Anna

“I need details.” Desirae’s voice startles me, and I jump up to find both Christy and Desirae staring at me.

“Shit! You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

We’ve been so busy all morning, but finally, there’s a lull in customers. I’m at the computer, logging inventory and ordering new supplies.

“Fuck the inventory. We’re taking a break, and you’re telling us everything,” Desirae instructs.

“Bossy much?” I grumble as she pulls me from behind the counter and tugs me to the back room.

I try to hide my smile as they corner me, wanting to blab everything to them while at the same time wanting to keep it all to myself.

“So”—Desirae is in full interrogation mode, eyes narrowed, arms crossed, toe tapping—“did you fuck him?”

I splutter, “Dee! Come on. You know me.” I wave my hands, as if her suggestion is preposterous.

“Ha! Yes, I do know you. I know you left The Grumpy Monk because you thought Wes was going to hook up with that skank. I know he chased you out. And I know you guys were kissing as if the world were ending, pressed up against the side of the building in the rain.”

“What?” I gasp. “You saw us?”

“Um, hel-lo? Many people saw you guys. You were just standing out there, in public, oblivious to the rest of the world.”

“EEP!” Christy squeals. “You kissed! Is he a good kisser? What happened? How did it start? Did he kiss you, or did you kiss him?”

I laugh, pressing my hands against my hot cheeks. “What are we, thirteen?”

“Stop deflecting, and answer the questions!” Desirae looks as if she may pop a blood vessel if she doesn’t get some answers.

“Okay, okay.” I giggle, amused at the sight of my best friends so excited. “What were the questions again?”

Christy takes over. “Number one: how did it start? Did he kiss you, or did you kiss him?”

I walk them through the events of the night, him telling me he loves me, him kissing me, us going back to my place. I don’t go into detail, but I confirm that he did spend the night.

“For fuck’s sake, Anna! Tell me! Did you lose your second hymen or not? Did he put his P in your V? Don’t beat around the bush, for Christ’s sake!” Desirae practically shouts.

A choked cough erupts behind us, and mortification spreads through my body like wildfire.

Oh God. No. No, no, no, no, no.

I can’t turn around to see who overheard our conversation. Maybe, if I stay very still, they’ll just go away and never know who Desirae, my former best friend, was referring to. Other than someone named Anna anyway.

Because she said my first name!

Then, it gets worse. So much worse.

Lana’s irritating voice is full of glee. “I thought she might be back here. Anna, you have a visitor.” I can hear her satisfaction at my discomfort as she cackles and walks away.

I look at Christy’s and Desirae’s faces for clues. They stare over my shoulder in shocked delight.

“Hello there! I’m Christy,” she introduces herself. “I wish I could have gone to The Grumpy Monk with you guys. Seems like it was an…eventful night,” my other former best friend says.

Nooooo. I’m going to die of embarrassment. My feet won’t turn my body to face him because it’s just too much.

“It was a fun night,” he tells her, amusement in his voice.

“What brings you by today, Wesley?” Desirae asks.

I hear the crinkle of a paper bag. “Uh, lunch. I thought I might catch Anna on her break.”

“Good timing. Her break just started. You guys can eat in here if you want. We were just leaving.”

“No, we weren’t,” Desirae hisses.

Christy pulls her arm. Maybe I’ll keep her as a friend.

“Yes,” she says firmly, “we were.” She flashes me a smile before she pulls Desirae out of the room with her.

My feet are still planted to the floor, and I can’t get rid of the cringe I feel at being caught red-handed, talking about how he put his P in my V. Wes steps into the room, closes the door, and puts the bag on the table. I see his work boots in front of my own shoes, and I try to shake it off.

He tilts my chin up, and those blue-gray eyes sparkle with mischief. “P in the V, huh?” He chuckles.

“Oh God, I’m sorry! Desirae has absolutely no filter.” I cringe again, screwing my eyes shut.

He laughs and kisses me, making all of my cringey feelings disappear. It’s chaste at first, a soft pressure on my lips as he wraps his arms around me. Then, his tongue licks at the seam of my lips, and heat races through my veins as our kiss becomes anything but chaste.

He breaks our kiss and groans, leaning his forehead to mine.

