Best of 2017

by Alexa Riley

  “What just happened?” she demands when we get to the first landing.

  “Third floor,” I croak and point up. “I thought he was…I thought he was someone else.”

  “Grayson?”

  I blink at her in confusion. “No.” It won’t hurt to tell her. “I thought it was my ex. His name is Vaughn.”

  Understanding flashes in her bright blue eyes as she helps me to the third floor. My knees are wobbling, and I’m shaken up badly. She tugs my jangling keys from my grip when I can’t seem to fit the key into the slot. Once we step inside, I hastily snap all of the bolt locks in place. Her wide blue eyes are staring at me as if I’m an injured animal that might bite the person trying to help them.

  “Is this Vaughn character stalking you?” she questions, concern painting her pretty features. I want to hate her, but right now she’s the only person I’ve got.

  “No. I just…” I trail off and a shudder ripples through me. “I thought he might have found me, and it’s been stressing me out. I’m sure it’s all in my head. He can’t know where I am. I’ve made sure.”

  Her eyes flit around the dumpy apartment as she comprehends my meaning. “Can I make you something to drink?”

  Tears well in my eyes as I regard her. Hours ago her husband was on my couch making himself at home. Now, she’s in here, offering to serve me as if I’m her guest and not the other way around.

  “Vodka. Freezer,” I clip out.

  She nods and disappears into the kitchen while I plop down on my sofa. The afghan on the back was one my therapist made for me. I jerk it around me and attempt to warm up. I’m shaking from the inside out. When she returns, she has two glasses filled with what looks like ice water. I know better. I can smell that gasoline from a mile away.

  “Thirsty?” Her eyes flicker with a slight wickedness as she hands me my glass.

  I sip my vodka on the rocks and make a face. But the fire running down my throat instantly warms me. “I’m sorry about all of this.” I wonder if she can smell her husband’s scent lingering in my apartment. I can and I’m annoyed that I still like the smell.

  “So you’re having a bad day,” she says with a laugh and plops down beside me like we’re best friends. “I have them often.” Her eyes darken and she looks away from me. Guilt surges through me. I wonder how many other women Gray has been with while married to this woman. There’s nothing wrong with her. She’s beautiful and feisty. Why would he step out on her?

  “Why do you stay with him?” I ask, my throat suddenly choking up.

  Confusion swims in her eyes. “With Grayson?”

  I nod and her gaze softens.

  “Because I love him,” she says as if that’s enough reason. “And because I don’t cope well on my own.”

  “Cope?”

  “When I was a kid, I suffered from kidney issues. My left kidney was dying and trying to poison me in the process.” We both eye the alcohol in her hand and she sets it down on the table. “I’m not supposed to drink that.” She laughs and tears shine in her eyes. “There are a lot of things I’m not supposed to do now. But I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Gray.” Pure love is reflected in her gaze.

  “That’s why you put up with his…” I can’t even say the word.

  “Shenanigans?” Another laugh from her.

  I chug the vodka while she composes herself.

  “Slow down there, killer, or I’ll be cleaning up vomit. My brother would have a fit if I got his girlfriend shit-faced.” She snorts and steals the glass from me. The room spins as I gape at her.

  “Wait. What?”

  Her lips quirk up on one side and she reminds me of a certain crazy man who’s recently decided to disrupt my entire life. “Grayson’s my older brother. I was the ‘oops’ baby my parents had fifteen years later.”

  I’m so stunned, I have no words to say.

  Brother.

  Brother.

  I’ve made a fool out of myself because I thought Gwen was his wife.

  “Oh my God…” I groan and clutch my stomach that truly is roiling. “But you were so mad at me.”

  “You were eyeing me like I was a venomous snake!” she argues with a giggle and swats my thigh. Warmth shoots through me. My friend Lisa from high school used to be that way. A knee slapper is what we called her.

  “Because I thought Gray brought me on a date to meet his wife!”

  This sends her into a fit of laughter that has her doubled over. Once I make sense of the stupidity of it all, I start laughing too. Then we’re both trying to talk with tears streaming down our cheeks.

  “You h-h-had the bitch look!”

