“Hi.” Ellie’s soft voice startled me, and I turned to see her stand up from the couch, rubbing her eyes like she’d just woken up.
Immediately, I hid the object I was holding behind my back.
“Ellie,” I breathed out, happy to see her, but also wondering what she was doing here. My curiosity would have to wait. “I have some things to say.”
She shook her head. “Let me talk first.”
“Nope,” I argued. “If you’re going to break things off with me for good, the least you can do is let me say my piece.” I took a deep breath. “I know you. You’re my best friend. Hell, we can even finish each other’s sentences. I know what it’s like to be loved by you, and it’s so fucking awesome. I know you do that when you’re anxious.” I pointed down at the abused skin on her thumb. “But most of all, I know you’re the person I want to be with. Always. I want a family with you, Ava included. You might think you’re selfish, but what you’ve done with Ava? The way you’ve built your life around her… Ellie, you’re the most selfless person I know. But if you need someone to be selfish with, let it be me.” The last words left me in a raspy plea.
“I’m not breaking up with you,” she said, her voice soft.
“Oh.” I paused as pure happiness buzzed through my entire body. “Well, in that case, go ahead.” I motioned for her to continue with my free hand, and the corners of her lips tipped up.
“So bossy,” she teased, then her face got serious. “When we were kids I thought I was in love with you, and I still believe it was real. But the love I felt for you then is nothing compared to what I feel now.” She took a breath. “One of my biggest fears is that I’ll lose my best friend a second time. But if you want me, then you have me.”
“I do want you,” I said firmly. “I want you more than anything.”
We moved toward each other, meeting in the middle of the living room. As she rose up on her toes to kiss me, her arms went around my waist and her hand grazed the object I was still holding behind my back.
Our faces inches apart, her eyes flew up to mine.
“What are you hiding?” she asked as she tried to peek around my body.
I turned so she couldn’t see what it was. “It was supposed to be a surprise.”
Her eyes lit up with interest as she tried to circle around me again. “What surprise?”
I huffed. “Well, I guess I might as well show you. I wanted to have it framed…” My words faded as I presented her with the block of old wood.
Ellie gasped as she took it from my hands. Trailing her finger over the grooves in the surface, she traced the letters and the heart.
“Colt and Ellie forever,” she whispered, her eyes wide. “How did you get this?”
I smirked. “Went to your old house. After I told them our story, they agreed to let me take the plank from their porch as long as I replaced it with a new one.”
“I can’t believe you did this,” she said, smiling down at the 6-inch square. “Thank you, Colton. I love it.” She stared at it for a few seconds, and when her eyes came up to mine, tears spilled over. “I’m so sorry.”
“I hate it when you cry,” I whispered as I wiped at her cheeks with my thumbs. “I’m not mad at you, Ellie. Just don’t try to break up with me again. It won’t work,” I teased, even though I was completely serious. “And for the record… If you had been pregnant, I would’ve been the happiest guy in the world.”
“Yeah?” she asked, a smile tugging at her lips.
“Yeah. Boy Scout’s honor.” I held up a hand.
She raised a skeptical brow. “Were you even a Boy Scout?”
“Fuck no.” I laughed.
“I still can’t believe you went all the way to Hemswell,” she said, shaking her head.
“Well, I was kind of banking on the fact that you’d have to stay with me after a grand gesture like this. Six hours of driving and some manual labor goes a long way, right?”
“In this case, yes, it does.” She beamed. Then her head cocked to the side and I could see her mind working, mentally calculating the driving time. “Wait. Six hours? Why were you driving for six hours?”
“I, ah… I went to pay your ex a visit,” I confessed, scratching at my jaw.
“You did what?” she asked, sounding alarmed.
Grinning, I took out my phone and pulled up my videos. “Don’t worry. No one got hurt.”
When I turned the screen toward her, it showed Josh answering his door, finding the gift I left for him.
“Is that—?”
“Your ex, yes.”
