Disclaimers: Mine! Bad you if you copy or slap your name on.

Sex: This one is more tame than my usual work.  

If you’d like to tell me what a wonderful writer I am or that I royally suck, feel free at: XenaNut@hotmail.com. I’d love to hear from you! Check out my published work on Amazon.com!

 

Be Careful What You Wish For

by

Kim Pritekel

 

“Hey.”

Ava glanced up from the story she was reading on her Kindle at the sudden male voice. Her roommate, one of them, Donovan leaned in through the opened doorway of her bedroom. He wore the football jersey from his alma mater yet again. He often reminded her of a kid with a favorite article of clothing that they wear over and over again. She sometimes wondered if he remembered that his football days were over.

She lowered the reading device and sat up from where she’d been reclining back against stacked pillows. “Hey.”

“Scott’s latest?” he asked, nodding towards the Kindle. “The one with the warrior chick and dragon?” he asked.

Ava nodded. “Yeah. Pretty damn good. I think it’s his best so far.”

Donovan nodded. “I agree. Hey, Trace and Carys just got here. You still goin’?” he asked.

She blinked at him, reaching up and nervously tucking short blond hair behind her ear. “Oh yeah?” she said, trying to sound as casual as she didn’t feel. “Trace and Carys, huh?”

“Yeah, hey,” the large black man said, leaning a broad shoulder against the doorframe. “I know you’re not a big fan of Trace, so you can opt out. You just said you wanted to go.”

Ava chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. No, she wasn’t a fan of Trace, who could be an arrogant ass, but he wasn’t the problem. She hadn’t expected to have to be scared or spooked in front of his sister, Carys.

Clearing her throat, Ava nodded. “Yeah. When are we leaving?”

“Hello, hello, hello!” came the booming voice of the extrovert extraordinaire of Trace, Ava assumed at the front door. From past experiences, she knew that their other roommate, Scot had barely gotten the door open when Trace had exploded in his jubilance.

She groaned inside. Saving her place in the story, she powered down her Kindle and climbed off the bed. Donovan had been asking her for months if she’d go with he and Scott to the Elder House. It was an old, abandoned mansion that had been rumored for decades to be the sight of a horrific unsolved, and unproven, murder.

With Ava’s gift of mediumship, he wanted her to be able to lead them in the direction of what happened. She was nervous to do it, as her gifts came and went with no real rhyme or reason that she could discern. They’d been with her since she’d been a child, but now, at age 23, she still have no better understanding of them. But, she’d acquiesced.

Not typically a Halloween person because she’d seen too many crazy and unexplainable things in her life so she didn’t purposefully seek out the creepy and the crawly, this was a huge concession for her. She shrugged into her jacket and grabbed the flashlight she kept in her hiking backpack and said a silent prayer before heading out of her bedroom.

“There she is,” Trace boomed when he saw her enter the living room. He lunged off the couch where he’d been sitting next to his sister chatting with the guys and gave her a bone-crushing hug.

Wincing, Ava did her level best to endure his exuberant welcome before clawing her way out of his prison made of arms and barrel chest. “Hello, Trace,” she said, finally free. She looked up to note his spiky hair. “Green this week, huh?”

He grinned and reaching a hand up to lightly prick one of the spikes with his fingertip. “Absolutely. I figure my hair should match the color fat boy’s face will be when he sees is first host,” he said, grinning over at Scott, who glared back at him. “Hey man, you know I’m kiddin’. “

“Don’t be such an ass,” Carys said from her seat. She smiled at Ava. “Hey, girl. Ready for this?”

Ava gave her a shy return smile and wave. “I suppose so.”

Carys Taggert was gorgeous. There was no way around it. She had long, midnight black hair, her natural color and striking green eyes that seemed to glow when she was emotionally stimulated, be it excited, upset or angry. Ava often wondered if they were like that during passion. Not that she’d ever find out, but she wondered anyway… often.

She was closer to Scott’s age at 27, Scott clocking in at the oldest of the bunch at 30. He’d been a childhood friend of Ava’s older brother, and had quickly become someone she knew she could depend on. She and Scott had had many a deep conversation over the years. He was the first one she’d come out to at 16. He’d softened the blow for her family.

