39. Reid
THIRTY-NINE
REID
“How are things going with Avery?” Maverick asks, leaning back on the couch in my living room and staring at the television. “Goddammit. Dallas. You need to go into the building on the left, not the fucking barn.”
“Don’t tell me what to do,” Dallas says, and he groans when the game ends. “That’s not my fault.”
“It’s not my fault. I was hiding behind a tree the whole time,” I say, tossing the controller onto the coffee table. “What do you mean how are things going with Avery?”
“It’s a pretty self-explanatory question, isn’t it? You two are still hooking up, aren’t you?”
I pull my glasses off my face and rub my eyes.
We are still hooking up. I had her twice last night.
Once again this morning before she had to leave for work.
Lately, though, it feels like hooking up isn’t the right word to define what’s happening between us.
The sex is still fantastic and the best of my fucking life.
We’re still egging each other on through social media.
But there’s something else under the surface too.
I felt it on Christmas Eve when she gave me my Millennium Falcon present. I wanted to hug her and not let her go. I wanted to tell her how much she means to me and how special she is. I needed to let her know her attention to detail is one of my favorite things about her.
Instead, I fucking teared up.
I couldn’t get the words out.
They got stuck in my throat, halfway between my heart and my mouth, and now I don’t know what to do.
I like her.
A whole fucking lot.
I don’t just want to put her arms above her head and fuck her while she’s still wearing one of her leather skirts and heels, although that will never get old.
I also want to wake up next to her every morning.
I want to hold her hand when we’re out in public.
I want to get her name tattooed on my thigh, under the butterfly tattoos, so she’s always with me.
I want, and I want, and I want so many things with her, and I don’t know how to ask for them.
In the past, it’s been easy to have those conversations with the woman I’ve been seeing. It’s easy to go from dating to serious.
How the fuck do you go from fuck buddies to something more? Do we just keep fucking each other from now until eternity? Is it going to be fifty years of this, of texts asking if she’s free and her asking if I want to hang out?
“Hey.” Maverick snaps his fingers in my face, and I blink. I didn’t realize I’d sunk into a trance of dark brown hair the dimples on Avery’s cheeks. “Earth to Plant Daddy.”
“Sorry.” I slide my glasses up my nose. “Yes, we’re still seeing each other. It’s going well.”
“You know what this means, right?” He grins and nudges Dallas’s shoulders. “Reid likes her more than he said he did at the bar. He’s obsessed .”
“I am not,” I say.
“You so are, man. You’re fucking blushing right now.”
“I am not .” I touch my cheeks, and they’re warm under my fingers. “It’s from the sun.”
“The sun in January?”
“Is it bad if you like her?” Dallas asks. He clicks off the television and gives me his undivided attention. “It’s obvious she likes you too.”
“It’s not bad. It’s just not part of our plan. We agreed this was physical. Telling her I miss her when she’s not next to me doesn’t fit the bill of casual,” I say, and I stand up, walking a lap around the room. “I do, though. I do miss her when she’s not next to me. Like right now. Sure, I’m having fun with you all, but I wish she was here. And not just because of the sex. Because I want to hear her laugh and make her smile.” I run a hand through my hair. “I have to tell her, don’t I?”
“Uh, yeah, because you’re halfway to being in love with her,” Maverick says.
“I don’t love her. That’s a bold word.”
“Fine. You don’t love her—not yet, at least. But you do like her. You care for her, and it’s not fair to either of you to feel this way and not let the other know,” Maverick says. “Remember when I was sorting through my feelings for Emmy and didn’t know what to do? You told me to tell her, and I think you should heed your own advice. You need to let her know.”
It’s funny to see Maverick like this—the doting partner. The family man. A one-woman guy who hasn’t looked at anyone else in years.
I’m happy for him.
I’m happy for Dallas too. They both deserve that love. They fought for it and worked hard for it.
Deep down, I’m also jealous.
That’s usually me, and I want it again.
I want it with her .
A sure thing in a confusing world of maybes.
“Okay,” I say. I know it’s the right thing to do, but it doesn’t make it any less scary. “I’ll tell her.”
“Thatta boy.” Maverick clasps a hand on my shoulder. “That’s how you do it.”
“I never thought I’d see the day when Maverick Miller was giving out relationship advice.” Dallas laughs. “I like this new side of you, Mavvy.”
We go back to playing video games, the afternoon passing with Maverick taunting the twelve-year-olds we’re up against and Dallas handing us drinks. When it starts to get dark outside, Maverick stretches his arms over his head and swipes his phone off the table.
