Anika has been giving me the strange looks all morning. I’m almost sure Derek told her something. I don’t know what she’d think of it. Would she be judgmental? I really like Anika and I’d like to keep our friendship but if she judges me for loving who I want to love, then our friendship is not meant to be.

By mid-afternoon, I couldn’t stand her silence and meaningful glances anymore.

“Is there something you wanted to ask me, Nika?”

She looks a bit rattled by my sudden question. “I…Uhm, Riz…”

“Out with it. Did Derek tell you?”

She nods.

“Well?” I watch her face intently, bracing for the worst.

“He really likes you. He’s disappointed, obviously.”

“I’m sorry,” I say. What else can I say?

“No, don’t be. But are you really…?”

She lets the question hang.

“Yes,” I tell her point-blank. I don’t want to keep her guessing and come to all sorts of wrong conclusions.

“I love him. I’ve been in love with him for ages.”

“But…he’s almost as old as my dad!”

I smile. “Not as old. And so?”

“Nothing…Well, He’s really handsome though.”

“Yes, he is.”

“But he’s old!”

I laugh. “He’s not old, silly. He’s thirty-five.”

“He was already in high school when you were born.”

“Age doesn’t matter when you’re in love.”

Anika rolls her eyes. “Duh.”

“Cliche, I know, but it’s true.”

Anika shrugs. “Poor Aunt Trista.”

I pause from loading the shelf with boxes of antibiotics.

“Ops, sorry. You didn’t know?”

I shrug, fighting the curiosity inside me. “I’m sure it happened before us.”

“Yeah.”

Silence.

I couldn’t help it. I want to know. “So…you’ve seen them together?”

“Yeah…”

Silence.

“Nika, tell me.”

“I don’t want to upset you.”

“You won’t upset me. I just want to know what went down between them.”

“Well, if you insist. I remember, two years ago, they dated, sort of. Aunt Trista was telling everyone they were going to get married. Then Aunt Trista left town and didn’t come back for a long time.”

“And?”

“That’s all I remember. I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”

So they were planning to get married? They got that far. Marriage is a huge step in a relationship. Their relationship was serious. Somehow that rankles big time.

I don’t want to be affected but I can’t help but worry. Trista is probably Ry’s age, beautiful, sexy. I feel too young and inexperienced compared to that woman who exude confidence and sophistication. And based on what I’ve seen on two occasions, Trista still has a thing for Ry. Ry assured me I’m his only girl now but…

Just then, Trista walks into the drugstore.

“Speak of the devil…” Anika whispers then plasters a big smile on her face.

“Hi, Aunt Trista!”

“Hey, darling.”

Trista’s face hardens when she spots me behind Anika near the cashier’s counter. Her face changes from cheerful to hostile. Trista knows I’m her biggest competition. I can’t say the feeling is mutual but you’ll never know.

“Oh, you work here?” Trista remarks, giving me a once-over. The woman is dressed to the nines in what looks like designers and I’m in my uniform of white shirt with the drugstore’s logo, a fitting black skirt and my feet in white Skechers. I don’t want to feel insecure but it’s hard not to. I hate the thought that this woman knew Ry intimately before.

I keep calm. Anika glances at me nervously. “Looking for something?” Anika chirps at her aunt, trying to dispel the tension.

Trista walks over to a shelf, picks up some items and approaches the cashier’s counter.

She lays down several packets of condom. The XXL ones.

Trista is looking at me tauntingly. I hope my cheeks aren’t flaming red with my rising temper.

Anika grins. “Got a date tonight?”

“Yep. A little reunion with a big man.”

Anika giggles and encodes the items into the cash register. She then puts the condoms in a small plastic bag and hands it to Trista.

The woman smiles gloatingly. “I’ll see you later, Nika.”

“Bye, Aunt Trista.”

I watch Trista sashay out of the drugstore, her well-endowed figure leaving a whiff of expensive perfume in the air. She climbs into her white Porsche at the parking lot and drives away.

“I’m glad she’s seeing someone new. I’d hate for her to be pining for Ryland still knowing she can’t have him again,” Anika remarks.

But I know Trista isn’t pining.

The woman means to take Ryland back and she was letting me know it.

I walk into my office and find Trista sitting on top of my table. In her red bandage dress, she looks out of place amid the stacks of paper and car parts samples scattered all over the room.

I continue wiping the grease from my hands. The shop is on full schedule today. I really don’t have time for this, but I guess something needs to be said between us. I’m having a new chapter in my life and I don’t want any loose ends from the previous chapter messing with it.

“Hello, Trista. Trouble with your car?” I greet her casually.

She eyes me from the bottom up, lingering at my middle, giving me that look she used to give me when she wanted sex. I don’t welcome it anymore. I feel as though she’s visually violating my private space.

“I want you back.”

That’s what I like about her. She always cuts to the chase. Makes it easier for me to return the favor. “I’m afraid that’s no longer possible.”

