“Okay.” She wraps her hand around me and strokes me gently. “I want a taste first. I haven’t sucked your dick in two weeks.” She pushes me to my back and kneels between my legs.

  “I don’t want to come in your mouth so don’t get cute.” I point at her and she gives me a look of shock and feigns innocence.

  “Hmmm.” She straddles me, sitting directly on my cock as she leans down to kiss me. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She moves, gliding her wet cunt over my shaft as she takes her place between my legs.

  “Fuuuuck.” I groan, trying my best to talk myself back from the edge. She circles the tip with her tongue before she slides slowly down my dick that’s already leaking precum. “Baby.” I let out a breath. “Okay, that’s enough.”

  She pulls off of me, thankfully heeding my warning. “Really? I didn’t even get comfortable.”

  “Well, I watched your little porno about ten times on the drive to the bar, so you did this.”

  She giggles as she turns on her stomach and I hand her the vibrator while I grab the lube that I’d gotten out. “Fuck yourself with it, while I fuck your ass.”

  I squirt a considerable amount of lube into my hand and then on my dick and then her ass as I prepare to push my way in. She’s already pushed the vibrator in her pussy and I can hear her muffled giggles into the pillow as she fucks herself with it. “You ready?”

  “Mmmhm. Fuck, I think I’m going to come already. This toy is a little dangerous.” She sighs as I push a finger and then a second into her ass to do my best to prepare her. She lets out the sexiest little moan that makes my dick jerk in anticipation of being inside of her.

  “You ready?” I ask her and she nods her head.

  “Fuck yes, fuck me please.” She cries just before I push into her ass.

  Fuck I forgot how good this feels. We’d done this a handful of times and every time I swear, I forget how tight her little asshole is. “Jesus Christ, I’ve missed this. Missed you so fucking much.” I continue fucking her slowly even as she pushes back onto me and I can feel the faint buzzing of her vibrator tingling through me. “Careful,” I tell her, not wanting to hurt her and knowing it takes a minute for us to get going.

  “Theo, I’m so close,” she moans and the thought of her coming while I’m in her ass is pushing me closer to my orgasm as well.

  I pull out of her slowly and slap her ass cheek. “Turn on your back, I want to see your pretty face when you come.”

  She turns on her back and I push her legs back towards her ears. I lean down and press a kiss to her lips. “I fucking love seeing you like this spread out beneath me. You’re fucking incredible, Avery.”

  “You’re incredible,” she mumbles because I think she’s on the brink of her orgasm.

  I slip back into her, slowly fucking her as I press the vibrator to her clit. Her eyes flutter shut as I rub it in circles against her. I guide her hand to hold it, so I can hold her legs back for her. “When you come while I’m in your ass, you squeeze me so fucking hard.” I can already feel my orgasm brewing just as she begins to shake beneath me.

  “Oh my Godddd, please, Theo,” she begs. “Please, baby make me…come, oh fuck!” I know the exact moment she goes over the edge because she clamps down on me, squeezing me so hard that I shoot my entire load into her ass.

  “Fuck, Avery.” I bottom out inside her completely as I press my lips to hers and fuck her through my climax.

  She kisses me back with equal urgency as I soften and slowly pull out of her. I roll to my back and bring her on top of me, pressing my lips to hers. “I love you,” I tell her. “I don’t know where we go from here, but I don’t know how I can be without you anymore.”

  A few days later, I’m at the café at the crack of dawn to help my mom when Lucas walks in and my mouth drops open. He casually waves and I immediately run around the counter. I’m hoping that his being here means he’s forgiven me or at the very least wants to talk, and that’s something.

  “Lucas.” I stop myself before I hug him in case he isn’t ready for that yet.

  “Hey, Ave.”

  “You look good.” I nod at him because he does. I haven’t seen him in almost three weeks and he looks like he’s lost a bit of weight but somehow also gained some muscle. He’s typically clean-shaven but he’s got more of a beard coming in and it’s startling how much more he looks like Theo now.

