Chapter Two
A utumn
A smile spread across Autumn’s face as she smoothed her rubber potter’s rib down the side of the clay vase she’d been working on all morning.
Some days went smoothly and she was able to bust out numerous pieces before calling it quits, but others like today were a mess from the start.
The day had started out normally enough with Autumn waking up at her usual hour of eight o’clock.
One of the biggest advantages of throwing clay for a living was that she got to make her own hours which meant not waking up at the crack of dawn.
It also meant Autumn got to be her own boss, take her lunch breaks whenever she felt like it, and generally do as she pleased without any muss or fuss from anyone else.
It was a great life, one she cherished and couldn’t imagine being any other way. ..with one big exception.
That exception happened to be her best friend, Felix, and was the reason the vase she’d been wanting to make for her mother’s upcoming birthday had taken much longer than anticipated.
Autumn wasn’t sure when she had started to fall in love with her best friend since high school, but she was pretty much there now and had no idea how to go about telling him.
She’d always loved Felix in some way. How could she not when he was reliable, trustworthy, so friendly and loyal that he gave most Golden Retrievers a run for their money?
He had always been a great friend to her.
Felix got her through science class, but had also been there through so much more.
His shoulder had been the one Autumn cried on when crushes she had didn’t manifest into anything, relationships that did eventually fell apart, and the times in between when she wasn’t sure what her love life should look like anymore.
He had been with her through all of her major life transitions as well.
Felix waved her off with a sad smile as Autumn left for college and her parents moved back to Arizona, welcomed her with open arms when she returned to Applewood with an incomplete nursing degree, and helped her set up her own pottery studio in a small building adjacent to their apartment.
Felix was the most constant thing in her life, and she loved him for it.
Somewhere along the line, that love had shifted from one of appreciation to one of adoration and arousal.
Autumn was used to Felix walking around with only a towel on from their shared bathroom to his bedroom, but before she would look at him and maybe offhandedly notice some small change to his body without reacting much.
Now, every time he did his half-naked stroll she noticed everything.
If his arms looked a little more muscular, she imagined feeling them as he held her closely, the increase in the hair on his chest was now something she wanted to feel tickling her fingers as she ran them across the planes of his hard body, and the new cinnamon-colored freckle that she spotted just above his collarbone caused her lips to twitch with the desire to kiss it.
Felix came from the most genetically gifted family in Applewood, so there was no way that he was ever going to escape his destiny as one of the pretty people.
He was and always had been a handsome man, but until now it was just how things were.
Now every time she looked at him, clothed or half-naked, she turned into a horny, drooling mess.
Autumn could blame the last eight months of living celibately, or she could own up to her feelings.
She loved Felix, always had in some way, and probably always would.
The question was, what was she to do about it?
The whole “will-they, won’t-they” that seemed so popular in television and movies had never been something Autumn was drawn to.
It was too much drama. Couldn’t people just figure their shit out and be happy?
Now that she was in the unenviable position of not knowing if she and Felix could work romantically, she felt a pang of envy for all those couples she had sneered at in the past. At least they had a whole writers room filled with people choreographing every step on the way to their happily ever after.
The only person she had to rely on was herself, and wasn’t that a scary prospect?
Autumn had friends other than Felix that she could talk to, she had her parents, and she even had Felix’s parents at her disposal.
The problem with all of those options was that she already knew the outcome of any conversation that might happen with them.
People have been trying to get her and Felix together for years, but they’d never been single at the same time until now.
The last eight months had been wonderful, and really the only thing differentiating their relationship from other more romantic ones was a lack of physicality.
Sure they hugged, cuddled on the couch, and even held hands on occasion when they were in a crowd and didn’t want to lose each other, but those had all been friendly touches. Well, mostly friendly anyway.
Lately, it seemed like every brush of his skin against hers was loaded with more sensation, more feeling, and a whole other meaning behind it.
Maybe it was just her wishful thinking, but every time they embraced, like earlier that morning as she chased him down to give him a tool she knew he would have been fine without, they held each other more closely, clinging to each other for much longer than they used to.
Their couch cuddles were also a lot more snuggly with their legs entwined instead of just bumping together lightly.
Then there was what had happened a few nights ago.
****
A utumn blinked open her eyes, the pizza box on the coffee table nearly empty after she had her two sliced and Felix crushed five after his long day at work, and the end credits of the movie they’d been watching playing in the background.
It wasn’t abnormal for them to fall asleep in front of the television, but instead of her head resting gently against his shoulder, Autumn awoke with her cheek plastered to Felix’s firm chest, his arms at her waist and the rest of her body cradled between his legs.
What struck her first was just how natural it felt, lying there in his arms, her body plastered against his, but after reveling in that feeling for a moment, she shifted and noticed that there was something else she was feeling beyond the butterflies in her stomach.
Autumn tried her best to ignore the very obvious, very impressive erection that was pressing into her belly, but it was difficult, and more than that, she didn’t want to ignore it.
She wanted to ride her best friend’s cock until he spilled inside her, her hands on his chest and her name on his lips.
A puff of air running across her forehead drew Autumn’s eyes upward. “Hey. I think we fell asleep,” Felix’s groggy voice was sexier than she remembered, and when he rolled slightly and the tent in his jeans pressed into just the right spot, she nearly came undone.