“And is that…?”
“A flaming bag of dog poop,” I finished for her.
His high-pitch shrieking came through the speakers and Ellie covered her mouth while she laughed, watching the scene play out. She shifted closer to me, putting her head next to mine, and I caught a whiff of her intoxicating scent.
Strawberries, coconuts, and happiness. Pure fucking happiness.
After the video was over, I hit delete and set my phone down on the counter.
“I have two questions,” I told her and she raised her eyebrows. “Why are you covered in mud?” I pointed down at her jeans, then pointed at the table. “And what’s for dinner?”
Sheepishly, she shrugged. “I sort of had a flat on the way here. I changed it, no problem.” She waved her hand like it wasn’t a big deal, but the thought of her on her knees with a carjack made my dick twitch.
“Hang on a sec. You knew how to change a tire by yourself? Where did you learn that?” I asked sarcastically.
She sighed. “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?”
I stood back and gave her a ‘give me’ gesture with my hand.
“You were right,” she muttered quietly at her feet.
“I’m sorry, what was that?” I cupped a hand around my ear.
Her lips twitched. “I said, you were right.”
“Maybe I should get that on video,” I joked, reaching for my phone, and Ellie made an adorable scoffing sound.
“Let’s talk about dinner instead.” Pulling me over to the kitchen table, she made a sweeping motion with her arm. “Ketchup and mustard sandwiches, of course.”
“You made me our favorite dinner?”
“Well, I’m not sure how good it’ll taste as adults, but, yeah. My attempt at groveling doesn’t even compare to what you’ve done.” She glanced at our sign, then frowned down at the plates.
“Ellie, the fact that you’re here is enough. Plus, you can make it up to me in a different way.”
Cocking an eyebrow, she looked intrigued. “Oh, yeah? What did you have in mind?”
I sent her a wicked smirk. “You’ll see.”
Frustrated, I yanked at the metal chaining me to the headboard. Colton let out a low chuckle, his breath fanning over my swollen clit.
He wasn’t kidding when he said turnabout was fair play in this game. I let out a pathetic whine as he denied my release for the fifth time. He kept bringing me to the brink of orgasm over and over again, but then he would back off.
I had no idea how long it had been going on because I’d lost all sense of time. All I knew was that it was sometime in the middle of the night and I’d been reduced to shameless begging.
“Shiiiiit. Oh, my God. Please…” I pulled at the handcuffs again.
“You’re not gonna do that to me again, right?” Colton asked, referring to my freak-out that resulted in us almost breaking up.
“No,” I moaned, digging my heels into the mattress.
“You’re mine for good?” He slipped two fingers into me and started rubbing my g-spot again.
“Yes,” I panted. It was the truth, but honestly I would have told him anything he wanted to hear at that point. “Please, Colton. Please.”
My mind was fuzzy. I couldn’t feel my toes. My face felt tingly. I couldn’t concentrate on anything other than the fact that I needed to come.
He gave my center another lick before reaching over t
o the nightstand and taking out a condom.
“I’d like to keep torturing you,” he said, rolling it on. “But.” He sucked one of my nipples into his mouth. “I don’t think I can hold out any longer.”
“Oh, good,” I breathed out, feeling disoriented. “That’s really good.”
“I want you to come on my dick, Ellie.”
I made some unintelligible sound of agreement and, with one powerful thrust, he buried himself to the hilt. He pumped his thick cock into me, hard and deep while rubbing his thumb over my clit.
“Shit,” I gasped, spreading my legs wider as I felt my walls start to clench around him. I was already so close.
His mouth claimed mine in a possessive kiss and his fingers threaded through my hair. Thrusting harder, he tightened the grip he had on my strands, causing my head to tilt back. His lips left mine and he scraped his teeth over my chin before sucking at a sensitive spot on my neck.
“Tell me you love me,” he ordered, grinding his pelvis against mine.
“You know I do.”
