“Theo Graham.”

  “Theo. Hey, it’s Wes.”

  Well, I know what this is about. “Wes, what can I do for you?”

  “I hope I’m not bothering you too early, but Raegan said you were probably up.”

  “It’s not too early, I just finished saying goodbye to her brother. You caught me at the right time.”

  “Great, I just wanted to talk to you if you have a minute? I know we didn’t really get to talk much last night.”

  “Yeah, I thought I would let Rebecca run the show.”

  “And as much as I thoroughly enjoyed that,” he laughs sarcastically, “Raegan does value your opinion about everything, so I wanted to at least make sure you and I are good.”

  I take a sip of the half-drunk coffee that I’d made this morning. “We’re good.”

  “Great, would you mind if I stopped by? I would just prefer to talk to you in person.”

  You knew this was coming. “Sure, when were you thinking?”

  “Maybe an hour?”

  “Works for me, you know where I live.” Just as I’m hanging up, Avery appears on the back patio, before she slides open the door and slips inside.

  “Did he leave?” She nods. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I didn’t think it would hit me like this. It’s like when he left for college all over again.” She chuckles. “I cried for two days when I got to school.” I don’t respond and she moves around the island to stand next to me. “It doesn’t mean I have feelings for him, Theo.”

  “I know. I get it.” I put a hand over my eyes and let out a sigh. “It just reminds me how close you two are and how this,” I say pointing between us, “affects him.”

  “It’s not going to affect him. He’s not going to find out.” She looks up at me and her eyes look a little glassy which means the green in her hazel eyes is shimmering.

  I try to ignore the uncomfortable feeling caused by her words.

  This can’t ever be anything real until he knows.

  I touch her cheek and her eyes flutter shut at the touch before she moves closer to me, pressing her body against mine. I drop a kiss to her lips making me realize that I haven’t kissed her since she left my house two nights ago at two in the morning. I pin her to the island with my groin, pushing harder against her and she responds with a whimper and puts her hands behind my neck as she pushes back against me. I lift her into my arms with ease and carry her to the couch in the living room, our lips never breaking once. I sit with her in my lap and I groan as she begins moving around on my lap.

  “Can we go upstairs?” She asks against my lips before she moves to my ear and bites down gently.

  “Fuck.” I let out a breath, my dick trying to overtake any reason I might have over whether that’s a good idea. “Where,” I groan as my dick jerks against her, feeling the heat through the flimsy spandex shorts she’s wearing, “do your parents think you are?”

  “I don’t know,” she says against my neck.

  “Okay, but your car is parked at your house, they know you haven’t gone far and Lucas is gone. There’s only so many places you could be.”

  “Stop worrying so much.” Her tongue drags up my neck. “Can you just relax?”

  Despite what my dick is begging me to do, I pull her lips away from my skin and give her a look. “You don’t think it’s going to raise a hundred questions if you’re here just hanging out with me?” I give her a look and she bites her bottom lip and narrows her eyes before shifting in my lap, very purposefully.

  “I went on a walk.” I eye her warily because while that could work, it could only work so many times. “Please stop worrying so much, okay?” She gets off of my lap and kneels in front of me reaching for my shorts and unbuttoning them. I don’t say anything as she pulls them down and frees my dick.

  Fuck. “Avery.”

  “Hmmm?” She asks as she strokes her hand up and down my shaft slowly without breaking eye contact. “Should I stop?”

  “No.” I grunt. “But…” I grab her wrist, keeping it on my dick but stopping it from moving. “I want to fuck your pussy not your mouth.”

  She swats my hand away and wraps her lips around the tip before pushing herself all the way down to the back of her throat. Her lips lightly brush against the base of my dick before pulling back slowly as she glides her tongue over every ridge of my dick. She does this a few times, finding that sexy rhythm that has me lifting my hips in time with her strokes, making me forget my earlier request.

  My head falls back as her sinful mouth and tongue pull me under just as the feeling disappears and I immediately want to be back inside her. I look up to see her standing in front of me, pulling her shorts off before she climbs back into my lap.