  “You were s-so p-pretty and I thought you were his wife!”

  “I thought my brother found himself a mega bitch!”

  “I thought I was going to have to castrate him in front of his wife!”

  We’re both laughing so hard when someone pounds on the door. We ignore it at first, but when the pounding gets louder, we both fall silent.

  “You stay there,” she instructs as she fumbles for her keys. She holds up a can of mace that’s on her key ring as she starts toward the door. Must have been what she got that creepy dude downstairs with. Suddenly, I want to hug this girl and never let her go.

  When she stands on her toes and peeks out the peephole on the door, she lets out a snort. “Oh, God. Do you want to talk to him?”

  “Why are you here, Gwen?” he growls from the other side.

  She looks at me and rolls her eyes. “Consoling your girlfriend. You hurt her feelings.”

  “I’m not his girlfriend,” I hiss but she just winks at me.

  “I don’t know what the hell happened,” he roars from the other side. “One minute everyone is hunky-fucking-dory and the next my baby sister runs off with my…” Silence falls, and Gwen and I seem to be holding our breath.

  “Violet,” he finally says with a huff.

  “Your Violet?” Gwen challenges with an arched brow my way.

  I shake my head at her. “I’m not his.” But warmth spreads throughout my body by that notion.

  “Let me in so I can make sure she’s okay,” he pleads.

  Something in the vulnerable way he says it has me chewing on my lip and nodding. As soon as she unlocks the last bolt, he pushes through the door past her and drops to the sofa beside me. His icy blue eyes seem to swirl with hurt and concern. It causes my heart to flutter. Stupid heart. His warm hand envelops mine and he squeezes.

  “Everything okay?” His voice is husky and raw.

  “Yeah.”

  “What happened?”

  Gwen tosses her keys back in her purse. “A miscommunication.”

  Gray frowns at me but doesn’t press the issue any further. “Do you want me to stay with you?”

  “I’ll be fine. I’ve just had a long day. Truly. You two should go. I appreciate the…” I stall because I don’t know what to call this intense pair.

  “In the real world, they call it friendship. Glad we became friends,” Gwen chirps, wearing the same shit-eating grin her brother wore earlier today when he made a declaration of friendship as well.

  My eyes dart to Gray’s, and he’s smirking at me. “We’ll leave but get yourself to bed early.”

  “So it’s not just me he bosses around,” Gwen says behind him.

  He flips her off but his eyes never leave mine. I like the way they wash over me. Assessing my emotions. It’s nice to be someone’s focus.

  “I’ll call you and check up on you tomorrow,” he says finally. I can hear the reluctance in his voice, but he stands anyway.

  Gwen walks over to me and hugs me. “Talk soon, friend.” Her smile widens. “I’ll get your digits from my brother.”

  Grayson ruffles her hair and then proceeds to poke at her until she makes her way to the door. Now that I’m not freaking out over her being his wife, they’re actually a cute pair of siblings.

  “She’s a stalker,” he mouths to me. “You’re going to have to b
lock her.”

  She punches him in the arm but wears a smile that she regards me with. “Don’t forget to lock up, Vi.”

  I give them a wave and follow them to the door. Grayson gives me a long penetrating stare before mouthing the word “bye” and stalking after his sister.

  Two friends in one day.

  It only took seven years to make all two of them.

  CHAPTER TEN

  GRAYSON

  SLEEP IS FOR PUSSIES. At least that’s what I tell myself on night two of no shuteye. After I made sure Gwen made it home safely and we watched a movie together, I slipped out of the house to go see Violet again. When I left her earlier this evening, she was shaken up and slightly drunk. It took everything in me to leave, but the only reason I left was because I knew it would only be a matter of hours before I came back.

  Click.

  I twist the knob and push the door inward after disengaging all three locks. The apartment is dark and quiet. Slipping inside, I make sure to close the door as silently as possible. For a moment, I remain still with my back pressed against the door. I’m patient. I count the seconds. Then the minutes. And eventually, it rolls into an hour before I feel comfortable to proceed. I slip out of my shoes and pad through the house. Last night and earlier today, I learned so much about her. Tonight, I intend on finding more out. If I don’t find anything, it will be worth just seeing her sleep again.

