Chapter 10

“How many times do you think I could get you to come?”

“Only one way to find out,” Hailey said with a sheepish grin.

She felt him leaving a trail of kisses down her chest, stopping for a beat to run his tongue around each of her nipples, then making his way down over her hip bone and down the inside of her thigh.

His tongue ran back up the inside of her thigh until he reached her center, giving a long, hard lick to her clit.

“Oh, God,” she panted.

She felt that tongue run across her slit before dipping into her over and over again, leaving Hailey wanting more.

He could taste her desire and brought his tongue back to her clit, licking in circles, bringing her closer and closer to her release.

“Fuck, you taste so good.”

Hailey smiled while moaning at the intense pleasure she so rarely received. That’s when he brought his finger to her opening.

“Yes, please! More, more!”

He added a second finger pulsing in and out of her. “Fuck, Hailey. You’re so perfect. Come for me.”

That’s when he curled his fingers and started spelling his name on her throbbing bundle of nerves.

“I”m gonna mark you with my name on your clit while you scream for me.” He let out each letter with a breath between licks. ”A … V … E …”

“Holy shit!” Hailey woke up drenched in sweat, practically coming out of her dream.

She didn’t usually have sex dreams, but somehow Avery made it into her subconscious and starred in this new fantasy. Okay, fine. Hailey knew exactly how he got there.

When she got home earlier than expected the night before, she spent some time scrolling through social media. Hailey found a “Lord of the Rings” meme that had her in stitches. She knew Gage wouldn’t appreciate it since he wasn’t into fantasy as much as her. So, she sent it to Avery, who dressed up as Legolas, Orlando Bloom’s character, last year for Halloween.

The meme featured Gandalf sitting at a computer with the words, “Email? Send a Shadowfax!” written across the top. Shadowfax was the name of Gandalf’s horse, something Gage was completely oblivious to.

AVERY:Yes! That’s epic.

HAILEY:Thought you’d like it :)

She knew the smiley face was borderline flirtatious and Gage would have been pissed if he knew she was using it with Avery, but at the time Hailey didn’t give a shit.

The texting went back and forth for hours before Hailey realized how late it was.

HAILEY:Oh my goodness, just saw the time. Don’t you have to get up early tomorrow for work? What are you still doing up?

AVERY:I should be, but there was something worth staying up for

Was he talking about her? No, he couldn’t be. Hailey was sure he must have been referring to his girlfriend.

HAILEY:Ah, hanging with the girlfriend? Sorry for taking up your time then. I’ll let you go!

She saw the three dots appear and disappear a few times before he responded.

AVERY: Actually, we broke up a couple weeks ago…

After Hailey ignored the fact that her first reaction to the news was excitement. He revealed that he caught his now-ex-girlfriend cheating on him with someone she works with. Apparently, it had been going on for a while. That filled her with rage and had her squeezing her phone so tight her knuckles went white.

HAILEY:Whaaaat? Do you need me to send her a glitter bomb? Someone at the gym mentioned it and I think it’s a great idea.

AVERY:No need. She lost her job because her boss caught them in the office after hours.

HAILEY:Wow, justice is served! She’s an idiot and doesn’t deserve you

AVERY:Thanks. I guess I should get to bed. Intense sessions tomorrow

HAILEY:Sure! What was keeping you up so late then?

Again, the three dots flashed a few times before he decided on a response.

AVERY:A beautiful girl started texting me and held my attention.

HAILEY:Oh, already have your eye on someone else? That’s great, I’m happy for you.

Liar.

AVERY:…We’ll see. It’s complicated, but I’m hoping she’ll come around.

After saying goodnight, Hailey stared at that text until she fell asleep, disbelief surging through her. In a perfect world, he’d be talking about her, but she knew that wouldn’t happen. He was just a friend, a relationship she enjoyed.

But, that didn’t keep her from dreaming about the possibilities.

After coming down from the high that her dream left her feeling, she got out of bed to take a shower and discard her now sodden clothing. And boy, was it wet, she noticed when she took off her panties before stepping into the shower.

Hailey changed up her attitude when she looked at the day ahead of her. She would spend the morning working on her novel, something she’d been working on since she left her job as a sports reporter.

The fantasy world she created took place in an apocalyptic future where the ice caps have melted completely, releasing dragons that had been frozen for thousands of years. They decimated the earth and forced people to move underground after nothing could stop the creatures. But, that didn’t keep the heroine from falling for her faction’s lead dragon fighter.

Gage hated it. Shocking.

She put that out of her mind as she poured herself a bowl of cereal and sat down in front of her laptop to type the morning away.

Hailey didn’t realize how long she’d been working until her stomach started growling for lunch. She knocked out three thousand words and looked at her monitor with pride. One day soon she’d finish it and share it with the world!

Smiling to herself and triple checking that her document was saved, she shut her laptop and threw a mini frozen pizza in the microwave for a quick lunch. She wanted to get some time at the gym with Bridget before her night shift at the restaurant.