  I wonder why she didn’t take her panties off when she pulls them to the side exposing her slick cunt to me. I resist the urge to push her to her back and put my mouth on her because it seems like she has other plans for us. She hovers just above me, letting my dick ghost through her wet slit gently and a shiver snakes through her that has me wanting to push my hips upwards into her.

  “Don’t be a tease, baby. Let me inside you.”

  Still holding her panties to the side, she sinks down on top of me and the fabric of the lace drags down my shaft with every slow tortuous inch.

  Fuuuuuck, that feels good.

  She moves up and down and I look down between us, watching me bottom out inside of her.

  I grip her ass, pulling her harder against me just as her hands find my shoulders and she begins to move faster. “You’re so deep.”

  I pull her to me, pressing our lips together and sliding my tongue against hers. I weave my hands through her dark tresses, pulling gently every few seconds eliciting a moan from her which just makes my dick harder. She pulls away and lets out a low moan in my ear letting me know she’s getting close and hearing how good I make her feel furthers my climax as well.

  “You drive me so crazy, Avery. Your little noises when I’m inside you, fuck. They make my dick so fucking hard.”

  She responds with another one of her sexy little moans and presses her lips to my neck. “Fuck,” she gasps. “I’m close.”

  She’s still wearing the oversized t-shirt she came over in and I wish I’d ripped it off of her because I want to bury my face in her tits and run my tongue over her nipples. I reach under the shirt and lower her bra so I can rub them having figured out how sensitive they are before she comes.

  “Oh God, yes. You know just what I like.” She whimpers. “I’m going to come.” She lets out a cry and a squeal that may have been a version of my name as she continues to ride me through her orgasm. “Yes yes fuck yes, that’s so good.” She pushes her lips to mine, still moving up and down to milk my orgasm out of me which happens moments later.

  “Fuck, Avery, you take my dick so well.”

  I don’t know how long we stay connected, her body pressed against mine and locked together in the most intimate way but she eventually pulls out of my arms and slides her underwear back into place. She doesn’t put her shorts back on and I try not to fixate on how it makes me feel that she’s not leaving yet. I pull my shorts back up and she pushes me onto my back resting her head on my chest as she snuggles against me.

  “Was last night hard for you?” She speaks up after a few minutes of silence.

  “You mean having you there?”

  “All of it. Rebecca, Lucas, Raegan.” She perks her head up and rests her chin on my chest. “It was a lot.”

  “Yeah.”

  “You didn’t say much, that’s all.”

  I didn’t say much because I was fighting the line between being annoyed with Rebecca and being turned on every time my eyes floated past Avery. And then annoyed again with myself every time I looked at Lucas.

  “Rae knows how I feel. I like Wes. But also, she’s an adult and she doesn’t really need my approval for anything but I know she wants it.”

  “Do you? Approve, I mean?”

  “Makes me a bit of a hypocrite if I don’t, I think? If Wes were ten years younger, this wouldn’t even be a question. He seems like a good guy who loves my daughter and that’s all a father wants. The large age gap between them is why there’s all this conversation and given that I’m in somewhat of a relationship with someone younger than my daughter, I don’t think I’m allowed to hate the difference in their ages.”

  “Fair.”

  We lay like that for a while, her running her fingertips over my chest while I stroke her back and it feels comfortable, intimate, easy. It lulls me into a false sense of reality that things could be this simple between us all of the time.

  “So, for tonight…” I start. “I know we talked about you coming over, but I think I’d feel better if I got us a room again.”

  She sits up and gives me a look while dragging her fingers along the waistband of my shorts like she wants to take them off again. “You want to get a room every time you want to fuck me? That’s not going to be cheap,” she sings.

  “One, I can afford it. Two, not every time. I just want to relax and I don’t want to feel like anyone could just show up and catch us or…” I want to tell her that I’m beginning to hate all of this sneaking around. That I’m forty-five years old and I’m being forced to sneak around with a girl like a teenager. But my thoughts are stopped by the ringing of my doorbell and the dread that floods me when I remember Wes was stopping by. Her head snaps to the door and she narrows her gaze at me.

