by Angel Devlin
I swear there was a knowing glint in her eye when she looked at me.
She did Sherry’s copy first. “So what’s your sister’s name?”
“Err, if you could just sign it please.”
“You don’t want it personalizing?”
“Err, no, thank you.”
“Okay.” She began writing in the book, “and what’s your name?” She asked her.
“Sherry.”
“Did you enjoy tonight, Sherry? Did I sound okay? Like I said, I don’t do these things very often. I much prefer to matchmake.”
“It was great. I’m not on the lookout for love myself at the moment but, well, I’ll ask my sister if I can borrow the book when I am.”
“So this isn’t your partner?” Grace nodded at me.
Sherry flushed crimson. “Oh God, no. Ty’s my roommate. We’re just friends.”
“Ah, okay. Sorry about that.” She finished her scribbling and closed the book. “Lovely to meet you. If I made a mistake when I signed then there are some spare copies being left with Dante.”
She opened another book for me. “And yours is for your sister? What’s her name?”
“If you can not personalize mine either.”
“Not a problem…”
“Ty.”
She scribbled in my book and closed it. “Same as I just said to your friend and roommate. Any spelling errors, just change it with Dante.”
“Thanks so much. It was a pleasure to meet you Miss Graham.”
“Likewise, Ty.”
“Oh yes, lovely to meet you Miss Graham. Sorry, I almost forgot to thank you for coming to my friend’s Baby Daddy’s bookstore.”
“Please call me Grace and I’ve loved it. It’s been very enlightening as to how strange we humans are when it comes to matters of the heart.”
I didn’t know what she was talking about. Obviously, it was woman waffle, so I just grinned and agreed with her.
I shared a cab back to the apartment with Sherry and this time made sure I sat next to her though I kept right to my side of the cab. In fact if the door flung open for any reason I’d be sitting on the sidewalk. But she couldn’t say I’d ignored her this time. I’d made polite chit chat about how nice the cupcakes and lemonade had been, even if my stomach was currently crying out for a decent meal. The minute I got back I was sending out for Chinese.
Once home, I asked Sherry if she wanted some food, but she said she’d already eaten and just wanted to get to bed.
Watching her leave the room, I sighed and placing my book on the kitchen countertop, I went to get the Chinese leaflet out to order my takeaway.
Actually, I’d just check Grace hadn’t made a mistake when she wrote in the book and maybe just look at the section on looking at those close by…
My jaw dropped open as I saw what she’d written. Grace Graham was shit hot at matchmaking.
Ty, darling!
Life is short. Take the chance.
I’m sure you’ll not regret it!
Grace Graham xo
That was it. Fuck getting a Chinese. I was no longer hungry for anything other than Sherry. I stalked for her room and hoped to God Grace Graham was right.
Chapter Twelve
SHERRY
I was even more confused after meeting Grace and her book reading about Ella and Finn.
Once home, I just wanted to escape to my room so I could think things over. I’d read my new book that wasn’t for my sister at all and sleep on it.
I opened the book to see Grace’s inscription, and my mouth dropped open wider than the pages.
Sherry, darling.
Looks like he might be right in front of you!
Take the chance.
Grace Graham xo
How had she known the book was for me? Or did she not know but that was why she’d said I could get another copy if she’d made a mistake?
What the hell was I supposed to do?
Footsteps sounded outside my door and then they came to a stop. But nothing happened. No knock. Nothing. Just stillness.
What was Ty doing?
I stood at the other side of the door and also did nothing. After a minute I sighed.
“Sherry?” A low murmur came through the door.
“Yeah?”
“Are you standing at the other side of this door?”
“Yeah.”
“Erm, why?”
“I dunno. I heard your feet approach and then you just stayed there, so I decided to erm, join in.”
“So now we are both standing at either side of a door, but only one of us knows why?”
“Well, now I feel like an idiot, whereas you must feel superior given you have come and stood outside my door like a stalker weirdo for the last five minutes.” I said with a high level of sarcasm.
He knocked, making me jump.
“Can I come in?”
I opened the door.
“Yes?”
Ty scratched the scruff on his chin. “So, the reason I’m here, is well… well… I wondered if you’d like a glass of water? Only you went straight off to bed and you usually take a drink.”
“Do I want water?”
“Yeah, erm water.”
“No, I’m fine, thank you.”
I can drink my own sad tears later.
“Oh, okay then. Well, night.”
“Night.” I closed the door. It could be said rather abruptly, given it banged in the jamb.
There was another knock on the door.
“If I open this door, Ty, and you ask me if I’m sure I don’t want a drink of water, I’m going to close it so fast you might end up with a broken nose.”
“I don’t want to get you a drink of water.” Came through the door.
I opened the door again and put my hands on my hips. “Then what do you want, Ty, because it’s late and—”
“You. I want you.”
I couldn’t finish my sentence because his mouth was on mine and the door banged closed again, only this time it was by Ty kicking the door firmly shut behind him.
He broke off from kissing me and stared down at me while struggling to talk through his heavy breathing.
