Best Friend's Ex Box Set (A Second Chance Romance Love Story)

by Claire Adams

  “When we reached the statue,” I said, shaking my head. “Lillie walked off to the side and stood with her hands folded in front of her. It was like I was looking at my past and my future at the same time. I stood there in the fog, watching your beautiful face, beaming and excited to see me. It felt almost as if you couldn’t even see Lillie, like she was only visible to me. Our voices echoed through the air. They were conversations we had when Lillie was alive and conversations we had just recently. Your laughter floated along, hitting me straight in the ears. In my dream, I felt as if I was losing my mind, like the dark parts of me that were there for so long were trying to desperately hold on, but Lillie was taking them away. I turned to you and reached out, pulling you into my arms and feeling the warmth of your skin warm me instantly. The glow that was basking around you, well, it enveloped both of us. I leaned you back and kissed you, like the night that I was fulfilling my bet, only even more emotion was behind it.”

  She tilted her head and looked at me, confused by what I was trying to say. I knew that I could have made this all simpler, but I felt it was imperative that I told her every moment of the dream and how exactly I was feeling. She needed to understand the separation I went through during that dream, and it wasn’t from Lillie, but the ghost of Lillie I had created in my head.

  “After that,” I continued. “We both turned and looked at Lillie. She was beaming at both of us with that smile. Well, you know the smile. I could feel contentment and peace washing over me, and I could tell that when she left, she took all of the dark with her. You see, when I said I love you, I wasn’t saying it to Lillie. she was already gone. I was saying it to you. I was looking deep into your eyes and telling you how I felt from the bottom of my soul. There was no fear, no apprehension, and no confusion whatsoever that you were you, someone completely different than Lillie, and not someone to fill any hole, because she took that emptiness with her when she disappeared.”

  She looked across the table from me, her expression lightened and her shoulders less tense. Her mouth had dropped slightly open, and it was more than obvious that she was surprised by my words. I could almost feel the tension leave the conversation. I looked around the room momentarily, feeling something different. It looked like Dolly’s, the place I had fond memories of, but instead of those memories attacking me, they just made me smile. Lillie lifted from the two of us, and for the first time since I met Elana, I truly felt like it was just the two of us, side by side, spilling our hearts to each other. From the look on Elana’s face and how she wrapped her arms around her shoulders and looked over at the bar, she could feel the weight lifted as well.

  There was a moment like nothing I had experienced in many years, where I felt like myself. Like a man looking forward to the future, excited about the prospects that laid ahead of me. And I had no want or reason to turn around and look behind me.

  “I left those messages, and I wrote that letter so that you could be sure that it was you that I loved, not some memory of a lost fiancée,” I explained. “Every word I wrote in that letter was true, and I could have gone on for pages and pages, but I was pretty sure that what I said would give you the point I was trying to make. I know that if we are together, that list will only grow as I learn and move alongside you. I know that we have a lot to learn about each other, even after all these years, but with the past no longer haunting us, we can relax and really listen to what we are saying to each other. We can truly become partners in this life, and not just two people drawn together, but fighting it every step of the way. I love you, Elana, not the memory of Lillie. She will always be a special part of our lives, a piece of the past that we will carry with us, but she doesn’t need to be a part that completely controls everything we say and do.”

  “I don’t know what to say,” she replied, tears filling her eyes.

  “Know this,” I said, reaching forward and taking her hands in mine. “I love everything about you, from your nerdiness to the way you brush your hair. I love the giggle that comes from you when you’re trying not to laugh at a bad joke. I love the way your face rests on the pillow when you are sound asleep. I love the way you smell, and how just one whiff of you can turn me into a puddle at your feet. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Elana. I want to grow old with you, raise a family, explore the world, and all the other things that we both want to do. Sure, I could do them on my own, but in reality, I can’t imagine my life without you in it, walking next to me, not in front or behind me, sharing in our dreams and sorrows, supporting each other through the thick of it all. I think I’ve known this from the beginning, but it took me letting go of a ghost in order to fully see it and appreciate it.”