Hearing the slight towards Scott, which she knew he’d be embarrassed if she said anything, was just one more reason she couldn’t stand Trace. He was Donovan’s friend, they’d known each other from high school and pretty much everyone cringed when Donovan invited Trace to join them to watch a game or pretty much do anything. Ava truly wondered just exactly what Trace had over Donovan for him to not kick him to the curb.

“Okay,” Donovan said, clapping his hands together, which pulled Ava out of her thoughts. “I’ve mapped us out a strategy to conquer this freaky lady.”

“Strategy? Why?” Trace asked. “It’s a house, dude.”

“Yes,” Donovan responded. “Almost twenty thousand square feet of house.”

Scott whistled through his teeth. “Damn.”

Donovan walked over to the kitchen table, pushing aside Scott’s laundry that he’d been folding earlier in the evening. He spread out long sheet of butcher paper where he’d drawn out, blueprint style, the layout of the house, all three floors, plus the cellar.

Ava and the others gathered around the table. She could smell Carys’ perfume just behind her and it made her want to whimper. She was trying desperately to pay attention to what Donvan had planned out for everyone, trying to absorb his plan, but she was so terribly distracted. She could feel the other woman’s body heat nearly burning her through both the layers of her own clothing and that of Carys’.

“Okay, everybody got it?” Donovan asked, looking at each person as he rolled up his scroll, of sorts.

Crap. Ava nodded and smiled along with everyone else. “Let’s do this.”

***** 

The house was massive. Though only three stories, it seemed to rise up into the heavens forever, foreboding in its towering glare down to the cracked, weed-infested circular drive where they all stood outside the car.

Ava looked up, noting the pregnant clouds above the top of the tower, a zig-zag of lightning threading its way through it. She wasn’t sure if everyone could see it, the beginning of bad weather or if only she could see it, a storm of psychic proportions. 

“You feel anything?” Donovan asked stepping up beside her.

Ava shook her head. “Just serious creepies,” she responded. Meeting his gaze briefly before looking back at the house.

To Ava’s dismay, the front door was unlocked, though took some convincing to open. When it did, the hinges gave an awful squeak, announcing their presence. Just inside was a large foyer, no doubt grand in its day, replete with a huge chandelier overhead, though most of the crystals that should have been hanging off it were missing or covered in an unearthly amount of dust.

“That’s gotta be like, thirty feet up,” Donovan said, pointing his flashlight up. “How the hell are those crystal things missing?”

Suddenly Ava had the vision of an intruder being beamed in the back of the head by one of those things, hurled by an unseen force. She cleared her throat looking up at the handful that remained. “I think we should move on.”

Her words hoovered over their heads, yet they all remained where they were, huddled together in the entryway. To the left was an archway that led into darkness, straight ahead was the incredible staircase the house was known far. To the left was another archway and more darkness.

Something, blacker than black, rushed down the stairs and disappeared into the room to the right. Ava gasped, eyes huge as she tried to follow its progress, but it had vanished, either altogether or within the dark confines. She was shaken.

“You okay?” Carys whispered from right next to her.

Ava swallowed but turned to meet her gaze. For a moment she couldn’t speak, then finally nodded. “Yeah.”

“Saw something, didn’t you?” the other woman asked softly.

“You saw something?” Trace asked, his head suddenly pushing in between the two women.

Irritated, Ava whipped her head towards the room to their left. “Oh my god! It’s coming!” She pushed away from him, Carys doing the same out of reaction, leaving Trace standing there alone.

Ava had no idea a man’s voice could reach that pitch as Trace squealed and took off in the direction of the room to the left.

“Shit!” Ava exclaimed. “Trace, no! Not that way!” She stood still, the others also still, seeming to be shellshocked by what had just happened. She felt awful. “Trace?”

“Hey, dude, come back,” Donovan called out after another moment of silence.

Suddenly there was a beam of light shining into the room. Ava glanced over her shoulder only to find herself looking directly into the sun-like wattage of Carys’ head lamp. She quickly turned away, totally blind.

“Sorry,” Carys murmured, a hand briefly touching Ava’s shoulder, which left a little tingly spot when she removed it, even through her heavy winter jacket. “We have to go after him,” she said. “He’ll do something stupid.”

“But,” Donovan pouted. “My strategy was to start upstairs and work our way down.”

“Yeah, but your strategy didn’t account for Trace,” Scott muttered.

“And, that was your first mistake,” Carys said, slapping Donovan on the back as she passed him, headed in the direction her wayward brother had bolted.

