Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 121210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
When our lips meet, my whole entire body floods with warmth, and my hands find their way into his hair. On a groan, he lifts me off my barstool, and I wrap my legs around his waist. We’re still kissing each other, and he moves me away from the bar.
“Fuck, Josie,” he whispers against my mouth. “I want you so bad.”
“I want you too,” I whisper back even though it’s the last thing I should be admitting.
But fuck, I want him. I’ve never stopped wanting him. Never stopped loving him.
Before I know it, he’s carrying me toward the back of the bar, where the stairwell to his apartment is located, and carrying me right up the stairs. We’re still kissing and my legs are wrapped around his waist and time feels like it doesn’t exist when he shoves open the door and walks us inside.
Somehow, we make it to his bedroom. He lays me down on his bed, and I don’t stop him when he starts to remove my shoes and socks and jeans. I don’t stop him when he removes my bra and shirt. I only help him, removing his clothes at the same time.
His body hovers over mine, and I reach out to grip his shoulders with both of my hands.
And then he’s kissing me again, and I’m moaning against his lips when I feel his hard cock at my entrance.
I shouldn’t do this. I know I shouldn’t do this. But I’ve been fighting this for so long that I simply can’t fight it anymore. I need this. I need him. Even if I know it’s just for one last time.
“Yes, Clay.” I push my hips up toward him, encouraging him without shame.
“Shit,” he mutters. “I don’t have a condom.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I say, trying hard not to think about all of the reasons why that statement is true. “Now, Clay. I need you.”
And then he’s inside me, his hard cock filling me up with one deep, heavy thrust.
I am so full, and I just keep kissing him harder and deeper as he moves his cock in and out of me. My moans are loud and erratic, but I don’t care.
All I care about is imprinting every single piece of this night into my mind because I hope it will be enough to last me for the rest of my life.
“I love you,” I whisper, my voice so soft, so quiet, I don’t know if he can hear me. I’ll love you forever. I just wish it were enough.
63
Clay
Saturday, July 9th
“What a beautiful day,” Sheriff Pete says and lifts the beer in his hand toward me. I smile at him as I take the beer I just ordered from the bartender at Norah and Bennett’s reception and clank my glass against his.
“To the happy couple,” I say and Pete grins.
“To the happy couple.”
We each take a drink, and I watch as the bartender behind the makeshift bar in the corner of the reception tent sets to work on making Marty’s rum and Coke.
“Probably feels nice to be on the other side of the bar, huh?” Pete teases and claps a hand to Marty’s back.
Marty just laughs and hands his wife Sheila a glass of white wine. Harold Metcalf steps up to join the group, a big smile beneath his handlebar moustache.
Today, July 9th, in a beautiful wedding on Bennett’s property, my best friend married the woman of his dreams. And he didn’t bitch and moan a single time about half the town of Red Bridge being here.
Two weeks after Autumn was born, Bennett told me that Norah had decided she wanted to get married in a month. I was surprised that a woman could be ready for a wedding after just having a baby, but Norah was determined, the memory of Summer and marrying my best friend her true motivation.
During their ceremony, the sky was bright with the sun and hints of pink fluffy clouds, and the memory of our sweet Summer was in every single detail. Her heavenly presence a shining light, and Norah and Bennett’s love for her an intrinsic part of their wedding.
Bennett’s smile was a constant. On the altar, he gazed at his bride like she was everything he’d ever wished for, and when Reverend Bob asked him if he took Norah to be his lawfully wedded wife, he didn’t hesitate to say, “I do.”
And now, they’re officially married. Husband and wife. The sun has set, and everyone has gathered inside the large reception tent to continue the celebration. Bennett and Norah are currently on the dance floor, swaying gently together to a soft song that DJ Mikey is playing, while little Autumn sleeps against Bennett’s chest.
Before the ceremony got started, I promised Bennett that I’d behave. That I wouldn’t stir up any shit with Josie. But now that he’s got his wife and baby in his arms and is locked tight in his bubble of happily-ever-after, I start scanning the crowd for the one and only woman who’s been on my mind all day.