8. AUTUMN
CHAPTER EIGHT
AUTUMN
THREE WEEKS LATER
AUTUMN: Wait… That’s not what I meant.
brIGGS: Too late. It’s booked.
AUTUMN: You did not call my receptionist and make an actual appointment for sex.
brIGGS: You’re not the only one with a filthy imagination, valkyrie.
AUTUMN: Banging in a doctor’s office is, like, the opposite of filthy. It’s sterile. At least my fantasy didn’t happen on the job!
brIGGS: That’s because there’s nothing sexy about a junkyard or me covered in dust. You in your white doctor’s coat and stethoscope on the other hand…
AUTUMN: Oh my god… I can’t with you. Just don’t be late to your appointment.
brIGGS: Yes, ma’am.
AUTUMN: That’s DOCTOR to you.
Briggs’s thick fingers scissor in my pussy, and I moan at the sensation. God, he’s so good at this. As far as fuck buddies go, he gets top marks.
A fucking plus.
The rasp of his fingertips feels delicious across my g-spot, and honestly, I—
My phone rings and vibrates from my coat pocket. No! Not now! I knew letting Briggs fuck me while on-call was a bad idea.
“Aren’t you gonna get that, doc?” Briggs goads from behind me.
“It’s not important.” Probably. Maybe.
Shit. I’m still at fucking work; I can’t drop everything for sex.
“Damn it. Hang on,” I tell him. “Seriously?” The name on my phone does not help my libido.
Briggs freezes at my tone. “What? What's wrong?”
“It's my ex-husband, Jason.”
“Why the hell is he calling you?”
“How should I know?” I say, irritated. More at Jason than Briggs, but still. It’s not like I’ve got ESP.
Jason has messaged two more times since the initial incident at the rage park. The same cycle over and over again of pleading, refusal, guilting, then capitulation and shame.
Swiping the green button on the screen, I answer, “Hey, what's going on?” I squeeze my thighs together to try to get Briggs to stop what he’s doing between my thighs, but he ignores the silent demand.
“Geez, Autumn. Is that any way to greet your husband?”
“Ex,” I remind him breathily. I fall to my elbows on the exam table as Briggs rubs his roughened fingertips over my clit.
What the hell am I doing? Isn’t this pushing the bad girl thing too far?
“Babe, come on. You know I still love you, and you love me too. Don't deny it.”
Maybe I love him in a nostalgic I've known you for years sort of way. But I'm not in love with Jason. That ship sailed a long time ago. If I admit that what I felt for him was truly love and not just obligation.
“Jason, I'm at work.” Getting fingered by a gruff mountain man.
“Okay, okay. I just wanted to see how you were doing. How's the practice?”
“You called to…” I choke on the next word as Briggs drops to his knees behind me. The feel of his hot breath coasts over my pussy.
Stabbing the mute button, I twist my neck to glare down at him. “What the fuck do you think you're doing?” I whisper as if Jason can hear us.
“This is my appointment, Dr. Landish. I'm just making the most of it.” He leans forward with an insolent smirk and buries his face between my thighs until I can only feel his mouth sucking at my clit rather than seeing anything.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“Autumn? Autumn, are you still there?”
Hitting the unmute button. I manage a few words. “Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Can we talk later?”
“Come on,” Jason whines. “You can't be that busy in podunk High Ridge.”
I grit my teeth while Briggs growls between my thighs at the insult.
“Actually, I'm doing quite well here. And it's not a podunk town. It's very charming.”
“I think you're mixing it up with Suitor’'s Crossing,” he says as if he believes the town next door is any better. He and my parents are city folks. Part of high society, or at least as high as it can be around here.
“Jason, I don't have time for this. Or whatever problem you really called about to have me fix.” I really don't, because talking is getting more difficult the longer Briggs is down on the floor beneath me.
I should just hang up the phone now that I know it's not an emergency. Jason will be pissed and he'll probably try calling back, but this time I'll know to ignore him. But even as I go to follow through on the plan, I hesitate.
Because a sick part of me finds the situation kind of hot.
My ex-husband on the phone annoying me like usual. While a sexy mountain man is on his knees pleasuring me with his mouth.
Something Jason rarely did.
And never to my complete satisfaction.
“That’s not fair, Autumn. Your parents weren't kidding when they said that you've changed. Why are you doing this?”
