by Bella Emy
She smiles and goes to kiss him on the lips. “Hi, baby. I’m sorry I got held up at work. Were you guys waiting here long for me?” Her eyes roam from Rick to me and then back to him.
They both take their seats next to one another as he answers. “Not too long, Sweets. We just ordered a drink and an appetizer.”
“I’m famished…” she says, picking up her menu, scanning it quickly. “I already know what I want.” She puts her menu down and smiles at me.
Rick chuckles. “You always know what you want.”
She winks at him. “Isn’t that a good thing?”
“A great thing,” he responds.
I’m going to hurl. Why am I getting the feeling this just turned sexual? If this is how this evening is going to go, I need to leave. Like now.
She faces me once more. “So, Maddox. How’ve you been? It feels like forever! Did you miss the west coast?”
More than you know.
I chuckle instead of bringing those words to life. “Well, you know this is home, but after a while, you get used to your new life.”
She nods. “I guess so.” She pauses for only a moment before saying, “Well, we’re glad to have you back.”
Her smile hits me right in the heart. I hate to admit this even to myself, but I missed her smiling at me just like this so damn much. I didn’t even realize it till now.
The server arrives at our table minutes later and takes our order. I wasn’t planning to order more than the appetizer I had and maybe a few beers, but since Adelyn’s arrival, I’ve noticed just how hungry I am. I’m famished... I’m starving.
As he leaves with our food order, Adelyn turns to me once more and says, “So anything new with you?”
I think for a moment before responding. “Nope. Same old, same old.”
She smiles widely at me. Damn, that pretty smile. I need to get a grip before I make a move on my best friend’s girl. Fuck, when the hell did that happen?
When you were away in Jersey, dumbass. I shove the thoughts out of my head and am grateful when I hear her voice once more.
“So you’re still up to no good getting into trouble, huh?”
I chuckle at her words. If anyone else had said that, I probably would have flipped. But hearing her say it makes me want to grab her, pin her up against a wall, and…
“Guilty,” I say, pushing the thought from my mind.
She chuckles; even the sound of it is sexy as hell. “Same old Maddox. We really missed you around these parts.”
“We sure did,” Rick chimes in, leaning forward, reminding me he’s here, too.
And that’s when it hits me; I need to hold back. Rick is here, and Adelyn is his girl. Whatever we had going on in the past needs to stay there. She’s obviously moved on, and I need to make sure my head, and my heart, knows it, too.
Somehow, we make it through dinner and I get out of there before I’m too deep into my feelings to make it through the rest of the night.
Chapter Four
“Ooh, Daddy, you feel so good deep inside of me… you feel so…. Big!” Cara moans as those last words leave her lips. She lets out another moan, confirming she’s about to reach her peak. At least one of us is.
I’m trying to get into it, but I can’t for the life of me focus on what she’s saying. I can’t even imagine any of it. Typically, her voice—with the help of my stroking hand—would be enough to help me get off. But not tonight.
Tonight, there’s only one thing I would rather do, and it’s sure as hell not having phone sex with Cara.
The good thing about having just moved to a new place is telling people you don’t have good service or you don’t have internet yet. So, she settled on a phone call at one in the morning.
I was in bed flipping through channels when the call came in. I thought about not answering it. After all, I knew exactly what Cara was calling for. She used to be one of the girls I hooked up with. Before leaving Jersey, I told her we could still do our thing over the phone, whether it be a regular phone conversation or a FaceTime call. She was good with it because she wasn’t looking for anything serious at the moment. Her last boyfriend, who she thought was on the verge of proposing to her, ended up getting caught with his dick in between the neighbor’s legs. And it all happened on her birthday. Talk about asshole. So from then on, all she was interested in was sex with no strings attached.
Don’t get me wrong. Cara is a very beautiful woman with curves for days and long, flowing blonde hair. She’s got eyes as blue as the sea’s. Any guy would be lucky to have her, and her man was just a cheating piece of scum.
