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Miller

S pencer spent ten minutes inside with her father after we left them alone. I’ve never heard her mention him before and assumed he had passed or they were estranged, but seeing as he lives in the house at the front of her driveway, I have even more questions now.

Spencer’s home is at the back of a long driveway, past a larger house that sits near the road. I always assumed she rented her little pool house, but it appears she has a reason to live back there.

She may have perfected the art of reading people’s microexpressions, but as she walks down the path toward the ambulance, her mask is down, and her face shows pure pain.

The freckles across her nose and cheeks, which turn adorably darker in the summer, are crinkled, and her blue eyes are dull. My fingers twitch in my lap with the need to hold her and fix whatever has caused the look on her face.

When she opens the driver’s door and looks up at me, I see her mask click into place.

“Smithy, don’t do that.”

“Do what?” She knows exactly what I’m referring to, and I hate that she feels uncomfortable with me right now.

“You don’t need to mask around me, Spencer. If you don’t want to talk about what just happened, we don’t have to, but please be yourself.” Her brows twitch as she considers what I just offered before I see her shoulders relax.

“Thank you.” She offers me a small smile, and I nod in response. “Were you still hungry? We can stop somewhere and grab you food.”

I give her my goofiest grin and clutch my heart. “Why, Spencer? You sure do know the way to my heart.”

“Through your stomach?”

“Yes, ma’am.” I see her lip twitch and know, even if just for the moment, I’ve distracted her from whatever happened with her father. “Smithy, if you want to talk, I’m a good listener.” I see her give me a quick side glance and a nod. I got my point across, and that’s good enough for me. She knows I’m here if she needs me.

I hear a buzzing in the cupholder and see Spencer has a new text.

“Will you check on that for me, please?”

“Um…I don’t have a good track record with answering your texts. I think I still have PTSD from the last time.” I cringe at the texts I saw the day that Justin’s wife, Nicole, his girlfriend at the time, found guns hidden all around Spencer’s house and a letter that Justin had written to her explaining his mental health journey.

How long ago was that? Wow. About two years. I can’t believe it’s been two years since Justin committed himself to an inpatient facility to get his mental health in order. Nicole lived with Spencer for a few weeks while he was away, and the compassion she showed Nicole is what really started my heart’s downward spiral for this woman.

Fuck. I can’t believe it’s been over two years of fawning over this gorgeous redhead sitting beside me. I know I’m not the only one, either. She has her choice of guys, and she’s choosing none of us. She’s the most stubborn, infuriating, intelligent woman I know.

“Miller?” Shit. I spaced out. “You were staring.”

“Stop being so incredible looking and it’ll make it easier not to stare.” She sighs, and it’s adorable.

“Just check my messages, please. It’s probably Justin giving us an update on the baby.”

“Oh, baby!” Without any more hesitation, I grab the phone and open the text.

“Holy fuck!” I play hot potato with Spencer’s phone in my hand, trying to unsee the image that was just on the screen.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“That was…Oh god, Spencer. There was a…” I’m acting like a child. I’m a grown-ass man. “Spencer, someone sent you a dick pic.”

“Could you repeat yourself, Miller?” I grab the end of the phone with two fingers and gently place it back in the cup holder like a grenade without a pin.

“No. No, I will not repeat myself, Spencer. You heard me. Just think about what I said.”

“Who is it from?”

Is she serious? “I’m sorry, but I don’t keep a catalog of everyone’s dicks for reference.”

“Miller, don’t be ridiculous. Can you pick it up and see who it’s from?”

“No. You can either pull over now or wait the two minutes until we get to Justin’s house and check it yourself.” I jump in my seat when the phone rings, and the tune “ I’m Too Sexy ” plays through the cab. “Um, Spencer?”

“Stupid Axel.”

“What?”

“That’s Axel’s ringtone. He changed it in my phone, and I keep forgetting to fix it.” When was Axel in close enough proximity to Spencer’s phone that he was able to mess with her ringtone? “Will you answer for me, please?”

