Because Forever (The Avenue Book 2)

by B. Cranford

  “Mine, mine, mine,” was her endless refrain as he kept moving above her, even as she let her legs fall back to the bed, her body limp with pleasure, yet still preparing for more.

  He began moving faster, faster, the urgency in every thrust, every slide of his cock in and out of her body, telling her that he was close.

  She tightened her grip in his hair, pulling it, fisting it, using it for leverage as she leaned up to kiss him, wanting to feel him let go while their lips were meshed.

  His eyes fell closed the moment their mouths touched, and hers soon followed suit, the darkness behind her lids giving heightened feeling to every press of their bodies. She felt the slow trail of sweat as it dripped down her side, and the brush of the hair on his legs against hers. She heard the low rumble of his moan, caught between their met mouths, and the distant sounds of cars passing outside her building, oblivious to the life-changing moment that was happening within. She tasted his lips, the need that became her favorite flavor in all the world.

  And then, as his body stiffened and slowed, she felt another piercing peak of pleasure take her away as his body stilled, the unmistakable smell of sex in the air, silence taking over as her every sense pinpointed on one thing—his blue eyes flying open and meeting hers, telling her that he’d never felt anything like what they were experiencing in that moment together.

  Everything.

  Chapter Eleven

  Austin jerked awake from a dream that, if possible, he’d have stayed in forever.

  Odie and an endless supplies of pastries. If that wasn’t heaven, he had no fucking clue what was.

  A quick glance over at the old-fashioned alarm clock that sat on the table beside Odie’s bed told him that he’d slept another several hours after his girl had woken him up to say goodbye with a kiss and a quick grope session.

  He’d loved the groping, but hated that it ended so quickly. Especially since, because of work and other commitments, he wouldn’t see her for the rest of the day—not until the following morning, in fact, when he picked her up to take her to Ashton’s baby shower.

  What am I supposed to be doing today? He stretched—both his body and his mind—as he tried to recall what he was supposed to do before heading into The Avenue later on. Because of his late nights working at the bar, and because he’d spent a large portion of the night before getting to know Odie in a whole new way, he was sluggish—and off to an even later start than normal.

  He had no idea how she’d managed to get up and out of the house before six in the morning to meet her client.

  It took a few moments for his mind to clear enough to remember that he was due at Aaron’s office to collect the gift from his brother’s drawer.

  Of course, the pink post-it note that Odie had left on her pillow with a reminder helped.

  CrocMan,

  This is your reminder to get your ass over to Aaron’s office today. Don’t want you blaming me if you forget, just because I wouldn’t let you go home last night. You’re welcome for that, BTW.

  XO

  “Shit,” he said to no-one, remembering that he’d arranged with Aaron’s assistant to be there around or just after lunchtime, and he was cutting it close if he was going to make it on time.

  Scrambling from the bed, he pulled on his jeans and T-shirt and made a pathetic attempt at righting the covers, before hastening out the door in the hopes of stopping by his place to shower and change before running Aaron’s errand.

  He made it in time—making sure to nose around in Aaron’s things, and leaving a dirty joke on a stack of post-it notes that resided in one of Aaron’s desk drawers—before carefully putting the gift into a bag he’d thought to bring from home.

  Nailed it, he thought, congratulating himself not just on getting the job done, but on time and with accessories.

  It was just as he was leaving that he felt his phone start ringing. Unlike Ashton, who he knew had set ringtones or songs for every close contact in her phone book, he had one generic ringtone, so he paused to check the screen before answering.

  “Dude, are you psychic or something? I just picked up Ash’s present. Wait, unless you’re calling to tell me you’re home and I wasted my time?”

  Aaron’s voice was low, unusual for his typically exuberant brother. “Nah, won’t make it back in time. I hate that I’ll miss it.”

  “Is everything okay? You’re quiet. And you didn’t start the conversation with any kind of innuendo.” Aussie laughed, thinking of all the times Aaron had shared and over-shared in their conversations. “Do you have a fever or something?”

