Chapter 3
Felicity
I remembered this taste. The way his hand had slid along the back of my neck, squeezing ever so slightly. I remembered the way his tongue had slid against mine, the resting, exploring, demanding. I remembered it all. And I craved it all.
“That’s a good girl. Now spread your legs for me.”
I groaned, letting my knees fall to the side, baring myself to him.
He licked his lips, then ran his hands through that thick beard of his. “Look at you. So sweet, all swollen for me. Have you been touching yourself?”
“Always,” I breathed.
The man in front of me just grinned, then reached down to slide his fingers through my wet folds. My hips shot up off the bed as he speared me with one finger, that thick digit achingly perfect. “So tight. This pussy will be mine. Do you understand that?”
“It’s always been yours,” I teased.
He chuckled, sliding his finger in and out of me. “Well then. Let’s make sure that’s the case.” He stood back, and I immediately felt the absence of his touch.
I groaned, reaching for him, but he slid through my fingers like smoke. I tried to focus on his face, but there was nothing, just a shadow.
“Callum?”
“You know I’m not for you, little flower. You’re too sweet. Too innocent. Too pure.”
My chest seized. “You don’t know that. I’m nothing like that. Why are you acting like this?”
“Because I know the truth. You’re never going to be mine. We both know this. Now, why don’t you go back to school like a good little girl, and I’ll go find someone who can take me.”
Then Callum Ashford wrapped his arms around Fiona, and they both moaned into one another. He picked her up at the waist, set her on the bakery counter, and slid deep inside her. Eyes wide, I watched as he fucked her on the bakery counter, his fingers still wet from my cunt.
My eyes shot open, and I sat straight up on the bed, chest heaving.
“What is wrong with you?” I asked before I rubbed my hands over my face.
I looked down at myself and realized that I had shoved my panties off in my sleep, and they were bunched at my ankles, with my blanket in disarray along my lap, and I was pretty sure I hadn’t even gotten off in my sleep.
No, even Dream Callum decided I wasn’t for him.
And while I knew with one hundred percent certainty that he would never be with Fiona, the fact that it was her in my dreams just made the entire thing a nightmare.
I shuddered, kicked off my panties, and got out of bed. I tossed my pajama bottoms that had fallen on the floor, as well as my panties, into the hamper and then stripped my sheets. I might as well make my bed and be the good little flower that I was and do a whole spring cleaning.
I could already hear my parents out in the kitchen, getting ready for their day, and I was grateful that I’d had the fan on full blast so they wouldn’t have been able to hear me in case I had moaned in my sleep.
I knew that I had an issue. A big issue.
And I needed to move out of this house. The fact that I was over here having sex dreams about my brother’s best friend while my parents were on the other side of the house just told me that it was time for me to put one step forward and use my savings account for good.
While I could use a roommate, finding a roommate in Ashford Creek was easier said than done.
All of my friends from school had either moved on or gotten married and stayed, so I couldn’t find someone here for that.
However, I had a good job, a decent savings account since I was blessed with a family that had helped me throughout school, and determination.
I rolled my shoulders back, knowing that that stupid sex dream was just a reaction to my own epidemic.
I was only slightly lonely. I needed to settle down in my hometown, make friends, find someone that was mine, and move on with my life.
I could do all of that. I knew it. I wasn’t that socially stunted.
But I also knew if I didn’t get started soon, I would just be stuck in this house until I was thirty, and nobody would see me for who I was.
I didn’t want to be the baby Carter sister anymore. I had a college degree and a full-time job. It was time for me to finally move out of my parents’ home.
Despite the fact that I knew both of my parents would rather I stay their little girl forever. They liked me as their roommate; I knew that. We were a good team and made things work. But I truly needed a different way to work on things.
I tossed everything into the corner and jumped into the shower so I could get ready for the day. I had a full plate, including an orientation, a new client, and lunch with a friend.
Look at me, making friends.
I showered quickly, not bothering to wash my hair since it wasn’t wash day, and got ready while humming to myself, trying to formulate a plan for the rest of the month.
I loved living with my parents. I loved being near my family, although Atlas needed to visit more.
I just needed some space of my own. A girl didn’t ask for much.