  I took a deep breath, feeling better that everything was out in the open. Elana, however, was having a hard time with everything. She clasped her hands together, trying to get them to stop shaking. Tears were flowing down her cheeks, and I couldn’t figure out whether they were good tears or bad, but from the sigh that escaped her mouth, I knew they weren’t bad at all. I could tell that she had let out a sigh of relief, all the emotions of letting go flooding her immediately. It was extremely overwhelming. I knew the feeling, and I knew I had to get her out of the restaurant. I stood up and pulled her up, wrapping my arms around her entire body and feeling the light sobs into my shoulder. I leaned down to her ear and pursed my lips, hesitating to speak, but realizing I needed to.

  “We should go somewhere private,” I whispered. “Let’s get you out of here.”

  She nodded her head yes, and I threw some money down on the table to cover the bill. I wrapped one arm around her tightly and led her out of the restaurant, trying to be discreet so she didn’t feel embarrassed by her emotions. Carefully, I led her through the parking lot to my car and opened the door, helping her climb in. I reached up and pulled the seatbelt over her, fastening her in tightly before walking to my side and getting into the driver’s seat. I looked over at her for a moment, reaching across and wiping the tears from her cheeks. She took in a deep breath and leaned her head against the headrest behind her, looking at me but not speaking. I wasn’t exactly sure what she was thinking or feeling, but I knew after that load of information, she needed some time to process.

  I pulled out of the parking lot and turned on the heat, wanting to make sure that she was warm and comfortable. She stared out the window as we drove, but I could see her face in the reflection. She had stopped crying, and now, she looked contemplative. When we pulled up to her house, I got out of the car and walked to her side, helping her out and walking up to her door with her. I was extremely nervous. This was the make or break point. If she wanted me to walk away, I would, but I knew that it would completely gut me.

  “Why don’t you come in for a while?” she asked.

  I breathed a sigh of relief.

  Chapter 38

  Elana

  I closed and locked the door behind me, turning to Ollie and smiling awkwardly. I pulled off my coat and hung it by the door, feeling like I was a stranger in my own house. I took a deep breath and walked past him, heading to the kitchen to get a drink. At first, I was considering water, but from the revelations just made, I thought maybe something a bit stronger was in order. I pulled down two glasses and poured a shot of vodka in each. I felt like I had fallen down the rabbit hole, caught in an alternate universe, a world that was not my own. Ollie loved me. Just thinking those words were enough to disorient me, and for that, I knew I needed to take a drink.

  He loved me. I mean, could it really be true? Could the man that I had wanted for many years finally have fallen in love with little old me? His dream was prophetic almost, and as he had told it to me, I could feel this weight just lifting off my shoulders. It was as if the ghost of Lillie that followed me had gone away, too, taking all the guilt, fear, and pain with her. I had looked around the bar realizing that I no longer felt that anxiety I would feel walking into a room soaked in memories. Then on top of all of that, Ollie had professed to me that he loved me.
In any other circumstance, I wouldn’t have believed him, but feeling that absolution, I couldn’t help but realize what he was saying was the truth. It was so much information that my emotions just went wild, taking over my mind and forcing me to release them right there in the restaurant. I was grateful that he had led me out of there before it turned into an ugly, embarrassing cry.

  I put down my glass after shooting the vodka and took a deep breath. My eyes moved over to Ollie who was standing there staring at me, his face showing a nervous look, but one filled with love and curiosity. I walked over to him and stopped just inches from his body, thinking about what I wanted to say. I pulled my arms around his neck and looked deep into his eyes. He reached forward and cautiously placed his hands on my waist, looking back at me without thought or apprehension. I couldn’t help but think about the moment I had first really looked into Ollie’s eyes, the first time I actually thought of Ollie as his own entity and not just my best friend’s fiancé. He looked so handsome, but bewildered, running through the campus, plowing me to the ground and then running around, collecting all my papers as they blew toward the courtyard. It was definitely an interesting meeting.

