Page 38 of Best of Me

Guilt still niggles. I still very much love Valorie, and I always will. But at the same time, I’m starting to open myself up to the idea that having feelings for someone else doesn’t detract from what I had with her. No one will ever replace Valorie, and I wouldn’t want them to. But I’m slowly starting to see there’s still a possibility of happiness and love in my future.

I’m not saying I love Mallory, just that I’m open to the idea that one day I could. The only thing really holding me back is the fact that they’re sisters—fucking twins—but at the same time, maybe that’s why things with Mallory seem so right? Maybe she’s the universe’s way of giving me back a little bit of what I lost.

Giselle greets me brightly when I walk into Bayside to grab our order. I didn’t even check what was on the menu, just asked for two chef’s specials and called it a day. I’ve yet to try anything from here that wasn’t phenomenal, and based on the tantalizing smells wafting up from my to-go bag, I have every confidence that this will be just as delicious.

Mallory texts me, telling me to let myself in, which I do. I call out for her when I step inside.

“I’ll be right down!” she hollers back from her loft.

I walk the food back to the kitchen and begin plating it. My stomach rumbles in anticipation at the sight of the juicy grilled chicken atop sweet potato hash with broccolini on the side. I’ll never forget the time I mistakenly called it broccoli—and I thought Jenny’s eyes were going to pop out of her head. Needless to say, Nate and I both are now well versed in the differences between broccolini and broccoli. The smell of the Conecuh sausage in the hash has my mouth watering.

But when Mallory walks into the room dressed down in a pair of stretchy, skin-tight yoga shorts and an oversized sweatshirt, I’m hit with an entirely different kind of hunger.

“You ready to eat?”

Her stomach lets out a cute little rumble, and she blushes. “Clearly. It smells divine.”

As we dig into our food, I’m not sure which I appreciate more, the flavors bursting across my tongue or the little mewls of delight Mallory makes with every bite. Once we’ve both all but licked our plates clean, we move to the couch. “Are you ready for this?” I ask her. “Hell, am I ready for this?”

She bats her lashes innocently. “I don’t know, are you?”

I puff out my chest, Captain America style. “Cricket, I was born ready.”

We both retrieve our shopping bags and plop down onto her couch. “You go first, Duke.”

“All right.” I pass her my bag, watching with rapt attention and bated breath as she slides the books from inside. “Fair warning, I cheated and bought two. In my defense, only one is for you.”

“Hmm,” is all she says. When she pulls out the first book, her eyes cloud with confusion. “Watchmen?I think…there’s a movie, right?”

“There is, but I promise the graphic novel is so much better.”

“I’ll let you know what I think.” She moves to the second book, and this time her eyes gleam with joy. “You…you bought a book for my students?”

“Yeah. I heard Nate read this one to Tatum once, and by the end, we were all crying from laughing.”

Mallory runs her fingers over the dust jacket. “The Book With No Pictures,huh?” She opens it and reads the first few pages, her lips already tipping up in a smile. “Duke, they’re gonna love this.” She flings herself toward me, face-planting in my chest as she wraps her arms around my middle. It’s probably the most ungraceful hug of all time, and yet somehow, it’s also one of the best.

She pulls away, moving back to her seat, and I instantaneously miss the feel and heat of her body pressed to mine. “Your turn!”

My brows dent in when I see the book Mallory selected. “Doppel…banger? The hell is this?” My eyes take in the dude on the cover, with his hands behind his head and his button-down gaping open to expose his chiseled abs. The longer I stare at the cover, the more confused I become. “‘Bang enough frogs and one’s bound to become a prince…right?’ Cricket, baby, what is this?”

Her eyes light up with pure pleasure—most likely at my expense. “Hear me out. I know, you’re a big strong man and romance probably isn’t your genre of choice, but it’s a romantic comedy, and I guarantee you will pee yourself from laughing so hard. It’s about a single dad of two daughters and the over-the-top, outspoken, sassy woman he falls for. I promise, it’s hilarious. Plus, the sex is hot.” She shrugs like she didn’t just tell me she enjoys reading about hot sex.

I shift the book to cover my lap, because dammit, now all I’m thinking of is hot sex with her. Right here on this couch. With me kicked back like the dude on the cover while she rides me with her head tipped back and her hair wild as hell. With all the lights on, so I don’t miss a damn thing.

I must stay lost in my fantasy a little too long, because seemingly out of nowhere, Mallory whacks my shoulder. “Duke! Earth to Duke!”

“Huh? Yeah? What?”

Mallory laughs at my confusion, the sound like a balm to my battered soul. “Didn’t you want to pick the movie?”

“Oh, yeah.” She passes me the remote, and I scroll through Netflix’s available titles before settling onThe Ballad of Buster Scruggs.We both go into it blind, and while it’s one hundred percent one of the strangest movies I’ve ever seen, it’s also stupidly funny, and if Mallory’s laughter is anything to go by, she agrees.

By the time the credits roll, I’m once again laid out on this short-ass couch, but this time Mallory’s snuggled into me with her back to my front and her head resting on my outstretched arm. For as uncomfortable as this couch was when I slept on it the other night, I find that with her nestled into me, I’d be perfectly content to never leave.

Except we both have to be at our jobs bright and early, and I definitely didn’t think to pack a bag. But a little longer won’t hurt, right? Just a few more minutes…

chapter twenty-three

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