“This is so not a good idea,” Ava whispered to herself, though knew she couldn’t say anything. After all, she started this.

The four friends all aimed their beams into the pitch black of the room, which seemed to suck up the light like a black hole. As they headed into the room, the air immediately got heavy, making it harder to breathe, the air cool and seeming as if it were literally touchable.

Ava slashed her beam off to the right, sweeping across the arm from what looked to be a couch, covered in a sheet. The small light patch across the floor revealed what looked to be an Oriental rug of some expense. It looked as though they may be in a sitting room, or, after Scott scared the hell out of all of them when he brushed his fingers across the keyboard of a baby grand, perhaps even a music room.

“Not cool, dude! Not cool!”

“Sorry, Don,” Scott muttered.

“Going to kill him,” Carys whispered into Ava’s ear. “And my brother.”

Ava grinned in the darkness, even as a small shiver rushed down her spine at the warm breath washing over her ear. “We can take ‘em,” she whispered back.

“Guys, I see something,” Donovan said, his voice a bit further in the room.

“Is it Trace?” Scott asked.

Ava hurried in the general direction, cursing under her breath as she rammed her shin into an unseen stool on the floor. Finally, she and Carys reached the boys.  Shining her flashlight beam in the general direction, she saw what looked like the furry foot of something. The flashlight beam would literally only reveal a few inches at a time. Next came a furry black leg which led to a fat, furry belly of white. It took her a moment to realize she was looking at a stuffed panda bear, a huge stuffed panda bear sitting on a chair shaped like an ice cream cone.

“What the …,” she murmured.

The panda was wearing a bow securing the ends of a wide, purple ribbon around its neck. She noticed something just barely sticking out from underneath would-be collar. Walking over to it, she shined her flashlight beam directly at the bow, which looked much like an oversized Christmas gift bow. About to reach for it, she started, her beam darting up to the face of the happy-looking panda.

“It blinked.”

“What?” Carys said, stepping up beside her, the guys not far behind. She grabbed the little card tucked under the ribbon, which had caught Ava’s attention in the first place.

“I swear,” Ava said. “It blinked at me,” she repeated.

“’Roses are red, violets are blue, clear your heart or a wish will come to you, too,’” she read, turning the card over to show a white blank surface before showing them the printed words on the front. “That’s what it says.”

“What the hell is that even supposed to mean?” Donovan said. If it hadn’t been such a strange situation, his whiny voice would have been amusing.

“What wish?” Ava asked, meeting Carys’ gaze. In that moment, all she could wish for in the world was the chance to kiss the woman no more than six inches from her. But, since that wasn’t an option, she focused on their current situation.

“Oh my god!” Scott said with a gasp, his hands coming up to cover his mouth, eyes saucered. “This is Ghostbusters stuff.”

Donovan glared over at him. “What are you talking about?”

“Clear your heads, guys. Don’t wish, don’t want. Don’t nothin’!”

Ava had never seen Scott so scared before, so stood perfectly still, no clue what he was talking about. She was grateful when Carys spoke up.

“Scott, what do you mean by Ghostbusters stuff?” she asked gently, replacing the card back where she’d gotten it.

“You know,” he said, meeting her gaze with wide, terrified eyes. “Remember when Ray ended up sending them the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man?” he said, as though it made all the sense in the world. “Nearly killed them all.”

“Dude,” Donovan said, shaking his head. “Don’t be stupid. This is a fucking stuffed panda, man. Nothing – “

Ava cried out in surprise and shock as she jumped back to get out of the way. The curtain of darkness parted, no more like peeled away, revealing a massive figure decked out in full football uniform, pants, jersey, pads, helmet. He cradled a football against his side as he ran straight for Donovan.

Head going low an shoulder leading the way, the figure plowed into him, both disappearing into the darkness, Donovan’s cry of surprise echoing behind him.

Ava stared, not entirely sure she’d seen what she thought she’d seen. A glance to Carys and Scott showed her they, too were left shocked and deeply shaken.

“What just happened?” Carys whispered, looking from Ava to Scott and back to Ava. “What just happened?”

Ava’s hand flew up to her chest, heart racing. Her brain wasn’t computing what they’d all just seen. Donovan was gone. He was gone! She ran a hand through her hair, feeling like she was going crazy.

“We need to get out of here,” Scott said, sounding as though he were near tears. “We need to get out and call the cops, but we gotta get out of here.”

