Mouth to mouth. I tried to devour him as he was trying to devour me.
Pleasure coursed through my body, filling me up.
I was scrambling, trying to push up his body because I was blind to anything but him.
An ache was deep inside of me as we kissed.
His tongue slid inside, claiming me. I let him. I was claiming him back.
God. Please.
This. So much of this. More.
Ignoring his jacket and shirt, I reached for his jeans and undid the button.
He stilled, his mouth leaving mine, but his head bent next to mine, and I felt his breath on my neck.
I kept working, undoing his zipper and I reached inside, finding him already hard and straining against my touch.
He groaned as I wrapped my hand around him and began stroking him. “Fuck, that feels good.”
I was beyond words. My head rested on his shoulder as I kept working him. He held me until he stifled a curse, and then he batted my hand away.
I cried out, protesting.
He shifted again, this time he yanked my jeans and pulled them down, stepping on them to push them the rest of the way. Once they were clear, I was being lifted higher for him.
My legs wound around him.
Then he was there, his cock at my entrance, and he surged inside.
We both paused at the feel.
I moaned as he cursed under his breath. “Goddammit.” His hand flexed, one cupping my ass and the other bracing us against the wall. “I can’t go gentle. I can’t—tell me that’s okay. Jesus, Ava. Tell me that’s okay.”
“It’s okay.” I gasped just as he began to move inside me.
He went hard, surging in, sliding out, and sheathing himself right back inside of me.
Fuck.
It was intense. There was nothing smooth about this sex, but I loved it. Wave after wave of pleasure was crashing down on me.
He held me up, and I wrapped my legs tighter around his waist as he pounded me.
I saw stars when I came.
10
AVA
The next morning, my phone rang and it was the call.
Come to the nursing home because Grandmum was going. I rolled over in Zeke’s bed, dressed, and didn’t say a word. When I came out of the bathroom, he was dressed as well and waiting for me.
He drove me to the nursing home.
I went into the room and sat, holding Grandmum’s hand and my mom’s. I had no idea how long we sat there, but it felt like time stopped. A vacuum settled around us. It was only us, only what we were going through, and that was all that mattered. The other world kept going, but I ceased paying attention to it.
Me. Mom. Grandmum.
Until Grandmum left.
Zeke drove me places. He brought me food. He was in the background, always there.
My mom noticed him, but she never asked, and he never made a fuss to be introduced.
Grandmum already had everything planned ahead of time, so the funeral was small. A few neighbors came. Some of my mom’s friends. But Grandmum had kept to herself. She had no siblings, and my mom didn’t either, like me.
Zeke didn’t go to the funeral. He asked if I wanted him there, but I didn’t. I just wanted it small. I wanted to hold my mom’s hand the whole time, so that’s what I did.
It was a week after that when Mom’s move was final.
A month later when the house was sold.
I had people who checked on me. My bosses from Manny’s. My bosses from the horse stable. My colleagues from both places. Roy even called. There were still others, some people who thought kindly of me from high school. Two of my community college classmates. Flowers and food were sent, but now I was in my apartment and it was my first night.
My first night being alone.
I couldn’t handle it.
11
ZEKE
Ava: Wanna come over?
“Dude.” Blaise sat down in the chair next to me, spying my phone. “Who’s that? You got a new girl?”
I shot him a grin but responded to Ava first.
Me: What’s up?
I was very aware of my best friend watching me while I was waiting for her response. He didn’t get back that often. His schedule playing for one of Hungary’s football clubs didn’t give him a lot of time in the off-season. But he was here, and I got to hang out with him, so we were making the most of it. A night at the house, drinking, playing FIFA, and planning on doing whatever. I loved my boy. Any time spent with him was good for my bro-soul.
But this was Ava.
Ava: Nothing. It’s cool. I’ll see you at Manny’s later.
I frowned because Ava didn’t call or text. She didn’t ask me to come over.
Pushing up from the chair, I hit dial on my phone and went into the other room.
Her dial tone sounded before it went to voicemail.
“It’s Zeke. Tell me what’s going on. Call me back.”
“Holy shit.” Blaise stood in the doorway to the living room, his thirty-two ouncer in hand. “I have never heard you talk to anyone like that, with that tone of voice. Who the fuck are you and what have you done to my best friend?”
I shot him a grin, but I knew it was distracted, and I hit re-dial.
It went straight to voicemail.
Something was wrong. I felt it in my gut.
“Can you do me a favor?”
Blaise took a step backward. “Now I’m even more alarmed. You look concerned, and I swear, the last time I saw this look on your face was when you thought I was going to do something to land both of us in prison.”
I grunted.
My best friend was smart and had hawk-like observation. He’d already deduced someone on the phone was important to me, and he’d know within one phone call who it was. That could blow me up or Ava up, and I didn’t know if she wanted that. We’d had sex once. The next morning, her life had shattered and well… Why the fuck was I still standing here?
“I gotta go.”
“About time you make that decision.”
I ignored him, looking for my wallet and keys. We’d just started drinking, so I was still good to drive. “That was…uh—” Where were my keys?
I heard them jangling as Blaise held them up in the air. He dropped his act, getting all serious. “I know who that was. I know what’s been happening in her life, and yeah, you dumbfuck, get your ass over there.” He tossed them my way and I caught them, but I half-glared at him.
I started for the door.
“Zeke.”
I turned back.
He said, a somewhat sad smile on his face, “People care about her.”
I reached for the doorknob, and my hand squeezed it tight. “She doesn’t think anyone cares about her.”
“Then you’ve got your work cut out for you.”
Damn. I loved him for a reason. “Thanks, man.” I’d never told him about Ava, but he knew somehow.
He took a long pull from his beer. “Go. No. Wait. Hold up.”
“What?” I half-snarled.
He smirked, laughing. “People care about you too, dumbshit.”
I snorted. “Love you, man.”
“Love you too.”
I was out of there after that.
12