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When I saw that it was going up for auction, I decided to try and buy it Josie had thought I was crazy

“It’s a complete pit, Web Why would you take that on? Why not buy one of the houses they’re building over on Chancery Lane Chelsea says they’re really nice She and Ada one” Of course, Josie was interested in whatever Chelsea told her to be interested in Josie’s lop-sided friendship with Adam’s noife had been a source of tension between us fro I had never liked Chelsea Had never understood why Adam was so into her–except for her looks, she didn’t have much else to offer anyone And Josie had been her h school But once away from Chelsea, Josie sees with her initially I liked the person she hen all the other people weren’t influencing her in her life

Regardless of Josie’s feelings on the “pit” of a house, I could see the sturdy bones beneath the ht it For cheap too And spent the next year and a half slowly fixing it up myself Josie hadn’t doneroo And ouldn’t I put a walk-in closet in the master bedroom?

But I loved the place Every inch was covered in one for an open floor plan downstairs mostly because the walls had been so full of dry rot, I had no choice but to rip them down But once I had, I realized I liked the open space So, the living roo rooestion, I had decided to use leafy plants as a e ht on sale at the local furniture store

I leftto Adam’s sister, Lena, and ether and what fabric the sofa should be What they ca in

I was a pretty tidy guy, but since having Katie, the large space had become littered with toys, random shoes, and sippy cups And I wouldn’t have it any other way

I filled adown on the front stoop, sipping the hot beverage, and appreciating the quiet

I tried not to think about Josie and her disruptive phone call and instead focused on the day ahead I ran through the list of things I had co up I had an order of bushes and shrubs due mid-day, plus another truckload ofthe different tasks when a quiet voice broke through

“Hey”

I looked up fro leggings and a workout shirt that molded to her fantastic breasts in a way that would make any man salivate Me included I forced my eyes to lift from her boobs to take in her face

Bad move

Her cheeks were flushed fro She eaty and hot and had never looked more beautiful

I had seen her so rarely since she had returned to Southport that for aAs if my subconscious had pulled her out of the locked away box where I kept her and manifested her to decimate my still too vulnerable heart

“Hey,” I echoed, hoping I sounded nonchalant, thinking I had succeeded I had worked hard to harden iven s went down between us

Fuck Noas definitely not the tis we did The taste of her in my mouth …

Whitney fidgeted, bouncing fro her forehead with the back of her hand “I didn’t know this was your house” She looked up at my two-story brick colonial “It’s really nice”

I glanced overat her “Yeah, it’s home sweet home Katie and I are happy here”

Then silence

Aard, aard silence

It was the same tension I had felt when I saw her at Sweet Lila’s on Friday evening Running into her was inevitable, talking to her unavoidable, given how our circles intersected all over the place Watching Sally Thonited a protectiveness that she had always brought out in —she seeood job over the years all by herself But a huge part of uy for her No matter how decisively she had destroyed me