Ava nodded, rubbing the back of her neck as she again peered into the darkness where Donovan had just been … tackled? Letting out a long, shaky breath, she nodded again. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

“What about Trace?” Carys asked. “What about my brother? Donovan?”

Ava met her gaze, just as frightened as the beautiful woman before her looked. “I don’t know, Carys. I don’t think it’s safe for us in here.” She shook her head. “I just don’t know.” She let out  guffaw as her nervousness took her over. This is insane! “Come on, guys. We came from that way,” she said, nodding her head in the direction they’d come.

“Wait, are you sure?” Scott asked. “I thought it was that way?” he said, hitching a thumb over his shoulder.

Ava shook her head. “No. The panda was directly in front of us – “

“Where’s the panda?” Carys muttered.

Ava glanced over her shoulder, swinging her flashlight in the general direction. Nothing. Pitch blackness. She felt confusion threaten to turn into panic when there was nothing there. She whipped around in a circle, lighting up as much as she could. Still nothing.

“What the…” she breathed, heart racing. “What the fuck is happening?”

“Come on,” Scott said. “Let’s go this way. Stick together.”

Ava was surprised when she felt a hand slip into hers. Glancing over, she saw Carys looking back at her, her headlamp held in her other hand as it had apparently fallen off when they’d both had to dive to get out of the way of the tackling figure.

“Ready?” Carys asked, tugging the light back on.

“No,” Ava said with a chuckle, shaking her head. “I wanna be back home reading.”

Carys grinned then turned away. “Let’s go, Scott.”

Almost moving as one, the three headed in the direction Scott chose. Ava figured, it was as good as any, she was so turned around. They took it slow, but didn’t dare stop. It was as though they’d stepped into blackness, itself. There was no furniture, no piano, no panda bear or ice cream cone chair.

In fact, as they continued on, the air began to grow cooler and the ground crunched beneath their feet. Ava aimed the beam of her flashlight down at the ground. “Wait, guys,” she said, tugging on Carys hand. “What is this?”

Releasing the soft hand in hers – oh-so-reluctantly- she squatted down, reaching out to grab something that sparkled, just out of the tiny circle of light created by the muffled beam of her flashlight. The object was hard, rough and cool to the touch. She brought it into the light.

“It’s coal,” she said, bringing it up to sniff it. Smelled like earth.

“Coal?” Carys said, squatting down next to her. She took the lump when Ava handed it to her. “You know, these old houses had coal chutes,” she explained, glancing at Ava before looking up at Scott, who towered above them. “Maybe it’s from there?”

Ava nodded. Seemed logical to her. Logic, however, seeped out her ears when she heard something. Looking up and over Carys’ head, she listened. Off in the distance, the very far off distance, a strange, breathy sound. Loud, almost like a loud, breathy snort.

She slowly got to her feet when she heard it again, this time louder and accompanied by quick flash of light, orange light. Another snort, then, like somebody had loosed an oversized flame thrower, a burst of flame shooting out towards them from twenty yards away. The barrage lit up their surrounds.

“How the hell did we end up in a goddamn cave!?” Carys cried out.

Scott stood there, transfixed as yet a second burst of flame was launched out of the darkness. He sucked in a breath, eyes nearly as round as he was. “Run!”

Ava didn’t ask for an explanation as it seemed Scott had a grand idea. She turned and bolted, going as quickly as her legs and arms would pump, her flashlight flying out of her hand in her haste to scramble. She screamed as yet another tongue of fire licked at her wake.

A massive gush of wind knocked her off her feet. Stumbling to the ground, she looked up just in time to see the underbelly of a massive flying … thing. It’s wings flapped, cutting through the air with a, WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

 

Turning to her back, she watched in awe as the creature’s length passed, legs, wings and long, pointed tail. A deafening screech rent the air, forcing her to curl up into a ball, covering her head and ears with her hands and arms. She felt it reverberate throughout her entire body, down into her bones as it echoed off the stone walls of the cave.

The noise began to subside and the chill in the cave began to warm. Confused, Ava began to uncurl, as her legs stretched out from where they’d been tucked up against her chest, they became weightless, slowly falling away from her body and downward. The cold stone floor against her back became warm, and wet.

Gasping, Ava sat up, only to find herself face to face with Carys, their faces no more than a few inches apart, though slightly higher than Ava’s, though they were similar in height. It was also then that Ava realized that she was sitting in water, warm water. She was also naked, and so was Carys.

