Snapshot

by Kay Cove

It’s good I only have one grandchild. It wouldn’t have been fair. Dex would’ve outshone the rest. He was always destined to be my favorite.

So, I’m sending him to a place where he can feel close to you. If you’re up there watching over us, please take extra good care of our grandson.

“Then I’d tell you to take that off. Your shorts, too. Then get in my shower while I watch.”

“It’s not a bra. It’s a bralette,” she mutters. “Like a crop top.” I flash her a devilish smile. “All the same once it’s on the floor.”

Three years ago, when the quirky showstopper with purple hair appeared at my bedroom door, trying to contribute to a pitch jar, I sucked in a breath I’ve been holding ever since. I’ve held on to Lennox like a troll does its treasure. I keep her close however I can.

“How about this? Do you want me to break your heart so you don’t have to break mine?”

For fuck’s sake. Some random dude stole my girl with a piece of fruit.

“No. Sorry. You can have literally any bill in my bank account except that one. It means way too much to me.” It only takes one line. Just like that, my fate is sealed.

“Do you want this to be meaningful? You want me to tell you how I really feel about you? Because once I do, there’s no going back.”

“Trouble…my heart stops every time you walk into a room. I am fucking obsessed with you. I have been from the very first moment you showed up at my bedroom door and gave me that ten-dollar bill.” He reaches out to cup my cheek, running his thumb along my bottom lip. “But how do we make sense? My destiny is everything you despise. I didn’t know how else to keep you close except with…lies.”

“I was trying to maintain boundaries,” he answers defensively. “I didn’t know what you wanted.” I grab his shirt and tighten my fist, pulling him closer. “You. For three fucking years, Dex. You.”

Dex flashes me a satisfied smirk. “I believe you got a message, Mrs. Hessler.”

I’m not waiting one more night for your sweet pussy, Lennox. You’re my wife. All mine. I’ll have you when I want, where I want. Clear?

That first little whimper the moment when I drag my wet tongue over her slit. Fuck, that sound. So goddamn satiating. I blow against her sex like I’m breathing life into her.

I smile at her. “Want to know what you taste like?” “No,” she says flatly. I laugh and answer anyway. “Delicious. Like the last pussy I’ll ever crave.”

“I have every intention of being your last.” Wedging my hand between her thighs, I cup her sex. “This is for me and only me moving forward. I want you bare.”

“I shouldn’t have to say it, Dex. Don’t you know by now? I’ve been yours.”

“Choose love over fair. Over duties. Escape, Dex. Do you understand me? Love, love, love. Fight for it. Obsess over it. It’s the only thing that makes sense at the end of your life. How do I get you to understand that? You should have loyalty to absolutely nothing else except love.”

“She’s not sick, Dex. Don’t you see it? Your grandmother and Jacob were obviously lovers.”

Fucking lottery, Lennox. Good girl. You fell for a guy with eyes like a mermaid’s tail, a rock-hard body you can climb like a tree, and he knows his way around the kitchen? That does it. I’m convinced. There’s a God after all.

“Dex Hessler, we were never friends. We were just waiting.” “Waiting for what?” he asks. “I have no idea. Something big.”

“I’m done with the jealousy, Lennox. If I ever find out you’re thinking about another man, I won’t end us. I’ll end him. Don’t ever make me miss you again. Do you understand?”

What shocks me is that twenty-some-year-old Jacob looks unsettlingly identical to my husband⁠—

“Maybe I just always wanted my kids to come out with purple hair.”

That affair produced a child to a mother who is not fit to be a mother.

Let me be explicitly clear with everyone in this room that I am a team with my wife. Disrespecting her is disrespecting me. I have zero tolerance for it.”

“Everything else in my life can break and shatter…except us. You’re my priority, Lennox. It’s as simple as that. I’ll get rid of anyone who threatens my happily ever after.”

I think I missed you before I even knew you. If I hadn’t met you, I’m convinced I would’ve ended up alone.

“Eh, for all you know I cast a spell on you.” I wink at him. “Good. Keep it. I want to stay in love with you forever.”

Lies. My Nancy Drew instincts kick in, and I’m more certain than ever… All the pieces are clicking together like finding the final part of a 2,000-piece puzzle. Here it is: Dex is not a true Hessler. But Denny is.

Dex holds out his hand. “Come on, baby. You and me. If we’re going to be shark bait, we’ll be shark bait together.” “That’s not as romantic as you think it is,” I call back.

“No, I forgot for a moment. When I couldn’t see clearly, you could. The smartest thing I can do is trust you, Lennox Hessler.