Clipped Read online

  “Why the long face then? Isn’t that a good thing?”

  “Yeah it is. I guess when Lucy told me they were waking her up, I thought I’d be able to talk to her immediately. It was dumb I know, but wishful thinking has a way of blocking out common sense.”

  “It’s not dumb to want to talk to your mom. You’ve been worried and waiting for the opportunity to do so.”

  She rolls her head on the cushion toward me. “Why are you being so nice? Should I be worried?” She raises an eyebrow at me.

  I grin. “I’m always nice. In fact you haven’t even begun to realize how,” I pause, leaning toward her, “nice I can be.” I trail a finger down the side of her arm. She shivers and I smile.

  She swings her legs to the other side of the lounge chair and rises to her feet. I know she’s trying to keep distance between us, but by doing this she gives me a killer view of her round ass. My stare locks on it until she makes her way around the foot of the chair, then it locks on her voluptuous tits as she walks by before returning to her jiggling ass. Damn. My cock is already hard and I haven’t even touched her. Bounding to my feet, I follow behind her. Time to change that.

  I find her in the kitchen, standing in front of the sink. Sipping from the glass of water in her hand, she stares out the window toward the neighbor's house. Closing the distance between us, I don’t stop until my chest is against her back. “Why does it seem like you’re always so eager to get away from me?”

  She crooks her head over her shoulder, peering up at me. “Why can’t you take a hint?” There she goes answering with a question.

  “Maybe because you send mixed signals,” I say, then let my lips tease the smooth skin of her pale neck. She gasps and arches her back when I suck on the skin beneath her ear. The motion pushes her ass into my painfully hard cock. My hands grip her hips, holding her there, both cheeks perfectly cushioning my dick. “Feel what you do to me,” I growl, flexing my hips. The thin material of my basketball shorts reveals every hard inch I want to give her.

  She rests her head back on my chest with a moan as my fingertips begin to skim over the warm skin of her stomach. When they reach the edge of her bikini bottoms she whirls around. She opens her mouth to say something and I slam my lips down on hers. I don’t want to hear how we shouldn’t be doing this or how she doesn’t want me. We should be and she does.

  My tongue thrusts into her mouth, seeking hers. It’s only a second or two before she’s right in this with me, giving as good as she gets. I’ve never kissed anyone with so much pent up emotion before. We’re hate fucking each other’s mouths and it’s the hottest thing. Gripping her ass inside her bottoms, I tug her into me, groaning into her mouth as I grind against her. My fingers flex digging into her smooth globes as our lips, tongues and teeth meet in a hot wet mess of a kiss. All my finesse has been replaced by a red haze of hunger. If I don’t get my cock inside her pussy soon I’m going to fucking explode. My fingers begin to ease her bikini bottoms down when we hear a loud slam, followed by the patter of Jeremiah’s feet heading in our direction.

  We immediately break apart. Avery’s eyes are wide and panic filled just before she whirls around to face the sink. I step back away from her and take a deep breath to calm down.

  “Wes, will you come outside and play?” Jeremiah’s voice calling out for me is an instant erection killer.

  I walk toward the hallway he’s coming down. Pausing at the edge of the kitchen, I say, “yeah, bud. Head back out and I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  He smiles so big it practically spreads from ear to ear. “Okay.” He gives me a thumbs up and I do the same back. I watch him until I make sure he’s back outside. When I turn around to talk to Avery I realize she’s gone. Fuck. This is not how I saw the night ending.

  11

  Avery

  I can’t stop pacing. Up and down, the length of this room; over and over again. Jeremiah’s voice was the disruption I needed from falling deeper under Wes’ spell. As soon as his attention was focused somewhere else; I bolted. This is the exact thing I was trying to avoid. I didn’t want to feel his lips on mine, to have his hands grip my ass, or feel his thick, hard cock against my body. I didn’t need confirmation that my imagination had nothing on the real thing. Or know that if he was anyone else in the world, the only running would’ve been to the nearest bedroom, so I could feel the full force of his body on top of mine. Nope. I didn’t need this, because now I won’t be able to look at him without wanting more. I can’t want more. Not with Wes.

