Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
And from that one phone call, we’ve started to evolve. She doesn’t call me when she’s stuck in melancholy, but rather when she has a good memory of Melissa she wants to share. I’ve been calling her more proactively once a week, just to check in.
We don’t discuss Ava or what my future looks like. It’s enough for me that Connie understands I want to move forward, and it’s enough for her to continue to be friends.
I spend about fifteen minutes on the phone, and she’s the one who cuts the call short. I hear Sybil in the background yelling that she mistakenly spiked the eggnog with gin. The thought makes me shudder.
We say our goodbyes, and just as I’m lurching up off the bed, the door opens and Ava walks in. She looks beautiful tonight in black pants, high heels, and a deep green velvet blouse that’s cut somewhat low but still very tasteful. It’s one of those wrap-around garments, and I can’t wait to unwind her from it tonight.
“How’d it go?” she asks, closing the door and moving toward me. She steps close, running her hands up my chest to link her fingertips behind my neck.
“It was good.”
“I’m glad.” Ava smiles, goes on her tiptoes, and kisses me lightly.
“How’s it going out there?”
“Very well. Belle and I are doing a girls’ trip this summer to Charleston.”
Grinning, I wrap my arms around her back to pull her in closer. “You are?”
“Yup. And I think my parents are going out to Denver to stay with your parents in January to do some skiing.”
Laughing, I bend down to nuzzle her neck. “Anyone else in the family bonding?”
“Yeah, my brother is apparently going to hang out with your brother in Wyoming to do some hunting.”
I pull back to glance down at her. “It’s a good thing we made up, huh? Just imagine all these new friendships that would have gone unrealized.”
“A travesty is what it would have been,” she says, then tugs free and takes my hand. “Now come on… we still have hosting to do, and we can’t stay back here too long or tongues will be wagging.”
Let them wag is all I can think, but I let her pull me from the room. In the hallway, I whisper, “When can we kick everyone out?”
“Stop it,” she hisses, elbowing me in the ribs.
“I’m just saying… I’ve got some Christmas orgasms to give you…”
“I’ll feign a headache in about an hour.” Her eyes gleam with mischief. “It’s your job to usher everyone out.”
“God, I love you,” I say in awe, thrilled she’s willing to be as duplicitous as I am so we can have alone time. Besides, we’re all getting together tomorrow for Christmas Day.
“I love you,” she says as we reach the living room, breaking free and moving into the kitchen where our moms are talking.
I watch her walk away, unabashedly taking in the curves of her ass that I can’t wait to get my hands on later, then turn my attention to our combined families filling my once-empty condo. My future is here, in this place, with the people who are the most important to me, and I am so grateful for this second chance at love.