Total pages in book: 19
Estimated words: 17835 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 89(@200wpm)___ 71(@250wpm)___ 59(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 17835 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 89(@200wpm)___ 71(@250wpm)___ 59(@300wpm)
I wanted to pull her in close and make sure no one touched her, that no one ever had her but me.
Cursing inwardly, I printed out the new order report, and left my office. I had shit to do, work to take care of. I was done waiting, done with the internal battle I was waging with myself. Time was wasting, and I wasn’t getting any younger. I was going to finally make it known to her—to everyone—that I felt something more than a passing desire. She’d be my wife. She’d be the mother of my children. Calissa would be my everything.
Hell, she already was.
Calissa
I held onto the bottle of wine tightly as I made my way up the steps toward Megs’ house. Although the barbecue was low-key, I didn’t know exactly who was all showing up. I knew whom I wanted to show up, though.
Tex … with his burly attitude and sexy-as-sin ways.
I couldn’t stop thinking about him and that night at the bar. It had only been a few days ago, but it was still so fresh in my mind. Whenever I thought about him, it wasn’t just what his hands would feel like on me, or what his big body over mine would be like. It was so much more than that.
I adjusted the wine bottle under my arm and fixed the strap of the insulated bag I held over my shoulder. The side dish I’d brought was something store-bought, probably didn’t taste very good, but I doubted anyone who would be drinking would care either way.
I didn’t bother knocking, not when I was close enough to Megs that I could just open her front door. As soon as I was inside I heard people talking at the back of the house. I made my way toward the sound, glancing in the kitchen on my way out back and seeing the spread of food on the breakfast bar.
Through the sliding glass doors I saw a handful of people all sitting around the fire pit. Although it wasn’t really cold enough for a fire, it created a nice ambience. I walked into the kitchen and set my dish and wine bottle down. I made my way over toward the cabinet and grabbed a glass. Once I had my glass filled, I headed with it outside. Megs grinned when she saw me and pulled me in for a hug.
“I’m so glad you were able to come,” she said, then smiled. “I don’t know if you’ve met some of the people I work with.” She started naming off everyone. “That’s Jordan, Alexis, Brody, Trevor, and over there is Tonya.” Everyone she named off lifted their hand to greet me. One guy, in particular, Brody, grinned especially wide and gave me a wink.
I didn’t bother hiding my distaste.
I took an empty seat in front of the fire, staring at the flames. I listened to everybody talking about random things. Megs started talking to me about something, but my mind was focused on Tex. There were so many things I wanted to say to him, but I was afraid. As I looked at Megs, I wondered how bad it would be if I just admitted that I wanted her brother.
Would she think I crossed invisible lines because I was in love with him, because I wanted him in all the ways that counted? Rejection and her disappointment in the whole matter was what had held me back for so long. But I was getting to a point in my life where I just didn’t care about what others thought.
Yes, she was my best friend, well, even more like a sister to me. But should I sacrifice my happiness, or my potential happiness, because she wouldn’t agree with me being with her big brother? Sure, he was older, but we were both consenting adults.
“Hey, are you listening to me?” Megs asked.
I cleared my throat and blinked a few times as I stared at her. “Yeah,” I said, but the look she gave me told me she knew I wasn’t being truthful. I cleared my throat and shifted on the chair. She lifted a brow and I smiled, trying to appear like I hadn’t just been thinking about being in love with her brother.
“What’s on your mind?”
“Nothing,” I said and shook my head as I looked back at the fire. But Megs knew me well enough to know that I was lying.
“Calissa, what’s going on?” I looked at her once more, the words on the tip of my tongue. Maybe she’d be supportive of it? Maybe she’d want me to be happy, as well as Tex? Maybe I was just worrying over nothing. I didn’t even know if Tex wanted me. It’s not like he ever gave me any kind of indication.
As I opened my mouth, maybe to tell her how I felt, finally confide in her, the sound of the sliding back door opening had me turning and looking in that direction. There stood Tex, a case of beer in his hand, his big body taking up the entire space. His focus was trained right on me, his look intense.