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About Annie
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Asking for a Friend In His Arms Again
MARISSAElectricity sparked in the air between us as Layton and I stepped onto the elevator. My heart was pounding, my entire body on high alert for his nearness. We turned to face the doors when they closed, our hands brushing each other in the process.A tingle went through at the brief touch of his skin against mine. I looked up at him, curious to know if he’d felt it too. For whatever else had happened between us, we’d never lacked chemistry.Layton had warmed up to me again throughout dinner and given where we started, I was surprised the evening was ending with both of us at his place and not at odds anymore. I wanted to know if Layton still felt the chemistry too, or if it was just me catapulted back to a couple of weeks ago.He looked down at me in the same moment, and when our eyes met, I knew I wasn’t alone in this. The next thing I knew, his lips were on mine and his arms were around me, caging me against the back of the elevator car.His lips were as hungry and insistent a
Asking for a Friend Stay the Night
MARISSASnuggling into Layton’s side, my head rested on his chest. His heartbeat thrummed against my ear and I lifted my hand to rest it beside my head. I inhaled deeply, savoring the moment while I was still in it. When we got out of this bed, I didn’t know what would happen.Lying in his arms felt so right. Being with him in any way felt so right. Before this moment, I told myself I wanted to apologize to him because it was the right thing to do. I had been wrong and he deserved to know it and to know I was sorry about it.All this time, I’d been telling myself I didn’t want to get involved with him again, that I didn’t want to go back to how things used to be between us. But being here with him now, I knew I’d been fooling myself.I did want Layton, very much so. And not just in my bed, but in my life. It had taken me too long to realize he wasn’t at fault for what happened with Annie. Denise finally made me realize that I wasn’t really to blame either.At least four other kids in
Asking for a Friend Hankering
LAYTONFeeling lighter and happier than I had in weeks, I pushed through the doors of a new coffee shop down the block from my office. The place smelled bitter and sweet, coffee and pastries everywhere. Taking a deep breath of what promised to be worth the wait in the line I was about to join, I made my way to the back of the snake of people curling around the few tables in the shop.Everyone around me was raving about their picks, and despite the time this was going to take, I was glad I decided to make the stop. Marissa would be glad too.Just the thought of her made a grin spread across my lips. For the past four days since we’d made up, we’d been spending whatever time we could spare together. It wasn’t much, since Marissa headed straight home to Annie every day after work, but we’d carved out a little time to spend together each day so far.When we hooked up before, I wasn’t sure where I stood with Marissa and I hadn’t thought too much about it. I only knew that I liked her and w
Asking for a Friend Too Soon
LAYTONWhen I got back to the office, I found Marissa in hers. She stood up when I entered, a radiant smile on her lips. “You’re late today. You’re never late.”I held up the coffee and the pastries. “I brought you something.”“Yeah?” She rounded her desk and took the box first, opening it. Letting out an excited sound, she set it down on her desk and threw her arms around me from the side so as not to knock over the coffees. “Oh, Layton! Thank you. I’ve been meaning to try these, but the line is always so long.”“It’s a wait, all right. I hope they’re worth it,” I told her, putting the coffee down next to the box so I could hold her properly. “You’re definitely worth it.”Pink tinged her cheeks as she slid her eyes to her open office door. The blinds of her windows were already down, presumably she simply hadn’t opened them yet—because they were usually open. Reaching behind me, I felt for the door and swung it closed. “We’re alone now.”“Thank God,” she breathed just before I lowere
Asking for a Friend Let Annie Decide
MARISSAEarly the morning after Layton told me he wanted to meet Annie, I was still stressed about the answer—I hadn’t decided yet. He was right about one thing. If there was a future for us and we really wanted to see where things between us went, he would have to meet Annie at some point.Chewing on my lip, I wondered if it was too soon for her to meet him. A part of me thought it was, but another part of me wanted the meeting to take place.Annie was always going to be a part of my life. Layton might not be, but if he was serious about wanting to be part of my life for now, then I needed to know if he got along with Annie. I wouldn’t be able to make any decisions about him, and about what I wanted for us until I knew how that would go.A relationship where those two didn’t get along wasn’t a relationship I would be able to be in. Surely it was better to find out sooner rather than later. I already felt like I was in a bit too deep with Layton, without knowing whether he would even
Asking for a Friend Nothing to Worry About
MARISSAThe corners of my mouth turned up and my nose scrunched. “I realized I couldn’t stand blood.”Denise laughed, but Annie looked horrified. “I don’t like blood either.”“Then you probably wouldn’t like being a nurse,” I told her and she nodded her agreement before turning pensive again.“What does a counts manager do?” She asked finally between the last bites of her breakfast.“Accounts manager.” I corrected her gently. “I work with numbers. Basically, I look at how much money people have to build the buildings they want, and I try to see if we can get the building built with that much money.”It was a complete oversimplification, but the child was only six. She frowned, but nodded. “I think I understand.”“So, back to your boss.” Denise said, prompting us back to the actual conversation we needed to have. “What did he want to do with the two of you tomorrow?”I shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’ll have to talk to him about it today if Annie’s sure she wants to meet him.”“I’m sure,” s
Asking for a Friend Meeting Her
LAYTONMarissa’s house was a small, single family home in the suburbs. It was exactly what I might have expected from her, with bay windows and colorful flower pots on the front porch. There were wind chimes hanging from the roof over three steps leading up to the front door.The front yard was small, but well cared for. The weather was getting warmer and some of her plants were starting to come alive again after the miserable winter.I parked in her driveway, gravel crunching beneath my tires. Before I got out of my car, I took a deep breath and gripped my steering wheel so hard my knuckles went white. I was more nervous than I expected to be.Meeting Marissa’s daughter was a big step for us to take, even if we weren’t telling her exactly what was going on between us. It was a step I wanted to take with her, and I didn’t regret asking, but it was dawning on me that this was the biggest step I’d taken in any relationship. Ever.Sweat broke out on my brow and I wiped it off, willing my
Asking for a Friend Perspective
LAYTONMarissa stepped aside and motioned me into her house while Annie yelled something about getting different shoes and zoomed away, disappearing to her room. Marissa gave me a sheepish smile. “She’s really energetic, I know.”“I like it,” I admitted, surprising myself when I realized it was true. “It’s charming. Kinda makes me miss being a kid, back when everything was that exciting.”Marissa looked taken aback for a second before she started nodding. “That’s exactly how I think and feel about it. It’s incredible to experience things through a child’s eyes again. It makes me realize how desensitized we’ve become to how amazing life really is.”“That’s an interesting perspective.” I could see it being true, though. If Annie was already reminding me about how exciting going fishing really was, I imagined the more time I spent with her, the more I would start noticing other things I’d forgotten over the years. “I’m looking forward to seeing things that way again.”“You’re going to be
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