Page 5 of Eternally Devoted

CHAPTER

TWO

I NEVER MADE A MOVE.

Sterling

If only a fool falls in love at first sight, then I’m a six-foot-five-inch fool.

Because I fell head over heels in love with Juniper Sky Ellington from the very first moment I laid eyes on her.

Dash, too. He didn’t tell me, but I sensed it. I felt it. The adoration and hard-on radiated from him, a familiar radiation. One that encapsulated me years ago.

Dash wore the same dazed expression the day when she came to the house and delivered jam. Based on his inability to form words until after she was gone, I knew he was a goner.

Highly relatable.

I’ve been a goner since that fateful morning when I drove up her road to collect her garbage. As the owner of Bluebell Sanitation, I didn’t always drive. But when my younger brother moved away to pursue his dream of acting, I became a true one-man show. That day was my first time on the route. And despite living in Bluebell my entire life, I wasn’t familiar with unknown nooks and secret crannies. My routine consisted of going to the sanitation plant then back home. My two places. Hell, my little brother was the one who got groceries. In a small town where everyone knows everyone, I didn’t truly become part of that culture until my brother left.

I miss him, but if he hadn’t left, I’d never have met Juni.

Or Dash.

Sometimes when my mind is overrun with filthy thoughts, I force myself to rememberthatday. To calm me down.

She was outside, feet bare, arms buried to the elbows in a wine barrel full of blue and purple berries, her blonde hair dancing in the breeze. I couldn’t steady my pulse or slow the drumming beat of my heart.

When I jumped off the truck to grab her cans, she lifted her gaze to the movement. Pure sage eyes glittered my way. Her plump lips quirked into a gorgeous little grin. She got to her feet, and with hands dripping purple goop, she slid one of hers into one of mine. “I’m Juniper Ellington, andwhoare you?”

I yanked my hat off and smoothed a hand through my hair, smearing it in bits of fruit and goop, making her giggle. Playinginto my mistake, I smiled and shrugged while my heart privately swelled at the music of her soft laughter, and how it seemed to flood my veins like medicine, lifting my spirits and filling my soul with an urgent, undeniable tug of desire.

“I’m Sterling Ford, and it’s very nice to meet you, Juniper Ellington.”

Her grin captivated me, and I hardly noticed when she plucked a white washcloth from the apron tied to her body, rocking to her toes to sweep it through my hair. “Apple cider vinegar will get it out,” she said, her lips framing each word as if they were erotic promises. My cock stiffened right there in the middle of a dusty road, with my garbage truck roaring behind me.

After that day, I started to bring her flowers each time I came to collect the garbage. In return she’d start bringing me jam…by the spoonful. She’d stand on the step side of my truck, breasts pressed against the door as she leaned in through my rolled-down window, driving a spoonful of heaven into my mouth. Sometimes she’d wipe the corner ofhermouth.

Sometimes I’d get straight home from work and jerk off, too.

I didn’t ever get the courage to ask her out, though. At some point, we started hanging out. And we had so much fun, I didn’t want to force her into rejecting me by asking for more. Her company as a friend meant too much. I don’t remember how it all happened, but we kept on spending time together. And now, many years later, Juniper and I know everything there is to know about one another.

She’s affectionate with me, but that adoration has never breached friendship. I’ve readHe’s Just Not That Into You. I understand the concept spans genders. We hang out all the time.

Not once has she attempted a kiss, reached for my belt, or lingered in a hug longer than usual.

We’re friends, despite the fact I’d move mountains for her. While walking on a bed of shattered glass. Wearing no shoes. I would do anything for Juniper Ellington.

For the last two years, she and Dash have been building a similar relationship. It went from us watching a movie at my place to the three of us watching a movie at my and Dash’s place. From she and I bowling to the three of us bowling. To me and Juni facing off in an aggressive game of slapjack, to now taking turns on who’s slapping the jack or who’s making snacks.

I don’t feel cockblocked. I’m not angry.

I never made a move.

In fact, spending time with both of them has easily become the best part of my life.

Lately, though, I wonder if Dash wants happiness beyond our bubble, something more fulfilling. I mean, how could he not? He’s a perfect specimen made of lean muscle, showcased by purposely fitted clothing. He’s built to be the strapping husband in a nuclear family. He came here for small-town dreams—of coursehe wants a wife and family.

Dash and Juni are close in age when it comes to compatibility. Dash is twenty-five, and Juniper is only thirty-two. I’m rounding the corner on thirty-six. I feel old, comparatively.

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