“Avery, you don't get it. I bumped into him today! He literally ran right into me in Home Depot today. It was beyond creepy.” She nuzzled closer to him, if she could have climbed into his body at that moment, she could have. A chill ran through her body. “Avery, I am going to have an alarm system installed his week.”
“I promise you Emily, I am not going to let anything happen to you. I swear,” he whispered into her ear before pressing a kiss to her cheek. “By the way, you don't know how adorable you are with paint all over you.”
As his lips gently met hers, she pulled him closer, never breaking their kiss as she climbed onto him, pushing his back to the floor while straddling him. Her tongue grazed his bottom lip and he opened up letting her tongue explore his mouth. Their tongues tangled with urgency as they started tugging at the other's clothes. Emily's purple booty shorts and paint-stained, white tank-top hit the floor first as they both scrambled to their feet.
Emily pushed Avery against the freshly painted bedroom wall, working on his belt with her clumsy fingers. Finally freeing it, she repeated the process with his dark blue work pants. As she tugged them down, he pulled his job shirt over his head throwing it next to the pile of clothes she was creating. Emily stood in nothing but her pink Victoria Secret bra, taking the lead from Avery and going commando around the house.
Avery stood against the wet wall, pants around his ankles trapped by his work boots he didn't have time to remove in their urgent moment. He reached behind Emily's back, unclasped her bra and let it fall to the floor with the rest of her clothing. He backed away from the wall pulling Emily into his arms and pressing her against the wet wall.
His strong hand cupped her breasts, while taking each into his mouth. Emily's body shook under his touch and she let out a long moan. She brought her lips to his neck, gently sucking before whispering into his shoulder.
“I need you inside me, now Avery.” In one swift movement, he lifted her up pressing her against the wall as her legs wrapped around his waist. His mouth found hers once again, urgently kissing her, before sinking deep into her center. Both groaned in pleasure as Avery took her up against the wall.
Their bodies crashed against each other in a rush of passion obliviously to anything but each other. With one last roll of her nipple between Avery's fingers, she fell apart under his touch.
He thrust deep one last time before his own release flooded her sweet pussy. They both gasped for breath and stood shakily.
Just as she rounded the corner into the master bathroom, the door swung open, Tom and Becca were stopped dead in their tracks when they found Avery mostly naked with his boxers still around his ankles.
“Oh shit.” Tom said before turning to run back down the stairs. Becca still slack-jawed, staring at Avery's package as Emily popped her head out of the bathroom to see what the commotion was.
“Excuse you!” She snapped while Becca walked away, still shocked.
“Damn it is going to be a bitch to get this paint out of my hair.” Emily laughed while she looked in the mirror at the damage. “Should I re-paint that wall? Or should we leave it as a memory?”
“Leave it. I want to think about fucking you up against the wall every time I walk into this room.” Avery replied, as chills spread across Emily's naked body.
“Extra meat for Emily,” Avery said while sliding a paper plate with two slices of her favorite pizza across the dining room table. With a smile on her face she accepted the plate, before Becca interjected.
“I bet you love that extra meat,” she eyed Emily before turning to look at Avery, still embarrassed from earlier in the evening. Tom spit his soda straight across the table, narrowly missing Gran.
Emily shot her the evil eye, “Don't go there.” She pointed her crust at Becca like it was a knife. The boys sat back watching the girls, as Gran just rolled her eyes, enjoying her first slice of pizza in a decade.
“Since we got so much done tonight, why don't we go out for drinks? We haven't been to Nog in a couple weeks?” Tom asked the table. It was true, since Emily and Avery started dating, at the end of his shifts he ran to spend time with her, not grab drinks with his boys.
“You can pick up that obnoxious cat of yours too now that you are getting settled.” Becca added. Emily had to admit she missed Flip. Seeing the blood all over her apartment had sent her into a panic until she remembered her little furry sidekick was with her non-furry one.
“I guess, I mean... You'll be okay by yourself right Gran?” Avery asked her from across the sprawling white dining room table. She looked back at him annoyed.
