Page 71 of Sawyer

I press a kiss to her clit. “Feel better?”

“Much—”

“Hellloooooo!”

I go still at the sound of a familiar voice, followed by theclackof my screen door. Ava’s eyes fly open and meet mine.

“Sawyer? You home? I heard some shoutin’—”

“Stay there!” I yell, pushing up onto my knees. “Jesus Christ, Duke, you’re supposed to fuckin’ knock.”

“Where are you?” he shouts back.

I grab Ava’s leggings off the floor, and together we scramble to put them back on.

“I saidstay there,” I reply.

“You okay?” I hear his heavy steps ambling down the hallway toward the kitchen. “We hadn’t heard from you, so I came to check?—”

“I’m fine, okay? Just—stay there. Don’t come back here.”

A beat of silence while I pull down Ava’s shirt and reach for her shoes. I feel slightly less like dying when I see the little grin on her lips.

Avawouldenjoy almost being caught. I love how she brings this steady, earthy energy to the room, but isn’t afraid to let go and get a little wild too.

The combination is incredibly sexy.

It’s addictive.

“Wait,” Duke says. “Waita minute. Are you?—”

“I have company, yes.”

Another beat of silence. Ava’s face is pink from holding back laughter. Suddenly I’m trying not to laugh, too.

We’re ridiculous.

We really are hot as fuck.

Ava is smoothing her hair with her hands, tucking it behind her ears. I grab a pillow and put it over my very obvious erection.

“Oh.” I can hear the smile in my brother’s voice. “Oh, okay. Then I’ll just?—”

“You can come in now, Duke,” Ava says, reaching over to wipe my mouth with her hand. “I remember you.”

It’s weird hearing Ava say my brother’s name.

The sense of familiarity, of warmth, is also kinda great. I may be bent out of shape by my brother barging in like this, but it doesn’t ruffle Ava’s feathers one bit.

Duke pokes his head into the kitchen. He’s smiling like a Cheshire cat. “Wellheyy’all. Good to see you, Ava. I heard you were here in town.”

Duke didn’t come to the barn raising because he had to work cattle at our ranch that day.

Ava offers him a little wave. “Hey, Duke. Great to see you again. And yeah, I mean, pretty crazy, right, that we’d all end up in Hartsville together?”

Duke smirks. “So crazy.”

“Coffee,” I grunt. “We—preschool drop-off—it’s Ava’s daughter’s first day, and?—”

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