Forever You're Mine (MINE #4)(6)

“Of course.”

She threw herself over the console, wrapping her slender arms around my neck. “Thank you,” I was gifted with a warm kiss on my cheek, leaving my skin on fire.

“When do you think you could take me?” she asked.

Hmm…when can I take her?

I can take her right here. All she would have to do is climb over here and slide her fine ass down on my cock.

I struggled to recall her next day off. “Wednesday? I think we’re both off.”

She smiled and it was brighter than the sun shining through the windows.

The road wandered on. We spent the next few hours listening to music and riding. Just two friends, sharing a beer, dirt road and time.

At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.





Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love.

~Jane Austen





“So then what happened?”

“We got drunk and I ended up crashing on his couch again. He dropped me off this morning.” My friend Alyssa gasped.

Sweet Lyssa.

She seriously needed to live a little. We’d been friends since high school. Her name was Alyssa Wylde, but her last name was the only thing wild about her. She had innocent blue eyes. The kind of eyes that trusted easily and obeyed immediately. She wore perfectly pressed blouses and knee length skirts. Even her black flats were boring. I tried to bedazzle them once, but she nearly took my head off. OCD didn’t have shit on Lyssa. Now her photography, that’s where she really let loose.

“You slept at his house?” she asked still in shock.

Lyssa wasn’t na?ve, but she could be a prude sometimes. I think it was because she was sheltered so much growing up. Her parents were very religious and very…strange. Sex was a sin in their home. So was makeup…tight clothing…books that weren’t written about God. I’d tried desperately over the years to open her up, but she was a good girl through and through.

“Yeah…I’ve slept at his house before you know.” Lyssa had never even had sex with a man before, much less slept over. A twenty-three year old virgin who was afraid of men.

My poor friend.

“Relax, we’re just friends,” I told her.

She let go of a chuckle. “That’s not what you said the night you drunk dialed me.”

My face flushed with heat. “I thought we agreed never to speak of that night ever again.”

God, I wish I could erase the stupid phone call from my memory forever.

Beer before liquor…never sicker.

Or is it liquor before beer?

Either way…don’t mix the shit. It’s like truth serum on steroids. The aftermath was not pretty.

“Ok…movin’ on. Let’s talk about you. How are you liking the new job?”

I could hear the smile in her voice. “Garrett and Eric are great. I love being with them. But living in someone’s backyard is…kinda weird.”

Lyssa originally worked for Tabitha and Barrett Shaw, helping them with little Ava when Tabitha decided to go back to work. But now she was a live-in nanny for Maddie and Holden Brooks. They even built her a guest house behind their new home. Lord knows, they needed her. The twins were just beginning to walk and boy they were a handful. But Lyssa was good with them. Being a nurturer came natural to her.

Too bad it didn’t come so easily for others.

“I should come over soon. I haven’t seen the boys in a while. We can have a sleepover.”

I could hear her smile when she replied. “I’d like that.”

My phone beeped, signaling another call. When I pulled the phone from my ear, my heart sank.

“Lyssa, I gotta go. I’ll call you later ok?”

“Ok, bye.”

I clicked over. “Hey,”

“Hey, beautiful,”

Silence hung on the line, screaming so loud it broke my heart all over again.

“Driving up in a bit. You on tonight?”

“Yeah…’til midnight.”

“I’ll stop by.”

“Ok.”

“I miss you.”

Tears burned my eyes as I dug my pink painted toe into the blue stained carpet. “I miss you too, Dent. Text me when you get there and I’ll take my break.”

“You got it.”

I ended the call, tossing my phone on the bed. What am I doing? Why on earth am I even getting my hopes up? He’s only going to hurt me again. My mind knew this, but I just couldn’t get my heart to understand that even though we loved each other very much, Dent was bad for me. I was bad for him. And no matter how bad each of us wanted it, we weren’t meant to be. I’d come to this conclusion last month. It’s why I finally found the nerve to break up with him, but I still haven’t found the strength to let go.

“Cora Gail, get your f*cking ass in here right now.”

I’d just pulled on a pair of shorts over my hips when my mother flung open the door. The knob made an even bigger indention into the wood paneling, caused by her obvious anger with me.

Her bloodshot eyes raked up and down with a hefty amount of disgust and jealousy. The only two emotions she was capable of anymore. “You didn’t take the garbage out again and the sink is full of dishes.” she said, taking a long drag from her Virginia Slim.