Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 112600 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 563(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112600 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 563(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Chapter 30
* * *
Hollis
Elodie covered her mouth when I got to the part of the story where I’d gotten down on one knee. Oddly enough, it was a lot like the face Anna had made that day.
“What did she say?”
It was still difficult to talk about the shit that went down, even after almost six years.
I cleared my throat. “She started to cry. I assumed it was happy tears. Until she began to shake her head and told me she’d met someone else.”
“What a fucking bitch.”
Her honest reaction made me crack a smile for the first time when I thought of anything to do with that day. “Long story short, we argued. I went to the bedroom to get my wallet and stormed out of the apartment. Anna followed me, and while she was gone, Huey flew out the open window in our bedroom because I’d left the door open. He still had the treat with the ring tied to it. He cruised around outside for a while and then found his way back in. But somewhere in his travels, he dropped the treat…along with the ring tied to it.”
“Jesus. That’s insane.” Her eyes widened. “Oh my God. You once said he cost you eighteen grand. That’s what you meant?”
I nodded. “The ring probably landed on the street near the building and someone picked it up. At least it was someone’s lucky day. Anna looked for it for days.”
“I hope it made her feel like shit.”
I chuckled. “Anyway. Damn bird cost me eighteen grand. Anna moved out a few days later, leaving him behind because her new place didn’t accept pets. The vet said Huey is probably about ten, and the breed can live as long as ninety years. So I only have another eighty years of him yelling Anna’s home to remind me of that shit every day.”
“How long were you and Anna together?”
I frowned. “We were friends since we were kids. Things changed to more when we were teenagers.”
“Wow. Okay. Well, thank you for sharing that. I can understand why you’re not a super fan of Huey a little better now.”
After that, we spent a few more hours talking. It was probably the longest time I’d ever spent talking to any woman since Anna and I split. While my past wasn’t a subject I wanted to rehash, it hadn’t killed me to talk about it like I’d always felt it would. And in the end, I was glad Elodie knew.
***
I woke with an aching hard-on.
This wasn’t unusual, of course. Waking with a woody a few times a week had been a regular occurrence since the age of ten. But this wasn’t your basic, run-of-the-mill morning glory. My cock was so stiff it felt like I could have hammered a nail with the damn thing. Though today’s wood had less to do with a natural bodily function and more to do with the woman whose ass was pressed up against my crotch.
Elodie and I had fallen asleep on the couch together last night. The sexual mood from earlier in the evening had been sufficiently dampened after I’d told her about Anna. But neither one of us had wanted to separate and go back to our respective rooms. I woke with my body wrapped around her, one leg draped over her hip, keeping her tucked close.
I didn’t have my watch on, and I had no idea where my cell phone was, but morning had started to break outside the living room windows. It had to be close to six o’clock. I attempted to untangle our bodies without waking Elodie, but one of my arms was underneath her, and she stirred when I gently lifted her to free myself.
Her eyes fluttered open.
“Sorry,” I whispered. “I was trying not to wake you.”
She stretched her arms over her head and flashed a goofy smile. “Well, you did a pretty shitty job of that, didn’t you?”
I chuckled—a ball buster even at the crack of dawn. “I’m going to jump in the shower to get ready for work. Why don’t you go to the guest room and go back to sleep? Hailey won’t be up for hours, and it’s probably best she thinks you slept in there.”
Elodie nodded. “This couch is pretty uncomfortable, anyway. The metal frame was jabbing into my spine half the night.”
I gripped her hip and pressed my front against her back. “That’s no metal frame, sweetheart.”
“Oh!” She giggled. “Oh my. That must be uncomfortable.”
“You can say that again.”
It would have been so easy to free my cock from my pants, lift the flimsy T-shirt she had on, and slide between her legs. But it wasn’t the time or the place for that. Not to mention, the ball was in her court as to how fast we went with things. She needed to trust I wasn’t in this just for the sex, which meant I couldn’t push until she got there.