Hayden says, picking me up, carrying me to the bed, laying me down, and climbing on top of me.

"You know that finding out Tanner was a lying cheater doesn't make me mad or anything, right?"

"Yeah, you didn't even bat an eye when you found out, So I knew that it didn't bother you,"

"Good, now make love to me," I whisper against his lips.

"I was planning on it," he says in a husky voice.