But me? I just can’t get the thought of Adelyn out of my mind and the way she looked tonight walking into the restaurant. The way her hips swayed from left to right with each step she took. The way her eyes twinkled as she spoke. The way her luscious lips curled into a smile. The way she could crack jokes about me unlike anyone else could because I let her.
“Mad, baby, did you come?” Cara’s voice breaks through my thoughts and I’m brought back to the current situation at hand: my hard dick, but not because of her.
“Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah. I did. How was yours?” I pull my hand out of my boxers and pick up the remote to the right of me on my bed, then flip through the channels.
“Amazing as always, but I need to talk to you about something.”
I take a deep breath. Oh, fuck. What can she possibly need to talk to me about? We’ve been pretty straightforward with each other from day one that we were only fuck buddies, and now that I’m on the west coast, it’s strictly over the phone. But I think I’m ready to cut all ties off with her completely. It’s not fair of me to do this to her, even though we’re only using one another to get off. I can’t even do that much with her anymore because I have other things, or another woman, on my mind.
But even that’s a problem. I can’t be thinking about Adelyn in that way anymore. I hadn’t in the longest time, but now seeing her again tonight, and she’s all I want to think about.
Why?
Fuck, man. There are a million women in this world. Why is my best friend’s girl the one who I can’t get out of my head?
Because she was mine first.
Okay, no, she wasn’t. She was never really mine…. But she was the one girl I always had a thing for.
“Maddox, did you hear me?” Cara breaks in once more.
I close my eyes. “Yes, sorry. What’s up?”
“You seem really distracted, should I call you tomorrow?”
I clear my throat. “No, I’m sorry. Just work thoughts, it’s fine. What do you need to tell me?”
She pauses for a moment before saying, “Well, I think we should stop doing… this…”
It’s as if a weight’s lifted off my chest. The girl has read my mind. But why does she want to stop now if she was saying it was so good for her?
“Okay… I’m sorry if I wasn’t all there, but it’s just that—”
“No, Maddox. Please, you don’t understand. This has nothing to do with you.”
I furrow my brows. Her imaging my dick pounding deep inside of her cunt having nothing to do with me seems a little inaccurate. “Hmm?”
“I met someone and things seem like they’re going to get serious fast… I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize it… I’m sorry. I have to end this.”
Nice. She couldn’t have come at me at a better time with this than now. “Hey, Cara. It’s fine, really. And I’m very happy for you. You deserve the best.”
Her laughter through the phone confirms she’s glad I’m taking it the way I am.
“Oh, wow. Thank you, Mad. I didn’t know if you were going to be upset.”
I flip over onto my side. “Not at all, girl. You take care of yourself and do what makes you happy. If this guy does, then go for it.”
“He does. Shawn really does. Thank you for being so understanding.”
I wonder if this is the same Shawn who lives two houses down from her. She used to complain t
o me about how he’d always steal her parking spot. Funny how things change.
I chuckle and smile. “My pleasure.”
There I go, Maddox Martinelli, helping others find their happily ever after, but can’t find his own for shit. I should have that logo displayed on T-shirts and wear them around town.
After we hang up, I close my eyes and picture Cara with faceless Shawn. Faceless because I’ve never seen the guy. I’ve just heard about him plenty, every time she’d take her frustration out on my dick. As she’d ride me, she’d put on this angry face and say how much she hated Shawn.
I let out a laugh, and without a warning, it’s Adelyn who comes crashing to my mind next. How the hell did she sneak up into my thoughts?
Fuck, she’s good.
Chapter Five
After tossing and turning all night, not being able to fall asleep, I throw my ass out of bed by five the next morning. What’s the point of lying down any longer when I can’t get any sleep? Maybe this will just make me crash easier tonight?
I shower, get dressed, and am out the door by five forty-five. Not bad.
