Free The Affair: a New Adult Romance novelette by Olivia Grace

a son of a bitch; the balls of them had to be raw and red. I was sweating. I could smell various colognes all over me.
    But I was fifteen hundred dollars richer.
    It was something about this big red hair, these freckles, and bashful appearance that drove the men in Pink Rhino crazy. I was the regular girl, the approachable women. Unlike the super modelesque women that galloped around the place with bodies like stallions that they didn’t have a chance in hell with, they actually thought that they had a chance with my normalcy.
    I fought to keep my eyes open as I exited the expressway on Cline Avenue. As I made a right onto 169th Street, I surprisingly met traffic. Lights from the abundance of police cars lit the street up like we were on Michigan Avenue watching the Macy’s Christmas Day Parade go by.
    The procession of cars crept slowly down the street; the traffic due to a blocked intersection and gapers delay. Up ahead, I recognized one of my dad’s cop friends directing traffic. As I approached him, I rolled down the window of the truck.
    “Hi, Pete.”
    His smile was weary and his eyes were heavy. I could have sworn that I saw tears as he continued to wave his hands to direct the traffic coming from the opposite direction.
    I looked to my right and noticed another squad car blocking the entrance to a residential street.
    “What happened, Pete?”
    His mouth balled with despair before saying, “It’s Celeste Miller, Brad’s wife. Brad found her dead in their home after his shift.” The tears once teetering at the front of his eyes threatened to make a down pouring appearance. “She was murdered.”
     

Twelve
    I couldn’t sleep all night. So, I didn’t. I sat in the living room, on our tattered couch, with my knees to my chest watching the news coverage of Celeste’s murder.
    It had only been a few hours since her death, so the details were coming in slowly. Yet, by eight o’clock in the morning, what was certain was that Brad arrived home to find his wife in the hallway bleeding out from several stab wounds. There had been an apparent struggle that left the house in shambles, and she had been sexually assaulted. I clutched invisible pearls as they played video footage of her body being carried out of their ranch style home in a body bag. Hammond was a small town. Murders didn’t happen here, or any crime for that matter. Therefore, it was a media frenzy.
    No one knew what happened - whether it was a random murder or the beginning of a serial killer’s spree. Everyone was closing their doors and locking them with bolts and chains for the first time in this relatively safe town.
    My heart went out to Brad and to everyone on the small police force. Police officers were like brothers. They were family. They knew one another’s families, were related, and had history outside of the force. Therefore, everyone was suffering from this tragedy.
    “This is crazy.” Even Tyler was shaken up as he finally woke up that morning and joined me on the sofa.
    Like many people in this town, he knew Celeste. He and her younger sister were very good friends, and even dated once.
    I simply sighed and leaned into him as the news coverage was interrupted by a commercial break. “And scary.”
    “Who would do something like this?”
    “I feel so bad for their kids.”
    Tyler wrapped his arm around me protectively. I warmed against him. That morning was colder than usual. At fifty-seven degrees, it was apparent that fall was approaching.
    “I love you, Karrie Stahl.”
    I simply smiled. My heart was so heavy. It went out to my dad, who had been a father-figure to Brad since joined the force.
    “Seriously,” Tyler insisted as he kissed my forehead. “I love you.”
    “I know.”
    “I know that I haven’t been the best boyfriend. I haven’t been the best me for quite some time. You just…” As he hesitated, I peered up it his eyes. “You’re a good girl, Karrie. I want to be able to give you more than… this ,”