“I'll be fine, boy. I haven't lived to seventy-two with someone watchin' over my every move.” She shooed him with her hand. He picked up his slice of pizza, taking another bite before leaning back in his chair and patting his belly, clearly signaling he was finished.
A short time later the two couples pulled up at the small Daytona Beach hole-in-the-wall bar, Avery helped Emily down out of his truck, placing a chaste kiss on her lips and heading for the front door. It filled Avery with pride to finally be walking into someplace where he was a known regular with a stunning woman on his arm. He rarely brought women with him anywhere but lately he couldn't imagine doing anything without her.
“MARTIN YOU ASS! Where the hell have you been?” A voice boomed from across the room as they approached the bar. A short, balding man walked up behind the bar, greeting him with a strong handshake and a huge smile.
“It's been a while, where ya been hidin'?” the stocky man asked while pulling a pint glass down, filling it to the brim with Guinness and sliding it to Avery. “Working, had to spend some time up in Georgia, met this beautiful woman, and moved,” he let out a laugh while pulling Emily closer to him, snaking his arm around her waist in a public sign of ownership. “Yeah, I've been crazy busy.” Avery continued. “Skip, meet Emily Taylor, the love of my life. Emily this is Skip the best barkeep in all of Daytona Beach.” The man nodded his head and gave her a wink before asking what she fancied.
“I'll just have a Woodchuck,” she answered while looking around, taking in the Irish-themed decor in the small bar.
“Bottle alright?” Skip questioned, bringing her back to reality.
“That would be fine,” she took the beer from him taking a quick swig. The hard cider tasted heavenly against her warm lips. She swished it around her mouth before swallowing, taking in the full apple flavor. Man, I missed these.
As the group navigated through the small crowd, heading for a vacant table large enough for the foursome, a woman's voice came from behind the crowd.
“Avery Martin? Is that you?” Her voice shrilled with excitement and Emily immediately tensed against his side. His arm lightened its hold around her, turning to meet the voice beckoning him from behind.
Her small black dress barely covered her flat ass, and her too-big-boobs spilled out over the seam of her v-neck top. She was almost a full foot taller than Emily. Her dark hair and even darker eyes looked familiar for some reason, but Emily couldn't place her.
Avery didn't look pleased to see her. He plastered on a fake smile as he greeted her.
“Hi Quinn, how have you been?” He gave her a nod, never taking his arm off of Emily.
“Oh, just been busy at the hospital. Tons of overtime lately.” Emily instantly placed her, she was a nurse at the Halifax Medical Center.
“I'm sorry; I'm being rude,” Avery said, turning toward Emily. “Quinn, this is Emily Taylor, my girlfriend. Emily, this is Quinn Daniels. We work together on occasion.” When the words left his lips, Quinn looked as though she had just been slapped.
“Oh, Avery! You don't have to be that formal! We dated for a bit. But it is nice to see you again Emily.” Quinn said, placing her hand on Avery's shoulder. Her ugly manicured claws made Emily cringe. What the hell had Avery seen in her? Jealousy twinged through her while they continued to plaster fake smiles on and exchange pleasant words. Even though Emily wanted to smack her around for no damn reason
.
“Nice to see you again as well, Quinn. If you will excuse me, I need to use the ladies' room.” She hauled Becca along with her. Avery looked back at the retreating women with a look of horror on his face.
“Oh how I love ex-girlfriends!” Emily sang as they rounded the corner into the small, two-stall bathroom. Throwing her purse onto the sink she stared into the mirror. She was nothing like Quinn. Quinn was tall, Emily was petite. Quinn had huge boobs. Emily had an average chest. There was a whole laundry list of differences she could point out.
“Don't let her get to you. Come on, that is exactly what that bitch wanted,” Becca started. “You could tell she was jealous of you and how Avery is all over you.” She reapplied her lipstick, puckering her lips together before pointing her lipstick directly at Emily. “You have what she wants, and all she wanted to do was try to make you jealous. Don't let that ugly bitch win.”