  “It’s Wes, I forgot he was coming over.” I groan as she gets off the couch and pulls her shorts up.

  “Awww! To talk to you about Raegan.” She claps her hands excitedly and I swear I see the stars in her eyes. “They are so cute.” She puts a hand over her chest. “Be nice.”

  “I am nice.” I run a hand through my hair and she swats it away before running her hands through it herself.

  “You’re a little grumpy sometimes.”

  I glower at her just as the doorbell rings again. “You have to go.”

  “Okay, see you later.” She stands on her toes and presses her lips to mine gently. It takes everything in me not to deepen the kiss, but I refrain to let her go and she slips out the backdoor.

  I make my way to the front door and open it to find Wes standing there with his phone to his ear. He pulls it away and gives me a nervous smile. “Sorry, I was just calling you. Thought maybe I missed you.”

  “No, uhhh,” I stammer, “I was just upstairs. Sorry about that. Come on in.” He walks in and I follow behind him suddenly, very aware of the possibility that my clothes could be wrinkled or I could smell like sex or look like I’d just had a naked woman bouncing in my lap less than an hour ago.

  Even if he did pick up on something, it’s not like he’d ever guess it was Avery.

  “Want something to drink?”

  “No, I’m good, thanks,” he says as we enter the kitchen. “I assume you know why I’m here.”

  “I have an idea, but I never like to assume.”

  He fishes something out of his pocket and slides it slowly across the island to where I’m standing and I stare down at the gray suede ring box before looking up at him. “Has she seen it?”

  “No.”

  “You sure she’ll like it? My daughter is very picky.” Picky and spoiled with expensive tastes.

  “If she doesn’t like it, I’ll get her something different.” He shrugs as I reach for the box and open it. I keep my face impassive as I stare at the stunning ring that my daughter will definitely fucking love. It’s a nice-sized emerald-cut ring with diamonds around the band.

  “She’ll like it,” I tell him as I shut the box, and the smug grin that crosses his face should irritate me but it actually makes me laugh.

  “I know.”

  “Well, you handled yourself well with Rebecca which is impressive. She can be tough to take sometimes.”

  “I was thoroughly prepared,” he says. “I didn’t mean to overstep.”

  “She’ll get over it.” I cross my arms over my chest and lean against the countertop. “I don’t want to talk about Rebecca. I want to talk about you and my daughter.” He nods and for the first time, I see a bit of nervousness cross his face. “There’s a significant age gap between you two.”

  “Yes.”

  I narrow my eyes at him. “How old are you exactly?”

  “Forty-Three.”

  “At least you’re younger than me,” I grumble and I hate that in another life that didn’t involve him defiling my daughter, we could have been friends because he’s actually pretty likable.

  I do, however, take some comfort that he has more gray hair than I do.

  He leans forward over the counter and gives me what I think is a sincere look. “I know I’m significantly older than her, but I can assure you that I love her more than anything and will do everything I can to be the best husband I can be.”

  I eye him warily because he’s saying all the right things but I am curious why he hasn’t been married before or why he’s not interested in a woman his age.

  You want to go there? my subconscious adds.

  “Any reason why you haven’t been married before?” I ask him, trying my best to not sound judgmental.

  “I was engaged once. We broke it off.” He sighs. “I don’t know, I haven’t been interested in marriage.”

  “Why now?”

  “I met the right woman.”

  “You understand my apprehension, right? An age gap of this size—” I start. “She’s impressionable—”

  “I’m sorry, impressionable?” he interjects. “Are we talking about the same woman?” I’m a little bit irritated and impressed at his response. “I just mean…I can’t convince Raegan to do anything she doesn’t already want to do.” He lets out a breath and rubs his forehead. “I don’t know if you know anything about dating a much younger woman, but they have all the power.”