  “Been at the gym and running.” I nod. “I heard you moved.”

  “I did. You should come by and see it.” I hate how awkward things are between us when they’ve never been this way. Is this the new normal between us? “You want some coffee or breakfast?”

  “Sure.” He smiles. “Whatever. You know I like everything.” I move around the counter and make his coffee with hazelnut creamer which he pretends he doesn’t like but I know he secretly loves and put a bunch of different pastries on a plate for him to choose from. I sit down at a table in a corner and place everything in front of him.

  He lets out a breath. “So, you and my dad, huh? How did that happen?”

  “I’ve had a crush on him for a while, Luke. Since we were in high school… even before that. You remember, all the girls did,” I explain.

  “Yeah, but you always said you didn’t. You said it would be weird because of how close we are.”

  “I know. I lied,” I say weakly, “so things wouldn’t be awkward between you and I.” I sigh, as I prepare to tell him the truth. “I probably had it worse than all of those girls who just thought he was hot. I knew him better than most people so I developed feelings beyond how he looked.”

  I give him a weak smile and put my hand on top of his. “I hope you know, that is not how you were supposed to find out and I am so sorry for that. I was being emotional and your dad was trying to make it better and…I wish I did everything differently.”

  “Everything?” he asks with a laugh but I hear the underlying question. He picks up the chocolate chip muffin, which is what I knew he’d go for first, and pulls off a piece before putting it in his mouth. “God, I forgot how good these were.” He takes a sip of his coffee and gives me a smile over it, knowing how I made it. “Do you love him?”

  I contort my mouth into a sad smile. “Yeah.”

  “My Dad is probably my best friend in the world, even more so than you. Being angry at him the last two weeks…” He puts a hand over his eyes. “I felt like shit for the things I said to him. I’ve wanted my dad to meet someone and be happy for years. You remember, I used to try and get him on dating apps.” He laughs and I do remember his failed attempts to get Theo on Tinder more than once. “But, it’s so weird that it’s you.”

  “I know.”

  “But you two are in love with each other and…how can I stand in the way of two of my favorite people being happy.”

  “Lucas…” I trail off, hearing where he’s going with this train of thought.

  “This is what you want, right? To be with him?”

  I nod. “Yeah, Lucas I do. But I want us to be okay too.” I bite my bottom lip to try and stop the tears from coming. “Is it selfish of me to want both?”

  He shakes his head. “It doesn’t make you selfish but it might always be weird for me on some level? Weird between us? I mean like, it’s my dad and you.” He leans back in his chair and puts his hands over his face. “I feel like I lost both of my best friends to each other.” He laughs and I hadn’t thought of it like that. I hadn’t thought that maybe it wasn’t all about his feelings for me but how much this changed the dynamic between the three of us and the eight years of history we had. How keeping a secret from him when he trusted us both altered our relationships. “But I want you to be happy, Avery.”

  Tears well in my eyes. “I want you to be happy too.”

  “I will be.” He puts his hand over mine. “Gonna be kind of weird seeing you like a stepmom though.” He cocks his head to the side.

  “How about I’m just your best friend and also your Dad’s girlfriend and we don’t have to go further into detail on what that means.”

  He moves his head back and forth like he’s thinking it over. “Maybe eventually.”

  “I’m really sorry that I hurt you,” I whisper. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t… be what you wanted.”

  “You don’t need to apologize for that.” He shrugs. “And I swear… I haven’t had those feelings in years.”

  “Have you talked to your dad?” I ask.

  “No, I’m going to go there next. I just took the train down this morning.” He stands up and pulls me into a hug and presses a kiss to my forehead like he’s done a million times before. He pulls back and makes his way to the door, with the muffin in one hand and the coffee in the other. “I’m going to be in town for the weekend. I think Rory is going to come down tomorrow, maybe we can all get a drink? Like old times?” He shrugs. “You can bring your new boyfriend.” He smiles and I laugh even as emotion builds in my throat that maybe everything is going to be okay.