Emily gave her best friend a hug. She was right, somehow Becca always knew exactly what to say to her. I guess being best friends for two decades would do that. They linked their arms and exited the bathroom ready to tango if Miss Thing had anything else to say for the night. Emily heard the tail-end of the conversation that ended once Quinn noticed them.
“I thought you didn't have any time for a relationship, Avery? Why would you lie to me?” Her tone wasn't hurt though, it was more like pissed. Avery clearly looked uncomfortable until he saw Emily. She wrapped her arm around his hip, placing a kiss on his cheek.
Avery leaned in for a kiss and Emily eagerly obliged. Tom quickly wrapped himself around Becca only a few feet away. You could slice the tension in the room with a knife as the two women flashed fake smiles back and forth, poor Avery in the middle. Tom quickly realized what was taking place.
“Why don't we go grab that table for a few before we head out? I gotta be in at six.” The couples took his suggestion as gospel and started to move. Before leaving Quinn's company, Avery and Emily wished her well, gushing over how nice it has been to see her gain. Not.
“What the hell was that about?” Tom asked when they were safely tucked into the table, out of an earshot of Quinn.
“She is crazy. We went out like three times. Just dates. Nothing else, ever. I never even brought her to my damn house!” He ran his hands through his blonde hair before continuing. “She was one of those crazy-blow-up-your-phone types, so I just started ignoring her. She didn't get the hint until a few weeks before I met Emily.” Tom gaped at him in shock.
“I thought you guys went out over the winter?” Tom questioned him, lifting his bottle of Bud Light and taking a swig.
“That is the fucked up part! We did, and she didn't get the hint. Months dude!” Their exchange continued as if Emily and Becca weren't watching the back and forth like a tennis match. It shed some light on the subject though, and made Emily feel much more secure in her relationship. Although with one psycho creeping around already, she didn't want to add a crazy ex-girlfriend to the mix.
“I'm tired,” Emily said, followed by a long yawn. “Why don't we cut out so I can pick up Flip tonight?” She missed her tabby furball. It has been too long since he snuggled up in bed with her, and took up all of her leg room in the giant bed. Speaking of beds, thankfully Tom and Avery had put hers together back at the house, so they wouldn't be sleeping on the floor tonight. Earlier in the evening the biggest priority was making sure Gran was settled. As much as she complained about leaving Georgia, she was enjoying the move to Florida.
“Yeah, I second that,” Tom yawned. “I'm just gonna stay at your place tonight, okay B?” Tom asked Becca with a kiss. They were far more cozy than just hooking up. Becca never let guys actually spend the night.
“Let's blow this popsicle stand.” Emily said as she stood up and they all followed suit.
“Hows Mommy's fuzzy boy? Oh ya, scratchy scratchy, he likes that. Oh right above the tail. Mommy missed you Flip.” Emily cooed to her cat, completely ignoring Avery as they lay in bed. The orange tabby strutted back and forth in front of Avery marking his territory before hopping off the bed and barreling down the stairs.
“I hope he doesn't scare the shit out of Gran.” Avery laughed with the image of Flip trying to snuggle up in bed with her and freaking her out. If they heard any screams in the middle of the night, he would for sure be the culprit tonight.
“When do you go back to work this week?” Emily questioned Avery. His unpredictable schedule ate at her nerves. She was thinking about buying a dry-erase board for the fridge in the kitchen and another for her office just to keep track of when he would be gone.
“I go back in two days for a long shift. Tom is only sharing part of it on duty, so the other day he is going to come stay in the guest bedroom, just until the security system is in place.” He pulled her close and kissed her forehead. “What are our plans for the next two days, love?”
“Tomorrow I have a business meeting at noon with my lawyer. He is going to be filing some paperwork for me. I wanted to go back to Home Depot and get more cans of paint. I need to unpack and find a desk for my office.” She looked so happy talking about all she had planned. “Oh, and there is some patio furniture in the garage. I want to pull it out so I can sand it and paint it for the back deck. I think Gran would like to spend some more time out there.”