Looking around, she saw they were in an extremely nice bathroom in a sunken tub. Scented candles were lit and scattered around the darkened room, throwing fragrant light onto them, making their naked skin look bronze.

Ava turned her focus back into the tub and felt that she was sitting in the tub, back against the heated side, Carys straddling her hips. She blinked a few times, trying to make heads or tails of her current situation. Her fingers, which rested on Carys’ hips, flexed a bit, noting that the flesh beneath them was, indeed solid and real. But how could it be?

“You okay, baby?” Carys murmured, her hands coming out of the water and caressing down the side of Ava’s face, her fingertip trailing down along her jaw and down her throat, making Ava shiver.

“I,” Ava tried, but her voice trailed off when that finger found its way over a hard nipple. “I think so.”

Carys smiled, sexy and utterly alluring. “’I’, what?” she whispered against Ava’s lips. “How about, ‘I want you to kiss me, baby,’” she offered.

Ava nodded dumbly, unable to speak. She was confused, a bit unsettled, but somehow, at the first touch of soft lips, it all felt so right, what she’d dreamed of so many times. Her hands tightened on Carys’ hips, gently pulling her closer as their kiss deepened. Carys was such a good kisser, her lips so soft, tongue easily stroking her arousal to dangerous levels.

Ava’s hands moved from Carys’ hips up her sides until she felt the smooth rounded outsides of her breasts. Carys sighed into her mouth when she cupped those breasts, her thumbs lightly rubbing over hardened nipples.

“Baby?” Carys whispered against Ava’s lips.

“Hmm?” Ava responded, moving to the warm length of Carys’ neck, nuzzling the soft skin there before bringing her teeth and tongue into play.

“Let’s take this to the bedroom,” Carys said, her fingers burying themselves in Ava’s hair as she moved her head, giving a hot mouth more room to explore.

Ava froze, a feeling of panic washing over her. She raised her head and looked into hooded green eyes. “No,” she said, shaking her head slowly back and forth. “No let’s stay here.”

“Why, baby?” Carys asked, head slightly cocked to the side. “We’ll have more room,”

Ava felt like she wanted to cry. She knew in her heart that, if they left the tub, everything would go away, though she had no real idea what that even meant. “Let’s stay here,” she said weakly, knowing there was no logical reason behind her fear.

“Come on, baby,” Carys whispered, moving off Ava’s lap and towards the edge of the tub, her hand reaching out to the blond.

Ava reached for the hand, but couldn’t seem to grab it. As she tried to move in the tub, she found she was completely unable to, as though she’d been stuck into drying cement. She could move her arms and head, but that was all.

“Wait! Come back! Come back!”

Ava gasped, blinking several times as she looked around. She was standing in the darkness holding her flashlight in hand, the beam aimed at the large stuffed panda bear with purple ribbon and bow around its neck sitting on its ice cream chair. She felt nauseous.

Looking around, she saw Donovan standing not far away, relief washing over her at the sight of him. Scott stood just to her right and Carys to her immediate left. Ava quickly looked away as a hot blush crept up her neck. She brought up a hand to rub the back of it, the flesh warm to the touch.

Dropping her hand, she saw that everyone was very quiet and looked shell-shocked, much like she felt. She cleared her throat and looked back to the bear, noting there was still a note there, tucked under the ribbon, but the little card was red.

She studied it for a moment, knowing damn well it was white last time. She looked around at her companions and they, too seemed to be staring at the card, but nobody was moving. Stepping forward, and with unease in her heart, she plucked the card from where it was tucked, first reading it to herself before reading it out loud.

“’Roses are red, violets are blue, if your heart is pure, it’ll come back to you,’” she read. Looking over at everyone again, she saw three pairs of eyes on her. She met Carys’ for just a second before she again, had to look away.

“Hey!”

Ava nearly jumped out of her skin as Trace jumped out of the darkness.

“Were you guys not gonna come get me, or what?” he asked, glaring at each one in turn. “Like, what the fuck?”

“We were on our way,” Donovan said quietly.

“Well, this place is a bust,” Trace said, looking over his shoulder in the direction he’d just come from, which Ava could now faintly see was another archway leading to another room. “I say we should hit it. Grab dinner and a beer.”

