Free Can't Shake You by Molly McLain

almost better than sex.”
    Maddie snorted. “Then you’re having the wrong kind, sweetheart. Try the mocha. It’s absolutely better than sex.”
    Both women fell into a fit of giggles and Carissa laughed so hard her stomach hurt. “Oh, Mads, I need a man. Bad. In fact, if I don’t get laid soon, I’m gonna buy stock in this company and then you’re gonna have a fat maid of honor.”
    Maddie pursed her lips into a goofy frown. “I don’t care if you get chunky. But I definitely don’t want you to be sex-deprived. Honey, you really need to meet Andrew. He’s not the stuffy lawyer type at all. In fact, I think he might surprise you.”
    Carissa stuck her tongue in her cheek. “With his penis piercing, you mean?”
    “Hopefully.” Maddie winked and Carissa laughed again.
    “God, I am so pathetic. Even if he and I did hit it off, I’d probably botch it up. I can’t even carry on a conversation with a man without it going all haywire.”
    “That what happened with Tony?”
    Carissa’s gaze jerked to her friend’s. “You know about that?”
    “Well, yeah. I watched you two flirting away and I was totally doing the happy dance when you left with him, but then Dan said he saw Tony tearing out like a bat outta hell. What went wrong?”
    “Wait...Dan saw him leaving?”
    “Saw, heard...I don’t know. But I take it you weren’t with Tony or we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
    “No, I wasn’t with him. He...wasn’t feeling well.”
    Maddie lifted an eyebrow.
    “He’d been drinking.”
    “Ah. I’m surprised you didn’t give him a ride home. You know, the whole drinking and driving thing.”
    “I offered, but he...ended up changing his mind." She avoided Maddie’s gaze, wishing, not for the first time, that she hadn’t gotten so wrapped up in the lie-by-omission that had been her single serving of the woman’s future brother-in-law.
    Maddie was like a sister and there weren’t many things Carissa withheld in all of the two-plus decades they’d been friends. But she hadn’t wanted to share her night with Josh with anyone. And not because she’d regretted what they’d done or was ashamed of her uncharacteristic behavior, but because everything about being with him had been so amazing. Hands down the best sex she’d ever had and holding tight to those memories had made the encounter seem even more special.
    In hindsight however, she realized how foolish she’d been to think he might’ve felt the same. Obviously she’d just been another notch on the Marine-cum-contractor’s utility belt.
    By the time she’d figured that out, Maddie’d begun pushing her, as the new girl on the block, to investigate all the male offerings River Bend had to offer. Reed had topped Maddie’s already-narrowed list.
    It was all history from there, and how the hell could Carissa ever explain wittingly getting involved with the best friend of the man who’d given her the most incredible orgasms ever ? Granted, she hadn’t intended for Reed to be more than a friend, and Josh had never given her any indication he’d care who she dated, but still...
    If Josh hadn’t been Dan’s brother, coming clean to Maddie would have been much less complicated. But Maddie cared about Josh, even if he did annoy the hell out of her. Heck, everyone loved Josh. And they loved Reed the same. And Carissa was just the horrible woman who screwed both friends, one after the other.
    Sure, that kind of thing happened all the time in small towns where the selection of potential love interests was limited. But it wasn’t her. And it wasn’t Josh and it wasn’t Reed. And it wasn’t the kind of thing she wanted to be known for in a community where she hoped to someday be adored just as much. God knows, she didn’t have that kind of affection and support back home anymore.
    Out of nowhere, tears began to sting in her eyes and she hurried to hide them, but not quickly enough.
    “Oh, honey, don’t cry.” Maddie wrapped her up in a