  Her bedroom door is ajar, and the room is dark. I want to turn on a light to look at her, but from the sounds of her soft breathing, I don’t think she’s in a heavy sleep like the night before. With slow and silent movements, I tug at the curtain until moonlight shines down upon her bed from the window. I’m disappointed to see that she’s sleeping in a T-shirt rather than in the nude like last time.

  I’ll have to fix that.

  Prowling through the room, I make my way over to her bedside. She looks angelic in the moonlight as she sleeps. So delicate and perfect. Fragile like a porcelain doll. The thought of anyone breaking her has fury bubbling up inside me. Earlier, when I’d probed Gwen about what they’d talked about, she’d kept her lips zipped. Despite my annoyance over being left out of the loop, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride that my Violet was able to pull forth a sense of comradery from Gwen. My sister doesn’t have friends. Her issues make it difficult for her to make or keep them. Boyfriends are non-existent. My sister is unable to take care of herself, much less others, which is why she relies so heavily on me. The fact that she seemed to have this desire to look out for Violet—even so much as protecting a secret—was huge for Gwen.

  Maybe Violet’s neatness would rub off on Gwen.

  The very thought of Violet wading through Gwen’s mess has me suppressing a shudder. Gwen is too much like Mother. She teeters on that edge between sane and lost. It terrifies me. I attempt to tether her to me so if she falls, I can reel her back in. From time to time, I do just that. But what worries me the most is that our connection won’t be strong enough. That one day she’ll fall and it will simply snap. My sister will be just as gone as our mother.

  I sit down on the edge of the bed and brush Violet’s hair from her brow so I can see her eyes. They’re closed and her mouth is parted. She sleeps soundly. With a smile, I peel away the blankets and regard her perfect form. Who needs sleep when you get to spend the night staring at this vision? I begin a slow, subtle pulling of her T-shirt. Tiny movements that won’t be felt as she slumbers. Carefully, I bring her arms through the holes of her shirt and then eventually remove the shirt altogether. Her tits are absolutely divine in the moonlight. With a sigh, I carry her shirt over to the hamper and dump it inside. Then, I make my way back over to her. Pale pink panties are the only thing she wears now. I want those gone too.

  My fingers tug at the fabric and I’m able to gently slide the soft material down her thighs. Once I get them past her knees, she makes a soft sigh. I pause in my efforts as my heart jackknifes in my chest. If she found me like this, undressing her, things could turn bad very quickly. Her breath evens out, though, and I set to sliding her panties off the rest of the way. Instead of relinquishing the lingerie, I keep it as a token. I inhale the fabric, my mouth watering at her unique scent before I shove them into my pocket.

  My cock is hard in my pants, but I ignore it as I settle for digging more into her life. I snag her phone from the charger and take it with me into the kitchen. In the dark, I rummage around until I find a bowl of fruit on the counter. I settle at a bar stool and begin peeling the orange as I flip through her phone. She has no pictures saved, which I find strange. But when I hunt through the deleted folder, I find a few selfies she took. So beautiful when she smiles. I also find some screenshots of the ocean. There’s even a screenshot of a woman’s Facebook page and I connect this woman as her mother. From her phone, I text all of the pictures to my phone. Of course my phone doesn’t buzz from my pocket because I turned it off before my little recon mission. I delete the trace of my sending them to me from her phone.

  Once I finish peeling my orange, I eat the wedges unrushed as I snoop through her phone.

  Her texts are basic. I’m in her contacts along with my office number. She also has that fucker Sean Slante on there. I’m not sure where all of her friends are but they’re not here on her phone. Popping up her messages with Sean, I read through everything they’ve chatted about. Apparently he’s very apologetic about last night. The motherfucker should be. He took advantage of her. She eventually responded back to him in a very polite manner, saying she’d talk to him later. He’d responded back with some other flirty bullshit. And my girl never replied. I smile and it doesn’t feel as foreign as usual.

  From her phone, I decide to take matters into my own hands and pretend to be her.

  Violet: What you did was sleazy.

  It satisfies me knowing he’ll read that and shit his panties. It’s late but apparently, the fuck is awake because he replies.

