302 Forbidden Ave. (A Cherry Falls Romance)

I’d love to see and do a lot of things, but I didn’t think that would ever happen for me.

My roots were in Cherry Falls.

Braxton was in Cherry Falls.

And even if we were friends, even if I spoke to him every Sunday, it was more than that for me. It was feeling his eyes on me and hearing his voice. It was the sound of his words moving through me, causing the same sensation I got when I listened to music.

And that had to mean something, right? That had to be a sign I was meant to be close to him, if the very sound of his voice could bring me that kind of joy.

So maybe I should just be the brave one and talk to him. Really talk to him. About me. About us.

Maybe I should tell him he’s the only man I’d ever love, and we were meant to be together.

2

Braxton

How wrong was it to have an erection while in church? I wasn’t asking for a friend. I was asking for myself, because I was sporting wood as I listened to Amelia play the piano, and no amount of shifting on the pew or trying to discreetly adjust myself was helping.

A part of me knew that at thirty-one I was old enough to be able to control myself. But the bigger, stronger part didn’t give a fuck, because we were talking about Amelia Richardson.

The object of my desire. My need. My arousal. My fucking obsession.

I watched as her fingers skimmed over the keys one last time before the music finally stopped. For just a heartbeat, there was this moment of silence, a second in which everyone held their breath, just absorbing what they heard. This happened every time she played. Her music was like this physical touch that moved over everyone.

It was tangible.

Amelia’s music could make you feel something, could bring out emotions you didn’t even know existed.

I could see she was uncomfortable at the sudden silence, as she acted every time she stopped playing. Her cheeks were tinged pink, and she nibbled on her bottom lip. I wished I could go up and embrace her, envelop her in my big arms and press her against my chest, shielding her from everything and everyone.

That need to protect her, even from embarrassment, rode me so hard I lifted my hand and curled it into a fist over my chest, running small circles right above where my heart was.

My feelings for Amelia started the moment I had first seen her. Although we both lived in Cherry Falls our entire lives, the town was heavily populated, and it grew every year. There were people who lived in town just as long as I had who I’d never even met.

I stared at her harder, so fucking hard there was no way she couldn’t feel it burning along her skin.

I’d seen her across the street a year before, the main road in town between us, the cars moving back and forth, blocking her from me. She’d been coming out of a store, one that sold handmade candles and lotions, perfumes and all the things that would make Amelia smell even more incredible.

Her long dark hair had been piled on her head. It was windy that day, and unruly tendrils worked their way out of the messy bun, gently moving against her cheeks. It had my entire body tightening so powerfully I had to know who she was. I needed to know everything about her.

Had that just been a year ago? Twelve months? God, it felt like a lifetime ago.

Although I wanted to make her mine from that instant, this wasn’t some movie, wasn’t some story playing out where I could go up to her like an alpha caveman asshole. So I befriended her, started conversation with her, tried to learn anything and everything about her. And then I found myself at church once I learned she was there every week.

And that’s where I’d be… because she was there.

I’d never been a “church-going guy,” and I still wasn’t, not in the technical sense. But I came here every Sunday, so I respectfully, politely sat in the back for an hour just so I could hear her play.

Amelia stepped down off the stage and made her way to one of the pews in the front, always taking the same spot. Three rows back. The seat farthest on the left-hand side.

As she walked to her spot, I followed her with my eyes, tracking her and never taking my eyes off her. My heart was in my chest the entire time. That feeling was so strong there was no denying it, no trying to pretend like I could control it.

Right before she took her seat, I saw the way her eyes looked up and caught mine, hers widening as she held my stare for a suspended moment. I clenched my teeth at the sensation that moved through me, this powerful electric charge spearing from her and going right into me.