  “No, asshole. But Finn is napping with Simon.”

  “How’s he doing?”

  “Finn or Simon or both?”

  “I meant Finn, but both works. Simon was close with his cousin, right?” Austin nodded in agreement with his own observation. “She wouldn’t have given him custody if not.”

  “Yeah, they were close. Simon’s pretty upset, but he’s focused on making sure Finn’s okay. He’s a good kid, Tiny.”

  “I don’t doubt it. You think he’s gonna do okay out here? You’re”—Austin paused as a thought knocked him nearly sideways—“you’re coming back, right?”

  “What? Yeah, of course. Hey, hang on a sec.”

  “Sure, man.” While he waited for his brother to do whatever it was he was doing, Aussie looked down at the bag holding the gift. He couldn’t help but wonder what it was, and he was tempted to open it and see.

  He could always re-wrap it. Ash would never know, and neither would Aaron. He chuckled to himself, giving serious consideration to appeasing his curiosity, but Aaron was back before he could decide.

  “Aus, someone wants to talk to you. Finn wants to talk to you.” Aaron’s voice was serious, the weight of the moment not lost on Austin.

  “Sure, yeah. I wanna talk to my nephew,” he replied easily, warming immediately to calling the kid—who he’d not yet met—his nephew. “Put him on.”

  “Aus—”

  But Austin cut his brother off before he could say anything else. “I get it. Just lemme talk to him, okay?”

  Silence, then shuffling met his ear as Aaron presumably handed his phone to Finn.

  “Ozsin?” The little boy’s voice was sleepy and held a slight lisp. Whether that was just because he was only four and Austin was an unfamiliar name, or something else, Aussie didn’t know. Or care. In fact, Ozsin was kind of cute—he’d definitely answer to it.

  “Hey, Finn.” He didn’t know what to say next, but he didn’t need to worry. Despite Aaron’s obvious concerns about the boy, Finn seemed to have a lot to say.

  And he said it all at once.

  “I like Superman best but I also like Cappin ’Merica, too. Aawon said you had the comics and I might could look at dem wit you if I was good, and I’m tryna be good but I miss my mommy.”

  Austin’s throat felt like it was closing up, the lump forming over the matter of fact way Finn said he missed his mom taking up way too much real estate. “I heard you’re being super good, so yeah, you can definitely come look at them. Anytime.”

  “Aawon said you’d be my favrite, I heard him tell my Nanny and Si that I’d like you best and that we’d be friends. Are we gonna be friends?”

  “Most definitely.” Again, Aussie tried to think of something to say, but for whatever reason—because he overheard Aaron talking and took it as gospel, probably—Finn had decided to talk to him. Call him friend.

  He wasn’t going to say no.

  And if this conversation stayed on the same path, he wasn’t going to get a word in edgewise, either.

  “Do you like Superman or tha Cappin? ’Cause I gots some action figures that I can bwing wit me to Mada–Madi–Massachusetts–I can’t ’member where it’s called.” He took a breath, and then still talking right in his ear, but not to him, Finn asked, “Aawon, where we going to go?”

  “Madison, little man.” Aaron’s voice was further away, but distance didn’t disguise the softne
ss in his tone, the gentle way he answered Finn’s question. It made Aussie smile—and it told him that somehow, the three of them, Simon, “Aawon” and Finn would be okay.

  If they could get Finn’s asshole father to back off, that was.

  “Madison, dat’s it.”

  “I like ’em both, little man,” Austin replied, using Aaron’s nickname. “We can take turns, and my friend Odie can maybe play too. She loves heroes like we do.”

  “Yeah? Who’s her favrite?” Finn asked, challenge in his small voice.

  “Wonder Woman. You have a Woman Woman?”

  Silence greeted him. He’d thought the kid would either say yes or no, and if he’d said no, Austin was ready to head to the nearest store and get one for him.

  Fuck, even if he’d said yes, he’d have gone shopping for something for the boy.