———————————

Hailey arrived at the gym just as Bridget was getting out of her own car.

“Hey, hey, Hails! Perfect timing!”

“Heyoooo! You ready to dominate some boulders? I listened to Queen’s “We Will Rock You” for motivation on the way here. People in other cars were staring at me rocking out.”

“Yeah, that tracks for you. Did you pick up your bridesmaid dress yet?”

“Yup, picked it up last week and the alterations were perfect, but I told you this already!”

“Man, all these wedding details are overwhelming. They’re starting to blur together.”

“Don’t worry, one more month and it’ll be all over, then you can celebrate with Rick in Hawaii! I’m so jealous. I wish I could hide in your luggage.”

“Ha! I’m not sure if Rick would enjoy that surprise once we got to the hotel room. But let’s take a road trip or something soon! We can go away somewhere for the weekend. Maybe the Poconos? Do you think Gage would want to come? I mean, I’d love it if he didn’t, but I guess he’s invited. You totally deserve a vacation.” She shot Hailey a wink.

As Hailey and Bridget sat down on the mats in front of the rock climbing walls filled with multi-colored holds, Hailey couldn’t hold back the deep sigh that escaped her.

“Or we can celebrate you getting rid of him. Yes, let’s do that. Are we doing that yet?”

“Dammit, Bridge, I don’t know anymore. He’s making it hard to want to stay though, that’s for sure.”

As each of them hopped on the walls and tried to solve the different problems that were thrown at them, Hailey caught up Bridget on everything that happened since they last saw each other, including the sex dream about Avery.

“YES! THAT! MOVE ON TO THAT!”

“Bridget! You’re hurting my ears shouting so loud.”

“Sorry, I’m just excited. I want you to be happy and I know you’re not.”

“Yeah, I’m trying. Even my therapist is on your side! I just don’t know if I can do it.”

Bridget gave Hailey a hard look before jumping up to make a climb.

“I need to process that by probably falling off the top of this wall, so give me a minute.”

Hailey watched Bridget climb a challenging route that they’d both been working on for two weeks. That last hold was just out of their reach, but they got a little bit closer every time they tried.

Bridget made it up to where they were both stuck and she paused before going for the long reach. Oh, what it would be like to be tall and reach things so much more easily. A six-foot-two man had jumped on the climb between their many attempts and reached the final hold with ease just by sticking his hand out. Cheater.

Hailey wasn’t sure if he heard her say “Rub it in why don’t ya?” as he walked away.

“C’mon Bridget, you got this! Make that wall your bitch!”

With a grunt, Bridget made a little jump to reach the top and managed to get a hold of it with both hands, the goal of the climb.

“Fuck yes! Bridget, you did it! Did everyone see that?” Hailey leapt to her feet, applauding and bringing plenty of attention toward Bridget.

Bridget jumped down to the mats and rolled onto her back. “Geez, Hails, and you’re talking about me shouting.”

“You nailed it! I knew you could do it.”

“Yeah, yeah, now it’s your turn, but first let’s talk about leaving your useless boyfriend.”

She was relentless, Hailey had to give her that. She took a deep breath before meeting her gaze.

“I don’t know, Bridge. What if…” she trailed off. She looked around to make sure no one else could hear her, before moving closer to Bridget.

“What if he’s the best I can do?”

“Son of a bitch, he’s really done a number on you. You had so much more confidence before you started going out with that toolbag. Wait, no. He’s not a toolbag. Toolbags are at least useful since they hold your tools. He’s a … rotten lemon.”

Hailey just sighed, then rested her elbows on her knees and dropped her head in her hands.

“Not helpful. What if a rotten lemon is all I’ll ever get?”

“Hailey. I cannot stress this enough. You can do better and you will. You’re fucking hot, smart, funny and athletic. You’ll have no trouble moving on once you’re free of that dead weight.”

“Yeah, but—”

“No! I’m not done. I know if he comes with you to my wedding, you will be miserable. He won’t want to dance with you. He won’t give you a thoughtful compliment. He’ll just go back and forth between the bar and Rick’s friends. And Rick’s friends don’t even like him.”

“Is that worse than going alone though?”

Bridget got up on her knees on the thick mat and grabbed Hailey by the shoulders. It seemed like she was staring into her soul.

“Yes. It is worse.” Hailey didn’t take her eyes off Bridget. She didn’t have much of a choice because Bridget was being a little intense and she was a bit scared to move. “You know, there’s going to be single guys at the wedding, or you could always ask Ave—”

“Okay, okay. I’ll keep thinking about it. I have that karaoke night tomorrow night for Abby’s birthday though, so definitely not doing anything about it then.”

Bridget just rolled her eyes as Hailey got up to make a climb. Avoidance was a wonderful skill she was honing. If she kept working on it, she may never have to talk to anyone ever again!

Hailey was always going back and forth between feeling lonely and never wanting to interact with human life ever. It was a tough line to walk, but someone had to do it.

Fuck, when did she get to talk to Marley again?