He pinched my right nipple. “Tell me. Say the words.”
One thumb started circling my nipple while the other went back to my clit.
“I love you.” My voice came out in a squeak because I was coming. So hard.
The breath was stolen from my lungs and my mouth fell open with a silent scream. My inner muscles spasmed as Colton continued to rock into me.
Toes curling and back arched, I heard him groan as he came with me.
Colton rested his forehead against mine as we tried to catch our breath, and he sweetly kissed the tip of my nose.
“I love you, Ellie,” he whispered, not bothering to leave my body just yet.
Our eyes locked—my brown to his gray—and even in the darkness I could see the love I felt for him reflected at me.
The intensity of the moment, both physically and emotionally, was so overwhelming. The full weight of the mistake I made by pushing Colton away crashed down on me. Because of my fears, I almost made the worst decision of my life.
I almost lost my best friend.
But he wouldn’t give up on me.
I felt a tear slip from my eye and slide down my temple.
I tried to reach for him, but I was reminded yet again that I was attached to the headboard. The metal clanked, and I let out a little growl. My frustration didn’t last long, though, because Colton brought his hands up to mine and linked our fingers, giving me the extra contact I needed.
“I really do love you,” I said quietly, my lips brushing against his.
I was rewarded with his signature cocky grin.
“I know,” he said confidently. “Be right back.”
He gave me a quick kiss before leaving the bed. Immediately, I shivered from the loss of his warmth. I thought he was going to get the key and unlock the handcuffs, but instead, he cleaned himself off and then hopped up next to me.
“What are you doing?” I asked, still feeling dazed.
He tilted his head to the side. “You didn’t think you were getting off that easy, did you? No pun intended.”
“Easy?!” I huffed out a laugh and tugged at my restraints. “You’re kidding, right?”
Slowly, he shook his head from side to side before positioning his face inches away from my pussy. “Nope.”
“My butt’s going numb.” I pouted before squirming on the mattress.
“That’s an easy fix.”
Grabbing me by the hips, he flipped my body over.
Startled, I squealed at the sudden change, my shackled arms now crossed by the headboard. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Colton reach over to get another condom from the nightstand.
“Oh, my God,” I breathed out in disbelief. “Seriously?”
“Yup.” Chuckling, he gave my ass a light slap. “It’s gonna be a long night.”
Two Weeks Later
“I’m here! I’m here!” I heard Ava call out after the front door slammed shut.
Wanting everything to be perfect, I smoothed out the Disney princess throw blanket, then set the pink and white bears next to the pillow on the toddler-sized bed in the corner of my room. Next, I placed a copy of The Giving Tree between the bears.
It took some rearranging, but I’d managed to create a special space just for Ava. I’d already gotten permission from Ellie because they were going to start spending a few nights a month at my apartment. This was going to be a complete surprise to Ava, though.
There was a stack of coloring books on my bed. Next to that, a pile of DVDs. A few frilly outfits hung in my closet and Spider-Man PJs were folded up on the dresser.
The best part? I’d gotten a beta fish. He was blue and totally badass. The small one-gallon tank sat on top of my nightstand and the bubbling sound of the filter filled the room.
Ava appeared in my doorway and her eyes flitted around at the changes I’d made. A gasp and a huge smile later, she started doing that tap-dancing thing she did whenever she got really excited.
Giggling, she ran down the hall to find Ellie. “Mom, are we gonna live here now?”
“No, but we get to sleep over.” I heard Ellie laugh and I followed the sound while carrying an armful of blankets and pillows.
I dumped them on the couch and crouched down in front of Ava. “My new fish needs a name. Think you could help me out with that?”
“Goober!” she replied immediately, as if she had the name on standby.
I laughed. “Goober it is.”
“Yay yay yay!” More giggling. More tap-dancing.
“Why don’t you go pick out the movie you want to watch and I’ll make some popcorn.”
“And ketchup and mustard sandwiches?” Ava requested before taking off down the hall.
