Page 70 of Wicked Games

“What about you? What will make you happy?”

I scoot closer to her and nip at the soft skin along her jaw. “You waiting for me to come home from work. Dinners with Violet and her boyfriend. Sleeping in on Sundays. Hot sex whenever I want.”

She turns her head and our lips meet. “Hot sex whenever you want?”

“Yeah. I missed you last night.”

“Hmmm. I missed you too.”

“Good. Sleep over at my place tonight.”

“Okay.”

I wrap my arms around her and we sit for another few minutes.

“Should we go?” I ask, pressing my finger on the top of one of her thighs. “You’re getting pink everywhere.”

“We probably should. I forgot to pack sunscreen.”

“You did good with everything else. Come on.”

I help her fold the blanket and shove our empty water bottles into her beach bag. The parking lot is just as full as when we got here, and I drive us back to my place.

“I’m going to take a shower,” she says, getting out of the truck. “Did you say you were grilling?”

“Yeah, I can do that. I have a lot of meat. Chicken? I don’t know what else. My potatoes went bad. I didn’t eat them fast enough.”

She slides the cooler and her bag out of the truck. “I have some. And corn on the cob? Or salad?”

“How about both? See you in a while?”

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

“Okay. Be careful.”

“I will. Do you have wine?”

“Yeah. I have a nice white that will go good with our meal.”

She smiles and wiggles her fingers, and I watch her walk across the rocks between our driveways. I should have offered to carry something, but I let her be.

I shower, and afterward, sit on the patio in the shade. Winnie wants to hop up on my lounger and I make space.

An hour later, carrying a plastic bag and her notebook, Avery finds me dozing, Winnie snoring between my legs.

I move to get up, but she waves me back down and goes into the kitchen. A few minutes later she comes out and sets a bottle of beer on the floor next to me. She sits and starts to write, and I revel in this small piece of heaven, listening to her pen glide across the paper.

Lying there, the sun shining, the wind rustling through the trees and the ducks floating on the rippled surface of the cove, I didn’t know someone would try to take this away from me.

I didn’t know, but after everything that happened so far, I should have.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Avery

This is what he wanted. Sitting on the patio eating our meal, half he prepared on the grill, half I made in the kitchen, drinking wine with Winnie sitting near the table begging for scraps.

I’m not stupid and I know he had this for a while, and he admitted that it’s his fault he lost it. I feel sorry for Brooke, trying to tell Seth she needed more, more of him, trying to get him to listen to her and him brushing her off because he liked going to work. That doesn’t mean he learned his lesson or that I’ll have an easy time of it if we ever get married. He likes his job and he likes working with Violet. Maybe Theo’s and Brooke’s deaths will change him and I won’t have the battle Brooke had, but it will be there, no matter how much he says he loves me and wants me to be happy.