  The worst thing about this is, if I do find someone to replace me at Good Wood, I’ll still be bumping into him here more often than not. His friendship with Lucy is non-negotiable, he’s so embedded into their daily routine there’s no way I can avoid him. The positive impact he has on Jeremiah’s life alone is more important than sex and a few feel good moments. But I need to regain some sort of control, because this can never happen again. This is a shitstorm I tried to avoid, a battle I know Wes is ready to fight, and one I want no part in. I’m here for my mom, not for a headfuck of epic proportions.

  A knock on the door, has me begging the universe that it’s Lucy and not Wes. If he steps through this door, I won’t be strong enough to turn him away. I know he’ll use his body to make it impossible for me to get away, and eventually I’ll give in.

  “Yeah,” I call out.

  “Ave it’s me.” Lucy’s voice has me sighing in relief. I walk to the door and swing it open, the look on her face tells me she’s either suspicious or he told her.

  “Where’s Jer?”

  “Downstairs with Wes?” She says. “You couldn’t separate the two if you tried.” Together we make our way to the bed and sit. Side by side, backs resting on the headboard the scene is very reminiscent of us during high school.

  “So you kissed, huh?”

  “Yep,” I say offering nothing in the way of an explanation.

  “Are you going to hide in here forever?” She asks

  “At least until he goes home.” I pull at strings of thread sticking out of the blanket, “It feels like he’s always here.”

  “That’s because he is,” Luce says with a slight chuckle. “Jeremiah and I owe him a lot, and he’s the only male influence in J’s life”

  I close my eyes and tilt my head back, “It’s so strange to connect the Wes I remember to the the person you’re talking about now, because all I remember is a guy who made my life at school a living hell.”

  “We were all so young then, Ave.”

  She wraps one arm around me, squeezing my shoulder in comfort. “The logical part of my brain knows that, but the emotional, irrational side will never forget the way it made me feel,” I confess. “I’m still so bitter about that stupid nickname, and he uses it now to aggravate me, and I go all the way back to square one.”

  “He’s changed Ave. I’m sure if you spoke to him about it, he would stop.”

  “I don’t want to speak to him, or be anywhere near him. Things would be easier if we just stayed out of each other’s way.” I close my eyes and lean my head on Lucy’s shoulder, “You know I spent my first year at college trying to teach myself to not be so efficient and organized because all I heard was his voice teasing me and making me feel so insecure.”

  If I try and explain this stuff to Luce, maybe she’ll understand my reluctance to befriend Wes. I know we’ve all changed since high school, and I’m sure when he began teasing me all those years ago, he had no idea it would bother me so much. But unfortunately hindsight doesn’t change anything. “Years later I realized how stupid I was for letting something so insignificant bother me, because in college nobody gave a fuck if my notes were in alphabetical order or color coded.”

  “I’m sorry, Ave.”

  “There’s nothing to apologize for. It was a long time ago, I just have to keep reminding myself that.” We both sit in a comfortable silence, our breathing the only sound in the room.

  “So what are you going to do about th
at kiss?” She asks, not so subtly changing the subject.

  “Pretend it never happened.”

  “He’s down there smiling like he won the goddamn lottery, there’s no way he’s going to let you forget about it. “

  “I don’t want it to happen again,” I say.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” I lie. Lucy can tell and completely ignores the direction of my thoughts.

  “If you can acknowledge that things change, like you have here now, why can’t you start over with him?”

  “Why are you so hell bent on this?” I argue.

  “Because you both deserve something to look forward to.”

  “And what about you?”

  “What about me?” She asks back.

  “Don’t you deserve that too?”

  “I have that, everyday,” she says. The smile on her face is ridiculously heartwarming. “I get to watch Jeremiah grow up into someone I’m so damn proud of. That’s enough for me.”