“I should get going,” he says. “Emmy girl just landed from her road trip, and I haven’t seen her in a week. I miss the fuck out of her.”
“I’m heading out too. Mae and June are on their way back from a shopping trip.” Dallas stands and pulls his hoodie over his head. “I can’t wait to see the damage they did on my credit card.”
“I’ll sit on the couch and eat dinner by myself.” I laugh and move the video game controllers under the television. “Thanks for hanging out with me. I appreciate when I get to see you guys.”
“Aw, shit, Plant Daddy.” Maverick tackles me in a hug and we fall to the floor. “I’ve only got a couple seasons left in me, then you can have me whenever you want.”
“Christ.” I groan, rubbing my arm where he ran into me. “Stop trying to proposition me, Miller.”
“Enough with the dogpile, fuckers.” Dallas helps us up and pats my shoulder. “I know it might be hard to be on the sidelines, Reid, but your person is out there. She’s waiting for you.”
My phone chimes in my pocket, and I pull it out, finding Avery’s name on the screen. I smile at the three notifications from her, the ones rolling in from social media and the text messages waiting for me.
She must have finished work and is catching up. I like this time of day when she has different conversations with me across a handful of different platforms.
“What?” I ask, looking up at them. “Sorry. Avery texted me.”
“Nothing.” Dallas grins and shakes his head. “Forget I said anything. Enjoy your night, man.”
“Yeah.” I rub a hand across my jaw, grinning at the fresh wave of comments and likes she’s spamming me with. “You guys too.”
Avery
Are you busy tonight?
Me
I’m free.
Want to come over?
Avery
Yes, please.
I’ve missed you.
I haven’t seen you since Christmas Eve.
Me
Come over and I’ll show you how much I’ve missed you too.
Avery
There’s an offer I can’t refuse.
“I brought pizza,” Avery calls out from the foyer of my apartment an hour later. “I hope that’s okay.”
I jog down the hall and slide across the wood floor. She’s pulling off her coat and beanie, the knee-high boots and the scarf around her neck. I take the box from her, the cardboard warm in my hands, and I smile.
“I was going to ask if you wanted food. I haven’t eaten yet, and I’m starving.”
“How was your day?” she asks, leading the way to the kitchen like she lives here too.
I think I’d like it if she did.
I think I’d be happy to welcome her home every night.
I’d pour her a glass of wine and listen to her talk about work. I’d nod along to the new ideas she has, teasing her like I’m going to steal them, but, really, I’d be in awe of her creativity. Blown away by how big and how beautiful her brain is.
Her sweaters could be next to mine in the closet. A toothbrush in the bathroom and the three pillows she insists she has to sleep with on the bed.
I could take my time with her. Fuck her on the kitchen counter. In the living room against the wall. Every room in here wouldn’t just be mine . It would be ours , with fresh sunflowers in jars and our laptops in the home office.
“Reid?” she asks, and I snap out of my daydream of playing house.
“Hm?” I answer, and her smile tips into one that’s bright and perfect.
“Where’d you go?”
“Sorry,” I apologize, following her. “Lost in my thoughts there for a minute.”
My eyes drift down her legs, to the swell of her ass and the shape of her hips. The skirt and tights she’s wearing do little to hide her curves, and I have to bite my bottom lip to keep from groaning when I see little bows at the tops of her stockings.
I might actually be addicted to her.
I think she might be torturing me on purpose.
“Hopefully good thoughts,” Avery says.
“Very good thoughts.” I reach over her shoulder and grab two plates, setting them on the counter. “You want something to drink?”
“I probably shouldn’t. There are only two days until we travel, and I know tomorrow is going to be long.”
“If you change your mind, I bought some new whiskey,” I say. “It got good reviews.”
“You hardly ever drink whiskey.”
I shrug. “But you do. Figured I should have some here so you can make yourself a drink whenever you feel like you needed one. And, with the end of your season approaching, the necessity is growing more inevitable.”
“Asshole.” She laughs and swats at my arm. “When they announce the winner of Social Media Account of the Year, you’re going to look like a goddamn fool, Reid Duncan.”
“You’d still fuck me.” I crowd her space and rest one hand on either side of her hips on the counter, caging her in. “Wouldn’t you, beauty queen? You’d still find your way over here because I know how to keep you satisfied. I know how to take care of you, don’t I? Not just in the bedroom but outside it, too.”
Her breath catches in her throat and she grabs my shirt. “Yes,” she whispers. “I would and you do.”
“How hungry are you?” I ask her.
“I can wait to eat.”
“I can’t.” I lift her on the counter and shove her legs open, those damn stockings making my cock throb. “You know the question I’m going to ask you.”
