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  Once we’re back in her driveway, I look over at her sitting in the passenger seat of my truck. She smiles and then leans in for a kiss. Her lips are so soft. I could kiss them all day long.

  “Are you coming inside?” she asks against my lips.

  “Hell yeah, I’m coming inside. Let me carry Bean.” I slide out of the truck and walk around to open her door. Once Avery is out, I carefully unbuckle Brooklyn from her seat and move her as best as I can without waking her up. Her limp, sleeping body is curled against me, her warm breath against my neck.

  Avery gets Brooklyn in her pajamas and into bed while I go to the kitchen to grab us a drink. She has a few beers in there so I grab one and open it. I’m not sure if she’s going to drink tonight or not. I’ve noticed that she doesn’t drink much at all when she has Brooklyn to think about. Avery comes in as I swallow a long drag of my beer. She reaches up and grabs the bottle from my hand. Our eyes connect as she places my beer up to her lips, taking a long, slow drink. Watching her drink my beer is hot. Damn hot.

  I see a little wetness glisten on her lower lip when she removes the bottle so I bend down and run my tongue along her lip, licking up the beer and savoring the taste. It’s a heady mix of beer and Avery. Two of my favorite things.

  I set the beer bottle down on the table and take her head in my hands. I love diving my hands into her soft hair, holding her in place while I devour her mouth with my lips, my tongue. I start walking her backwards, out of the kitchen and down the hallway towards her room. When we cross the threshold of her bedroom, I shut the door as quietly as possibly as to not to wake up Brooklyn.

  My hands are everywhere. They roam from her hair to her shirt, cupping her breasts through the material. She presses them further into my hands, and rubs her lower body against mine. My hard-on is almost painful as she rubs up against it, throbbing for release, but I want to go slow and savor this moment with her. We’ve turned a corner here lately. I don’t know what it means exactly, but I know that there’s something so very different about her. I want her. I need her in my life with an urgency I’ve never felt or expected to feel.

  I walk Avery back to her bed and slowly lower her down. I need to slow this down or it’ll be over before I want it to be. I lift her shirt over her head and take in the beautiful sight before me. The red lace bra, the quick rise and fall of her chest, the panting of her breath, and the silkiness of her golden skin.

  I lift her hands above her head with one of my hands. “Keep them here,” I tell her.

  She doesn’t question it, just holds her hands above her head. She’s perfect. And the realization hits me right there. I love her. I’m so fucking in love with her that I can’t think straight. My mind goes completely haywire and I want to grab her and kiss her, and maybe run away all at the same time.

  I need to get back to the task at hand, so I slowly remove her shoes, pants, and socks. She’s left in a matching red lace bra and underwear set. She’s so unbelievably sexy. I run my tongue over her torso, licking around the mounds barely contained by the red lace. Her nipples are peaked and I can’t help but suck on and tease them through the material. She moans and shivers under me.

  “Don’t move,” I say. I focus on the red panties now, pulling them down her long legs. She’s laid out before me like a feast, and I am a very hungry man. I kiss and lick each of her thighs, teasing her to the point where she’s begging. I want to tease her a little more before I give her what she wants. What I want. The slow sweep of my tongue over her pulsing nub is almost too much for her. She’s breathing heavily and wiggling against my face. I bury my tongue deep inside her, fast and hard. She’s rocking onto my tongue, taking everything I can give her. I use my thumb to apply pressure to her clit and before too long, she shatters into a million pieces. I continue the assault with my tongue until I’m sure she’s coming down from the clouds, panting and shaking.

  When I look up at her, face beautifully shining from the aftermath of her orgasm, I notice her hands are still placed over her head. I grab them with one hand and bring them down between us, removing her bra in the process. “Good girl,” I tell her before I devour her with another hot kiss. “I love the taste of you mixing on our lips.”

  She smiles against my lips. “Me too.”