  “Ollie,” I said calmly. “Are you sure that you’re making the right decision? Because I don’t think that I can take it if we break things off again. I know that I made the choice, but I was so distraught, I haven’t been able to think of anything but you. It affected my job, my personal life, where I slept, everything. I went and stayed at my mom’s house, and at first, I thought it was to hide from you, but then I realized that I wanted to be comforted, to feel like I didn’t have to worry about being an adult for two seconds. I wasn’t even sure I was going to come out of this situation with the same vitality that I had walked into it with. I was completely spiraling downward, and although I knew it, I was helpless to stop it.”

  He grabbed tighter around my waist and pulled me in closer, wrapping his arms tightly around me. I relaxed into him, feeling his body against mine and remembering how much I missed the smell of his cologne. He leaned his face against my cheek, and I sighed, not wanting him to ever let me go again. It was all so sudden and so completely unbelievable.

  “I want to tell you a secret,” he whispered into my ear. “I have never felt this way about a woman before, Lillie included.”

  I pulled my head back and looked into his eyes, completely shocked by his admittance of his feelings for me, and the ones he used to have for Lillie. I really never thought that anyone would care about me as much as Ollie had cared for Lillie. But now, he was admitting to me that he cared about me and felt stronger about me than any woman he had ever been with. I wasn’t even sure how to react.

  “I loved your best friend,” he continued. “I don’t want you to think I didn’t. I would have happily married her, and I would have spent the rest of my life with her. But at the time, you have to remember, you weren’t in my romantic thoughts, at least not in the forefront of them. After spending so much time together, finding out who you really were, and bonding with you in this incredibly intense way, I realized that you have always been a better fit for me than Lillie was.”

  I took in a deep breath, feeling the emotions flood through me. That was what I had thought ever since I first met him, but he was Lillie’s, and there was no way I was going to betray her. After a while, I just figured that it was wishful thinking on my part, just me trying to project my crush onto my personal pride, trying to make myself feel like I could ever actually have a man like Ollie. As it turned out, I had him before he even realized it.

  “We do match together really well,” I said, smiling.

  “I love your sense of humor,” he said. “It’s like a perfect match for my sarcastic attitude. We have similar interests, like football, traveling, books, comics, education, and so many other things. And man, I have to say that our sex is off the damn charts. I mean, I dream about it even right after we have it. We just know each other’s bodies, which sounds crazy since we’ve barely spent that kind of time together. There is just something about our connection. It’s like we both dial into the same frequency, even if we start in different places. Elana, I knew from the moment I woke up in your bed with you gone that I couldn’t even think about facing this world without you by my side. Call it fate, soul mates, kismet, whatever you want, but that is what you are to me.”

  “You’re so romantic this evening,” I said, smiling. “It’s almost like I won a bet or something.”

  “If the prize is me loving you forever,” he said. “If it’s knowing that you’re the only one I want now, tomorrow, and for the rest of my life, then yes, you definitely won the bet.”

  “Can I slip in there something about servitude?”

  “You can put anything you want in there as long as it means that I get to have you as my partner for the rest of my life,” he replied, chuckling. “Though, I can’t promise I will always do the dishes.”

  “Ugh, that’s it,” I said, throwing my arms in the air. “I knew there was fine print.”

  “Come here,” he growled, laughing. “I’m not going to put this in a contract, and if you try to use it against me, I will deny the whole thing, but if having you means dishes for life, I’ll go get myself some dish gloves and a sponge because I’m ready for it.”

  “Wow,” I gasped. “That is some serious commitment. I mean, I’m all about everything you have said, but I’ll be honest, if you said dishes were my duty in return for having you the rest of my life, I might have to take a second to think about it.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  “Yeah, I mean I have to keep up my reputation.” She laughed. “Dishes make my hands all soft and satiny smooth. What if someone were to notice?”

  “Like who? The library mafia?”