“You mean, why am I living my life the way I want to and not accepting the scraps you used to give me? The scraps you’re now giving... What was her name again? Tanya?”
“Don't bring her into this.”
Briggs's tongue thrusts as deep as it can, licking at my walls while his fingers milk my clit.
“Oh my god.”
“What was that?”
“Oh my god, Jason. This… This… I've gotta go.”
I slam the phone over and come braced against the exam table. Briggs chuckles at the strength of my orgasm, before standing and kissing the back of my neck.
It's an oddly tender gesture. Which, honestly, shouldn’t surprise me. These past few weeks with Briggs have been full of surprises.
When he’s not pissing me off with his attitude, he’s making me melt with his unexpected gentleness.
“Your ex is a whiny asshole.”
“Tell me something I don't know.” My loose muscles slump over the wrinkling paper covering the table. I’ll have to switch it out before the next patient.
“You taste like fucking honey and cinnamon,” he rasps in my ear, and my buffering mind struggles to understand the non-sequitur.
“That sweet, huh?” I say, catching my breath.
“That perfect,” he corrects, and it takes all my power not to swoon.
Shit. I should not be feeling this way about my fuck buddy. We don't even like each other. We still bicker over nonsense, he’s still got a chip on his shoulder, and I’m just trying to prove a point to myself.
Right?
“What’s the deal with Jason? I heard you were divorced, but he still calls and says ‘I love you’?”
“Ugh…” I do not want to discuss my failings when it comes to my ex-husband. Standing straight, I scoot out between Briggs and the table to clean up at the sink along the far wall, needing a minute to think.
“Our families are close, so we’ve known each other forever.
” My hands land behind me as I lean against the sturdy counter, while he washes his hands next.
“Imagine a royal marriage pact, except for the medical world. Our dads wanted a medical dynasty. First, with their children marrying, then with the grandchildren that would follow. Thankfully, Jason cheated on me before we got to that part of the plan.”
“What an idiot.”
A wan smile twitches at the corner of my lips before disappearing. “Yeah… That’s mostly why we had to veer off the surgical path. Jason couldn’t hack it.”
“So, he held you back from what you wanted.”
“Not quite. I’m the one who suggested a private family practice.
” My shoulders rise and fall in admission as Briggs braces himself beside me.
“Maybe I should thank Jason for making it easier to ignore my dad’s dictate in that regard.
He was really gunning for a surgical prodigy to follow in his footsteps. ”
“Your dad sounds like a prick, too,” he says with grim understanding.
A startled laugh breaks loose. “I’ve never said that out loud, but I think you may be right.” I pause, considering the path that’s always been expected of me. “My parents don’t approve of my life thus far. The divorce. Moving to High Ridge. They don’t like the ‘changes they’re seeing in me.’”
Even repeating the words from my mom’s last phone call causes a pit in my stomach.
Briggs chuckles and crosses his arms over his chest before bumping me with his shoulder. “And to think, they don’t even know about your fuck buddy situation, Miss Good Little Bad Girl.”
I roll my eyes at the ridiculous moniker. “It’s about more than being bad, you know. It’s about freedom. I’ve spent my entire life living by their rules, and it hasn’t stopped me from getting fucked over.”
“Well, I can attest that living by your own rules still doesn’t stop that from happening. The problem is people, not necessarily the rules you choose to obey or break.”
My phone alarm goes off to signal the end of the work day. “Maybe you’re right,” I say as I turn the annoying sound off. “Though, your sudden wisdom is unsettling.”
“And you call me the asshole,” Briggs snarks before stretching his arms overhead. My eyes immediately drop to the deep vee lines exposed above his jeans waistband.
Damn, he’s hot, and apparently, easy to talk to when he decides to drop the attitude.
Clearing my throat at the softening in my feelings towards him—as if that hasn’t been happening for awhile now—I gesture toward the door. “I believe that concludes our appointment, sir.”
“Ah, you can dish it, but you can’t take it, huh, doc?” He playfully winks, and oh my god, why was that so sexy?
A man with such a bad attitude shouldn’t be so attractive, but I like that Briggs is honest about what he thinks and who he is.
Jason is the opposite. He pretends to be nice and heartfelt, but it’s all an act to cover up his narcissistic tendencies.
Guess I prefer honest assholes over lying bastards.
Who knew?