“And sandwiches,” I agreed, turning to see Ellie looking at me with wide eyes.
“Goober is a dead fish swimming,” she hissed dramatically. “He’s floating down the green mile right now.”
Shrugging, I started to set up the couch for movie night. “If he dies, I’ll just go get another one. There were ten more just like him at the pet store.” I fluffed the pillows and stood up. “Besides, I bought premium fish food. No Doritos for Goober.”
Shaking her head, Ellie tried not to smile and Ava came out with her movie choice—The Good Dinosaur. I didn’t really know what it was about, but when I went to Walmart, it was on display with a bunch of other new kids’ movies. Wanting to be thorough, I’d grabbed one of everything.
With Ellie on my right side and Ava on the left, we snuggled up on the couch. I surveyed the damage we’d done. Sandwich crusts, juice boxes, and several kernels of popcorn littered the coffee table.
A box of crayons had been dumped on the floor and I had a few new pictures to hang on my refrigerator.
Instead of concentrating on the movie, I thought about the plans we had the next day. My dad was going to meet Ava for the first time, and we were supposed to go over to his place in the morning for breakfast.
I hadn’t seen my old man so excited in a long time.
After Ellie and I made up, he’d made it a point to apologize to her for his wrong-doing when we were kids. Said he wanted to bury the hatchet. Start off on the right foot. At first I’d been afraid that Ellie would be hurt or angry at him, but she looked at him with understanding and forgave him, no questions asked.
Ava gasped at something that happened in the movie, bringing my thoughts back to Arlo the dinosaur, and I held her a little tighter.
By the time the end credits were rolling across the screen, both girls were asleep. I woke Ellie—because I couldn’t carry them both—and she sleepily followed me to the bedroom.
Laying Ava down, I made sure she was tucked in, and I noticed she was almost too big for the toddler-sized mattress. It would do for now.
Joining a much more awake-looking Ellie in the bed, I lay down to face her.
“I think I know why I can never win thumb war,” I whispered to her in the darkness.
> Our faces were so close that her nose brushed mine when she propped herself up on an elbow.
“Oh yeah?” She smirked, the blue glow from the fish tank illuminating her features. “Please, enlighten me.”
“Clearly, your right hand has some kind of supernatural defect,” I explained in hushed tones. “We’ve never done it left-handed.”
She scoffed and held out her left hand.
After whispering the chant, our thumbs danced together and she put up a good fight. I fought harder. For the first time ever, I pinned her thumb underneath mine.
“Fuck yes!” I hissed quietly, giving a fist pump. My victory had to be toned down because I didn’t want to wake Ava, but nothing could stop the triumphant smile on my face.
Well, almost nothing.
“Good job. Congratulations.” Ellie patronized while rubbing my shoulder.
“Wait a second. Did you—did you let me win?” I asked incredulously.
She gave a mock gasp. “Of course not.”
“You did,” I accused, outraged.
Ellie’s quiet giggle turned into a snort and Ava stirred on her little bed. We both froze, afraid that we might’ve woken her up, but after a few seconds she rolled over and let out a sleepy sigh.
“We’ll talk about this later,” I mouthed as went back to lying down.
Ellie bit her lip to keep from laughing. I gently rubbed at her chin with my thumb and she ran a finger over my eyebrow.
“I love you,” I whispered.
“I love you, too,” she whispered back. “Three…”
“Two.”
“One.”
We grinned at each other. “Goodnight.”
Sometime in the middle of the night, the end of the mattress dipped and I felt Ava crawl up the bed. She wedged her little body between us. I helped her get under the covers and she turned to face me. Letting out a contented sigh, she closed her eyes before lightly gripping my ear.
I loved this. Loved having my girls stay the night.
A few times a month wasn’t enough, though. I wanted more. I wanted it every night.
The Good Guys Box Set: TRUCKER, DANCER, DROPOUT, and A Trucker Wedding Page 46