With a laugh, I pulled on cute slacks and a flowy blouse since we weren’t too formal at work and dropped everything off into the washer.
“Is that my baby girl I hear!?”
“That’s me! I have a little bit till I have to head into work, so I’m going to wash my sheets on the quick cycle.”
“Do it on permanent press and hot. I’ll slide it into the dryer and into your room later. Coming home to a bed you have to make is probably the worst thing ever.”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s really okay. I can handle it.”
“That’s what roommates are for.” Mom leaned down and kissed my cheek, and that sliver of guilt crept in. Because I did my parents’ laundry when I could as well. It was just easy to put a few of their things into my load. We really were a good team.
But I needed space. And I wasn’t quite sure how to continue to broach that subject.
So I didn’t. Yet.
“Seriously, stop stressing. You’re on dinner duty tonight anyway.” Dad kissed the top of my head, and I rolled my eyes. “Fine. Thank you. I’ll go fix the washer.” I set the correct cycle and quickly picked up my favorite bread to make toast and cut up an avocado and tomato.
“I can make you a decent breakfast.”
I pointed down at the two vegetables with my knife. “This is healthy. I’m doing just fine, Mom. Please stop. I lived on my own for four years and did just fine.”
My mom pursed her lips. “I just don’t like thinking about you and those girls.”
I cringed. “They weren’t that bad.”
“They were,” Dad added. “They were rude, and didn’t clean up after themselves, and expected you to do a lot more for them than they ever did for you.”
And they didn’t even know the extent of everything that the 4Ls, my former roommates from college, had done.
I held back a shiver because my parents could always read my mind these days and smiled.
Laura, Laurelin, Lauren, and Laurel had been my roommates in college.
However, the girls had grown up together, had attended preschool through high school together, and were each other’s dorm mates.
When they had moved off campus and needed a fifth roommate, I’d joined in.
As a Felicity, I hadn’t met the qualifications of becoming a fifth L, but I had still been their friend.
And they had just been dumb girls the one night I truly needed them. However, they’d also stood up for me when I needed them as well. So, maybe, they hadn’t been all that bad.
But it had been nearly two years since the end of college, and we didn’t speak often, other than every once in a while, opening up a group chat.
And if my dad had anything to say about that, it would remain that way.
“Anyway, I have to finish getting ready for work.”
“How is Gregory doing?” Mom asked, speaking of my boss.
My smile widened. “As ornery as ever. I adore him. I’m just happy that he had space for me at his shop.”
“You are a brilliant bookkeeper and accountant. Of course, he had space for you,” Mom put in.
“And that man should have retired twenty years ago. You’re probably making sure that his place doesn’t go under.”
They weren’t exactly wrong there, but I wasn’t going to put down my boss. I remember when I had been a little girl, and he had given me lemon drop candies when I had walked by. He had always been so brilliant and bright in my life that it was an honor to be able to come back and work for him.
And yes, he was past ready to retire, but it wasn’t as if me taking over for him fully was a done deal. I still had a lot to learn, and that’s why I did not want to be late.
I ate quickly, listened to my parents as they spoke about their upcoming days, and drained my coffee.
“I’ll be home to make dinner. Don’t worry. And I’m going to continue to look for apartments.”
“Felicity, you don’t need to do that.”
My dad put up his hand as Mom tried to add to her statement, and he sighed. “I’ll help you look as well. Ashford Creek is a nice town, but there are some seedy areas.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes because it was true. Every single town had its gray spots, but it was a good town. I just needed to find a place I could afford.
I kissed both of their cheeks, put my dishes in the dishwasher, and went to brush my teeth.
By the time I made it to work, I was vibrating for my second cup of coffee, and instead of going to the coffee shop to get a fun latte, I drank the drip coffee from the office. I tried to save money where I could. And I had a lunch date.
“Oh, Felicity, can you look at this folder?” Gregory Teller asked, and I moved my way over to the seventy-three-year-old bookkeeper and accountant of Ashford Creek.
He may be in his seventies, but his mind was just as sharp as ever.
He had begun to crouch ever so slightly and continued to try to roll his shoulders back, and he didn’t move quite as sprightly as he once had, but he still ran the quarterly and holiday 5Ks in town.
If I could be half as in shape as he was at his age, I would be one happy camper.