  A noise sounds from my handbag, interrupting our conversation. Once, twice, the beeping seems to be getting louder.

  “What the fuck is that?” I say, scooting my ass across the bed, until my legs hang over the edge. I walk to my bag and pull out my cell. Holy shit.

  “What is it?” Luce asks, interrupting my gawking.

  “I registered for Timber today,” I say swiping my screen, “And I’m receiving all these notifications of people who have viewed my profile.”

  “Timber. Like Magnus’ Timber?”

  I look up at her in shock, “You know Magnus?”

  “I’m a mom Ave, I’m not fucking dead.” She gets up off the bed and walks toward me, “He’s like sex on a stick, and he can stick it in me any ol’ time.”

  “Oh my god,” I say, covering my mouth in shock. “Who the fuck are you, and what have you done with my sister? Shit. Does Wes know you think Magnus is hot?”

  “Fuck no, I’m not an idiot.”

  She’s looking over my shoulder as I’m browsing through the options. “This was supposed to be a joke,” I explain. “To get Wes off my back. I even set it up in front of him.”

  “How’d he take that?”

  “He gives as good as he gets, he deserved it after he told me I couldn’t quit until I hired my own replacement.”

  “Oh, what about that guy? He seems sexy.” She says interrupting me. We both focus on what’s in front of us. This guy seems like the boy version of me. He says he’s laid back, likes the outdoors, and even though the photo is just of his mouth and beard, he’s intriguing enough for me to click on accept. Immediately a notification pops up on my screen.

  Are you sure you want to accept BigBadWolf’s invitiation?

  “Should I?”

  Luce, leans her arm over and clicks the yes option for me.

  “What’s the worst that can happen?”

  12

  Wes

  My phone alerts me that I have a message on Timber. Scrolling through my notifications, I find what I’m looking for.

  BeardLover has accepted your invitation.

  “Fuck yeah!” I shout out dancing an Irish jig from the kitchen to my living room with a bottle of beer in hand. Sinking into the cushions of my giant couch, I stare at my phone and think about what I want to say to get the ball rolling with Avery, aka “BeardLover.” Hah, I knew she liked my beard.

  Me: Hi, thanks for accepting my invitation. It’s nice to meet you.

  BeardLover: Hi, it’s great to meet you, also.

  Me: I’m new on here. You’re the first person I’ve talked to.

  I hope that by saying this she’ll be more relaxed with me.

  BeardLover: Me too! I thought I’d be the only newbie. Glad to hear I’m not.

  Me: Tell me about yourself.

  BeardLover: I don’t want to bore you on the first talk.

  Me: I’m sure that’s not going to happen. Tell me one of your quirks?

  BeardLover: Where do I begin? LOL, don’t go.

  Her adorable personality comes across on the screen too.

  Me: It takes more than that to make me run off. I like a challenge. You didn’t answer the question.

  BeardLover: I like things to be organized. Everything in it’s place.

  Me: Nothing wrong with that. I’m kind of anal about certain things myself.

  BeardLover: The label maker is the greatest invention ever.

  She would think that.

  Me: I’ll take your word for it.

  BeardLover: Why did you join Timber?

  Me: I’m interested in meeting new people. My work keeps me busier than I’d like. What about you?

  BeardLover: Honestly, I joined to mess with my boss. I didn’t think I’d meet anyone on here. So you’re a nice surprise.

  Me: Can we continue this tomorrow? I need to get some sleep. Six am comes early.

  BeardLover: I’d like that. Goodnight.

  I’ve never been someone who enjoyed early mornings. They’re a necessary evil when you’re a business owner, but today, I find myself whistling my way through the first few hours of work. I’d be willing to bet the farm it’s because Avery accepted my Timber invitation.

  On my way to the office, I stop at the local coffee shop and grab us each a coffee. It’s not a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte or ‘PSL’ as Avery calls it, but it tastes pretty fucking great to me.

  When I get to Good Wood, Avery is already at her desk, hard at work. I gave her a key and the code so she wouldn’t ever have to wait outside again.

