8. Everly
Everly
A persistent buzzing pulled me from the best sleep I’ve ever experienced.
Lashes lifting, I searched the shadowed room for Evie, wondering if she’d set an alarm again.
Since moving to Creswell Springs, she’d started getting up to watch the sunrise.
She would take a cup of coffee and sit outside, enjoying the new freedom of being allowed to come and go as she pleased.
But when I opened my eyes, I realized it wasn’t Evie in my bed.
This wasn’t the king mattress we shared.
That thing was firmer, surrounded by our collective thousand and one pillows that mostly smelled like peaches because of Evie.
I was cuddled into a giant, hard body that smelled like cinnamon, amber, and a hint of vanilla in that masculine way that made me smile.
Reid’s arms contracted around me before he tucked me closer, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. Content, I closed my eyes again, already falling back to sleep.
Until the buzzing started up again.
“Fuck,” he groaned. “Sorry, sweetness. I gotta take this.”
Before I could say anything, he gave me a kiss and rolled out of bed, grabbing his phone on his way to the bathroom. “Swear to god, Max, you better kiss your wife goodbye because I am going to kill you if you’re calling to tell me we have club business to handle right now.”
The door to the bathroom shut, and the sound of the shower turning on drowned out any further conversation. I stayed in bed, enjoying the feel of the sheets against my bare skin, breathing in Reid’s scent, basking in the morning-after glow that hummed through my body.
Between my legs, I felt wet and swollen, the distressed tissue burning a little. Being devirginized was fun, but also messy and uncomfortable. I was definitely going to be walking slowly for a few days.
Worth it.
Sex was better than I’d ever imagined. Reid had been insatiable the night before, fucking me nearly unconscious. I’d lost count of how many orgasms he’d given me.
A short time later, the bathroom door opened again, releasing a cloud of steam. Reid had a towel wrapped around his waist as he walked toward his closet.
Damn.
Every cell in my body came alive at the sight of him in nothing but that towel, water beading on his hard body. He had that sexy V-cut with a toned six-pack of abs. His skin was sun-kissed, attesting to his time working outdoors with his hands.
Seeing that I was still awake, he changed direction to give me a quick kiss. “I’m sorry, Ev. I have something I need to help my cousin take care of. Not sure how long it’s going to take, but I shouldn’t be too late. Want to have dinner at Aggie’s tonight?”
Tucking the sheet under my arms, I sat up, trying not to wince when my core protested. “With you?”
He frowned down at me. “Of course with me, woman.”
I licked my bottom lip, suddenly nervous. “Like a date?”
“Everly, do you want me to spank that fine ass this morning?”
“I’m just asking.” I tried not to smile, happiness like I’d never felt before coursing through my entire body.
He shot me a glower. “Yes, babe. Like a date. Because that’s exactly what it is.”
“Okay,” I murmured, watching him pull on clothes.
Shrugging on his MC cut, he stomped back to the bed. Bending, he fisted my hair, tilting my head back for a deep kiss. “Seven. Be ready. I’ll pick you up.”
A little breathless from that kiss, I couldn’t find my voice until he was at the bedroom door. “Be safe, Reid.”
One hand in the knob, he glanced back at me. “Promise, sweetness.”
With him gone, the apartment felt too quiet. Every inch of my body ached in the best of ways as I found my clothes and dressed. That burning between my legs was growing more persistent and was starting to itch. But I put that down to healing.
After locking the door, I walked downstairs to my own apartment. When I saw the door was closed, I figured Evie had experienced her own sleepover the night before. Using my key, I stepped inside.
And had to swallow my scream when I found Evie sound asleep on the couch with her bloodhound.
Chance lifted his head, going from asleep to alert in a heartbeat. He glared at me, lifted a finger to his lips to signal for me to be quiet, then dropped his head back on the pillow. Pulling the throw blanket up over Evie’s shoulders, he kissed the tip of her nose and fell straight back to sleep.
Heart pounding, I stared wide-eyed at the sight before me. Once the initial shock began to fade, my heart gave a squeeze.
Evie was inside our home.
And the door was shut.
That was huge.
Perhaps Chance Reid was good for my sister after all.
I could put up with the flea-infested bloodhound if he helped Evie.