I walk into the gym a few blocks down from the police station and go right for the punching bag. Time to sweat it out. My cousin, Ryker Manzoni, recommended this place. Apparently, his friend, Lorenzo Trevano, owns a chain of these gyms, so they got me a deal I couldn’t refuse. I need to call Ryker and thank him when I have time later today. What’s better than getting all my anger and frustration out on one of the punching bags?
It’s like a rush of adrenaline flowing through me as each blow hits the bag. Whenever I have a ton of things on my mind, boxing and working out help me so damn much. It’s fucking therapeutic. Plus, this is my kind of gym. I’m by no means small when it comes to being muscular… I used to be a football player in high school and college, so I’ve always had a nice build. But I’m not into muscle head gyms. I’m not here to show off or impress any of the women working out. The vibe at Lorenzo’s Fitness Center is just perfect. I come in, do my workout, and then head off to work. Since they’re open round the clock, you may even catch me here hitting the weights at midnight. It all depends on my mood and how I’m feeling.
I hit the bag for a while, shower, and then get ready for work. It’s going to be a typical Monday morning, going through paperwork on my desk. I wish I could be out today riding around in the patrol car, but I’ll be stuck inside all day. It’s definitely going to drag.
As I walk into the precinct, I’m greeted by a smiling Emily at the front desk, our receptionist. Her sparkling green eyes widen. “Good morning, Officer Martinelli.” I’ve asked her to call me Maddox or even just Mad over a million times, but Emily never does. As a matter of fact, she refers to all of us by our last names. She’s young. Come to think of it, she’s only twenty years old.
I smile back and place my cup of coffee, which I picked up on my way over, on the top of her desk. “Good morning, Emily. How was your weekend?” I grab my mail out of the bin to the right of her desk.
If I were to answer the question myself, would I be able to say I had a good weekend? Hanging out with my best friend and his girlfriend who I used to be in love with once upon a time, unpacking and settling into my place hardly seems like a good weekend to me, but I guess it could have been worse, right?
Emily pushes a strawberry blonde strand of hair behind her ear and her smile widens. “It was great, thank you. How was yours?”
Oh, well, would you look at that? Now I really do have to answer the question.
I fumble with the pieces of mail that were left for me in my bin since I left on Friday afternoon, and as I’m about to answer her and tell her it was great as well—a total lie, but who really wants to hear the truth anyway—her phone rings.
“Oh, excuse me for a moment, Officer Martinelli.”
I nod, letting her know it’s not a problem. It’s her job after all, and honestly, I’m thankful as all hell to have an excuse not to answer. It’s a great opportunity to make my escape and avoid the question.
I quickly pick up my cup of coffee off of her desk, wave with one hand in her directions, even though she’s busy jotting some stuff down on her computer with the caller still in her ear, and head off toward my desk. A great opportunity to get away indeed.
Once I reach my desk, I place my things down and take a seat. The pile of paperwork waiting for me on my desk from the previous week stares at me. Here’s how my Monday’s going to go.
The precinct is loud, typical for the morning. Almost everyone is on the phone, busy answering emails, or chatting with other co-workers about their weekend. Before I do anything else, I pick up my coffee cup and take my first sip. Hot and bold. Just the way I like it.
I place the cup down and then move my mouse to bring my computer back to life. I wonder how many emails are awaiting me this morning. Over 150 new emails, most of them work related. I skim through the first few, only checking who they’re from and what the subjects say. I notice there’s one from my boss that came through about an hour ago, but before I click on it and read what it says, my desk phone rings.
I put the receiver on my shoulder and hold it with my ear while I open up my email from Lieutenant Brooks. “Martinelli.”
“Maddox, what’s up, asshole?” Grant’s voice comes through the receiver and I chuckle to myself. Of course he would call me first thing on a Monday morning when there are a shit ton of things to do. Why the fuck not?
“Grant. Always a pleasure to hear from you before I’ve had a chance to take my first sip of coffee.” Not true, but he doesn’t need to know that.
He laughs. “It’s just after nine. You haven’t had coffee yet? How do you do this job, bro?”