  “Hey, Avery,” I say.

  She freezes as I approach. Her eyes are wide and panic filled. I know how her orderly brain works. That kiss we shared last night has her freaking the fuck out, but I’m not going to act any different than I ever do.

  Leaning down, I place her coffee on the desk. “Here you go, two sugars and cream.”

  She smiles stiffly. “Thank you. You didn’t have to get me one.”

  “I know I didn’t have to. I wanted to show you that I appreciate you being here.”

  “Speaking of...I’m going to start lining up some interviews for a permanent replacement.”

  I sip my coffee and then nod my head in agreement, but really I know she’s not going anywhere. I won’t let her. I’ll find some way to keep her here for as long as possible.

  Two hours later and I’m finished with the job estimates that needed to be done. Once Avery realizes she’s working here indefinitely, I’ll teach her how to do them. That will be a load off for me.

  Leaning back in my chair, I crack the knuckles on each hand. The popping noise is loud in the quiet of my office. When you do manual labor for a living, your body takes a beating. I roll my head from side to side to loosen the tightness and then pick up my phone. I made sure I installed the Timber app on my phone so I can message BeardLover whenever I want and right now seems like as good a time as any.

  I pull up our chat from last night and begin to type.

  Me: Good morning.

  I can hear the alert on Avery’s phone from here. I smile and wait for it…

  Ding. Bingo.

  BeardLover: Hi. I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon.

  Me: I didn’t want to wait to talk to you again.

  Wheeling back my leather chair, I rise to my feet. Walking across my office as stealthily as I can, I peek out the open crack in my door and watch Avery. Her phone beeps loudly. She grimaces at the noise and quickly silences it. My eyes never leave her face as she reads through my message. She smiles when she’s done and I raise my fist in victory. Yes!

  She types out a reply and I silently return to my desk. Sinking down into my chair, I pick up my phone and wait for the message to appear.

  BeardLover: That’s sweet of you to say. I’m glad you didn’t wait. Are you at work right now?

  Me: Yes, I am. I’m working hard toward obtaining something I really want.

  BeardLover: It’s good to set goals.

  Me: I’ve wanted this to happen
for a long time. Longer than I like to admit.

  I find myself being unusually honest. It helps that she doesn’t know I’m referring to her. I’ve only recently admitted to myself how much I’ve always wanted her - even back in high school.

  BeardLover: It’s nice to be so passionate about something. Lately, I’m not passionate about anything, except driving my boss crazy. LOL. That probably sounds horrible, but if you met him you’d get it.

  Me: What do you mean? He can’t be that bad.

  BeardLover: Oh, he is. Trust me. He’s a grade A asshole and his ego is so big I don’t know how his head doesn’t explode.

  What the fuck? Is that how she really sees me? I’m going to have to teach my little anal friend there’s a lot more to me than she sees.

  Me: Maybe there’s more to him than meets the eye. Maybe you should cut the guy some slack.

  Fuck yeah, she should.

  BeardLover: Uh, no. He might be attractive on the outside but he’s an arrogant asshole on the inside.

  Me: Sounds like you’re hot for the guy.

  BeardLover: No! Definitely not. It takes more than a hot body and a handsome face to win me over.

  I chuckle as I read her words. She’s so hot for me. I’ve got this in the bag.

  Me: Hate and love are only separated by a fine line. Maybe you need to think about how you really feel about him.

  BeardLover: I know how I feel about him. It flips between disgust and mild tolerance, depending on the day.

  Me: I need to get back to work, but I think you should take today to conduct an experiment.

  BeardLover: What do you mean?

  Me: Talk to him. Really talk to him and see if there’s more to him than what you’re giving him credit for.

  BeardLover: And if there isn’t?

  Me: Then you’ll know he’s an asshole for real and you’re not just hating him because you really want to ride his Johnson.

  BeardLover: I think his “Johnson” is safe.

  Me: Let’s talk later and you can tell me how it went.