As long as he was good to her—and I sure as fuck would ensure he treated her like gold—I wouldn’t have a problem with them being together.
All I wanted was for my sister to be happy.
With the blanket over them both, I couldn’t tell if they were naked under there or not, but I didn’t see a pile of clothes anywhere.
It wasn’t as if I could lecture my sister for spending the night with a guy she had just met.
If she was feeling for him anywhere close to what I was for Reid, then I knew she was already halfway in love with Chance.
A very hot shower later, I was ready for work.
I’d hoped the heat of the water would ease some of the discomfort in my core, but if anything, it had made it worse.
I felt like I was on fire between my legs, and not in a fun way.
That swollen feeling had increased too. And worst of all, I was itching in a place I could not scratch in public.
It was going to be a long day.
Mila was already at WomanLand when I arrived. She gave me a smirk as I walked into the boutique. “Morning, sunshine. How was your night?”
I tried to discreetly wiggle in search of a little relief from the burning and itching. Was this normal after a girl’s first time? Christ, it was intense. Maybe it wasn’t because of healing tissue…
Shaking that thought away, I joined her behind the counter. “It was good. Really, really good. Where do you need me?”
For most of the morning, we were kept busy with an on-and-off rush. A few college students, several groups of expectant mothers, and a few older women who blushed tomato-red as they ducked into the adults-only section.
WomanLand’s computer system was easy enough to learn, and Mila was a thorough teacher. I tried to stay busy in hopes of distracting myself from the discomfort going on south of my belly button, but it only escalated as the day wore on.
Mila noticed me squirming more than once but didn’t comment on it until I let out a small whimper. Her gray eyes scanned over me for a long moment. “Are you sure you’re okay? You look flushed. And not in the well-fucked kind of way, although you are definitely giving off that good-sex glow.”
Shifting from one foot to the other, I realized I was practically panting. The itching was getting more intense by the second. And the burning. It was too much.
“I have a personal question for you.” I glanced around, making sure the store was empty.
“Sure. Shoot.”
“Um…after your first time, did you…itch?”
She blinked down at me for several moments. “Define itch, Everly.”
“I’m itching and burning. A lot. As in this is what I imagine hell would be like.
” Embarrassment heated my face. I’d never had issues talking about my body before.
Not even when I got my first period. But this was different.
This made me feel unclean and gross in the worst way.
“It’s so bad, I am starting to feel nauseous. ”
“That’s not normal, babe.” She grabbed her phone and started typing. “Not even a little.”
Panic began to set in, my stomach bottomed out, and suddenly, it was hard to breathe.
Did Reid… Could he have… I didn’t even want to think about Reid with another person.
It hurt too much. But I also had to be realistic.
“Then what’s wrong with me? I-I don’t… He used protection, but… OMG, Mila, did Reid give me an STI?”
Her brows shot up, and I couldn’t blame her for being startled. I sounded—and felt—close to hysterical.
She grasped both my hands, giving them a reassuring squeeze.
“Okay, deep breath, Everly. Slow and steady, yeah? I don’t think you have an STI.
Reid isn’t like that. And even if that were the case, that kind of thing doesn’t show up overnight.
It would take at least a few days before you felt anything off. ”
“It’s on fire!” I whisper-shouted, nearly sobbing.
Concern darkening her face, she started texting again with one hand, while still holding mine with the other.
“First time. Used protection.” She stared at her screen for a moment before typing again.
I peeked at what she was doing, thinking she had Googled my symptoms, but she was texting with someone named Raven. “Do you have a latex allergy?”
“No.” I shook my head. “At least, not that I’m aware of. I’ve used latex gloves before without any issues.”
“Then it could be an allergy to the spermicide on the condom,” she informed me, her tone calm while I was shaking with panic—and the agony of a burning itch that was getting worse with each breath I took.
The front door opened, and a woman entered the store. I wanted to disappear, maybe lock myself in the bathroom and sit under the sink faucet in hopes of easing the burn. But I was there to work, not hide from customers. I blinked back my tears, trying to put on my customer-service veneer.
Mila lifted her attention from her phone and muttered a curse under her breath, shooting the newcomer an irritated glance.
“Now is not the time for you to be snooping around, Rory,” my boss complained. “Don’t you have better things to do?”