“Do you want this, or have I got it completely wrong and just messed everything up?”
“God, no, I want it so much. I thought you were never going to take me away from the friend zone.”
His eyes hooded. “We are so not just friends.” With that he leaned down, his mouth capturing mine.
My mind and my core went hallelujah.
His hand was at the back of my neck holding me steady, while his other slipped the strap of my cami top off my shoulder.
I broke the kiss because the only way this top came off was over my head.
I pulled it up and then I was in front of him, my bare breasts exposed to his hungry gaze, while he stood there fully clothed.
But not for long.
His shirt hit the floor followed by his pants, socks, and finally his boxer briefs.
Well, hello. Ty was a big boy.
I started to feel nervous. I had only ever slept with Kade. As lovers we’d started young and grown together, developing a steady routine until it had begun to fade into familiarity and then had fizzled to almost nothing. Now here I was in front of someone new, a different body. Would he find me lacking?
“You’re thinking too much.” Ty whispered in my ear and then his mouth trailed down my neck. I shivered under his touch. He was right. It was time to give in to my feelings and let my brain take a vacation.
Ty lifted me up and then lowered me carefully onto the bed. I could feel his hardness against my thigh and my stomach fluttered with excitement.
Take a chance. Take a chance. Take a chance.
That’s what I’d been hearing lately, so that’s what I was doing. With Kade I’d let him take the lead, be the man. With Ty I was going for what I wanted.
I lowered my hand until it fixed around his erect cock. He groaned as I began to move my hand u
p and down his length.
“You keep doing that and I’m not gonna last long.”
I stopped him from speaking by catching his mouth with mine, tangling my tongue with his, while I ran my free hand over his buttocks.
His own fingers came to rest between my legs and he stroked me there before pushing a finger inside me, followed by another.
“Fuck.” He groaned in my ear.
“Please, I want you so much, Ty. I don’t want to wait any longer.”
He moved and thrust inside me. My head gently hit the headboard, but I felt it was a price worth paying. I wanted nothing to interrupt what was happening right now, namely my being thoroughly fucked by Tyrone Neill.
Before I knew it, I was coming undone around him. With a groan, he reached his own completion. But it was only the start of things and between short naps we carried on all night long.
When we finally had to get out of bed to get ready for work, we couldn’t stop smiling at each other.
As he passed me a much-needed coffee, he said, “Well at least we didn’t take over a year like Finn and Ella.”
“Yeah, do you know I was in such a fix about what to do. Grace actually wrote in my book basically telling me to get on with it. She must have recognized something between us.”
“Why do you think I stood outside your door? I’ve been dithering since you moved in. Will she say yes? Will she turn me down? Is it too early? If I wait too long will she meet someone else? It was Grace’s message in my book that finally spurred me into action.”
“Your book?”
“Well, it was supposed to be for my sister, but Grace wrote a message to me in it.”
I tilted my head at him.
“Okay, I made that up. I wanted a copy to study the section on people around you.”
“She did it again. Grace Graham, Matchmaker, finally got us to see what was in front of us all along.” I smiled.
“Looks that way.” Ty said. “Now off you go to work. I’m on a late shift again so I’ll see you tonight. Don’t expect to get much sleep.”
“That’s not fair. You can go back to bed now.” I protested.
“Can’t be sleepy when there could be lives to save.” He winked.
“I want to see you in that uniform some time.” I told him.
Those words would come back to haunt me.
The rest of the week was full of hot sex and not much else. Then on Sunday, I received a text from Kade.
I’m back. Can you come over tomorrow after work? Say 7pm. I’ll make us something to eat.
I texted back to tell him I’d be there. The sooner we met, the sooner we both got on with the rest of our lives.
“Everything okay?” Ty asked me, kissing my shoulder and eliciting goose bumps on my skin.
“Yeah.” I sighed. “Just a message from Kade. I’m going to meet him tomorrow evening.”
I saw Ty tense up. “I’m working tomorrow evening, but I can change shifts if you like? If you’d like me to come with you or wait outside…?”
“No. I’m fine. It’s my ex. I’m not meeting a serial killer.”
He nodded.
“Right, I’d better go and get ready for this bachelorette party.” Jodi was throwing a party for Ella at the coffee shop. Her wedding was on Saturday. Being pregnant, she’d said she didn’t want anything in a bar or too over the top, so we were all bringing some food along with us and making mocktails. Seeing as two of the party couldn’t drink, we’d decided to all join in the sobriety. It looked like being the tamest bachelorette ever.
“The apartment will seem weird without you in it.”
I smiled. We’d only been together a few days, but it already felt like Ty and I might be something serious. How strange was that? You’d think after a long-term relationship, I’d want to sew my wild oats, not hurtle straight into another.
“I’ll only be gone a couple of hours. You can do some housework. For some reason nothing has been getting done around here lately.” I winked.
“The only thing I want to do is you.” Ty mock-whined.
I turned up to the party with bachelorette party photo props, including #TeamBride slogans, crowns, veils, sunglasses. All to up our selfie game.