Ava was amused by the response of, Yes, Definitely, Totally, Okay… all expressed with great vigor from the others all at the same time. She smiled and nodded. “I agree.”

*****

Dinner had largely been a one-man show, as Trace had gone on and on as he often does, meanwhile the other four sat silently nibbling half-heartedly at various meals or letting coffee grow cold.

By time Ava got home, she was just glad to be alone. Sleep had come swiftly, but had been riddled with strange dreams and images, many of which had left her with panties she was happy to remove for her morning shower.

Back in her bedroom, she was dressed in comfy pajama pants and an oversized t-shirt. She was off for the weekend, and intended to spend it reading. As she combed out her shower-wet hair, she glanced at her closed bedroom door in answer to the soft knock on the other side.

“Yeah?”

The door opened and Scott appeared. “Hey,” he said shyly. “Uh, we’re out here and wanted to know if you’d come out and join us. I think we all need to talk. I know all of us do, anyway,” he hedged cryptically.

She met is gaze, noting he looked tired, round face a bit grizzled as though he hadn’t shaved, which was unusual for him. In short, he seemed unsettled about something. “Yeah. Okay.”

Finishing with her hair, which was now combed back away from her face, she padded out to the kitchen where, to her surprise, sitting with Scott and Donovan was Carys. Ava’s steps slowed when she saw the gorgeous woman sitting there, dressed casually in jeans and a fitted sweater. Her hair was down and flowed around her shoulders in midnight waves. She was gorgeous.

“What’s up?” Ava asked, taking the last seat at the table for four, which put her to Carys’ right. She looked around at the three pairs of eyes that were already on her. “Everything okay?”

Scott cleared his throat and put his phone down on the table, active screen facing up. “I got this this morning, and, I wanted to be ecstatic, but I’m scared to death after last night.” He met each person’s gaze in turn. “I need to know if I was the only one who had an … experience… at that house last night.”

Ava swallowed, her heart skipping a beat. Nobody had said a word, though it had been written all over their faces since they’d left the house. She was unsure and, honestly, a bit ashamed by where her heart had taken her, especially with the object of her desire sitting right next to her. She said nothing.

“I, uh,” Donovan began quietly, looking down at his large hands placed on the table before him. “I went from talking about a stuffed panda in a creepy old house to running a seventy-nine yard touchdown return in a stadium full of screaming fans.” He shyly spared a glance at Scott before looking down at his hands again.

Ava felt her heart rate pick up at Donovan’s words. None of them had seen that, but obviously when he’d vanished, that’s where he’d gone. She glanced at Scott. “You?”

He smirked and shrugged. “I ended up in chapter nineteen of my novel, battling the king of the dragons.”

“So that’s what happens, huh?” Ava asked with a grin, feeling a little better that, okay, maybe she wasn’t crazy.

“I guess so,” he laughed. “I haven’t started it yet, still back on twelve.”

“Carys?” Donovan asked the quiet brunette, who had been sitting there with her fingers laced beneath her chin.

“Something happened to me as well,” she said softly. “But, I’d prefer to keep that to myself.”

Ava spared a glance at her, wondering what her experience was, and grateful for a good response. There was no way in hell she could or would regale the table with her embarrassing tale. “Ditto,” she said softly.

“Alrighty then,” Scott said. He slid his phone towards the center of the table, indicating whoever wanted to could grab it. “Read that.”

Carys grabbed his phone and reactivated the dimming screen with her finger before reading. “’Dear Mr. Hoff. We were directed to your posted stories online by one of our talent scouts. We’d very much like to speak to you regarding publishing some of your finished work. We feel you have wonderful storytelling talent and your ideas are original and gripping. If you’re interested, please reply to this email. You may check out our publishing company at the provided link below. We hope to hear from you soon. All the best, Rachel Gibbs, CEO, Slaughterhouse Books.’”

“Oh my god, dude!” Donovan crowed, slapping Scott on the shoulder, nearly knocking him out of his chair.

Ava’s jaw dropped. She looked at him. “Did you submit anything anywhere finally?”

He shook his head, eyes wide. “Too much of a chicken shit.” He nodded towards Donovan. “Tell ‘em.”

“This morning my older sis calls. Seems the assistant coach on her son’s college football team just quit. They’re looking for a replacement right quick,” he said, shaking his head as though he still couldn’t believe the words coming out of his own mouth.

“Oh, Don,” Carys breathed. “You’ve wanted to get back into football since you got hurt in college.”