  “You’re the best, you know that?”

  “Yeah, I know…it’s kind of the worst,” he jokes before he’s out the door.

  That night, the three of us and Raegan and Wes are at Theo’s house for dinner when Lucas speaks up. “So, how’d Camille and Shawn take it?” Lucas says as he takes a bite of the steak Theo had prepared.

  Theo and I exchange a glance. “Well…”

  Lucas’ eyes widen. “Holy shit, they don’t know?”

  “My mom does!” I say and Lucas’ mouth drops open.

  “Oh, shiiiiit. Please. You both owe me. Just let me be there when you tell Shawn.” He puts his hands together like he’s praying.

  Raegan giggles and shoots me a look. “You do kind of owe him.”

  “You’re absolutely not helping,” Theo interjects as he glares at her.

  “I’ve helped a lot, thank you very much,” she says with a snap of her fingers. “Besides, this is not why we’re here. We’re here to talk about wedding things.” She points back and forth between her and Wes. “This is the whole reason you’re home,” she says to Lucas as she smacks his arm. “Tuxedos. Tomorrow. All three of you. Ten a.m.”

  “Yes, I know,” Theo says like he’s heard this a hundred times, and based on how Raegan has been in wedding planning mode, I don’t doubt it.

  “Do Avery and I need to come?” She says and Wes presses a kiss to her temple.

  “Baby, we got it,” he tells her and she puckers her lips for him to kiss her lips which he does instantly.

  “But no seriously, when are you going to tell Avery’s dad? And can I be there? For moral support of course,” Lucas asks again.

  Raegan laughs. “Yeah right, you just want to stir the pot.”

  “I mean, I think Shawn will love it. He doesn’t have to worry about not having anything in common with his daughter’s boyfriend. I mean you golf with him twice a month!” He claps. “I think it’s great! You think he’ll call you son?”

  Raegan and Wes chuckle quietly and I roll my eyes at all three of them. “I am glad you’re all so amused!”

  Theo pours me a glass of wine and sits next to me. “Everything is going to be fine. Telling you was always going to be the hardest. Shawn will be,” he swallows, “interesting.”

  “Oh God.” Raegan chuckles. “Who’s going to tell Mom?”

  Theo and I are at my apartment because Lucas is definitely not ready to be in the house while his father and I share a bed. But we don’t hate it because this allows us more privacy and also for us to be very loud. “I still think you should get out of your lease and move in with me.” He pulls me to rest my head on his chest. “Lucas will get over us sharing a bed at some point.”

  “Okay, but I literally just moved in.”

  “All the more reason to get out of your lease now.”

  “It would be so expensive,” I argue.

  He tilts my chin up to look at him and raises an eyebrow. “We can afford it.”

  That we makes me fucking melt.

  “Just let me keep it for six months. We just started dating. Let’s crawl before we walk,” I offer.

  “Fine.” He kisses me. “I’m not agreeing to sleeping away from you though.”

  “Works for me. You cook me breakfast in the mornings I don’t go to the café,” I tell him as I press my lips to his bare chest. He doesn’t say anything for a minute and when I look up at him he’s staring at the ceiling. “What are you thinking about?” He meets my gaze and gives me a heart stopping smile. “Tell me something good.”

  He picks my left hand up and runs his thumb over my ring finger. “You said we should crawl before we walk but…I’ve been walking for a while now.” I gasp, hearing the implication and sit up. “I think this finger would look better with a ring on it. My ring.” He drags his lips over the skin and gives me a smile. “What do you think?”

  My heart thumps wildly in my chest thinking about marrying this man. I lean over and press my lips to his. “You want to marry me?”

  His lips turn upwards and he gives me a sexy grin. “Yes.”

  I move so that I’m lying on top of him. “Well, then you should really think about telling my dad soon.”

  Ten Months Later

  “Mrs. Graham,” I wrap my arms around my wife—as of twenty minutes ago—and press a kiss to her neck.

