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I have the literary version of erectile dysfunction.
How do I create when the magic is gone?” “Start small, like a haiku,”
After the breakup, I cried every day as I ran. Then, one day, no more tears fell. But sometimes I pushed so hard my body wanted to break as much as my heart. Running told me I was still alive. I knew I’d survive when I felt like dying.
It takes all of my strength not to smile, because I know from this single encounter she will be the end of me.
He licks the rim and places the lime between his lips. I’ve never been so jealous of a fruit in my whole life.
“I’ll have mine on a separate check, please.” “No, not necessary,” Alex insists. “I will tip you very well if you ignore her request.”
Five things I can see: grass, trees, mountains, pumpkins, a woman walking her dog. Four things I can hear: the wind blowing through the leaves, a few birds chirping, a couple in the distance chatting, a car zooming by. Three things I can touch: the wood on the bench, my jeans, the soft fabric of my T-shirt. Two things I can smell: the light hint of Autumn’s perfume and the scent of freshly cut grass. One thing I can taste: the sweet and sour from the margarita I had at Bookers.
“There’s no scoreboard with us.”
I’m sure a man like you can befriend anyone in Cozy Hollow, but you chose me. I don’t get why. I make shitty coffee and break into people’s homes.”
I don’t respond because she’s too busy trying to convince herself we’d be terrible friends. But I’ll take her words at face value. If I’ve learned anything from my shitty breakup, it’s that there is truth to people’s words, especially the ones they speak about themselves.
I took a chance, and it didn’t work out. It happens to the best of us. Trying is what matters.
“Can you reserve Friday night and Saturday for your new best friend?” A smile takes hold. “Be careful using the term best friend around Julie and Blaire.” “Noted.” He pauses. “I want to hang out with you.” My heart races. “I’m extremely boring.” “Perfect because I was just thinking about how I could use more boring in my life.”
“I’m glad I found you,” I say to her, looking forward to the day when we’re no longer strangers. It’s easy to imagine a whole life with her. “You say it like I was lost.” “You were.”
It shouldn’t feel like this. It shouldn’t feel like home. It shouldn’t feel like I want to do this again and again and again. But it does.
“It wasn’t supposed to be like that,” he whispers, placing his fingers on my chin, forcing me to look into his eyes, and I drown. “I know,” I say.
“See you tonight, Pumpkin,” he says. “Yes,” I say, surprised I can even form words because I’m pretty sure he stole my soul when our lips touched.
“That kiss was passionate as hell. What did it feel like?” My body is still singing. “Like . . . magic.”
P.S. Since you’ve always loved a scavenger hunt, know thirteen notes hide in different places in the house. You’ll discover them when you need them the most. What number is this? If I had to guess, I’d say the first.
“I’m literally the man of your dreams?”
“He said he’d find me. So, seeing you . . .”
“Kissing you felt like magic.”
Fuck, I hope I don’t fall in love with this man.
“Sometimes you look at me like I’ll disappear.” Autumn takes a drink of her beer. “Everyone does, eventually,” I state. “Don’t they?”
“I don’t trust my judgment because I’ve allowed horrible people access to me.”
“I don’t give second chances once things are really over. It’s a rule of mine. It ends for a reason.”
“What we had was obsessive, toxic love. I think all of my relationships have been like that, though. Fast, furious, and fleeting.”
Thirty-seven-year-old me knows I have to write my own rules and not give a fuck what anyone else thinks when it comes to my life and relationships.”
“I’m afraid of growing attached then having to navigate a world without knowing you.”
Old memories flood in about all the nights I thought Sebastian was with other women. However, it was never confirmed. During our final year of being together, I slowly became the insecure girlfriend he warned me I’d become, almost as if he planned it. Sebastian stole my confidence, and with it, my creativity.
“You’re not fling material. You’re the type of woman that men want forever with.”
“Falling in love with me wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen to you, would it?” “No. Losing you would,”
“You don’t want me?” I ask. “I’m scared I won’t let you go,”
Sober me wants a relationship; drunk me begs to be fucked by this man, leaving me unable to stand for a week. And based on the size of him that’s currently pressed against me, that might actually be the case.
Just as I’m falling asleep, I think I hear him mutter, “My good fucking girl.”
I could kiss him right here, right now, in the early morning sunlight, because when he looks at me like that, the world fades away.
When she slid from under that cherry-red 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle with grease on her cheek, I knew she was the woman I’d marry. She brushed loose strands from her face with the back of her hand and looked up at me with big brown eyes. When she smiled? Damn. The world stopped spinning. It was fate,” her dad says, smiling as he reminisces. “Always said it was like magic.”
“Well, it was great meeting you. Please join us for supper sometime soon,” her mom says. “He’s very busy,” Autumn offers. “Actually, my calendar is clear. Any time, any day, just name it,”
“I’m not discussing my private life with you.” I end the call using the same words he gave me when I learned he was marrying my ex–best friend’s mother.
“You’re the first person I’ve ever shared a soul connection with.” “A soul connection,” I repeat. “That’s one way to describe it.” There is an invisible rope that always pulls us together. The odd sense of familiarity, like I’ve always known him. We’re strangers, I remind myself. Perfect strangers.
Life is too fucking short to be in awkward or annoying situations.”
“He made me believe I was insecure, jealous, and paranoid. I’ve never been any of those things in my life. Several times he asked me why I didn’t trust him. I want answers.”
“Zane, yes, cum in me,” I breathe out, noticing how his muscles tense. He’s close. “Please. I want all of you . . .”
We are nothing and everything all at once as our sounds fill the room. I’m breathless and my body is useless. We stay connected and he kisses me. It’s hard for me to imagine a time when I didn’t know he existed.
“And what if all I want is you?” I finally say. He pulls away, meeting my eyes. “You have me.”
“You’re fucking beautiful,” he whispers. “Do you know that?” “Because I was made for you,”
A flood surges through me and I have an out-of-body experience like I’m desperately chasing my next fix. I’m addicted to him.
And then it happens, my pussy clenches around him and I come hard. It’s one of the most intense orgasms I’ve experienced, almost too much when every muscle tightens. I’m on my back again and he fucks me into oblivion. “You’re mine,” I say, meaning it, claiming him as I hold him, kissing him. “Mine.” “Yes,” he says, pumping hard as he empties inside of me.
“I’m not going anywhere, Pumpkin.” “Is that a promise?” I ask, turning my head enough to meet his soft eyes. “One I’ll keep for a lifetime,” he whispers.
life is too short to drink shitty coffee.
Lately, I haven’t felt like I’m meant to live in New York,” I admit, something I’ve never shared with anyone. Not even my sister. She reaches forward, grabbing my hand. “Then where will home be?” “Wherever you are.”
