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He glanced over at her. She stared woodenly out the windshield. The darkness swallowed her expression, but it couldn’t hide how tense she was. He sighed inwardly. They used to be friends. They used to talk and laugh and tease. Until he, or rather his fucking libido, had ruined it.
They’d spent countless evenings together in the first couple of years after Alan died, supporting each other through their mutual grief, and never once had he seen her as anything more than his best friend’s wife. Did he notice how fucking beautiful she was? Yeah, of course, but no more than he noticed any other beautiful woman crossing his path. And in the first couple of years after Alan’s death, Hal’s grief and sense of loss had been too profound to think of Savina beyond Alan’s grieving widow.
Until he didn’t anymore.
His attraction to her had snuck up on him like a little kid stealing from the cookie jar. One minute he was helping Savina build an Ikea dresser for the guest bedroom, and the next, he was wondering how she’d look on the bed, naked on her hands and knees and begging for his cock.
They were at the edge of town, and he followed the road to Savina’s place. He knew the route as well as he knew the way to his place, his body on autopilot as he drove.
He could tell himself that his attraction had just suddenly appeared, but deep down, he knew the real truth. The last three months before that day had been a slowly boiling pot of noticing things he shouldn’t have noticed. The silkiness of her soft brown hair, the perfect cupid’s bow of her upper lip, the curve of her ass in her jeans. He’d buried those observations deep, pretending he didn’t notice she was braless or the outline of her nipples against her thin shirt when he’d stopped by unexpectedly one day.
Until that fucking Sunday afternoon when he’d found himself in the guest bedroom, surrounded by Ikea parts, his cock a rigid pipe in his jeans, and a gently teasing Savina wanting to know why his face was suddenly so red.
He’d said nothing, just gave her a smile that was mostly a grimace because what could he say? I’m suddenly picturing you stuffed full of my cock, wasn’t exactly an appropriate reply to give to your dead best friend’s wife, was it?
That afternoon had been a turning point in their relationship. One Hal didn’t want but couldn’t stop. He’d begun to pull away, subtly and slowly, until here they were a year later, no longer friends and the tension so thick between them, he could taste it.
But what choice did he have? He was already suffocating in his guilt over Alan’s death. The added guilt of lusting after Savina nearly cracked him in two.
He turned into Savina’s driveway, parked the truck, and shut it off. Savina had left the front porch light on, providing just enough light to see her face. “Thank you for the ride home, Hal.”
“You’re welcome.”
She hesitated, her fingers plucking at her dress hem. “Just leave my truck in the parking lot of the Beaver. I’ll get Warren to give me a ride into town tomorrow to pick it up.”
“I can leave it here and take an Uber back to the pub,” he said.
She frowned. “No, absolutely not.”
“You leave your truck at the Beaver overnight, and people will talk,” he said.
She shrugged. “Like I care what they say.”
He thought about arguing before letting it go. Changing Savina’s mind was often like trying to keep sand off your feet at the beach. Impossible and pointless.
“Okay,” he said. “You have a spare key for the truck, I assume?”
She nodded and studied him in the dim light. “Are you okay to drive? It’s pretty late, and if you’re too tired, you’re welcome to sleep in the guest bedroom.”
“No.” He sounded angry, and he hated how Savina looked immediately guilty. But, holy fuck, she had no idea what that offer did to him. “I don’t want to leave my bike in the parking lot overnight.”
“Right,” she said. “I wasn’t thinking. Okay, well, thank you again.”
She reached for the door handle, and desperate for even a few more minutes with her, he said, “How are Izzie and the puppies?”
Her smile, warm and genuine and so beautifullyher, made every nerve in his body sizzle with awareness. “She’s good. The babies are nursing well and gaining weight. Izzie is a wonderful mom to them.”
“That’s good,” he said.
“You can come in and see them if you’d like.”
“Another time,” he said. “As you said, it’s late.”
She slid out of the truck, weaving a little as she grabbed the door. He clenched his hands around the steering wheel. “Do you need help getting into the house?”
He had no idea what the fuck he’d do if she said yes. He hadn’t been alone with Savina in her house after darkness fell in nearly nine months. It was too… dangerous. Brought on too many fantasies and ideas that were best left buried.
“No,” she said. “I’m fine. Goodnight, Hal.”