“It happens.” Autumn practically fell onto the floor in her rush to move away from Felix when really she wanted to stay with him all night long, but how could she ask for that without wanting to take things to the next level, to test the friendship that had been her whole world for so long.
She couldn’t, not yet, so instead of being brave, she fled. “I should hit the hay. Goodnight, Fe.”
After sprinting to her room, Autumn took out her silicone soulmate and rubbed one out as the feelings of arousal lingered in her body, wondering how it would feel to have a piece of Felix pulsing inside of her.
It was the first time she was masturbating to thoughts of her best friend, but she knew that now that first domino had toppled over, it would cascade.
Now all she could think about was kissing Felix, licking the spot behind his ear, and riding him until her skin was as pink as her hair.
****
T he buzzing from the small table next to her wrenched Autumn from her lusty daydreams, something she was completely okay with since she would likely end up back there later anyway.
Peering over at the vibrating screen of her phone, she smiled at the word Mom and grabbed a towel to wipe her clay sodden hands.
“Hey Mom, what’s up?” Autumn set the phone on her shoulder as she continued to rub at the dried stoneware clay on her fingers, frowning at the sorry state of her nails.
Luckily her mom’s high voice chimed in before Autumn could become too melancholy over the impracticality of her getting a manicure. “Nothing much. I was just calling to check in on you. How are things in the pottery world?”
Autumn snorted. As far as she knew, she was the only potter in Applewood, so the pottery world began and ended at the front door to her small studio.
“Not bad. I just finished up a project that was giving me a hard time, so that’s always satisfying.
” She cut the base of the vase away from the wheel and gently placed it on her shelves to dry.
“And before that I just finished another order for Aiden’s restaurant.
Apparently, someone in the kitchen keeps breaking dishes.
I don’t love that someone destroyed my babies, but I don’t hate the additional income either.
” She also appreciated that Felix’s older brother used her in the first place instead of going with something sturdier, or cheaper from a more reliable supplier.
“Well, that is good. I hate to think of you up there living the life of a starving artist,” her mom said. Her tone was friendly enough, but Autumn could hear the tiny bit of judgement that lay beneath the surface.
Autumn swallowed her irritation at the remark and tried not to let it get to her.
Her parents had both tried pushing her into a more practical career, but nursing just wasn’t for her for many reasons.
“I’m hardly starving,” she replied, patting her soft stomach.
A steady diet of frozen foods and sitting at a potter’s wheel all day had given her a little more cushion for the pushing over the years, but she had no complaints, and she did get plenty of fruit thanks to living on an orchard.
“I make enough to get by and that’s all I need. ”
It was another thing she and Felix had in common, doing what you loved even if it meant going without. Her clothes weren’t fancy and she ate packaged Ramen more often than was probably ideal, but if she got to throw clay all day and spend all night with her best friend, it was worth it.
“You know that’s not what I meant.” Autumn could picture her mom getting slightly flustered on the other end of the phone. “Obviously the Kemps wouldn’t let you go without food, I just want to make sure you aren’t selling yourself short.”
Autumn rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “Mom, we’ve talked about this. Multiple times in fact.” It was probably the biggest source of tension in their relationship.
When Autumn had announced she was dropping out of college, her parents had gone slightly crazy.
They even mentioned moving back to Applewood to try and help her through her studies if she needed it.
As much as she loved her parents, them being a few states away had been a good thing and there was no way she could handle being under that much scrutiny again.
It hadn’t taken much convincing to get them to stay in Phoenix where her father’s rheumatoid arthritis was barely an issue, but it had taken enough that Autumn didn’t love the idea of having to do it again. “I’m really happy where I am.”
A heavy sigh of resignation came through the speaker. “I know that dear. But just because you’re a grown woman doesn’t mean I don’t still worry about you. Once a mom, always a mom.”
Autumn felt her irritation subside. “I get that, I really do. I just want you to be okay with my decisions.” She glanced at her watch, frowning when she realized she’d probably missed her opportunity to head to Branch and Brew for a little one-on-one time with Felix.
Remembering that tonight was trivia night, a smile came back over her face as she imagined partnering up with her bestie.
“I have to go now, Mom. Give my love to Dad.”
“Okay. Love you, Pumpkin,” her mom chirped.
Autumn rolled her eyes at the endearment she’d earned as a small child when she’d successfully placed her head inside a carved jack-o'-lantern. “Love you too, Mom. Talk to you later.”
Getting off the phone with her mom quickly was impossible, but after managing only another two goodbyes, Autumn went over to the basin sink and started up the ten minute ritual that was declaying her hands.
While she scrubbed mercilessly with the nail brush, hoping to get every last trace from underneath her fingertips, she thought about what to do in regards to Felix.
She could hem and haw for hours, days, probably even weeks about how she should approach the situation, or she could simply talk to the man.
It was easier said than done, but the prospect of spending the next month plus agonizing over her feelings made her stomach drop.
Things would get awkward between them, and she couldn’t stand the thought of that happening.
They’d had small bickering sessions in the past, but for the most part, everything between her and Felix had always been easy, uncomplicated.
Why should this be any different? Decision made, Autumn left her small studio and walked toward the apartment, ready to put into motion a plan to tell her friend exactly how she felt.