We visited when it was absolutely necessary.
But our relationship was so damn strained, it hurt to even think about it. I’d “ruined” their lifelong friendship with the Blacks. And it sure didn’t help that my sister was Kayla’s best friend.
Her eyes, those green eyes, were the last thing I’d seen when I walked away.
And at night.
They haunted me still.
I swallowed past some dryness in my throat as I waited for her to say something that wasn’t a four-letter word.
“You done?” My eyebrows shot up. “Because I’m getting a late start this morning, and the last thing I need is to sit here and have an impromptu therapy session.”
Avery glared at me, crossing her arms, making me want to choke on my tongue as her breasts strained against a simple black V-neck blouse that was tucked into leather pants. Her open-toed high heels were blue, making me think of how much bruising one of those shoes might be capable of if she whipped it off and beat me with it.
Her toenails were painted black.
Why the hell was I looking at her toes?
I’d left Marysville right before she started college—and believe me, back then she’d looked nothing like she did now. She’d still been a slim high schooler. Now she was all woman. Shit.
I quickly sidestepped her and made my way to my desk. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Her eyes darted between me and the door like she was going to make a run for it, but then her shoulders slumped. “I got laid off from the last company I was with—they grew too fast, let the young ones go—and my parents gave me exactly two months to find a new job or else they’d force me to move home, into my old bedroom, which just so happens to be next to my sister’s bedroom. You remember the one?”
I opened my mouth to speak.
She wasn’t going to let me. “I mean, of course you do, Lucas.” She said my name like a curse. “It was the same room you stumbled into. I think the bed was replaced, or if I remember correctly, burned while Grandpa made us swear over a Bible never to utter your name again in his presence lest our souls go to hell.”
“Avery—”
“Yup, I’d be next door to that.” Her eyes narrowed. “So I took this internship, but believe me when I say I think I’d rather face starvation than work for such a jackass.” She gulped. “Even if my future career is in your dirty little hands.”
I grinned. “Are you done?”
“No.” She huffed, crossed her arms again, then sighed. “Maybe.” Her green eyes narrowed. “I have more mean things to say, but I’m saving them for later.”
“So much to look forward to,” I said dryly. “Look, I can keep this professional if you can. It’s the least I can do to keep you from starving your ass off.” I peered around the desk and checked her out. “Because that really would be a shame.”
With a gasp, she pointed her finger at me. Damn, she was still a little spitfire—I thought I’d like getting scolded by her. “Listen here, you—you whore of a man!”
“That’s the best you can come up with? Really?” My grin widened at her nervous hand gestures. Either she was trying to flip me off or she was batting away flying spiders.
“Keep it in your pants!” She huffed once more. “And if you ever check me out again, I’m going to staple your—your penis”—fiery red crept into her cheeks—“to your desk and pull the fire alarm!”
“The threat would work better if you could actually say ‘penis’ without blushing. You can’t even say it, let alone touch one, can you?”
“You’re a bad man.” She licked her lips about a billion times before turning around in a full circle, locating the door, and stomping out of my office.
Avery Black.
Well, I’d be damned.
My smirk was still present when I leaned back in my chair a few minutes later, trying not to stare at the girl who’d most definitely filled out and turned into a woman.
I was ten years older than her.
She’d been the surprise of her parents’ lives, and up until four years ago, I’d all but thought of her as my little sister.
Until I didn’t.
My chest sliced with pain as I shoved the memories back into the recesses of my mind. They didn’t matter anymore.
In fact, my greatest mistake ended up being my greatest accomplishment.
By sleeping with the wrong sister, I’d done everyone a favor.
I would have never made Kayla happy. She was the type of girl who lived in the same house her whole life, married some sort of football coach, had four kids, drank wine on special occasions, and got a mom haircut because it was easy.
At one point, I thought I wanted that.
That life.
Maybe that’s why I’d gotten so damn drunk out of my mind that night. I knew I would ruin Kayla if I went through with our marriage because the relationship was no longer about her, and it hadn’t been for a while.
I just didn’t expect my own ruin to happen so swiftly.
I’d always been smarter than that when it came to women.
Or so I thought.
A nagging feeling made me want to scratch at my chest where my heart should have been. I ignored it. Like I ignored every single memory of that night. It was all too painful, too stupid, and honestly, it was what had propelled me into the perfect life—so why start thinking about my one regret?
Or the girl responsible for it?
“Are you going to answer that?” Avery was back in my office, cheeks flushed as she pointed at my phone. “It’s literally been ringing for the past five minutes.”
“Exaggeration. It would have gone to voice mail,” I said in a bored voice. “Now, why don’t you go do a coffee run?”
She frowned. I could tell she wanted to argue, but I was her boss, so I pointed to the door and waited for her to leave.
With a long sigh, she turned around and left, only to then walk backward toward my office and call over her shoulder, “Still drink macchiatos?”
&nb
sp; “Yeah.” I was too surprised that she’d remembered to elaborate.
She gave a quick nod and started walking out the door again, only to come back, still refusing to make eye contact, and hold out her hand.
“Cash.” She coughed. “Remember? Almost homeless? Starving?”
“You never said ‘homeless.’”
“I have to survive off my severance for the next few weeks. That includes rent, food, and any sort of transportation to the office.”
I dug into my pocket and pulled out a hundred. “Then keep the change.”
She hesitated, staring at Benjamin Franklin’s face like the money was a moral dilemma rather than me just doing something nice, as her boss, as her ex-friend.
“Nope.” She licked her lips. “I’ll bring back your bribe money. Don’t worry. I’ll count your change to the very cent. In fact, I should ask for nothing but pennies.”
I drowned out her incessant chatter and grabbed my phone.
Jess had called twice.
Damn, they always had regrets.
I quickly texted her to say she had done the right thing. Hell, I had every woman pegged. Like I was a freaking mind reader.
She didn’t miss me.
She missed the idea of me.
Jess: I didn’t realize how lonely being alone was. How do I even start dating again after you?
Me: It’s natural to be nervous. Why don’t you try happy hour and see how that goes? You’re a great woman.
Just not my woman.
After sending the text, I followed up with another text saying lamely that I had to go to a meeting and was running late.
I didn’t and I wasn’t.
But she didn’t know that.
In fact, other than reading the marketing reports from each school we’d just done outreach with, I had shit to do until Monday.
But it was Friday.
And I no longer had a girl to take home.
Or a girl to go home to.
Jess had loved cooking, so every Friday night I’d go to her house. We’d eat, drink, have amazing sex, and I’d leave in the middle of the night. It worked perfectly.
Except now—now I was irritated.