AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We help her spray down all the yoga mats and clean up the studio, and she leaves with us, locking up behind her. The Salty Dog Yoga Studio is a new addition, three doors down from Lainey’s hair salon. Lex took up teaching classes twice a week when they opened, putting to use all the yoga she learned from Clarissa, who attends classes but refuses to teach. We all agree to walk down to the corner diner to grab a bite to eat for dinner.
“Hey wait,” I hiss, stopping abruptly. “Is that Clarissa?” It’s dark out, approaching nine-thirty by the time we leave the studio, and the car isn’t parked under a streetlight. It’s a Monroeville Police Department car and Clarissa is bent at the waist, leaning into the driver’s side window and she’s locking lips with whichever officer is in there.
“What in the world?” Lex mumbles, her brows furrowed.
“Did you know she was seeing anybody?” Lainey asks her and she shakes her head.
“I mean, her mood has improved exponentially over the last few months. She’s been smiling a lot more here lately, but I just thought maybe therapy was starting to work.”
“Shit, looks like all she needed was a good dicking.” Lainey snorts at my comment and I shush her. Clarissa and the officer finally break apart, but she stays bent at the waist, leaning into his car. She glances to the left and then to the right towards us and we all three duck into a little enclave in front of one of the shops. I peek around the corner in time to see whoever it is give Clarissa a small wave before driving off and she walks the opposite direction, ducking down an alleyway.
“I can’t believe she didn’t tell me she was seeing someone,” Lex pouts as we all head towards the diner.
“Maybe they aren’t seeing each other,” Lainey offers, shrugging her shoulders. “Maybe they’re just banging.”
“Casual hookup. There’s nothing wrong with that,” I quip, opening the door and letting them go ahead of me. We grab a booth in the back of the restaurant and settle in. I drag my phone out of my purse to fire off a text to Genevieve who’s at home with Blake, but it vibrates with a notification. It’s a text from Jaxson. I open the attachment and it’s a picture of him, Blake, and Genevieve, elbow deep in a pizza from DeAngelo’s.
Jaxson: Genevieve texted me with a math question and mentioned you were at yoga. I hope it’s okay.
A sigh escapes me, and I fire off a text back.
Me: Of course it’s okay.
Jaxson: I missed them more than I thought.
My heart splinters a little at his admission. They missed him, too. Blake never fails to mention just how much he misses him every night at bedtime.
Jaxson: See you when you get here.
I drop my phone back in my purse and realize that both girls’ eyes are pointed at me.
“Everything okay at home?” Lex questions.
“Yeah, just Jaxson. He dropped by the house to spend time with the kids and he brought pizza.”
“That’s sweet” Lainey croons and I give her a sad smile.
“He loves them a lot.”
“He loves you a lot, too,” Lex points out and I sigh.
“I know. And I love him, too.” My eyes well with tears and they spill over my lashes.
“Oh, honey,” Lainey says, sliding out of the other side of the booth and coming around to sit with me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. “You know it’s okay to let him love you, right?”
“Deep down, I do. I know that,” I suck in a shaky breath, “but what if I end up just like mama?”
Lex leans across the table and gathers my hand into hers, pulling my attention to her. “You listen to me right now, Avery Nicole. You arenothinglike that woman. You would never abandon your kids the way she did. And Jaxson isnothinglike any of those piece of shit men your mom brought home. Don’t let her past define your future.”
Jaxson
Her headlights sweep across the porch as Avery parks her shitty station wagon in the driveway. I watch as she leans into the backseat to grab her yoga bag and swings it over her shoulder, and I take in her outfit. She’s wearing a deep purple sports bra with nothing over it and my cock thickens in my pants at the sight of her in it. My eyes travel down past her bare stomach to the gray workout leggings she’s wearing that hug her hips and ass in all the right places. She’s wearing flip flops and I can’t help the way my mouth ticks up at the side with that realization. She’s the only person I know that has a weird hatred of socks and tennis shoes. You’ll never catch her in either.
“Hey,” she breathes out, stuttering to a stop in front of me seated on the steps of her porch.
“Ace,” I murmur, taking in her flushed cheeks and her tousled ponytail. “Did you have a good night?”
Her lips turn up in a smile. “I really did. Get this,” she says, dropping down on the stoop beside me, her shoulder brushing mine. “We left Salty Dog, turned the corner to go to the diner, and stumbled upon Clarissa and one of the police officers making out in his cop car.” Her words come out rushed and excited, the aesthetic of the whole scene making me feel lighter than I’ve felt in days.