  Avery’s face immediately flashes through my mind. “I can see that,” I tell him. I know I’m projecting a little and I find a feeling of jealousy shooting through me that Wes has it so easy. Nothing is standing in the way of him getting what he wants. No one who’d potentially be destroyed over him being with Raegan. In theory, his biggest obstacle is me and I’ve barely made him jump through a hoop.

  Don’t make him jump through a hoop. Be nice! I can hear Avery’s voice clear as day. He loves her and she’s pregnant.

  Right. Pregnant, I think.

  “I assume I would know if you had kids. You don’t, right?”

  “No, and I’m pretty excited about her being pregnant. I’ll be honest, I didn’t see myself having a baby at this stage of my life but I want to give Raegan whatever she wants. Another thing about getting involved with a girl in her twenties.” He gives me a look like he thinks I understand and I look away in case it’s written all over my face.

  “Well, I’m happy for you both. Raegan is my first born and my only daughter, so I don’t think I need to tell you what she means to me.”

  “You don’t.” He shakes his head.

  “Well, as long as you treat her right, you and I will never have any issues.” He nods. “When are you planning to ask her?”

  “Soon. She wants to get married before she starts showing so we are working with a small window.”

  “Can you give her the wedding she wants in that time frame?”

  “I’m going to try my best.” I don’t respond and he narrows his eyes slightly. “You know,” he starts and I already know I’m not going to like what he has to say, “Raegan worries about you.”

  “What? Why?”

  “She thinks her mom messed you up.”

  I shake my head. “No. I’m fine.”

  “She wants you to meet someone.” I swallow nervously wondering if this is a trap because surely Lucas told Raegan that I supposedly have a ‘girlfriend.’ “But the way you’re looking at me, it makes me think that Raegan may be left out of the loop.”

  Alright, time for Sherlock Holmes to go. “Tell Raegan not to worry. I’m fine. I’m good. I’m happy.” I try to ignore the fact that Avery flashes through my mind the second the word happy leaves my mouth.

  He nods, standing up. “Good. She’ll be glad to know that.” He shakes my hand and gives me another look like he knows all my secrets and I usher him towards the door before I unleash all of them on my daughter’s soon to be fiancé.

  I knock on the door of the hotel room, excitement coursing through me over spending the night with Theo again. We haven’t spent the night together since the night of my graduation party and while that was only a week ago, I feel like it’s been months. He’s right, the thought of being together without the worry of someone turning up unannounced at his house makes me breathe easier. He’d even booked a room further out of the city, over an hour away from where we lived so that we could go out to dinner and it would be less likely anyone would recognize us.

  The door opens revealing Theo in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist and I raise an eyebrow at him before pressing a hand to his chest and pushing him back into the room. “Are you trying to seduce me?”

  He narrows his brown eyes curiously at me as he shuts the door. “You got here very quick. How fast were you driving?”

  “My question first.”

  “No, my question first. I was not expecting you already. I figured I’d be dressed by the time you got here. So again, how fast were you driving?”

  “I was excited to see you.” I tell him as I grab his towel by the knot and pull it from him leaving him completely nude in front of me. This man is a fucking God.

  “We have dinner reservations at seven,” he tells me and I’m vaguely aware that it’s just after six. I am not dressed for dinner but he’s also naked and hard and as far as I’m concerned that takes precedence.

  “I’ll be quick,” I tell him with a devilish grin before sinking to my knees.

  After dinner, which felt more like foreplay than anything, we decide to go to a bar nearby. We are far enough away from where we live that we can actually go out and we figured we should capitalize on the opportunity of not running into anyone. We are seated at the bar, sitting next to each other which is actually a shame because I have been openly ogling him all night and it’s harder at this angle. He always dresses well, somehow effortlessly stylish and appropriate for every occasion. The black polo shirt he’s wearing hugs his biceps so deliciously, every time he reaches for something and they flex, I feel a flutter between my legs. The gray pants looked custom-made with the way they were tailored to him and every time he gets up, I stare at his ass shamelessly.