  “Shhh,” I said, putting my finger to his lips. “Careful. They will hear you. I don’t want to end up in the stacks, if you know what I mean.”

  He laughed loudly, leaning in and kissing me on the cheek. As he pulled back, I could feel the fire surge through his eyes. I put my arms back around his neck and looked him deep in the eyes.

  “I love you, Ollie,” I whispered. “Forever.”

  He pulled me in and pressed his lips against mine, kissing me passionately. Immediately, he scooped me up into his arms, cradling me, and heading out of the kitchen and toward the stairs. He climbed up to the top and walked into my bedroom, kicking the door shut behind us. As soon as my feet touched the floor, his lips were on my neck, his hands on my breasts, and our bodies were just centimeters apart. The lust filled us both, and we instantly knew we had to be entangled, feeling our bare skin against each other. I reached down and unbuttoned his pants, slowly pulling the zipper down and letting them drop to his ankles. He pulled my shirt over my head and scooped my breasts out of my bra, putting his lips around my erect nipples. I moaned loudly, and he pulled back, undoing my pants as I unclasped my bra and threw it to the side.

  I smiled, backing up and laying down on the bed, my legs spread wide apart. He pulled his shirt and boxers off, not wanting to waste any time with nonsense. He climbed forward, putting his arms around my thighs and grabbing my panties, pulling them down my body and tossing them to the floor. He grabbed his cock and pushed it toward me, feeling the warmth of my wet pussy. We couldn’t move fast enough, our hands all over each other as he thrust his hips forward and buried himself deep inside of me. I gasped out, leaning my head backward and bending my legs at the hip. I fell backward onto the bed and pulled him down on top of me, kissing him wildly as he fucked me deeply and passionately.

  “Yes,” I screamed out, showing all the signs of being close to coming.

  He put his hands down on both sides of my shoulders and pushed his torso up, diving his hips down and feeling my body take him in. Over and over again, his hips pushed, and the air filled with my wildly loud moans and screams. His breath was heavy. He leaned down and kissed me deeply, feeling the vibrations of his groans pushing down my throat. He reached his arm do
wn and grabbed my thigh, pulling my leg up to his side. He slowed his pace but began to roll his hips into me, his body rubbing against my clit like waves in the ocean.

  He watched me as I gripped down on the bed beneath me, throwing my head back and thrusting my chest forward, my back arched. I took in a deep breath, and my body went stiff. I felt my pussy expanding and collapsing around his cock as my juices spewed down his shaft. He groaned, feeling my orgasm around him, but he wasn’t done. I could tell that he wanted me to feel more pleasure than I ever had my entire life, even if it meant his needs had to wait. As my body collapsed back into the bed and my eyes opened, meeting his, he smirked, pulling his cock out of me. I looked confused, but he seemed to know exactly where he was going.

  Chapter 39

  Ollie

  Her body quaked beneath me, and I felt the waves of her orgasm rolling through her. I wanted her to feel more, to know just how much I wanted her, to know how sensual and sexy she really was. I wanted to taste every bit of her in my mouth. When her body had begun to relax, I pulled out my cock and leaned back, smirking at her confused face. I leaned my face down into her breasts, running my lips over her hard nipples. Slowly, I slid down her body, trailing her warm salty skin with my tongue until reaching right below her navel. Her breathing was labored, and she squirmed beneath me, so I took her legs and draped them over my shoulders, lowering my body into the bed and my face between her legs.

  I pulled apart her sopping folds with my fingers and licked my lips before running my tongue through the depths of her juices. She arched her back for a moment, feeling the sensation of my tongue over her skin. I smiled, diving back down, pulling at her lips with my teeth and swaying my head from side to side. I rolled my tongue over her again, this time stopping at her clit and pulling it into my mouth, sucking hard and then releasing. She moaned loudly, pulling her fingers through my messy hair and gripping down, pushing me back down onto her nub. I groaned, and the vibrations pulsed through her folds, causing her to jerk and squirm as she screamed out in pleasure.