  “Finn?” he asked, worried about how quiet the boy had become, his breathing the only noise from that end of the call.

  A small voice made smaller, broken by sadness answered, “Mommy said we’d get dat one next. So she could play, too.”

  Oh.

  Oh shit. Austin had completely put his foot in it. And though he started to offer words—not sure which ones were the right ones, but needing to do something—it wasn’t long before Finn was gone and Simon was talking to him.

  “Simon, fuck. I’m sorry, man.”

  “Not your fault. Aaron’s got him—the good thing is he reached for A right away. And he was talking to you like I haven’t heard him talk since I got here. That’s good.”

  Yeah, but then I messed up, he thought, wondering if it was something he should have known, berating himself anyway.

  “You’re thinking too hard. It’s going to happen, and there’s no real way we can know when. Don’t worry about it. And maybe don’t get him Wonder Woman just yet.”

  “Seriously. I wonder who else they have. Odie’d like Thor. She’s got a thing for him, pretty sure,” he joked, trying to get back to a more normal conversation.

  “How’s it going there? Your brother said you two were finally. . .” Simon trailed off, obviously waiting for Aussie to fill the silence.

  Austin thought back to the night he’d been over at Simon and Aaron’s place, ostensibly commiserating with Andrew, who’d been kicked out by Ashton. But actually, he’d been there to drink away his own sorrows at being shut out by Odie.

  Weeks and weeks. She hadn’t talked to him for weeks—that night at Aaron’s had really just been the beginning—and he’d have sworn he was going crazy the entire time.

  No reason to go crazy anymore.

  She was his. All in.

  “We’re together,” was all he said in reply to his brother-in-law.

  “Knew you would be. Took you way too long though. Losing your touch?”

  That made Austin laugh, the idea that he’d ever really had any touch. He’d been too focused for too long on Odie to ever really put effort into relationships.

  Or anything, really. Because even when he was with someone else, she was the one he wanted.

  And now I have her. He fought the compulsion to fist pump, barely. Childish, immature and absolutely the right response to landing the girl of your dreams.

  “Nah, man. She’s just stubborn as hell. Always has been.” He smiled, memories of other times she’d been stubborn to the point Austin had thought he was losing his mind, pouring in.

  Like the time she insisted that she’d brought back his PlayStation game he’d left at her house—only for him to find it under her bed, two years later.

  Or the time she was certain she’d paid him back twenty bucks—not that he really cared, since it was Odie after all—and made him check the pockets on every pair of jeans he owned.

  He found it in the pocket of his hoodie after she’d stomped home in a huff.

  Or the time she’d almost convinced him that Justin Timberlake was the same person as the one guy from The Backstreet Boys. To be fair, he had no clue who any of them were, so it was easy for her to convince him.

  Didn’t make her any less wrong. Or any less apologetic about her certainty.

  And that was the thing about Odie—sometimes she was right and sometimes she was wrong, but she was always her, and he’d always loved her.

  Except now he loved her, and he couldn’t hold back the fist pump anymore.

  “Ow, motherfucker.” He dropped his phone, reaching for the elbow he’d fist-pumped in the wall beside the elevator, where he’d stopped when Aaron had called.

  “What happened?” Simon asked, making no effort to conceal the amusement in his voice that was clear, even though the phone still rested on the floor.

  “Nothing,” Austin replied, albeit a little petulantly, picking up the device, and bringing it back to his ear.

  “Nah, what did you do?” For the umpteenth time during the call, the phone was shuffled around, and Aaron’s voice took over.

  “Yeah, what did you do?”

  Aussie sighed, resigned to admitting the truth. “Banged my elbow.”

  “How, though?” his brother asked, around what Austin could only assume was a smirk.

  “Fist pumping.”

  “Oh. Ooh, yeah, that can be dangerous.”

  “I absolutely don’t want to know.”