He nodded. “ACL is a bitch,” he chuckled.

“Look,” Scott said, his tone serious. “I get that you ladies are staying mum, but I have to think something has or will happen to you, too. This is way to crazy to be coincidence. Maybe one of us,” he added, indicating he and the large black man sitting to his right. “But both? Around the same time?”

“You know,” Ava said, fingers lightly tapping on the tabletop as the considered what they’d all just been told. “That second card mentioned a pure heart. Basically, if your heart is pure, you’ll get what you’ve always wanted.”

Scott grinned, rubbing his neck with his hand. “I’ve wanted to be an author since I was a kid. Just never had the guts to really go for it.”

“So,” Donovan said, nodding at Scott’s phone, which Carys had slid back towards its owner. “You think that’s a legit offer?”

“I do,” Carys said, garnering Donovan’s attention. “Other than your taste in friends, Don,” she said, which made everyone at the table chuckle. “You and Scott both are really great guys, heart of gold kind of people.”

“So, maybe it’s all true, then?” Ava asked, sitting back in her chair. “At least, for you two.” She nodded at Carys. “And, hopefully for you, Carys.”

Carys met her gaze and gave her the softest smile. “Thank you,” she murmured. “You, too.”

“Why not Trace?” Donovan asked.

“He took off,” Ava said simply.

“Annnd,” Scott added, tossing an apologetic glance to Carys before continuing. “How pure is his heart? I’ve seen him do some shitty things to people.”

“No pure heart,” Ava added, Scott nodded.

“So,” Donovan asked, slapping his palms lightly on the table. “What do we do?”

“Keep this to ourselves,” Scott said, indicating those at the table, making the others present laugh.

Donovan grinned and nodded. “Yeah. Okay.” He pushed away from the table but said before he stood. “Gotta go call my old coach. Got a job interview to prepare for.”

“You got this, Donovan,” Ava said, a hand up for him to slap as he passed by her towards the front door of the small house.

“I, uh…” Scott grabbed his phone, cheeks puffed out as he blew outa breath. Then he grinned like a little boy and swiped his phone off the table and scurried off to his bedroom.

“I’m so happy for him,” Carys said absently.

Ava looked over at her, Carys’ gaze looking after the writer before those green eyes met Ava’s. “Me, too. Both of them.” She gave the other woman a shy smile. “I hope that, whatever it was that you experienced, happens for you. That you get your happiness, too.”

Carys said nothing, simply reaching out her hand an rested it against the side of Ava’s jaw. The small smile that quirked her lips set Ava’s heart racing. She’d seen that smile in the events of the night before. She had no idea what was happening, but before she could contemplate it, Carys leaned in.

The first touch of her lips sent a ripple of sensation through Ava’s body, even as her surprise and shock tried to stop it. The second touch broke her out of her stupor and Ava responded, her hand moving to rest on Carys’ knee to brace herself a bit as she leaned in further.

Carys used her tongue to lightly flick Ava’s upper lip, silently asking for permission to enter, which was quickly granted. The hand that had been resting on Ava’s jaw moved around to the back of a blond head, pulling Ava deeper into the kiss, leaving her absolutely breathless when the kiss ended and Carys pulled away a bit.

“I’ve wanted to do that for two years,” Carys murmured.

Ava grinned. “Really? Why didn’t you tell me? I didn’t even know you were gay.”

Carys returned the grin. “Yeah, well, you were this hot young thing filled with ambition and drive.” She reached up and caressed the side of Ava’s face with affection in her eyes. “I’ve watched you go from awkward high school girl to confident, incredible college student and now an adult starting your life. I’m crazy about you. Why do you think I’m here al the time? It’s not to hang out with my brother.”

Ava smiled at that. She looked down at her hand, which still rested on Cary’s knee. “I’m crazy about you, too,” she said softly, almost afraid to say the words she’d been desperate to say, even though Carys had just spilled her heart. “Have been for what seems like forever.”

Carys tipped Ava’s face up with two fingers under her chin. Leaving a lingering kiss on her lips, Carys pulled away and pushed to her feet. She took Ava’s hand and urged her to stand. Ava met her gaze, a question in hers.

“I told you,” Carys said, the words nearly a purr. “We need to head to the bedroom.”

Ava stared at her, stunned, but happily allowed herself to be led in that very direction.



The End – Happy Halloween! 

 

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