AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m fine, I just—” I try to gain some composure through my laughter. “I’m like a twinkie gone wrong,” I say, my words a staccato rhythm through my giggles. I can feel Ezra’s body shake with laughter beneath my head, while Cal’s loud barking laugh fills up the room.
When I’ve finally calmed down and the three of us have gotten cleaned up, we lay in bed eating the delicious dinner Cal made for us. Famished, I eat as much as I need to without a second thought while we talk long into the night. Eventually, Ezra gets up to excuse himself.
“I’m going to leave you two to it, but Beth—would you let me take you out tomorrow? I have something I’d love to show you.”
I want to giggle again and turn his words into something illicit, but I know he’s serious.
“I’d like that.”
Ezra gives Cal an indiscernible look, but I read it as gratefulness or understanding, maybe. Once he leaves, closing the door behind him, I look to Cal.
“Why do I feel like you purposefully orchestrated that whole thing?”
“Because you’re smart as hell,” he says, grinning like he’s won a prize.
“You really want me to be with Ezra, too?” Overall, I’m surprisingly comfortable with the idea, even if I’m not sure about the dynamics.
“I really want to make you happy, and I know I can’t do that on my own. It makes me feel better knowing he’ll be here to love you when I’m gone.”
Nine days.
“But doesn’t me doing things with Ezra take time away from you?”
“I prefer to think of it as setting things up for a brighter future for the two of you. Do you know how long he’s been in love with you, bláth fiáin?”
I sincerely doubt he’s as pathetically in love with me as I’ve been with him since the first day I met him.
Cal reads the doubt on my face. “Come with me.”
“Where are we going now?” I reach for clothes or a sheet, buthe pulls me out of the room with a tsk. Stark naked, we walk down the hall and into the living room. Cal pulls the curtains shut before turning on the overhead light. I fight myself not to cover my body, but I quickly forget about it as soon as Cal motions to the painting on the wall.
It’s the same one I saw at the art walk. The same painting that struck me as being of a lover, that I was irrationally jealous about. Staring at it, and replaying the words I heard from Ezra tonight, I see it in a new light.
My hands follow along the curve of my waist and hips as my eyes trail along the lines of the painting. I move my hair to one shoulder and stand up tall. Itcouldbe, if…
“It’s you, bláth fiáin. It’s always been you,” Cal whispers against my neck, brushing his large hands over the same curves. “I’m just selfish enough to push myself in here for a little while and pretend I could stay forever like I desperately want to.”
He wants to stay? I couldn’t let him do that, though…
I turn and kiss him, pulling him to my body and, much like Cal said, pretending I won’t have to let go anytime soon.
Taking me back to his room, Cal makes love to me in a way I can feel through every bone and nerve. It’s more than lips and bodies and orgasms, it’s so much deeper. And when he comes inside me, he cries out my name like a prayer. Turning our bodies so I’m lying on top of him, we fall asleep with him still inside me, neither of us willing to break the connection.
Ezra
I stand outside the gallery, rain beating heavily on my umbrella. I’m thankful that the date I have planned for us is indoors, but I’m still incredibly nervous.
What if she hates it? What if it’s too much?
Physically shaking out my shoulders and stretching my neck, I take a deep breath and enter The Gregg.
Holy hell, Beth wasn’t kidding. This is a shit show.
Everything around me is so bright, pastel, and very fake looking. There are different areas set up, each with a more sickening theme. At the front of each area is a tripod, and there are baskets of selfie-sticks set up.
“Do you like it?” A voice calls out to me, sultry, but in a forced way. A tall blonde wearing a red patent leather minidress and towering heels stalks over to me. Cherith.
I clear my throat, trying to be polite. “It’s definitely something. What is it meant for, exactly?”
