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kissing Avery. And she was kissing me back like her life depended on it. One of my hands left the curves of her face and drifted down her back, giving her every chance to protest—she didn’t—before I grasped her ass and lifted her up to set her on the table. I stepped between her outstretched thighs, and she ground against me, moaning into my mouth when she discovered my erection.
    I’d never been so hard so fast for any woman in my life. But Avery wasn’t just any other woman. She was everything I’d ever wanted. The woman I’d compared every girl to since I met her. The only one who had my heart without ever knowing it.
    She threw her head back, and I pressed kisses down her neck, careful not to mark the tender flesh. We weren’t eighteen anymore, and I wasn’t going to paw at her like an inexperienced teenager no matter how loudly my body screamed at me that she was finally in my hands.
    Her fingers threaded through my hair, and she rocked against my hips and whimpered my name. It was the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard.
    I brought my mouth back to hers for one last, long, luscious kiss, pouring everything I had into it. I almost forgot my own name as I gave myself over to everything Avery was.
    Then, with the patience of a saint, I pulled back from her. She looked up at me with hazy, passion-filled eyes and kiss-stung lips. Yup, sainthood.
    “River?” she asked, her voice husky and so damn sexy that I had the immediate urge to see what color her panties were and how they’d look on the floor of the bar.
    Instead I kissed her forehead and took my hands off her—before I fucked my best friend in the bar that she worked at. Avery deserved so much better than that, and for how long I’d waited, I did, too.
    “I want you,” I said, my voice so low I barely recognized it.
    Her mouth opened to speak, and I pressed my thumb against her tempting lips.
    “Don’t say anything. I just wanted you to know that you have options. That I am an option. And whether it’s in friendship or something more, I want you in Colorado with me. I leave next week for a weekend there, and I’ve already bought you a ticket. It’s just a weekend—not a lifetime commitment, but I want you to come and see if you could make a life there. A life with me or without me—that’s your choice.”
    I stroked her lip with my thumb and leaned forward, stealing one more kiss. “God, I’ve waited so many years to do that.”
    “River…”
    “Don’t,” I ordered softly. “Don’t talk. Just think. I’ll wait outside for you to lock up, and then maybe we can talk tomorrow?”
    She nodded, and I backed away slowly, refusing to notice the rapid rise and fall of her breasts, or that her lips were still parted like she was waiting for me to come back and kiss the hell out of her again.
    Maybe I’d just fucked everything up. Maybe I’d thrown away the best relationship of my life by pushing for something that she didn’t want, but when I looked back and saw her touching her lips as I walked out the door, I couldn’t help but smile.
    Maybe I’d just made the best decision of my life.

4
    Avery
    I flipped through the magazine at Dr. Stone’s office, not really seeing the print on the pages. My mind was too focused on River.
    He’d kissed me. My eyes slid shut as I remembered his lips against mine, the feel of his tongue, his hands, his sweet taste. My fingertips slid over my lips like I could still feel him there.
    How could one moment change everything?
    Just like that.
    It had been the best kiss of my life—hot enough that had he not stopped us, I wasn’t sure where we would have ended up.
    On the table. The bar. His bed.
    I felt heat rush to my face and opened my eyes, smiling. God, he just made me happy, which was something I hadn’t been in such a long time. Kissing him hadn’t been the awkward first kiss of friends trying out something more. It had been like two magnets finally flipped so they were unable to do anything