  I remove all of my clothes and grab a condom from my pocket. When I sheath myself with the condom and position myself above her, I look down into her eyes.

  “I want your eyes on mine the whole time. Don’t close your eyes.”

  “Okay,” she says breathlessly. And with that, I slide home. Because that’s what Avery is. My home. Body, mind and soul, she is my home. The only place I want to be. I watch the passion play out on her face, in her eyes. It takes everything I have not to say the words that are on the tip of my tongue. I slowly rock into her, wanting to draw this moment out as long as I can. Avery wraps her legs around my waist, digging her feet into my ass.

  I start to move a little more urgently, Avery eagerly meeting me thrust for thrust. I can tell she’s close again. Hell, I’m close, and there’s no slowing this down now. I pound into her with the intensity of a man heading towards the finish line. I feel her tighten around me, her internal walls gripping me so tightly that I almost lose it right there. Then she starts to moan, my name the only word coming from her lips, and I’m gone. I stare into her eyes as I pump into her a few more times before losing myself to my own release.

  I lower myself onto her body, both of us sweaty and beyond satisfied. I lay my forehead against hers, and gently kiss her lips. The urgency in the kiss is gone leaving in its wake a sweet, sensual, gentle kiss.

  I roll to my side, taking Avery with me so she’s curled up half on top of me, half on the bed. We are both still breathing heavily, not able to speak. There are no words to even explain what I just felt anyway. I believe Avery felt it too as I feel her reach up and take my hand in hers, linking our fingers together. She lets out a sigh of content. I lay there with her, listening as her breathing slowly evens out as she drifts off to sleep.

  I disentangle my body from Avery’s once I know she’s sleep. I throw on my t-shirt and boxers and head into the bathroom to throw out the condom. It’s almost midnight and I want, more than anything, to crawl back into bed with Avery and stay until the morning.

  I walk over to Brooklyn’s room and peak in through the crack in the door. She’s snuggled up with the stuffed monkey she won tonight, blond hair fanned out over her pillow. Her face has a peaceful, calm look to it. Her mouth is slightly open as she sleeps. I walk in and kneel at her bed. I lean down and kiss her cheek, pushing back the hair off her forehead.

  “I love you, Brooklyn,” I whisper. I watch her sleep for a few more minutes and head back out the way I came.

  When I get to Avery’s room, I decide to head out now instead of in the early morning. My truck is in her driveway and curious minds in this town will start asking questions and talking. When I’m completely dressed, I bend down and kiss Avery’s lips. She startles a little but doesn’t wake up. As I gaze down at her sleeping form, I realize I want nothing more than to strip down and climb back in bed with her. I don’t want to go back to my cold, empty house alone. Alone. That’s what I am when I’m not here with her.

  I kiss her lips one last time and whisper, “I love you,” before I head out her bedroom door.

  After a quick detour into the kitchen to prepare the coffee, I head out to my truck to drive home. As I’m backing out of the driveway in the middle of the night, I decide that I’m going to take the chance on a relationship with Avery. I’m done sneaking in and out of her house during the night or taking her to other towns for dates so no one sees us. This weekend, I’m going to tell Jake about us. I want to be with her, and while that scares the shit out of me, not being with her scares me more.

  My chest actually feels lighter at the decision to come clean with Jake. I just hope he’s more forgiving than he’s ever been in the past because if it comes down to choosing between my best
friend and the woman I love, I choose her. I will always choose her.

  It’s already quarter after eleven on Sunday morning and Holly is very impatiently waiting in the living room with Brooklyn for me to finish getting ready so we can head out. I haven’t heard much from Maddox since I fell asleep Friday night. We shared the most beautiful night together before I woke up alone. I know that’s how it has to be right now so that Jake and the rest of the family doesn’t find out. But, part of me can’t help but want everyone to find out. Then it’ll be out there in the open, and maybe Maddox and I can have an actual, normal relationship.