“Well, well, who’s this stranger?” Riley yelled at me. “Apparently, Tasha’s not seen much of you either, bearing in mind you work in the same place.”
“I’ve been busy.” I looked down at the floor. I could feel my cheeks heating.
“You’ve slept with him, haven’t you? Oh my god. Oh my god. TASHA.” She yelled to the direction of the counter where Tasha stood talking to Audrina. “I think Sherry slept with Ty.”
I wasn’t this embarrassed when my wedding got curtailed. Everyone ran toward the table where I sat.
“Oooh, gossip. Tell us all.” Audrina sat at the table with her chin cupped in her hands facing me.
“She might not want to talk about it.” Casey nudged her friend’s arm, so she had to sit up straight.
“Ow.”
“Behave.”
“But do you want to talk about it?” Audrina asked.
“There’s not really anything to say…” I trailed off looking at their expectant eager faces. “Okay, I slept with him, on more than one occasion and it was amazing.”
“Was his dick as big as the guys said?”
“Hell yeah.”
The rest of the women cheered and whooped.
“Hurrah, the penis has arrived at my bachelorette.” Ella said. “I know I can’t party hard, but I didn’t want the most boring party ever. Please tell us more.”
“Well, actually, Ella. We have a surprise for you. We’re doing a life drawing class and I can see our model has just arrived.” Jodi jumped up and answered the door.
The most stunning looking guy came in. He obviously worked out from the way his clothes fit just right around him. He pulled off his shirt revealing a ripped torso. “Where do you want me?” He said.
We all refrained from screaming something along the lines of ‘in our bed’. The next thing I knew his pants were off revealing a very decent sized dick.
“I think I need a bigger pencil.” Audrina quipped.
“Where did he come from? I thought life drawing classes always had wrinkly models to draw.”
“He’s one of the strippers Dante used to work with.” Riley admitted. “But he’s a very good sport and said standing still would make a change from having to dance.” She paused. “Though he’ll do us an extra show for tips.” She winked.
It was a fantastic party and the perfect way to end what had been an amazing weekend. I just hoped tomorrow went okay. I was unusually nervous, which was crazy given Kade was hardly a stranger. But when I got home, I excused myself, and saying I was tired, I asked Ty if I was okay to go sleep on my own. His face wore an expression of disappointment, but I had too much on my own mind to take on anyone else’s feelings.
I think knocking on the door of the home I’d lived in for years had to be one of the strangest experiences of my life to date. My mouth was dry, and had been most of the way here. I’d stopped at a store and got a bottle of water and so I took a few sips while I waited for Kade to unlock the door.
Finally, the key turned in the lock, he opened the door, and I gasped.
For someone who’d been in the sun for two weeks, he looked horrendous. Pale, with dark shadows under his eyes, and his hair looked unwashed.
“Sherry, I—”
And then he collapsed at my feet.
“Kade. Kade.” I felt for a pulse. Oh my god what was happening? I presumed he’d been okay with our break-up like he’d said. Had he taken something? Was he going to die?
I dialed 911 and I prayed for him to be okay.
And then Ty was there, in his paramedic uniform, along with a colleague, and they dealt with Kade and took him away in an ambulance, telling me to lock up the house and make my way to the hospital, and to alert his family that he was there.
His mother was frant
ic.
“What do you mean you don’t know what’s up with him?”
“He looked unwell and collapsed at my feet.”
“And you didn’t go to the hospital with him? Thank God you didn’t marry him. You don’t deserve him.”
The phone cut off before I had a chance to explain myself.
What did I do now? Did I go to the hospital? I wasn’t his next of kin anymore. I was nothing to him now really. Except I was. I was his friend and the woman who still loved him, just not in the way I should have.
So I went to the hospital. His family could scream and shout at me if that’s what it took, but I would be there for Kade when he woke. God, if he woke. I shook my head. I couldn’t think like that. He would be okay. He had to be okay.
They weren’t supposed to tell me what his current situation was as I was not family, but Ty found me. I wanted his arms around me, to feel his comfort, but he was at work. I could see the turmoil on his own face.
“He has a virus. Something he’s picked up while travelling. The doctors have started him on intravenous meds. He’ll be fine.”
“Oh, thank God. I thought he might have taken an overdose or something. He looked so ill.”
“He is ill, but he’s on the right treatment.”
Kade’s mother walked past. Her eyes were puffy with tears. “You’re not welcome here.” She told me.
That was it. It was the thing I’d not really done after the non-wedding, but standing there, I broke down and cried. I cried that I was no longer welcome in the arms of a family I’d been in for years. Now I was on the outside. Yet, though it was deeply upsetting in some ways, in others it drew a firm line under the ending of this relationship.
It gave me closure.
Ty had guided me to a seat and with an arm around my shoulder he asked if I wanted him to finish his shift and take me home.
I shook my head and smiled at him through my tears.
“I’m okay. Kade is going to be fine, and I realize I don’t belong here now.” I squeezed his hand. “And that’s okay, because my place from now on is with you.”