  Sean: Are you drunk again?

  His tone boils my blood. It’s as if he assumes she gets wasted all the time. I don’t know Violet well but I am perceptive enough to realize she doesn’t do this often. Her life is too orderly to get out of control on a frequent basis.

  Violet: I’m clear headed. How do I know that when working for you, this kind of thing won’t be a regular occurrence? I was blacked out, and had that nice man not saved me, you’d have probably fucked me in that cab.

  His response is immediate.

  Sean: Whoa. Calm down, Letty. We both got a little wasted but the last thing I would ever want is for you to think I would take advantage of you. I’m not like those guys at Maxwell. You know this.

  I stiffen and glare at the glowing screen as I shove the last orange wedge in my mouth.

  Violet: What do you mean?

  While he types, I scoop up all of the orange peelings and hide them at the bottom of the garbage can.

  Sean: You mentioned last night how they touch you against your wishes. I may have drunk a lot but I didn’t forget what you said. And last night, you wanted me to touch you. It was extremely unprofessional and I’m sorry. I don’t want us to get off on the wrong foot.

  My blood boils and I nearly crack the screen in my brutal death grip. Who the fuck has been touching her against her wishes at Maxwell? I’m raging with fury but I attempt to quell it. I’ll get to the bottom of this on Monday. Whoever thinks they can fuck with my girl is going to pay.

  Violet: Please keep things professional from here on out.

  Sean: Of course. I’m sorry.

  Once I’m certain he isn’t going to respond anymore, I delete all of tonight’s correspondence before pocketing her phone. I give my hands a quick rinse in the sink and then I’m back to check on her. She’s still sleeping soundly, but this time naked like she belongs. My cock aches for her. In the moonlight, her perfect round tits are on display. I want to mark her up and stain her with all that is me. Those sorts of thoughts don’t help my dick.

  Before Violet,
whenever I’d feel the need to fuck, I’d give my friend Elisha a call. She’d come over and let me use her however I needed to. Then, she’d leave, her purse a little heavier than it was when she showed up.

  But now…

  The thought of being inside any woman who isn’t Violet is repulsive. Violet is mine and she will continue to be mine. I’ll make her mine in every way that I possibly can. There’s no way I’ll be able to peacefully sleep with my cock throbbing so painfully. I carefully undo my belt and pants before sliding them to my ankles. With my foot, I kick them under the bed. I peel away my sweater and have it join my pants as well. Once I’m standing beside her in nothing but my boxers and socks, I stroke myself through my underwear.

  God, I fucking want her.

  I push my boxers down my thighs so that my heavy erection bobs out. When I take it in my grip, it’s hot and pulsating. I’m dying to push into every single one of her holes. To draw out pleasure and pain from her. I want to own every part of her.

  Fisting my cock feverishly, I attempt to keep my grunts stifled. With each tug, I get closer and closer to release. Desire for her alights every nerve ending from my skull to my toes. I push the sheet away from her so I can see all of her creamy flesh. Her sweet cunt looks good enough to eat. The thought sends me over the edge, and I spurt my heat all over her lower stomach. I groan as the last of my orgasm drips from the tip of my cock onto the edge of the bed. With a sated smile, I run my fingertips through my release on her body. I drag my seed along her taut stomach to the curves of her breasts. I smear it all over her nipples and my dick jolts with excitement when they harden in response. With my wet fingers, I give in to the urge to touch her cunt. I’m satisfied when a small moan escapes her the moment my cum-covered finger slides along her seam and rubs at her clit. Last night she had her own fingers. Tonight she has me. She’ll always have me.

  Her body squirms in her sleep. I’m dying to pry her legs apart and suck on her perfect nub until she screams my name. But her breathing has slowed, and I don’t want her to wake. Reluctantly, I remove my finger and simply stare at her. My cock has gone flaccid, but I know if I keep staring at her wet tits, I’ll come all over her again. With a soft sigh, I use the sheet to clean away my spent seed. Eventually, a yawn escapes me. I decide a small nap is in order. Her breathing is regular again, so I walk around to the other side of the bed. I gently slide into the covers beside her.