Page 46 of Beau & Autumn

I roll over and put my head under the pillow.

I have to try and erase that memory of him saying those words. Even if they’ll stay in my memory bank forever, I have to find a way to forget.

It’s better that way.

13

Beau

The next afternoon I do my usual when I get home. Run on the treadmill, lift a few weights and jump into the shower to fantasize about everything from the dinner last night to my conversation with Autumn in Georgia’s kitchen. The wife conversation is cemented in my brain and I just can’t shake it.

I haven’t been able to think of anything else since. I thought Brook was going to slap me silly when we were taking an inventory list down in the rickhouse for the Moonshine he’s been bottling all week. The first batch is about to be distributed and Georgia has been at the forefront of marketing the new line. She recently organized a private function in the tasting room with the local press, some marketing agencies from Nashville and a couple of high falutin’ wine bars and restaurants. I couldn’t keep a straight thought in my head. Not good for a Monday, but I blame it on all the sexy, flirtatious energy that was going around last night. Plus that whole marriage thing.

I get that everyone was happy and merry for Celeste and Callan with their baby news, but was it just the alcohol talking for Autumn? I mean, she made a big joke out of the fact her friend Carrie suggested we get hitched. Is she even going to remember what she said while she was making her hot chocolate?

I sure remember. It’s been permeating in my brain ever since. Hence my text.

Her reply came a few agonizing hours later, and I’ve been stewing over it ever since.

Autumn Leaf

Beau, you’re really sweet. You don’t have to do anything, certainly not out of obligation. We need to talk about this and soon, okay? Let me know when you’re free x

Obligation?

I don’t want to be really sweet. I want her to take me seriously. I want her to want this too, which is absurd, but that’s the truth of it.

She can say whatever she wants, but there’s no way she can deny the chemistry we had going on last night, no matter how hard she tries. Not only that; she got me hard, so many damned times. My body responds to her in a way it never has before. It’s like she lit a spark inside me, and now all I want is her, even if it means fake marrying her.

I still can’t get over my form; outright telling her it was no biggie, and we could just get it annulled! You don’t even have to sleep with me!

I facepalm myself. I wasn’t even drunk when I said any of that. It’s true, I wouldn’t be expecting to sleep with her, it would just be an arrangement.

I hold my head in my hands like that’s gonna help, waiting for Fletcher to get online in my gaming room.

I need to talk to him, as well as play. He responded to my text last night saying he was feeling better and we’d catch up this week.

I put my headset on and get ready to jump into Apex Legends, when Fletcher jumps online to double up with me.

“About time,” I tell him over my headset.

He chuckles down the line. “Sounds like you had a day.”

“Counting bourbon bottles all day will do that to you.”

“Well, I’m sure it can’t beat the hard drive that I had to try and extract the information from today. You know when you get a stubborn sucker that just won’t budge.”

“That kinda day, huh?”

“Yeah, and customers are so demanding.” He works in the local tech store that has a tiny office nook attached to it where he carries out all kinds of repairs and computer related problems. I know he takes shit home to repair just for fun. He’s better holed up somewhere than dealing with customers head on. That’s why he hides in that tiny space and people only bother him when completely necessary. He does cell phone repair stuff too and can fix just about anything tech related.

“Oh, they never cease to amaze me,” I chuckle.

“People think that you can just restore everything from their computers that they didn’t bother backing up in a matter of seconds.”

“Tell me about it.”

“How was your night at the family dinner?”

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