“Cheyenne needs a mother figure,” I said, giving him a stern look. He knew I was right. He might not want to believe it, but he knew Cheyenne needed more than her grandmother in her life.
“Dude, I can’t just bring chicks in here on rotation and hope that one’s the one.”
“No, but you can stop being an asshole and start opening your eyes. Dana’s death has nothing to do with your happiness. She wasn’t the one for you. You were getting divorced for Christ’s sake.”
“I know,” he murmured.
“Just think about it. There is always a princess for every asshole. You just need to stop being one and open your heart again.”
“Why do you sound like Dr. Phil right now?” He laughed.
“Fuck you! I just want you to have a good time on the cruise and maybe find the one, too.”
“Are you going to see your parents?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Yeah, if we have time. Doubt we will since they live in Santa Barbara now, but I’ll see if they can meet up with us.” More than likely my parents wouldn’t have time to drive less than an hour to see me while I was in California. Since moving to New York, they hadn’t visited once. My parents, especially my dad, wanted me to become a pro baseball player, and when I didn’t, they no longer wanted anything to do with me. I wasn’t sorry I’d become a bar owner. I was happy where I am, and frankly, they could kiss my ass.
“All right, let me call Bill. What are the dates again?”
“Yes!” I jumped up, throwing my arm in the air and celebrating.
I knew my best friend wouldn’t let me down.
It was my turn to work a Saturday night and any other night, I would be okay with it. I owned the joint after all, but as I served customers, I noticed a chick that I’d hoped to never see again, and I suddenly wished I wasn’t trapped behind the bar.
I met Angie when I first moved to New York and let me tell you, I wished I’d never had. On the outside, Angie looks like a normal girl and totally my type. Long blonde hair, gorgeous blue eyes, and legs that went on for miles. She was stunning. Men were putty in her hands, and I was one of those fools.
As soon as I’d met Angie, I couldn’t wait to bury my face in her nice tits. I wined and dined her, and when she suggested we go back to her place, I was all for it. I quickly paid the bill—not waiting for change—and drove as fast as I could. When we returned back to her place and I walked into her house, I jumped. I mean, I seriously fucking jumped.
“What the fuck is that?” I asked with my back against the closed front door.
“That’s Fred,” she said, walking over to her couch. “He’s my Bearded Dragon.”
“You’re what?” My eyes felt like they were going to bulge out of their sockets as I stared at the scaly creature.
“My Bearded Dragon. You know, a lizard.”
Lizards were small. This was no lizard. This was, in fact, a fucking dragon.
“Why…why does he look like that?” I swallowed hard, watching the dragon that sat on the back of her couch only a few steps away. His throat looked like something a cobra would do in attack mode. “Why is…” I swallowed again. “Why is his throat black and puffy?”
“He doesn’t know who you are. He’ll warm up to you soon. Won’t you, Fred?” Angie bent down, kissing the scaly beast. I resisted the urge to gag as I watched her lips on Fred. The dragon started to nod his head in agreement, his spiny scales laying down.
Did that fucker just nod?
“See,” Angie continued. “He’ll warm up to you. Come pet him.”
“I…I’d uh, rather not.” I rubbed my hand over my neck and through my dirty blond hair.
“Trust me,” Angie said, still petting the reptile.
Then it did something that I swore I’d never seen in my life. The fucking thing waved at me.
“Ah, see. He’s already warming up to you. Bearded Dragons wave to show submission.”
Submission?
“Well, I haven’t warmed up to him. Do you mind putting him in a cage or something?”
“He doesn’t have one.”
I blinked at her. “Your lizard doesn’t have a cage?”
“No, this is his house too.”
See, this is where you would think that I would hightail it out the door, right? Nope!
“Okay,” I said, not knowing what else to say.
“Look, Avery. I like you. Let’s just watch a movie and see what happens.”
“A movie…with Fred?”
She laughed. “Fine, I’ll feed him. That should give us some alone time.”
My body was still against the door as I watched her pick-up Fred and take him to the open floor plan kitchen, setting him down in front of what looked like your standard sized pet dish with a colorful mat under it—like feeding a lizard outside a cage was normal. It wasn’t normal. Angie wasn’t normal. I felt some of the tension start to leave my body as I watched her fill the bowl with lettuce, putting distance between me and Fred.
“Would you like some coffee? A beer? Popcorn?” Angie asked.
“Sure, I’ll take a beer and some popcorn.” I couldn’t be rude.
I started to pace around the small living room, looking at pictures of Angie and her girlfriends partying. I knew I needed to man the fuck up. It was only a lizard. Worst case, it bit me. I groaned, running my hand over my face and thinking of the worst case scenario.
It’s just a lizard.
“Popcorn’s popping,” Angie had said, walking back into the living room and handing me a bottle of Coors Light. “What movie do you want to watch?”