“Wet,” she says automatically, adjusting her skirt so it rides up her hips. I see lace underwear—green this time—and the front of the material is already damp. “I need you, Reid.”
“How much did you miss me?” I ask, my fingers moving to the front of her underwear. I grin when she lifts her hips and drops her head back, asking for more. “On a scale of one to ten?”
“Eleven. I missed you so damn much.”
I feel that in the center of my chest.
It takes up all the space behind my ribs.
All the space in my head, too.
I know I need to talk to her about my feelings.
I know I need to ask if we’re on the same page going forward, but it’s too damn difficult to remember everything I want to say when she hooks her fingers in the waistband of her underwear and shimmies them down her legs.
When she tosses them on the floor and rests her hands on her thighs, spreading herself open for me.
When she looks at me with a mischievous glint in her eyes, the ball in my court.
“Fuck, baby.” I drop to my knees and put my palms on her thighs. “That picture you sent me last night didn’t do your cunt justice. You’re so goddamn pretty.”
“So hurry up and eat,” she says urgently, one hand moving to the back of my head. She knocks my glasses off, and I don’t care that I can’t see. “Please.”
“Fucking love when my beauty queen begs for me,” I murmur, my beard grazing her bare skin. “I’ve never wanted anyone like I want you.”
Avery tries to tell me something else, but I cut her off by licking a slow swipe across her entrance with my tongue. I push two fingers in her, then three, humming when she wiggles on the counter.
“There you go, baby,” I tell her, my free hand reaching up under her sweater and cupping one of her tits. “Show me how much you want it.”
She groans, and I fucking love that sound. I’d stay on my knees for the rest of my life if it meant I got to hear that noise on repeat.
“Reid,” she pants. Her grip on my hair is sharp and stinging. She yanks on the ends and I nearly fall forward. “I like that.”
“Yeah?” I circle her clit with my tongue and savor the taste. “You gonna come for me?”
“A little more. I can take a little more,” she tells me, and I kiss her knee.
“You can, can’t you? Deep breath, Ave. Let’s get you nice and ready for me.”
I add my pinky, careful to start slow. I listen to her breathing, to the glide of my fingers and how she starts to whisper my name. When she relaxes, I find the pace she likes. The rhythm that mimics how she likes to be fucked. Thoroughly, roughly.
Avery clenches around my fingers, and I pull my mouth away. She’s blurry, more like a blob than the fucking knockout I know her to be, but I want to watch her come undone. I want to see the woman who’s usually so put together, the face of professionalism and decorum fall apart, all because she’s fucking desperate for me.
“Reid,” she says again, and I swear I don’t know if my name sounds more like a prayer or a curse. “I’m going to?—”
“All over my fingers, Avery. You know I like it when you make things messy.”
She’s the only woman I’ve been so vocal with.
Avery unlocked a beast inside me.
Ever since that very first night we were together, back when she told me she was loud and enthusiastic, I wanted to match her. I wanted her to know I get off on getting her off. I wanted her to know I like being here with her. I wanted her to know I’ll take anything she gives me.
I’ve never been greedy, but with her, I take what I fucking want.
And right now, I want her dripping down my hand.
“Shit,” she curses, her fingers back in my hair. She presses me to the apex of her thighs, holding me in place, and she falls over the edge. “Fuck, that’s?—”
“All of it, Ave. Every drop.”
She cries out and I feel her pulse around me. She gasps for a breath and I work her down from the high, slow to pull out of her. Her thighs shake, and with my clean hand, I rub up and down her leg.
“How—” She gulps down another breath. “How are you so good at that?”
“Am I good at it?” I ask.
If looks could kill, I’d be six feet under.
“You made me come on a kitchen counter, Reid. While I’m still wearing my clothes. You’re fucking fantastic at it.”
“Oh.” I lick my lips and blush. I suck on my fingers, tasting her again, and she watches me with heated eyes. “Thank you.”
Her gaze drops to the front of my jeans where I’m painfully hard. My cock aches and it wouldn’t take long for me to finish, but her stomach rumbles. I laugh and stand, fixing her skirt and helping her to the ground.
“I want you,” she says, pushing up on her toes so she can kiss me. Her tongue sneaks out of her mouth, brushing against mine, and I love that she wants to taste herself too. “So fucking badly, Reid.”
“I want you too, but let’s get you fed first. You can tell me about your day. I can watch you pull the pepperonis off your pizza before you take a bite. After, you can have me in whatever position you want.”
“How do you know I like to eat the pepperonis first?” Avery asks.
“Been watching you for a while, Sinclair. It’s about time you caught up.”