  He’s working this weekend, nine in the morning to nine at night both days, so I haven’t seen him at all. He had made plans to go out with Jake last night so I spent the evening baking cookies and then eating half of them with Brooklyn. He did send me a text message last night when he got off work telling me good night. Though I enjoyed our brief conversation through texts, it was not even close in comparison to having him at my house with me. I didn’t hear from him for the rest of the night which worried me at first. I spent the night feeling guilty that I had that slight lack of trust in him. Maddox has never done anything to show me that I can’t trust him. I do trust him. Sometimes, some of my insecurities rear their ugly heads at the worst time. But, it’s something I’m working on every day.

  Holly, Brooklyn, and I get to the mall and set out for the children’s store first. I find some great deals on winter clothes for Brooklyn, and even a few things that I can put back for Christmas.

  As we’re walking towards another store, we pass the lingerie store that Maddox, Brooklyn, and I stopped at on Friday night. I notice the black lace corset and thong set that Maddox pointed out in the window and without giving it much thought, I head inside the store to purchase it. Holly wanders around the store with Brooklyn, giving me a little privacy to purchase something sexy for my man. I’ve never worn a corset before. I’m already making plans to wear it on our next date night. I can’t wait to see the look on Maddox’s face when he discovers it underneath my clothes.

  When we get back into the main hall of the mall, Holly and Brooklyn head into the toy store. I see the jewelry store out of the corner of my eye, so I tell them I’ll catch up with them shortly.

  I head over to the window that displayed that beautiful chocolate diamond ring I saw the other night. The large diamond in the center is the perfect shade of chocolate brown, the color of Maddox’s eyes which is what drew me to it in the first place. The large stone in the center is surrounded by smaller circle diamonds, all set on a thick platinum band. It really is the perfect ring. My heart speeds up at the sight of it.

  While I’m standing there fawning over the beautiful ring in the window, I hear a voice clear behind me. I straighten up expecting to see Holly behind me, but when I turn, the woman in front of me definitely isn’t Holly. She’s tall and thin with shoulder length dark brown hair. Her hazel eyes are glaring daggers at me. “Yes?” I ask, the uncertainty evident in my voice.

  “You must be Avery. I’ve heard so much about you.” She reaches her perfectly manicured hand towards me. I hesitate slightly and then take her hand in mind.

  “And you are?” I ask, my voice dropping off at the end as if waiting for her to fill in the blank.

  “I’m Vanessa. Maddox’s girlfriend,” she says very matter-of-factly. The room starts to tilt and a buzzing starts in my ears. Did I just hear her correctly? She’s Maddox’s girlfriend?

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I reply.

  “Maddox and I have been dating for months. In fact, we’ve been dating the entire time he’s been entertaining you on the side.” She glares her wicked eyes into my teary ones. “See, I know how he is. Everyone knows how he is. So, I let him go out and have a little fun on the side so he gets it out of his system. When he came over last night, he told me that he was almost done having his fun with you.”

  The room spins and I find it hard to catch my breath. “He was with you last night?”

  “Of course he was! We left Jack’s together like we do almost every weekend! You don’t really think he goes home after he leaves your house in the middle of the night, do you?” Vanessa raises her perfectly sculpted eyebrow at me. Then she takes her phone out of her purse and shows me a picture of her and Maddox at Jack’s Pub, her pressed tightly up against his body, both smiling at the camera.

  I can’t even look at this woman standing before me anymore. My mind is reeling and my stomach is clenching so hard I feel like I’m going to throw up. “He goes home and gets his truck and comes to my house. So any fantasies you have in your head about playing house and a happily ever after with him are over. You see, Avery, you’re like the forbidden fruit. You’re his best friend’s sister. The one he’s not supposed to have. You were too tempting for him to ignore.” Vanessa puts her hands on her hips and looks at me very matter-of-factly. “But, now we’re discussing our future together. He’s about to dump you like yesterday’s take-out trash. We were just discussing last night whose house we were going to move into. He knows I want a winter wedding so we’re trying to tie up all the loose ends to making that happen within the next few months.”