“Doesn’t matter to me.” I sat on the couch, my ass cheeks clenching at the thought of Fred. I took a deep breath. I could do this…it was just a submissive lizard.
“All right, well, let me go get the popcorn and then we can find something on Pay-Per-View.”
“Perfect,” I said, taking a pull of my beer, downing most of it. I needed more than one beer to get through the night. “Mind if I have another beer?”
“No problem.”
Angie returned with another beer and the popcorn. I was in a daze—eyeing the kitchen and waiting for Fred to walk out as she picked a movie. She reached over, turning off the lamp on the end table by the couch.
“Mind leaving that on?” I asked.
“You watch movies with the lights on?”
Yep, when there was a dragon in the house, I did. “Um…no, that’s okay,” I said, trying to sound like the man I was.
It was just a lizard…
It was just a lizard…
It was just a lizard…
We sat in the dark, the only light from the glow of the TV, and I downed my second beer, wondering how long it took dragons to eat. The movie started to play—I had no idea what movie we were watching because all I could think about was the reptile in the next room.
“You don’t like the movie?” Angie asked.
“It’s fine,” I said, still not really watching.
“Why are you still tense?”
“I’m not,” I lied.
“Yeah, you are. Let me help you.” Angie scooted off the couch and knelt in front of my legs. I swallowed hard again. Her hands instantly went to my belt and started to loosen the buckle before finally undoing it and unbuttoning my jeans.
I groaned as her hand reached in, grabbing my dick and helping it become hard. It didn’t take long for my cock to poke out of my boxers. Angie pulled them down enough to free my dick, my head tilted back against the back of the brown leather couch.
My eyes closed as her wet tongue licked the tip of my shaft, and I was lost in the feel of her warm mouth working in sync with her hands. My body was building up to come and I looked down, staring at her head bobbing up and down when out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow. I glanced over. Fred was on the couch cushion next to me. My body instantly tensed again. Angie thought I was going to come, but there was no way in hell that I was going to come in front of a dragon.
/> “It’s okay,” Angie said.
“What is?” I asked, my eyes never leaving Fred.
“You can come in my mouth,” she said between sucks.
How was I going to come with the eyes of a reptile looking between me and my dick as Angie bobbed her head? I couldn’t come. I envisioned Fred leaping for my cock and biting it. That was one place I for sure didn’t want Fred to bite!
“I’d rather come with my dick inside you,” I said, thinking of a way to move away from Fred.
Usually, I could go more than one round. Not tonight. Tonight I was blowing my load and getting the fuck out of Dodge, and not with my dick hanging out for a dragon to bite off.
I put all thoughts of Fred out of my head as I picked Angie up, tossing her lightly onto her other couch and sheathed myself with the condom I had in my pocket. I’d waited too long to have sex and this was my first lay since being in New York. Easton would laugh at me for days if I told him some lizard had kept me from getting laid.
So I manned up.
After fully sheathing myself, I pulled Angie’s underwear down, not caring if she was ready for me. With one push, I was inside her, pumping away until she moaned, clenching around me. I actually had no desire to wait for her to come, so I was lucky she did come before I came. She wouldn’t remember me as a total asshole.
This shit was not happening again! I never wanted to see Angie or Fred again.
I thrust faster, needing to come so I could leave. I looked up to meet Angie’s eyes, hoping that her gorgeous face would send me over the edge, but only to see Fred on the back of the couch behind her head.
Fuck!
I pulled Angie’s blouse down just enough to clamp down on her nipple, needing something to keep my head and mind busy as I rammed into her, over and over, the leather from the couch squeaking as I pumped.
She reached down, grasping my balls between our bodies and that was my undoing. I came into the condom, not looking at Angie or Fred. I slide out of her as she tried to kiss me. Fred was inches away and I just needed out.
I needed an exit plan.
Giving her a quick peck on the lips, I stood, walking to the bathroom. After I cleaned up and disposed of the condom, I thought about an excuse. I didn’t have any desire to do this again. I didn’t care if it was at my place. She was hot, but having a scaly reptile staring at me while I fucked only meant that Angie wasn’t the one.
“It’s getting pretty late. I should go,” I said, coming out of the bathroom.
“You can stay here if you want.”
“I have an early meeting tomorrow with my broker.”
I really did have a meeting. Easton and I were going to look at a space to open our own bar.
I quickly made my exit, doing the polite thing by kissing her goodnight and telling her that I had a nice time. After all, I wasn’t an asshole, but I was going to be one to her in her mind. I would never call her like I’d promised. I would never see her again like I’d said I would. This was just a one-time thing…
And the most terrifying sexual experience of my life.
I thought about Fred as I watched Angie walk into Halo, laughing with her friends. Before I could make my escape, her eyes met mine and she walked up to me with angry eyes. I swallowed hard, waiting for her to cause a scene.
“Avery,” she said flatly.
“Hey, Angie. How have you and Fred been?”
