Best Friend's Ex Box Set

We ate the omelets and talked about the other things we both had wanted to get done today. When we were finished, he kissed me quickly and then headed out into the street. I watched him through the windows, and it was impressive how thorough and focused he was. Again, I couldn't help wondering about his background. He had to have been in some sort of military unit. Nobody learned to move and think like he was doing without extensive training. After a few moments, he returned the sidewalk outside my place and gave a wave. I hurried out the front door, ran across the road, and went to my door. I felt a tingle of unease as I put the key in the lock and turned it, half expecting Simon to be standing inside, waiting for me. I had to pause to calm my pounding heart before I could open the door – and when I saw that the hallway was empty, relief came rushing through me. Still, I didn't want to take any chances.

"Uh, Everett," I said, calling him over.

"Yeah?" he replied as he walked up onto my porch.

"Could you do me one more favor?"

"Sure thing. What do you need?"

"Could you just go through my house and, uh, and make sure there's nobody hiding in the shower or the closets or something... Sorry, I know it sounds paranoid, but—"

"No, not at all. In fact, I deserve a kick in the ass for not offering to do it right off the bat. I'm getting a little slack, and someone like me can't afford to get slack. You wait here – I'll go through the house and make sure everything is safe."

I waited nervously just outside the door as Everett checked out the house. It seemed to take forever, and part of me actually started to get frightened, thinking that maybe Simon was hiding somewhere, and maybe he ambushed Everett, and slit his throat, and—

I almost jumped out of my shoes as Everett seemed to appear out of nowhere, right in front of me.

"Everett!" I yelped.

"What's wrong? Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"You could at least announce yourself, you know. Don't go sneaking up on me, please! Now is not the time for getting frights."

"I know, and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sneak up on you like that. I was just moving quietly through the house in case Simon was, in fact, hiding out somewhere. I guess I forgot to turn my stealth setting to 'off,'" he said with a goofy grin.

His smile, at least, managed to lighten the mood a little. I gave him a kiss and a tight hug.

"Thank you, Everett, thank you so much for everything you've done for me."

He embraced me tightly.

"No problem. I just want to see you happy – and like I said, we're not gonna rest until that creep is behind bars. Nobody harasses and threatens my woman and gets away with it."

His referring to me as "his woman" sent a swell of joy through my heart. I felt as if the bond between us was growing with every passing moment.

"Well, I still want to say thank you. I owe you a lot, Everett James."

"And I owe you even more," he said softly. "Maybe one day I'll make you a list."

We kissed slowly, the intensity of it igniting a fire in my blood that he seemed to be able to do with just the slightest touch – but now wasn't the time for this, and he knew it as well.

We disengaged, and then he looked at me and smiled. "Alright, well I guess you've got your own stuff to do for a while. Remember to keep everything locked up tight, and don't give any signs to the outside world that you're in here, alright? Mrs. Dobbins be watching from across the street. If there's any sign of trouble, or anything strikes you as being off, even some minor thing, let me know right away. Got it?"

"Thank you, Everett. I will."

"Okay, I'll see you later, then?"

"You will," I replied.

He kissed me goodbye and walked across the street to his house, and as he reached his front door, he turned around and gave me a parting smile and a wave. I waved back and closed and locked the door behind me. It felt strange being back in here; so much had changed in such a short span of time.

I needed to talk to someone, so obviously, my go-to was Kerry. I went to my study, turned on my laptop, and logged on to Skype. Kerry was already showing as online, so I gave her a call. She was on her cell phone.

"Hey, girl, how's everything?" she asked as she answered.

"Well... things are... interesting," I replied.