She pushes her body from the table and slowly approaches me. She’s almost as tall as I am in her killer heels. I wonder what she’s doing back in town when Los Angeles suits her better. Trista will never survive a month in this sleepy town. She only stayed before because she couldn’t get booty from me unless she came to town.

“Why? Give me one good reason why I can’t have you anymore.”

The woman needs to hear the facts.

“Because I’m taken.”

She looks at me with a frozen sneer on her face, then she bursts out laughing.

“By that teenager?”

I go defensive. “You have a problem with that?”

I’m ready for her outburst but I’ll be damned if I’d let her disrespect Rizzy in any way.

But she stays cool. She walks over to me and places her hands on my chest. My skin crawls. I no longer welcome anybody else’s touch on my body except Rizzy’s. But I remain a gentleman. This conversation will end on my terms and I hope to never see this woman again in the same situation.

“Kindly take your hands off of me, Trista,” I tell her coldly.

That gets to her. Her eyes flare in anger. Trista doesn’t take well to rejection. Well, who does? But it has to be done. Like what I asked Rizzy to do to Derek, I don’t want to give Trista any false hopes.

“You don’t really mean that, Ry.” Her voice turns sultry as her hands trace my pecs through my shirt. “I remember how you used to want me doing this…”

I grip both her hands and lift them off my body. “That part of my life is ages ago and I barely recall it. Have a little respect for yourself, Trista and leave. I don’t want to hurt you. Don’t force me to. Respect my decision. We’re done.”

Her tough facade cracks. Her eyes glisten with tears.

“I came back for you, Ry.”

Shit.

She hugs me.

“Trista—“

“I regret what I did. I shouldn’t have left. I tried to forget you but I couldn’t.”

I try to remove her arms from around me but she clings to me tighter.

“Trista, please—“

“I’ll change! I’ll come back here, transfer my business here to be with you. I just want you back. Ry, please, give me another chance. Give us another chance.”

“No, Tris. I’m sorry but I love her.”

“No! You can’t possibly expect that to work out? She’s too young for you Ry. She’s Anika’s age, for God’s sakes!”

“Take you hands off him!”

Double shit!

Rizzy is at the door, her eyes on fire.

I manage to push Trista away from me.

Rizzy marches toward us looking like bloody murder.

“Get out!” she spits at Trista, pointing at the door.

But Trista scoffs at her. “You don’t own this place, bitch.”

Rizzy smiles evilly, glancing at me briefly. “No?”

Trista wraps her arms around mine. I want to shake her off but she’s strong, desperation driving her. “Ry owns it. We’re old friends. And you are?”

I should have known when she stormed through that door that Rizzy is no pushover.

“I’m his girlfriend now. I suppose you’re the ex? Between us, who do you think deserves to be holding him?”

Rizzy looks at me accusingly.

This time I manage to remove Trista’s arms from mine. This is getting out of hand.

“I had him first!” Trista argues.

“I have him last,” Rizzy counters.

“You think he’ll marry you?”

“Well, he didn’t marry you.”

“Ladies…” I try to interfere but I should have known not to get in between two fighting tigresses.

Without warning, Trista lunges at Rizzy, her sharp nails aiming for her face.

Rizzy steps back, fends the attack and grabs Trista’s long blond hair in retaliation.

Trista shrieks as chunks of her hair come off.

Rizzy looks at the blonde locks in her hand and sneers. “Hah! Extenders.”

Trista goes crazy. She lunges at Rizzy again.

Rizzy is smaller, more agile in her sneakers. She grabs Trista’s hair again, pulling down hard. Trista is outbalanced on her tall heels and falls to her knees.

I try to stop Rizzy but she kicks me. “Back off! I’ll get to you!”

I freeze at the look of fury in her eyes. Jesus!

By this time, Rizzy is thrashing my ex like a fucking gladiator. She drags Trista by the hair to the door. Trista helplessly follows on her knees, screaming in pain.

Rizzy pushes my ex out the door with a kick to her bum.

Trista is on the floor, screaming like a banshee. “I’ll sue you, bitch! I’ll have your ass rotting in jail!”

“Sue me, I dare you! There’s a CCTV camera somewhere here that will tell the truth. You attacked me first. I hurt nothing but your extenders and your slutty pride! Leave my boyfriend alone or I’ll finish the rest of your fake hair!”

She slams the door shut so hard the car parts hanging on the wall rattle, some, falling off and crashing to the floor.

She locks the door and faces me. “Now you!”

I swallow, raising my hands. “Baby, I did nothing…”

“This is the second time I saw her hands all over you!”

She advances toward me and the crazy look in her eyes has my cock swelling fast. Goddamn, she’s fierce!

“She came here. You must know by now I want nobody else, baby.”

She glares at me harder. “She was touching you! You allowed her!”

“I did not!”

“You don’t want any other man touching me but you let that bitch kiss you!”

“I did not! What would I have done? Drag her by her hair to the door?”

“Yes!”