  I feel like I’m having an out of body experience. I’m standing here watching this woman humiliate me as the people pass by without a care in the world, without realizing my entire life is crashing around me. Maddox has been with someone else this whole time? I fight the tears that are forming in my eyes. There’s no way I will give this woman the satisfaction of seeing me cry. As I stand there and stare back at this beautiful woman, I realize my greatest fears have come to life. It has happened again. I’ve been made a fool of again. Did they sit back and laugh at me?

  Vanessa looks at me with pity in her eyes. “I’m sorry you had to get hurt in all of this.” She reaches out and touches my shoulder, and I pull back like she’s just burned me. “I’m done sharing Maddox with you and everyone else out there. He’s mine, and he will be mine forever. Check his phone and you’ll see calls from me. It’s time to get out of my way, Avery, or I will barrel over you without even a second glance back.” She turns on her fancy high heels and heads in the opposite direction.

  I stare at her retreating body and feel a hand on my shoulder. I whip around and come face to face with Holly. She sees the tears brimming in my eyes and looks around me to the woman walking away.

  “Avery, what’s going on? Who was that?”

  “If she is who she says she is, that’s Maddox’s girlfriend.” I can’t help it. As I say those words, the tears start to fall.

  “What?” she says, confusion and anger flashing in her eyes. She grabs my hand and starts to pull me and Brooklyn towards the exit of the mall.

  When we get inside her car, I break down into sobs that I’m unable to control.

  “What’s wong, Mommy?” Brooklyn asks from the backseat.

  “Nothing, baby. Just grown up mommy stuff.”

  Holly pulls out of the parking lot, heading towards Rivers Edge. “What exactly did she say to you?” Holly asks in a low, calm voice. I recap our conversation in as much detail as I can, and wipe my eyes and nose on a tissue she pulled from her console.

  “What am I going to do, Holly?”

  “Do you really think what she said is true, Avery?”

  “He told me Vanessa was his ex-girlfriend but that they didn’t really go out very long. She had a picture of them, Holly. A picture that was taken last night. Last night when he was supposed to be at Jack’s with Jake. She was obviously there with them. You should have seen the way she was hanging on him,” I mumble.

  “I think before you jump off the deep end here, you need to talk to him. Ask him about it and make him explain. Even if what he tells you hurts and proves he’s an ass, at least you hear it from him and not some spoiled, high maintenance witch.”

  I sit back in my seat, my mind still trying to process all that has happened in the last thirty minutes. The drive back is fairly q
uiet. Holly and Brooklyn chat happily, but my mind won’t focus enough to allow me to get into their conversation.

  When Holly pulls up at my house a half hour later, she unloads Brooklyn while I grab all our bags from the trunk. I unlock the front door and tell Brooklyn to go play for a bit before we leave to go to my parent’s for supper.

  Holly draws me into a big hug, surrounding me in the comfort that only a best friend can provide. “It’s going to be okay. Call him.”

  “He’s working until nine tonight. Besides, I don’t think I can talk to him tonight. I need time to process all this and think.”

  “Well, don’t wait too long or over think it. You need to find out what’s going on before you assume the worst.” She hugs me again before she heads out. “I love you, Ave.”

  “I love you too, Holl.”

  I watch my best friend leave and fight the urge to cry again. I can’t break down now. I have Brooklyn to care for and a dinner to get ready for. This thing with Maddox is going to have to wait until later.

  *****

  When we get to my parent’s house, I start to feel overwhelmed. Even though Jake and Nate are both working today, Will and Travis brought friends so everyone is talking and carrying on at once. I’m not feeling very sociable so I head up stairs to my old room to try to get my bearings. As I sit on my childhood bed, listening to the muffled talk and laughter coming from down stairs, I can’t help but run back through my conversation with Vanessa, again, for the tenth time. Is it true? Am I the other woman again?