Ugh. I cautiously pick up the phone and swipe the screen, turning the call to speaker.

“Tails. Oh my god. I’m so sorry. Jesus.” What is Axel going on about?

Spencer pulls into Justin’s driveway and puts the rig into park. She runs her hands over her double French braids—the reason Axel calls her Tails.

“Axel, what are you rambling about?” Spencer looks as confused as I am.

“Did you…but I…Fuck. That text wasn’t meant for you.”

A growl rumbles through my chest. “The dick pic was from you, asshole?”

“Miller? What the? Did you see my…?”

“Dude, aren’t you too old to be sending women pictures of your junk?” There’s a heavy sigh on the other end of the phone.

“Axel, I will delete your miss-sent picture, but you’ll have to figure out a way to make it up to Miller on your own.” That’s easy for Spencer to say; she didn’t see the picture. Although if she’s going to delete it, I suppose she’ll have to look at it then.

“Fuck. I’m really sorry, guys. I meant to hit Stacy, and I guess I was one name off.” There’s evident remorse in his tone, and I want to be mad at him, but I know he’s embarrassed.

Spencer quietly mouths that she’ll be right back, and I watch her disappear into Justin’s house.

“What the fuck, man? Spencer isn’t in the rig at the moment, so tell me what’s going on. Quickly.”

“I…Man, fuck. I don’t know. It was an honest mistake. When I realized who I sent it to, I froze and waited for Spencer to call me. She didn’t call, and I panicked thinking that was worse than her calling. I saw the text was open, but not in my wildest dreams would I have thought you would be the one opening it.” I burst out in laughter, remembering a conversation I had with Spencer two years ago.

“You losing it over there, man?”

I attempt to regain my composure by taking several deep breaths. “I was just remembering the time I teased Spencer and told her I didn’t want to answer her phone for fear of seeing a dick pic. She joked that if anyone would be sending her one, it would be you. I saw your fucking dick, bro.”

“Listen, it’s a nice dick, and anyone should be honored to be graced with its eye candy.” Despite my initial shock, it did seem like a nice-looking dick from the quick peek I got. Glancing at Justin’s front door, I minimize the call screen and open Spencer’s text threads.

Axel: Attachment: 1 image

I shouldn’t look at it. I. Shouldn’t. Look. At. It. Fuck it . My thumb presses his name on the screen. The image shows Axel’s hand squeezing firmly at the base of his extremely hard cock, his curly brown hair represented in his trimmed pubes. The purple vein on the bottom of his long shaft bulges from the force of his strong hand. My eyes travel the vein to the tip of his…pierced. Fucking. Head.

“Axel.” His name is breathy on my lips.

“Yeah, man?”

“Oh fuck!” I forgot he was still on the phone, and it slips through my fingers from my shock. It slides across the mechanical panel between the two front seats down to the footwell of the driver’s side. “Shit, shit.”

“You okay, Miller?”

“Um, yeah. I just dropped you. Hold on.” Justin’s front door opens, and my pigtailed goddess steps out with two bags slung over her shoulder. Why didn’t I go inside to help her with those? Shit. Focus. I’m scrambling to unbuckle my seatbelt and crawl over the console when Spencer reaches the door and opens it.

Fuck . I’m out of time. Spencer’s eyes dart between my awkward position in the cab and where my outstretched hands seem to be pointing. She sees her phone and reaches down to grab it. My head drops between my shoulders in defeat. I know what she sees on the screen. I can feel the effects of the picture squished between my stomach and the armrest of the seat.

“Pierced. Impressive.”

“Spencer?”

“Axel? You’re still on the line? Well, it appears that Miller was admiring your picture, but I’d like to commend you on your virility. It’s quite impressive. And those piercings look like they would cause great pleasure to whomever you used them with.”

I have no words. No fucking words.