“The fresh air will do her good, back home all she did was sit out on the front porch.” Avery agreed with her. “Sounds like you have a lot of stuff to get done in two days.” He laughed and pulled her close.
“Go to sleep Avery.” She laughed, pulling his face to hers to share a goodnight kiss before rolling over. He spooned her, pulling her in as close to him as was possible.
“Dream of me, and that hot wall-sex we had earlier.” He whispered into her ear before closing his eyes.
“You dirty, dirty boy.” She whispered back to him, turning the lamp off.
Avery's two days off had flown by. Once the entire house was painted, Emily started working on the patio set and was still searching high and low for a desk. The hard part was out of the way and the easy decorating would flow, it was always the easiest part of the project for Emily.
An appointment had been made for a new security system to be installed in three days, at the start of Avery's seventy-two hours off from work. Tonight Gran and Emily would host Amelia and Ben for dinner. Her sister had been upset to hear Emily was choosing to move back into their late parents' home. The animosity over the property had always been there, but it was worse than ever now. The realization that Emily would make a home out of it instead of selling it or letting Amelia and Ben move in could likely cause a sibling war.
Emily thought she should educate Gran on what they might be facing.
“She is all about appearance and Ben, well he is just a flat out uppity asshole.” The old woman waved her off, dismissing her forewarning of the couple. She carried the dish across the kitchen and placed it into the refrigerator until it was time to pop it into the oven.
“If she is related to you, Suga, she can't be that bad.” Gran gushed.
Flip started scratched at the glass patio doors. The cat had taken to strutting on the deck railing as a hobby. Luckily he never went far.
She opened the door and he flew out with glee.
“Ya know, Suga', that cat damn near scared me into the grave the other night.” Just as Emily had predicted, Flip found the newest warm body in the house and shacked up with her. In Flip's eyes, she was a traitor for inviting Avery into the bed they once shared. Flip could hold a wicked grudge.
Emily's phone started ringing and she jumped. The smallest things still make her jump with fright. Stupid phone.
A few moments later she had her very first client thanks to her grandpa. Although she would be doing the job pro bono, she was excited that her business would slowly start coming together. Between grandpa's business partner's grandson and Becca, she would be doing three more rooms over the next two months. She penciled in Mr. Johnson for the following Thursday
afternoon, a week from today. That gave her only a few short days to finish up her second-floor office.
She scanned her schedule. Tomorrow she would have the day to look for a desk, then Saturday, Sunday, and Monday Avery would be off from work. Wednesday she had a follow up appointment at the hospital with her general practitioner and an afternoon follow up with her neurologist. They both wanted to keep a close eye on her progress since she had suffered the head injury.
“I'm going to freshen up before her highness gets here.” Emily laughed jogging up the two flights of stairs to the master bedroom. Making her way to the bathroom she smiled at the smudged bedroom paint on the wall with memories of Avery flooding through her mind. Pulling her cell phone out of her pocket she texted him.
Emily: Every time I walk by that smudge, I get hot. Wish you were here xoxo
She slid the phone across the counter and started the shower. She turned to lock the door of the bathroom, and continued to undress. No matter where she was, at home or out in public, she had picked up the habit. Her phone buzzed signaling her to Avery's reply.
Avery: I wish I was there too. Dammit. Don't have fun without me.
Testing the water with her hand, she slid into the shower and got to work.
Ben sat on the other side of the white dining room table looking bored to death, his face morphed into an ugly scowl that matched his bushy, brown eyebrows and his shaggy bowl cut. Emily had pulled out an old tablecloth that Gran brought with her from Georgia. She told the story how it was the first tablecloth she had ever sewn without her own Grandmother instructing her. Amelia politely smiled and participated in the conversation when she deemed necessary.
Gran was oblivious to any of the animosity in the room, and Emily continued to go out of her way to keep the peace even though she wanted to fling a spoon full of Gran's casserole at Ben. For someone raised in such a prestigious family, he had terrible manners.
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