Free That Girl is Mine - Part One by Eve Cates

place a pillow under his head, and a blanket on his body. Then I kiss him softly and retire to our large bed, empty and alone.
    I let out a sigh and turn my pillow to the side, hugging it to me.
    I miss my boyfriend.

Chapter 12
     
     

Dylan
    When I wake the next morning, I’m feeling just as confused as I was yesterday. I had hoped that after a night out, I’d be feeling more like myself, however, things didn’t go according to plan, and I ended up coming home at two in the morning to find Josh fast asleep on the couch.
    Part of me wanted to wake Avery up and ask if she was OK (why was he on the couch? Where they in a fight?) But I let her be, and instead spent the night tossing and turning and wondering what I was going to do because there was no point in denying it anymore. I’m fucking attracted to my best friend’s girl – like, totally into her attracted. And I can’t seem to stop thinking about her. What the hell am I supposed to do?
    By the time the sun starts peeking through the blinds, I’ve decided that maybe what I need is a bit of distance. There are guest spots available at other tattoo parlors and I’ve always wanted to travel – I can go and spend a few months out there, make more of a name for myself in the industry and hopefully, by the time I come back, I won’t be looking at her and thinking like a hungry man. I’ll be looking at her as who she is – she’s Avery. She’s Josh’s girl. Josh’s girl. That girl is not mine.
    An alarm goes off in Avery and Josh’s room, and I listen as I hear her groan a little in her sleep then shut off the sound. I wait a little as I hear her go down the stairs. Then I hear a cell phone go off before she says something to Josh. He doesn’t sound like he wants to wake up at all. When I hear the shower turn on, I get up and throw on a shirt and a pair of sweatpants then head downstairs.
    I find Avery in the kitchen, playing the domestic goddess and looking perfect as always. “Mornin’ Rusty,” I say as I approach, and she turns from scooping coffee into the filter and smiles at me like I just told her she’s won a prize.
    “Good morning. Did you sleep here last night?”
    “Yeah, I got in around two.”
    “No fish biting?” she asks with a wink, and I can’t help but chuckle.
    “I wasn’t fishing.”
    “Oh,” she says, turning back to the coffee machine to click the filter in place and flick the on button.
    “I um…when I got home, Josh was on the couch. Is everything OK?”
    “What? Oh, yeah. He was just exhausted and fell asleep as soon as he got home. Poor guy. The job’s really hard on him I think.”
    She moves about the kitchen pulling out mugs and plates for everyone and she places slices of bread in the toaster. “You don’t need to make anything for me. I can do it myself,” I tell her.
    She shrugs. “I really don’t mind. You get me lunch all the time.”
    “But you cook dinner.”
    “I really don’t mind.” She turns to me and smiles. “Do you have an early client?”
    “Uh, no. I just couldn’t sleep.”
    “Something on your mind?”
    “Kind of…”
    She turns to me and raises an eyebrow, seeming completely oblivious to the torture that’s going through my mind. I open my mouth and close it, struggling to find the right words.
    “Is it because of yesterday with your Grams?”
    She places a plate of hot toast in front of me, and coffee made just the way I like it. Then she hands me the butter and a knife.
    “Stop!” I snap, and she flinches, her eyes wide, confused. “Stop acting like my wife, or my…my mother. This needs to stop!”
    Her eyes shine with emotion and she drops her gaze. “I’m not trying to be either of those things,” she says calmly, although her voice shakes a little at the end of the sentence. “But if that’s the way you feel. Then fine. I’ll stop.” She takes the coffee and toast then dumps the contents in the sink and the trash. “Happy?”
    I shake my head. “No. I’m not