Late April - Present Day

I raise my arm, crooked in the perfect position for Elle to hold so we can walk down the middle aisle toward the church exit. Our eyes meet for a second before she rolls hers away, annoyed that we must do this together. I’m not exactly happy about it myself. Being near her isn’t easy when I crave her like a fucking drug addict jonesing for his next fix.

“Okay, does everyone know what they need to do tomorrow?” Janny, the bride to be asks when all the couples have successfully exited the church. She glances around at each member of the small wedding party.

“I think they can handle it, baby,” Kyle, her soon to be husband says with a chuckle. He pulls her into his arms and whispers something in her ear, making her blush. It’s awesome to see them so happy together and believe me, I haven’t always felt this way. Janny used to be my girlfriend and she’s still my best friend. We weren’t meant to be as a couple, even though there was a time, I thought differently. Anyone who watches the two of them can see they’re perfect for each other. They’ve beaten seemingly insurmountable odds to get to this point. No one deserves a happily ever after more than they do and tomorrow when they get married, they’re taking a giant step in the right direction.

Derek Santiago, Kyle’s best friend loudly claps his hands together. “Does this mean we can move onto the eating and drinking portion of the evening?”

“Hear, hear,” I say. “I’m starving,” I rub a hand over my lean stomach and it growls in answer.

“Everyone head to our new place,” Kyle announces. They recently bought a house in Brookline after their condo tragically burned down in a fire. Fortunately, there were no fatalities, just some lost possessions which could be replaced.

We all pile into our respective vehicles. Elle jumps into the passenger seat of my seven-year-old Dodge Durango. “What’s the matter? Didn’t anyone else have room?” I question, knowing she’s not riding with me by choice. I overheard her say her car’s in the shop, but I never imagined she’d end up in my vehicle.

“Don’t make this worse than it already is,” she says, in a terse tone of voice as she stares out the passenger window. I wait for her to continue, but fortunately, she remains silent.

Starting the engine, I shift into drive and begin the journey to Kyle and Janny’s. The glow of the bright street lamps and various business signs light up the inside of the car as I drive along Main Street. My eyes keep darting to the right getting waylaid by her sexy as hell legs exposed to mid-thigh in her short, tight, red dress. What would those legs feel like wrapped around my neck as I devour her pussy? Shaking my head, I remind myself that having these thoughts about Elle is futile.

Keeping her face turned away, she peers out the passenger window, giving me ample opportunity to continue my ogling without her noticing. She’d only gloat if she knew and I don’t want to give her the satisfaction of knowing how much I want her.

We play these twisted games of disinterest, but both of us know when we shared that kiss in Vegas four months ago we lit up like fucking Christmas trees. We can pretend all we want, even lie to ourselves, but fact is fact - I want to be buried so deep inside Elle Johnson, want to fuck her so hard she’ll never escape the memory of what my cock feels like.

Minutes later we’re pulling into the wide driveway of Kyle and Janny’s new Colonial. The saltbox style design is a favorite of mine and originated here in New England. The front is flat and the rear roof line is steeply sloped, extending back, all the way down to one story. When you catch a side view of the house you realize how massive it really is.

Elle is out the door before I’ve shut the engine off. Hurrying to meet her as she comes around the front of my vehicle, I take her arm and guide her along the uneven brick pathway. She’s unsteady in her high heels.

“This isn’t a date, Josh,” she grumbles under her breath, trying to pull her arm from my grasp.

“Elle, I’m perfectly aware,” I say, continuing to hold on, “but I’m also going to remain the gentleman my mother raised me to be. Even your bad attitude won’t change that.” Leading her to the entrance closest to the garage, I follow her up the two steps and reach in front of her to open the door.

Laughter and the sound of people conversing hit us as we step inside. My eyes scan around the space and I’m surprised by all the progress Kyle and Janny have made since they purchased this house. They’ve only moved in recently and it already has the feel of a home. There are area rugs on the floors, curtains on the windows and pictures on the walls. I notice one of the paintings I did for Janny when we were dating has a place of honor over the fireplace. The bright shades of blue I used for the beach scene always reminds me of her beautiful eyes.