  She turns around and rubs her hands up my chest before she reaches up on her toes to kiss me. “Mr. Graham.” She scrunches her nose. “You know? I think I’m just going to call you husband instead. Mr. Graham makes me feel like I’m thirteen again.” She giggles.

  “I don’t care what you call me as long as you’ve got this ring on your finger.” I rub the wedding band I’d just slid on her finger that joined the four-carat oval-cut engagement ring. We’d snuck off to the bridal suite for a moment before we have to join everyone at the reception and I am hoping that I can entice her to let me see what’s under her dress again. “You look so beautiful,” I tell her as I help her take her veil off. “I am the luckiest man in the world.” I cup her face and press my lips to hers.

  “Theo…we really can’t.” She giggles. “It’s bad enough we started the ceremony twenty minutes late because someone needed to fuck me with their mouth one more time before we got married.”

  I run my gaze down her body, wanting my mouth between her legs again. “I did not hear you complaining.”

  “They probably thought one of us had cold feet!”

  I snort as I pour us both a glass of champagne and hand her one. “No, they all knew what we were doing.”

  “I don’t know which is worse.” She groans as she taps her glass with mine.

  “What will be worse is when I want to leave this party after twenty minutes to get our honeymoon started.”

  “Okay, seriously, the fact that you’ve been able to keep a whole trip a secret is wild. Can I know where we’re going yet?”

  “You’ll know when you get there.” I smile, thinking about how excited she’ll be when she finds out we’ll be honeymooning in the south of France. “Rory and Rae packed for you; you’ll be fine. Not that you really need any clothes.”

  She raises an eyebrow at me and presses her body against mine. “Really? That sounds promising.”

  I go to press my lips to hers when there’s a knock on the door. “Okay, come out or I’m coming in,” I hear Lucas’ voice. “Dad, can you keep your hands off of her for five minutes? Jesus.”

  “You can come in.” Avery laughs as Lucas comes in holding a glass of wine, and I already know we’re in for a long night especially since Raegan had her very adorable daughter two months ago and this is her first real outing since.

  “We’re waiting on you guys, you know. The party can’t really start without you.”

  “Five minutes,” Avery says and I’m surprised she’s not suggesting we follow him now. He closes the door behind him and she turns around to look at me. “I love you and I’m so ready to start my life with you.”

  “Me too, baby. I’m going to make you so happy.”

  “You already do,” she says, shooting me her gorgeous smile.

  “Shall we?” I guide her towards the door and open it for her.

  “Yeah, I guess before they send another search party.” She giggles and when we make it into the hallway, we see Rory and Lucas…kissing? They stop, not having realized that we are in the hallway before they make their way outside towards the tent, where we’re having the reception.

  “No freaking way!” Avery looks at me with wide eyes. “Did you know?”

  “Absolutely not. If I did, you’d know.”

  “Wowwww,” she says as we start walking towards the tent. “Those jerks are keeping a secret from me?” I shoot her a look thinking about a very big secret she kept from them both once upon a time about her relationship. “That is…” she starts. “Okay, fair.”

  I hear someone in the distance preparing to announce our entrance and I lace our fingers together. “Let’s just enjoy tonight. We’ll have the rest of our lives to bug Lucas about his love life.”

  The End

  Want to know what to read next? Check out What Was Meant to Be:

  a steamy dad’s best friend romance!

  PREVIEW OF WHAT WAS MEANT TO BE

  “She’s getting fucking married?” The words come out harsher than I intended, leaving my mouth through gritted teeth. I have one hand gripping the phone tightly and in the other, the engagement party invitation that I want to rip to shreds. Seeing the names Whitney Monroe and Parker Anderson printed in gold script makes me fucking enraged. I clench my fist, damaging the crisp white paper in the process before I toss it towards my desk. I can’t bear the sight of the words another second.

  “Together with their families.”

  Whitney’s family. My family. The thought of watching her get married sends a wave of sadness through me. Followed by a wave of anger. Then regret.

  How can she be getting married?