She went to open her mouth then stopped, tears forming in her eyes. “Fred ran away.”
I wanted to tell her that if she had a cage for that thing, he wouldn’t have escaped, but instead I’d let her cry to me for about five minutes and I bought her a few drinks to make her calm down. Afterward, she’d asked me to go back to her place. It had been awhile since I’d last had sex, but I just couldn’t go back there. She wasn’t the one.
* * *
Want more of Avery & Nicole’s story? One-click The One today!
Contents
A note from the Author
1. Nicole
2. Avery
3. Nicole
4. Avery
5. Nicole
6. Avery
7. Nicole
8. Avery
9. Nicole
10. Avery
11. Nicole
12. Avery
13. Nicole
14. Avery
15. Nicole
16. Avery
17. Nicole
18. Avery
19. Nicole
20. Avery
21. Nicole
22. Avery
23. Nicole
24. Avery
25. Nicole
26. Avery
27. Nicole
28. Avery
29. Nicole
30. Avery
31. Nicole
32. Avery
33. Nicole
34. Avery
35. Nicole
36. Avery
Note From The Author
Acknowledgments
Books By Kimberly Knight
About the Author
Exclusive excerpt of NEVER STOP
Chapter One
No portion of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any print or electronic form without permission.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, any place, events or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and story lines are created from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The subject matter is not appropriate for minors. Please note this novel contains profanity, explicit sexual situations, and alcohol consumption.
The One
Copyright © 2018 Kimberly Knight
Published by Knight Publishing & Design, LLC
Cover art © by Okay Creations
Formatting © by Mermaid Publishing House
All rights reserved.
Please note this is the second book in the Halo Series. For more of a back story, you may want to read Brooke and Easton’s story in Tattooed Dots before you start Avery and Nicole’s in this book. Each book can be read as separate stories.
To everyone searching for The One: Keep searching because you never know where you’ll meet him or her.
“What I really need right now is a double shot of any alcohol within reach,” I said, scolding myself out loud as I stood in front of my bathroom mirror.
What was wrong with me?
Did I need to wear a shirt that read: “I’m single!” on the front? Why was the dating world so fucking hard?
I’d been seeing Jeff on and off for a few weeks, and today I found out that he’d had a girlfriend the whole time. Seriously, what the fuck? So I did what any single twenty-nine-year-old would do. I called my other single girlfriends and told them to meet me at the bar. It was Friday night and I knew the best way to forget about a guy was with the help of my buddies: Jack, Jameson, Jim, Jose, Morgan, and whatever other brand of alcohol caught my eye.
I dressed in a short black skirt, plum sparkly tank top and the highest black fuck me heels I had that wouldn’t kill my feet. Well, at least until I could no longer feel my body because of all the alcohol I planned to consume at the bar. Tonight, it was all about dancing with my girls and getting free drinks from guys.
Fuck guys!
I was tired of falling for a guy only to have my heart broken. I was done. No more dating.
Who was I kidding? What I was really tired of was being alone.
As I put the finishing touches of my make-up on, and made sure that my straight, long blonde hair and bangs were perfect, a text buzzed my cell. Jenna:
Jenna: Where are you? There’s a shot of Fireball here for you. My treat.
Me: I’m coming. Taxi just got here.
I left my condo, jumped in the waiting taxi, and headed toward The Bell in Hand. By the time I arrived, it was packed. I squeezed through all the sweaty bodies, walking towards the bar where I found Jenna and Kym.
“You two started without m
e?” I asked, coming up behind them.
They turned at the sound of my voice. “Jesus, it’s about time your ass got here. You have some catching up to do,” Kym said.
“Trust me, I plan on it.” I downed the shot of Fireball that Jenna handed me then tried to catch the bartender’s eye for another by holding up the empty shot glass.
“Is Brooke coming?” Kym asked.
“No, I didn’t invite her. You know how she is now. She only drinks one night a week, and tomorrow’s her birthday party so she doesn’t want to be hungover. I, of course, have no problem being hungover and trying to bowl at her bowling party. I suck anyway,” I said, shrugging and finally grabbing the bartender’s eye. I motioned for another round and he turned to grab the bottle of whiskey.
“Sorry about Jeff,” Jenna said.
“Thanks. At least I found out now and not months down the road. Plus, tomorrow, I can flirt with Brooke’s co-worker, Mike. I’ve wanted that fine piece of ass since Christmas.” The bartender poured the four shots for us and I handed him my card. “Keep it open,” I yelled over the thump of the music. He nodded and walked away.
“Well, let’s drink until you forget what’s-his-name,” Kym said, downing the shot of Fireball.
“That’s the plan.” The cinnamon whiskey burned my insides as it went through my belly. Damn that’s good shit!
A guy got up and left his barstool next to us, so I swooped in, snagging it before a mob of people saw it. My feet were already hurting and it hadn’t even been fifteen minutes. I needed more to drink and fast.
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