“I’m lying, I had a sip.” I chuckle again. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing… just calling to see how your weekend went?”
Ah, the famous question it seems. I should have known I wouldn’t be able to get away from it long. That seems to be the popular conversation starter every Monday morning.
“Fine,” I respond after a moment.
“Fine? Just fine? As in not great after seeing the sweet Adelyn?”
The mention of her name stirs something inside of me, but I try to push it away and swallow a mouthful of coffee. “Huh?”
Grant chuckles. “You know, your evening with Adelyn and Rick… how was that, seeing the two of them together? I’m kind of mad I couldn’t stay.”
I shrug. “It was fine.”
“Aww, c’mon, man! I know that’s some bullshit! How’re you gonna tell me that did nothing to you, seeing her with your best friend?”
I swallow hard. It did do something to me, but does that even matter? Does that count considering we were never a couple, and she was never mine?
“It was fine,” I repeat. “They’re together now, which is great. They seem really happy, so I’m happy for them.” I hope my words are enough for him to leave me alone because I really don’t want to sit here talking to him on the phone at work on a busy Monday morning when there’s so much to be done. This isn’t the time or the place.
Grant clears his throat. “Look, man. I’m sure they’re happy, I mean, I know at least Rick is. He cares about that woman… almost as much as you do—”
“Did,” I cut him off.
He takes a breath. “Did… but did you ever really get over her?”
“Of course, I did.” Did I though?
“Anyway, as I was saying, Rick is happy and cares for her… but do you think Adelyn is just as happy? Or is there something there from the past… with you?”
My heartbeat speeds up at the thought. But what the hell? This is my best friend’s girl now. If there ever was anything going on between the two of us back in the day, it’s dead and gone now. Isn’t it?
“Grant… why are you saying all of this right now?”
“Because Mad, I was there back then, and I’m here now. I’m seeing everything from an outsider’s perspective. I just want all three of
you to be sure you’re all doing the right thing now that you’re back in town. I know when you left, she clung on to Rick, hence bringing them closer together while you were gone. But now? Is this still what everyone wants?”
I ponder over his words only for a moment before dismissing them. “Look, man. I appreciate what you’re saying and that you’re looking out for all of us, but I think whatever happened in the past is done. I was with the two of them on Friday, and they are definitely happy together. I was going to puke from the mushy lovey-dovey crap I had to witness. They’re happy, and they’re both my best friends… I’m thrilled for them.”
Grant takes a deep breath, and then after a few moments speaks. “Right… Well, alright, dude. If you’re good, then I’m good. I just wanted you to think about things, maybe speak to Rick if you had any doubts or if you were feeling some type of way.”
I shake my head. “Nah, Rick and I already spoke about the whole thing… everything is good.”
“Cool, cool. But let me get back to it. Nate is making his way back to the car. Hit me up later, let’s set up a time to get together again soon.”
I nod. “Sounds good. Later.”
We hang up and I take another sip from my cup. Crap, it’s not as hot as it was. It’s already cooling off and if there’s one thing I hate during my desk time at work, it’s hot coffee turning lukewarm. So gross. I should dump this and grab another cup from the kitchen.
The thought of work coffee makes me grimace. I hate that shit. It reminds me of dirty water. So disgusting… but at least it’s hot.
No, fuck that. I can’t do that to myself. I’d rather drink this piss warm deli coffee instead of that hot, dirty water.
I take another sip and then turn my head to the mountains of paperwork waiting for me to my left. Time to get to it, I guess. Just as I’m about to pick up the first one, another email comes through from the lieutenant. Crap, I forgot about his first email.
I click on the one that just came through. He’s asking me to put in some extra hours this week. Perfect. Just how I wanted this week to start. Sure, boss. I’ll be here. What else am I going to do? I respond to him and then check his other email from earlier this morning. He wants to know how I’m making out with the paperwork. Wonderful, I’m halfway done… yeah, right. I haven’t even started yet. I’d better get to it.