“Nope. I wanted to meet the girl my son is supposedly tripping over his feet for. I’ve had fifty people trying to tell me about her, but I don’t believe half of what they said.”
I froze.
No, no, no.
I could not meet the woman who’d given birth to the man responsible for my raging vagina. Not now, not like this.
“Then you’re at the wrong place, because this is not the girl Chance lost his mind over,” Mila announced dryly, giving my hand another squeeze.
Which meant this woman was the bloodhound’s mother, not my Reid’s.
That was a relief. I dared to take a better look at her.
At a guess, I’d place her in her fifties, maybe a little older, with strawberry-blond curly hair, dark green eyes, and a hint of dimples in her cheeks.
She was pretty, no doubt about it. Considering how handsome her son was, that didn’t surprise me.
But there was something in the way her gaze drilled into me that made me feel like a specimen under a microscope.
Part of me understood that she was only looking out for her son.
Much like I looked out for Evie. It was natural to put up barriers to protect yourself and those you loved until you got to know someone.
With how uncomfortable I was, however, I wasn’t sure I could handle her probing stare with grace.
The front door opened again, thankfully shifting my focus. Sammy and Abi entered with an older blond woman, all of them talking animatedly, enjoying their Saturday together. They were all laughing, but they stopped when they spotted Rory.
“Ah, fuck,” Mila muttered.
“You can cut the tension in here with a knife,” Sammy commented, her amused blue eyes darting around from person to person, pausing on Rory and narrowing for a beat before bouncing to everyone else.
Abi rubbed a hand over her small baby bump. “Mila, please tell me you have that cute new maternity dress in stock that I saw on your website. If it looks good on me, I want one in every color.”
Mila gave the redhead a small smile while continuing to side-eye Rory. I didn’t know Abi past the brief introduction I’d gotten the night before, but from what little I’d seen, she seemed like she was a pro at defusing tense situations.
“They’re right over there, Abs. Let me know if you need anything.”
With a sweet “thank you,” Abi threaded her arm through Sammy’s, and they bounced over to the display together.
I rocked from one foot to the other, feeling like there was a literal inferno between my legs. Did I need medical attention? This was so fucking embarrassing. And I still had Rory staring at me like I was a bug that she wasn’t sure whether she wanted to crush or set free in the garden.
My attention was so zoned into the green-eyed strawberry-blonde that I was startled when the other woman who’d come in with Sammy and Abi appeared in front of me. She had a smile that instantly set me at ease—or it would have if I weren’t in absolute agony.
Her blond hair was pulled back into a simple ponytail, and she was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt that hugged her curves. She was possibly Rory’s age, with smile lines around her eyes. “Hi, sweet girl. I just wanted to introduce myself. I’m Jos Reid.”
“Everly Adams.” I returned her smile, doing my best not to squirm. I was dying. The burning was going to engulf my entire body, and I would be a pile of ash before long. “Nice to meet you.”
Jos side-eyed Rory, her lips twisting into a slight sneer. “Please excuse my sister-in-law. She’s always been a helicopter mother and has zero manners around anyone she deems a threat to her precious baby boy.”
“Oh, bite me, Jos,” Rory snapped. “You’re in here snooping too.
Stop acting like you’re better than me. You don’t even know if Reid will keep this girl around past the first night, yet you’re already sniffing around her, buttering her up, calling her ‘sweet girl.’ Samara doesn’t want kids, and you’re so desperate for grandbabies, you’d snatch up any ovulating whore for Reid without a second thought. ”
I blamed the itching for why it hadn’t immediately clicked that Jos was Reid’s mom. I should have known who she was as soon as she smiled at me.
That was Reid’s smile, damn it.
It wasn’t going to be the burning between my legs that killed me. It would be utter mortification. The mother of the man I’d given my virginity to was standing right in front of me, while I suffered from an apparent allergic reaction to the condoms we’d used all night.
And then what Rory said finally registered.
She didn’t think Reid would want me past the first night.
It wouldn’t have hurt nearly as badly if she’d physically struck me. But I couldn’t think about my own bruised heart from her careless—intentionally cruel?—words.
Did that mean she thought Chance wouldn’t want Evie past the first night?
And did she just call both my sister and me whores?
Oh, hell no, bitch.