My gaze flicks in Elle’s direction as she hugs Janny. I’ve studied her eyes enough to know they’re the color of warm dark chocolate, but if you look closely you notice flecks of gold, like the finest aged whiskey. And if you look further there are tiny fiery specks of copper. Her eyes have so much warmth to them. Too bad her personality is ice cold when it comes to me. I’m not sure what happened with the two of us. We used to be friends and enjoyed each other’s company. Janny, Elle and I always spent time together and even as recent as six months ago, we were fine. Now everything’s changed. There’s always tension and any subject can be a source of contention between us.

Moving into the kitchen, I grab a Sam Adams from the state of the art stainless steel refrigerator and head to the large living room. I find Kyle and Derek kicked back on the large sectional that was purchased to replace Kyle’s old comfortably worn leather couch.

“What’s up, gentlemen?” I say, taking a seat in one of the large brown leather chairs. Kicking my feet up on the matching ottoman, I sip my beer, before placing it down on the small table beside me.

Derek lifts his chin in my direction. “What’s new with you, man? I haven’t seen much of you lately.”

“I’ve been working a lot, finishing up the paintings for City Hall. I’ve had some other side projects going,” I mention vaguely, running a hand back and forth over my short hair. None of my friends are aware of what’s been taking up all my time these days and I don’t plan on filling them in anytime soon.

“Is that new ink on the inside of your arm?” Kyle asks. His eyes narrow with laser focus on my wrist.

Dropping my hand from my head, I tug down on the cuff of my black button-down shirt. I knew it would only be a matter of time before his cop eyes noticed. He never misses anything. “Yeah, it’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time now.” Hoping he’ll be satisfied with my answer, I don’t go into detail.

“We’re not good enough to see it?” Derek asks, with a smirk.

“Aww, dude, don’t get your panties in a twist,” I say as I undo the button on my cuff. Rolling my sleeve back twice, I hold up my arm.

“What the hell does that say?” Kyle questions his eyebrows pressing together.

“It’s a line from a nineteenth century poem.”

“Are you turning emo on me, kid?” Derek raises an eyebrow. “Who’s the one wearing panties now?”

“What does it say?” Kyle asks, forever being the peacekeeper between Derek and me.

“She walks in beauty, like the night. It’s a famous Lord Byron poem.”

“Yeah, I don’t remember learning about poetry in school,” Derek says.

“Well, high school was a long time ago, old man. Did you have your fifteen-year reunion yet?” I question.

“Then again, I never brought a single book home my senior year. The O’Leary sisters were in my classes and they used to do my homework for me,” he replies, ignoring my question. Smiling, he wiggles his eyebrows. “Homework’s not all they did for me.”

Kenna, his wife chooses this moment to walk over. I grin with a glance aimed at Derek, knowing he’s fucked.

“What are you guys talking about?” she asks.

“Senior year in high school,” Derek replies with a smile.

Kenna rolls her eyes. “Not the O’Leary sisters again.”

I chuckle. “So, you’ve heard this story?” I question with surprise.

“Please. I’ve heard them all. You forget he and I tried to stay away from each other from the time I was eighteen until I was twenty-five. I think he got a sick satisfaction from sharing stories of his pre-Kenna days, trying to drive me away.” She presses her lips together and sits down in Derek’s lap. His arms wrap around her waist.

“I saved the best for last, Leoncita. Doesn’t that count for anything?” He nuzzles her neck with his lips and she giggles.

“It’s a good thing I’m such a forgiving person. Otherwise you’d still be trying to win me over.” She leans her forehead on his.

“I think we wasted enough time, don’t you?”

She nods her head and softly presses her lips to his.

My chest tightens with envy as I watch them. I want a relationship like the one they have. I fucking crave it. Unfortunately, the person I love will never feel the same. I could tattoo my entire body with love sonnets I’d personally written inspired by her beauty and she’d still curl her lip up with disgust at me.