  But his brother either didn’t hear him or didn’t care. “This one time, I was giving Simon a handie, and I got a little enthusiastic with my stroke—”

  “No, stop. No, no, just stop.” Austin closed his eyes and winged his elbow out, probably looking like he was doing the chicken dance, but hoping the flapping motion would distract him from the pain—and from the inevitability of Aaron’s story. “God, isn’t Finn right there? Censor yourself, man.”

  “Nah, he went into the other room. I’m not a pervert.”

  “Debatable.”

  “Anyway, like I was saying, I jammed my elbow right into the bed post Simon was cuffed to. Man, got my funny bone too.” He made a sound that was half-laugh, half-snicker before adding, “Heh, bone. Get it?”

  “Yeah, thanks. I get it.” Austin knew the sarcasm was lost on his laughing brother, but he hoped that maybe Aaron would be too distracted to ask—

  “What were you fist pumping anyway? You’re not jacking off talking to my husband, are you?”

  “Only you, I swear to God. Only you would think that.”

  “Hey, you’re the one who said Simon was hot.”

  “And yet, I’ve managed to avoid whacking it to thoughts of him all this time. But you’re right—Odie and I are finally together, and all I can think about is Simon.” Austin raised the pitch of his voice, adding a breathless tone. “He’s sooooo hot, I just can’t resist anymore. I need him, don’t you understand? Need.”

  “Actually, I do understand.”

  “Whatever. Is Finn okay?” he asked to change the subject, but also because he was worried, still felt bad about making him sad.

  “He’s watching Paw Patrol on my iPad with Simon’s grandmother. He’s fine—kids bounce back quickly.”

  “But. . .”

  “Aussie, you didn’t do anything wrong. He’s moved on, and I’m sure tomorrow or hell, tonight, something else will make him sad or miss his mom. But that’s why Simon and I are here. Trust me, okay?”

  “I do, A. Always.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Turning her phone over in her hand for the third time, Odie looked up and down the street, hoping to catch sight of Austin’s car. He was picking her up for the baby shower and was late, and she was starting to worry.

  Why, she didn’t know. It wasn’t unusual for him to be a few minutes late, but she had a pit in her stomach that put her on edge.

  “Come on,” she whispered, moving from one foot to the other and looking down at the bright floral skirt she’d put on that morning. She wasn’t always a skirt girl, but when she was, she made sure it was colorful and flirty and cute.

  Her phone vibrated with a text, taking her out of her musing about he
r clothes. It was Austin.

  Aussie: As you may have noticed, I’m running late.

  Aussie: Ash asked me to stop by the bar and grab napkins.

  Aussie: And by that I mean, she told me to get them last night and I forgot.

  Aussie: So I had to go back this morning.

  Aussie: I’d tell you to wait out front, but I bet you already are. Be there soon.

  She breathed out a sigh of irritation at his forgetting the napkins—typical Austin—and relief that he was on his way. Ultimately, though, it did nothing to ease that funky feeling in her stomach.

  Nerves, she thought, knowing that baby showers weren’t a typical Saturday activity for her. There’d probably be games and lots of people she didn’t know, and that was what had her on edge.

  I hope they don’t expect me to smell a diaper.

  The image of Bianca—elegant, tall Bianca—came to her mind and she scoffed at the idea that she’d have Odie do anything she didn’t want to do. Although, if Bianca asked, she might just want to.

  She seemed like a good person.

  The beeping of a horn caught her attention just as Austin pulled up in front of her building. Instead of waiting for her to climb in, though, he got out and walked around the car, coming up to her and brushing a sweet kiss on her cheek.

  “Sorry I’m late, babe.” He leaned back enough that she could see the apology in his eyes even as it fell from his lips, and she rolled her eyes to tell him she was used to it.

  Twenty-something years of friendship means you get used to a lot of things.

  “Your chariot awaits, m’lady,” he said, stepping over to the passenger side of the car and opening the door with a sweeping bow.

  Her laughter was genuine, because she truly loved Austin’s dramatic show of manners. He did it often—offering her a hand and giving her an exaggerated kiss on the back of it, or similar—and it was so much a part of who he was, that she couldn’t imagine him not doing it.