Zeke Alvarez
Three Months Later
“Where’s this go, Val?” I ask, holding an extremely heavy box that’s probably close to busting through the bottom if I had to guess.
She stands to her full height from where she was crouched behind the bar, tossing a dishrag over her shoulder, and glancing over at me. “You can just toss it up here.” She slaps a hand down on the counter before returning her attention to whatever the hell she’s doing. “Is Elias coming today, do you know?”
Shaking my head like she can see, I mutter, “No, he didn’t get back until”—I flick my wrist, checking my watch—“twenty minutes ago. But he said he’ll come by tomorrow and help.”
Dropping the box down on the bar, I head back out to my car to grab the last of the stuff.
The last few months have been a whirlwind. As of approximately twenty-nine hours ago, Valerie is the proud owner of this building. It’s the very same bar we met at, where she was bartending. Rick, the owner, got sick and wasn’t able to maintain the place anymore. He let us buy it from him, and it’ll now beVal’s Place.
Valerie has always wanted to open and run her own bar. It was the least I could do once we went our separate ways. The whole reason for us getting married was to ensure she didn’t drown in debt, and there was no way I was going to leave her and watch her wind up in that place again. She didn’t want to accept the bar, but with a little—okay,a lot—of convincing and argument from both Elias and me, she finally agreed.
The bar comes with an apartment above it that was recently remodeled, which is the perfect size for Valerie and Birdie, her new Maine Coon kitten she adopted a few weeks ago.
It took some time, and for a while there, I didn’t think we ever would, but we’re slowly getting back to feeling like true friends again. The end of our “marriage” was tough on everyone. A lot of hurt feelings and anger simmered, but the three of us have managed to get pretty good at communication, and somehow, we’ve found our way back.Almost.
We haven’t gotten to family dinners or anything like that, but Valerie can finally stand to be in the same room as us without getting pissed off. Not that I blamed her. She had every right to feel hurt and betrayed and, honestly, she’s coming around a hell of a lot faster than I ever thought she would.
“Okay, this is the last of it, Val,” I say, setting the box down and wiping the sweat from my brow.
“Thanks for all your help,” she murmurs, handing me a bottle of water from the ice chest on the floor. “It means a lot. And thank you again for all of this.” She gestures around. “Iwillpay you back one day.”
“You absolutely will not, Valerie,” I bark. “This was a gift, and I wouldn’t accept a dime anyway.”
She rolls her eyes. “You’re incorrigible.” Rounding the bar, she wraps her arms around my middle. “But thank you. Seriously.”
“You are very welcome.”
Stepping back, she smiles up at me. “I won’t keep you any longer. I’m sure you’ve got things to do, but I will see you both tomorrow?”
“Yes, you will,” I confirm before heading out to the car.
The drive from the bar to my place doesn’t take long, and I can’t help the smile that slides on my lips when I pull into my driveway and see Elias’s car parked out front. He went with Katie up to Hilton Head to assist her with a wedding shoot. Her regular wedding assistant got sick last minute, and he stepped up to help. Despite knowing absolutely nothing about photography, it was a nice gesture.
Dropping my keys and wallet off at the dish by the front door, I kick my shoes off before trekking through the house in search of him. It doesn’t take me long. He’s right where I thought he would be—in the pool. His house doesn’t have a pool, and I know he hates it, because he’s over here constantly swimming laps after doing yoga. Mostly in the early mornings when the sun is just cresting.
He doesn’t spot me right away, so I get to watch him swim lap after lap. The tight pink Speedo he’s got on is ridiculously bright, but I know as soon as he climbs out, I’ll see that it hugs him deliciously in all the right places. He submerges, shaking the water from his head, droplets dripping down his face as he peels his pale green eyes open, finding mine automatically.
“Hey, how long you been here?” he asks, hoisting himself out of the pool to sit beside it.
“A minute or two.”
Reaching behind my neck, I pull my shirt over my head, folding it and setting it on the table. He watches me, not saying a word, with his hands propped on the concrete behind him. I shove my athletic pants down, black briefs sliding down with them. Finally, I reach down and remove my socks. The weight of his gaze has blood racing to my steadily growing cock as I dive into the pool.
I swim over to where he’s sitting, popping out of the water to his eyes wide and his mouth agape.
“What?” I ask with a grin.
“Um, you’re fucking naked and Hilda is going to see you!”
A chuckle vibrates in my chest as my hands find the waist of his bathing suit. “She’s gone the rest of the week. It’s just you and me here.”
He swallows hard, Adam’s apple rolling in his throat as he lifts his hips ever so slightly, allowing me to pull the material off. Bringing him closer to the edge, I nip the flesh on his inner thigh, the area cool and littered with goosebumps from being in the water.
His dick is half hard and steadily growing. It twitches next to my face as my tongue drags along his sac before sucking it into my mouth. He breathes out a soft moan through his nose, his hand coming to the back of my head.
