AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Why in the hell are you late?” I try to keep the irritated growl out of my voice when she gets to me behind the bar, but it’s impossible. I’ve spent the last hour worrying she was in jail again, or worse. And honestly, I just fucking missed her, and I’m annoyed she didn’t return any of my calls or messages.
Leaving her asleep on my couch this morning without saying goodbye was probably a stupid decision. Fired-up Sidney with an attitude is a huge turn-on. But warm, sweet, sleepy Sidney will be the death of me. I had to get out of my house as fast as possible before I crawled under the blanket on the couch with her and pulled all those warm, soft curves up against me.
It’s the same reason I disappear every year on November 1stwithout saying goodbye. One last look, one last flick of one of my fingers against her headband, or one last hug, or smile from her, and I knew I would never be able to get in my car and leave.
“I’m late because ofthese!”
Before I can mentally prepare myself, Sidney suddenly kicks one bare leg up right in front of my stomach between me and the bar, thunking her foot down on top of it and pointing at her red stiletto.
“I’ve been trying to walk in these stupid torture devices,” she complains, staring down at the shoe in annoyance, while I stare at her leg stretched up on the bar right in front of me.
Just like taking care of this woman, I can’tnottouch her when I’m in town. I spend eleven months not being able to do it, so I make up for lost time when I’m here. My arm is always around her shoulders. We hold hands walking down the street. I can’t focus on watching a movie with her until she’s pressed up against my side with her head on my shoulder… and the list continues.
I can breathe easier when I’m touching her and know she’s safe. I’ve been handling it just fine for six years.
But the urge to take a step forward and rub my cock against the juncture of her thighs spread before me is so goddamn overwhelming I get lightheaded… wondering if she’d moan when she felt me there. I also wonder if she’s wearing satin or lace under those shorts and what color I’d find when I yanked them off her body. The words she said last night when we walked out of jail are suddenly banging around in my head like a box full of rocks, until it’s all I can hear on a rattling loop, over, and over, and over again.
“It’s a good thing we’re the bestest of friends, or that sentence would have totally made me wet.”
My brain immediately malfunctions until all I can think about is what else would make Sidney wet.
“Why… in the hell… are you wearing heels?” I mutter, having a hard time bringing air into my lungs the longer she remains spread open in front of me with her legs in the shape of an upside down L.
The only thing Sidney ever wears on her feet are Converse. She owns them in every color of the rainbow and wears them with everything. I didn’t even know she owned a pair of heels.
Or that she’d look so fuckable in them.
“Trick or Treat! Those little shits stole all my shoes. This was the only pair of Callie’s that fit me when she ordered the wrong size for her teeny, tiny, elf-sized feet a few months ago and was too lazy to send them back,” Sidney complains, finally pulling her foot down off the bar to join the other one on the ground, putting me out of my misery. “I found one pair in a garbage can on Elm Street, but they were covered in spaghetti sauce and completely ruined. I was too exhausted to try to look for more. And I got a flat tire while I was out shoe hunting, which was just ajoyto change in heels.”
“Why the fuck didn’t you call me?”
Shealwayscalls me when she has a problem while I’m in town, and I always fix it. Instead of apologizing for not letting me help her, she just puts her hands on her hips and glares at me.
This is new.
“I can fix a flat tire, Ford.” She rolls her eyes. “I can do a lot of things on my own, in case you haven’t noticed. I don’t need you coming in here every October and trying to save the day. I can handle my life just fine.”
Well, shit… this is new too.
Sidney turns away from me then, stowing her purse under the bar, and I start to worry that the sweet-ass time I’ve taken with her has been entirely too long. She always gives me a hug when she gets to work. She always has a smile for me and a funny story to tell to try to get me out of my cranky mood. What the hell happened from the time we inhaled Chinese food, while she quoted every word right along withMostly Ghostly, in between giving me a rundown of the handful of revenge plots she knew Penny and Ginger were planning so I could figure out how to stop them for her, to now? When she doesn’t want me to help her withanything? And she seems downright furious about it.
She can’t take this away from me. This is all I have. Fixing things for her, taking care of her, making her happy and less stressed… it’s the only damn thing that matters and the only thing I live for.
My panic immediately starts to ease when I watch her notice the Tupperware containers under the bar.
“Ohhellno,” Sidney mumbles, grabbing the one off the top of the bar and piling the other two into her arms before walking right over to the garbage can and dumping them into it. Whirling around, she points a finger at me. “You can get the pumpkin churros and apple pie snickerdoodles out of your head too, because those also went in the trash as soon as I found them on your fucking porch this morning. Thenerveof these women!”
She walks right back out from behind the bar without another word or a smile in my direction, aggressively tying her apron around her waist as she moves over to one of the tables to take an order. And I suddenly can’t wipe the grin off my face.
I can’t believe I ever thought anything with Sidney would be easy. Nothing with that woman is ever easy, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I just need to take this slow… ease her into the idea of something more than friendship.
Grabbing my phone, I quickly go to a store website and order every color of Converse they have and add rush shipping. Marcus comes back from waiting on a customer to fill up a pilsner glass shaped like a skull with one of our drafts.
“She’s in a mood today.” He laughs, eyes darting over to Sidney as she angrily shoves a pulled-out chair that’s in her way back under an empty table with a loudsmack.
Finishing the online order and feeling like I can breathe again after I’ve fixed something for her, I turn my smile on him, which makes him do a double-take.
“What’s wrong with your face?”