We stand this way for a minute, just breathing each other in while our racing hearts calm.

“I hope it’s okay that I brought you lunch.”

“Of course! Thank you.”

“I can’t stop thinking about you.”

I smile dreamily. “Same.”

“I didn’t want to leave your bed this morning.”

My thighs press together as I think about last night. Saying good-bye at my parents’ was depressing. No kiss, no hug…just a nod and a smile, like we were pals. It left me feeling so sad. I don’t want to hide our relationship, and I could tell he hated that good-bye as much as I did. When he texted twenty minutes later to ask if he could come over, I was thrilled, my plans to clean the apartment forgotten.

“Me either.” I kiss his lips again, thinking about how many times he made me come with this hungry mouth. “Of course, you’re the one who woke us up early to go running.”

“But you loved it; admit it.”

“I do love running with you. I always did.”

This makes him happy. His blue-gray eyes are light today, almost silver, and I can’t look away. This kiss has more heat than the ones before, and I feel him hard and big against my belly. Our bodies push together, connected from chest to pelvis, and even though I just had him this morning, my core clenches with need.

At my moan, he steps away from me and scrubs his face with his hand. “I didn’t come here to maul you, I promise. Want to eat?”

I laugh. Mauling sounds pretty good to me, but he was so sweet to bring me lunch. “Let’s eat.”

He brought my favorite turkey club sandwich from my favorite deli, and I love that he knows me so well. He even remembered the pickle.

As we eat our lunch, I ask him about his day.

“It’s been pretty good. Eddie hired a new guy, Austin.”

“Really? How’s that going?”

“I don’t know. Eddie got his name from my probation officer. At first, I was so glad Eddie wanted to give someone else a second chance. He saw how hard it was for me to get a job with a record. But the new guy is…jumpy. I’m not sure I trust him.”

“Maybe he’s just nervous?” I offer.

“Yeah, maybe.” His gaze is unfocused, as if his mind is somewhere else, a wrinkle in between his eyebrows. Then, he catches my eye and smiles. “Eddie asked me to show him the ropes, so everything takes just a little bit longer when you’re teaching someone, you know?”

“I’m glad you decided to visit me today. Hey, I had an idea about a new display in our store.” I tell him my idea of using one of his reading chairs in the corner along with a bookshelf. We could display our books on there, but both the chair and bookshelf could be on sale for purchase. “I know putting only two pieces for sale isn’t much, but maybe we could put a flyer on them, too. Show pictures of your other pieces.”

His smile is wide, his eyes warm. “That would be amazing. Thank you for thinking of this. If Christy’s okay with it, I can bring the pieces by as soon as tomorrow.”

I beam at him. “I’ll talk with her about it this afternoon.”

He gathers the wrappers from the table and stands to leave. “You still able to help me tonight?”

“Of course.”

“Okay, see you tonight then.”

His kiss tastes of cheddar and ham and pickle, and I can’t get enough.

“See you tonight.”

The girls are all watching us as I walk him out, and they jump on me for more details after he’s gone.

“Okay, so I think we know the answer to all the questions. But still! You have to give us something!” Desirae complains.

My smile is sweet and innocent. “Nope, you’re not getting any details out of me.”

“Well then, maybe I won’t share my details with you.”

“Oh! Did you and Tae hook up then?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” she singsongs, looking at me over her shoulder as she sashays away, fluffing her curly purple hair.

I look at Christy. “She totally hooked up with Tae.”

She nods. “He spent the whole weekend at her house.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “Really? The whole weekend? Impressive.”

“You know what else is impressive?”

“What’s that?” I ask her.

“That fine hunk of man who brought you lunch today.”

I grin. “He is pretty impressive, isn’t he?”

“Yep. All manly with his dirty work clothes and muscles and tattoos. Holy shit, Anna. You did not do him any justice with your description!”

My cheeks heat.

“I’m really happy for you, honey.”

“Thanks. Hey, I have an idea for a new display.” I bring her to the corner of the bookstore I want to change and tell her my idea—to use Wesley’s furniture, which saves us money because we don’t have to buy it, and put some flyers out with the books.

“You’re a genius. Let’s do it.”