Page 12 of Forbidden Harmony

“I don’t have a crush on him,” Addisonsaid.

Grace rolled her eyes. “Addie, c’mon. You’renot with Harrison anymore. It’s perfectly fine to admit you have a crush on Preacher.Hell, what did Harper say? Half the women in this town – single and married – masturbateto fantasies of him in their bed.”

Her face red, Addison watched as Tank stood,circled a few times, and then stretched out in the soft grass again. “Yeah,okay. I have a small crush on Preacher.”

“Plus, you were determined to have reboundsex last night, so sex was on your mind anyway, right?”

Her blush deepening, Addison said, “Maybe,uh, Preacher should be my rebound person.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, honey.”

“Yeah, I know. Preacher can have any womanhe wants. I doubt sex with me has ever crossed his mind. He was probably justdrunk last night.”

“Well, that’s some horseshit.” Grace took anotherswig of beer. “The sexual tension between you two is off the charts, and I don’tthink Preacher is the kind of guy to kiss a woman the way he was kissing you ifhe didn’t want to bang their brains out.”

“Unless he was drunk.”

“You had your tongue shoved down his throat,was there an overwhelming taste of liquor?” Grace said.

“Don’t be crude, Gracie.”

“Answer the question, Addie.”

“He tasted like whiskey, but not, um, crazystrong or anything.”

“He wasn’t drunk. And the reason I said itwasn’t a good idea is because we all hang out together and the two of youhaving casual sex could get awkward. I don’t want the band broken up.”

Addison smiled a little. “You make a goodpoint.”

“Addie?” Grace leaned forward and staredsolemnly at her. “Your little crush on Preacher is just that, right? A crush?”

“Of course, it is,” Addison said. “One, Ijust ended a long-term relationship, and two, it would never work betweenPreacher and me.”

“It wouldn’t,” Grace said. “Preacher is agood man, probably better than any of us even realize, but you two have incrediblydifferent lifestyles. Not to mention he doesn’t show any indication that he wantsto settle down. He’s lived here almost three years and we’ve never once seenhim with an actual girlfriend. Just a random woman here and there who is neverfrom Harmony Falls.”

“I know,” Addison said. “It’s just a crush,Gracie, nothing more.”

Is it? Then explain why you masturbatedin the shower this morning after reliving what happened between you and Preacher.

Addison drank some wine, hoping Grace wouldthink her deepening flush was because of the wine. So, she had masturbatedthis morning – and last night when you got home from the pub -so what?It was like Harper said, plenty of women in their small town masturbated tothoughts of Preacher. She was no different than them.

Except you actually know what it’s liketo kiss Preacher.

Did she ever. And it’d been the hottest andbest kiss of her life. She’d kissed Harrison thousands of times and it hadnever once been like that. She’d never felt so alive or turned on, or even –

“Addie?”

She cleared her throat. “Sorry. Just, uh,thinking. Hey, what are you doing tomorrow afternoon? I was thinking of textingKira and seeing if she wanted to go for a hike at the Falls. I know it’ll bebusy with tourists, but I could really use some exercise and fresh air.”

“Sorry, honey, Kira and Connor are comingover for a barbeque tomorrow afternoon and to play cards.”

“Oh, okay,” Addison said.

“Why don’t you come over too? There willbe plenty of food and -”

“Nope, this is obviously a couples thing,”Addison said.

“I’m sorry,” Grace said.

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