One Chance (The Sullivan Family, #3)

by Lena Hendrix

We had both been careful never to cross the line into anything more than friends, but calling her my friend was somehow grossly inadequate. Annie was a part of me.

I looked down at my best friend. Her pink lips tipped up in the tiniest smile, and I wanted to call the whole thing off. Tell her that we should just skip ahead to the part where I give in to this gnawing feeling and kiss her already.

Did his eyes just move over my mouth? My heart hammered. “To Annette. You were always meant to be a Sullivan.”

In a heartbeat, Lee crowded my space. His large hand cupped the back of my neck as he pulled me into him. He hesitated only a fraction of a second before pulling my mouth to his. In one searing kiss, Lee Sullivan completely changed the rules.

I had kissed a lot of women, but none of them compared to her. My Annette.

Just break up with him already. You’re mine for six dates and I don’t share.

“You’re damn right I’m jealous. I also don’t like the way he looks at you—like whatever’s going on between you is some kind of game. You’re not a game. You’re the fucking prize.” Annie breathed out. “I thought this was supposed to be fake.” I leaned down to whisper. “Nothing about the way I feel about you is fake. It never has been.”

“Technically, this is in public.” I leaned back to appreciate how gorgeous she looked, full lips parted in surprise and a sexy little flush staining her cheeks. “Fuck, baby, I’m getting hard just looking at you.”

“Watch and know it’s me who’s making you come so hard that your legs are shaking.”

“Goddamn, Annette. I always thought you were pretty, but you are fucking gorgeous when you fall apart.”

Annie was so much more than my best friend. She was a balm for my tattered soul.

“Lee,” she breathed, arching into my mouth. “What are we doing?” “We’re forgetting anyone else exists.”

“So it’s you and me, huh?” His lips pressed into my hair. “Glad you’re finally catching up.” I tilted my head to grin at him. My stomach swooped at the soft way Lee looked at me. He dropped a kiss on my forehead. “It’s always been you, baby.”

If I wasn’t already so far gone for that woman, it would have been the exact moment I fell in love with her. Only with Annie, it was a lifetime of falling for her.

“I denied myself this—told myself you were off limits, but now? Now that I’ve had you, there’s no going back. You’re mine.”

“Remember that time you told me I was going to marry Annie Crane?” My hand found the ache in my chest and rubbed. “I think you might have been right, Mom.”

“You are amazing, but I need you to know . . . nothing about this was ever fake. Not for me. You’re my girl.”

“There is no distance between your heart and mine. Every single day with you is the best day of my life.”