I shake my head. “You’re being unreasonable, baby.”

“Me, unreasonable? Maybe I’ll let you see me kissing some other guy! See how it feels.”

My blood pressure rises for a whole new reason now. “You’re jealous for nothing.”

“You were jealous for nothing!”

“Come here, “ I command her.

“No. You smell of her.”

“I do not. I said come here, Rizzy.” I advance toward her.

She goes behind my table. As if that can stop me. “No. I’m still mad at you. Don’t come near me. I’m warning you, Ry.”

“Or what, little girl? What are you going to do to your Uncle Ry?”

“You’re not my uncle.”

“Damn right, I’m not.”

I stalk her, my cock swelling with every heartbeat. She’s so beautiful. So wild. And she’s mine.

“I said stay back, Ryland Boyd!” she threatens me, her finger pointing at me. I can’t believe this is my good girl Rizzy, half my age, and she’s going toe to toe with me. Her defiance is adding dimension to my rising arousal. At this point, all I want is to spread her legs and fuck her to submission. Christ, I throb with wanting her.

She runs to the door but I lunge after her, lifting her by the waist. She shrieks, kicking in resistance.

“Let me go!”

“Not a chance, baby. You’re mine. You belong with me.”

I carry her and drop her ass on the sofa. She kicks me and I catch both her ankles, forcing her legs wide open, planting my frame between them so that she’s kicking air in her struggle.

I’m glad my office is on the mezzanine level and the glass windows are tinted. I can see everything below but no one can see us from the other side.

“You little hellcat…”

I grab both her wrists and manacle them together with my hand.

She lay beneath me, breathing hard, her eyes ferocious. I can imagine the years ahead with this tigress. It’s going to be eventful and colorful for sure.

“You were going to get married!” she throws at me accusingly.

I slowly smile. “Is this what this is all about?”

“It’s not funny!”

I push her skirt higher, revealing her panty-covered pussy.

“She came to the drugstore and bought condoms.”

“Yeah?” I rip her little panties off of her.

She gasps, bucking her hips. “And then I found her here!”

I palm her pussy. She jerks, seemingly electrified. My cock jerks as well, when I feel her readiness. Fuck, this pussy will be the death of me.

“What do her condoms have to do with me?”

I massage her wet folds, rubbing her clit.

She licks her lips, making a small mewing sound, going limp under me. “Stop playing with me. I’m serious, Ry.”

I insert a finger in her tight hole, my cock drooling precum in anticipation of being sheathed by this. “I’m serious, too.”

“You wanted to marry her!” she persists.

I let go of her hands and free my cock from my jeans. “I did not, baby. Whoever told you that, it’s not true. I didn’t want to marry her. Not even close.”

She stares at me, her eyes full of how she feels for me.

I feel loved by her eyes alone. And I love her. God, I love her so much I’m going to hell for it.

I rub my cock against her wet slit.

She whimpers. “Don’t lie to me. I can’t bear it.”

I rim her little hole. “I won’t lie to you. Never.”

She moans, her hips lifting in capitulation.

I enter her gently. She holds her breath. I go slow. I know she’s still tender from our weekend marathon sex, but she’s so sleek and her pussy is stretching to accommodate me just fine.

Her hands roam my chest, my back, going down to cup my ass, her nail digging into my skin.

“Did you love her?”

The possessive look in her eyes makes me slam the remaining inches of me balls deep inside her. She gasps, her cunt clasping my length eagerly.

I stare into her eyes. “Remember what I told you about making love?”

She nods.

I frame her face with my hands. “Do you believe me?”

With a cry of surrender, she wraps her legs high around my back, pulling me deeper.

I drive my tongue into her mouth as I begin to ride her hard, stretching her good. “I don’t want her. I want you, baby. I’m so fucking crazy for you. You can’t possibly believe I’d still another now?”

Her pussy yields to the demands of my cock, wet and tight and hungry for my cum.

I lift her as I kneel on the floor, letting her ride me. “You feel that? That’s me wanting you. That’s all of me needing to come inside you. That’s me longing to make you pregnant.”

“Oh Ry,” she sighs, holding on to my shoulders. She learns the rhythm fast and I aid her by lifting her hips up and down my upthrusting cock.

Soon she’s chasing her orgasm as she rides me hard, rolling her hips, finding the right friction, giving herself the maximum sensations.

I watch her use me, reveling in her wild passion.

“I’m coming…Ry…Oh God!”

I grip her hips and jack her fast until she throws her head back, crying out as she reaches her climax. I’m just a heartbeat away.

I bury my face in her neck to muffle the howl that escapes my throat as my seed furiously jets out of my body and into hers. I hope she’s fertile and her womb is eager to house my baby. The thought heightens my orgasm.

She collapses on me, her head lying weakly on my shoulder.

I manage to bring us both onto the sofa and we cuddle in the afterglow of our spent passion.

I’ve decided.

I will ask her hand in marriage when Jerry arrives.