Last Christmas (Bound Together) by Marie Coulson

family.” She squeezed my hand, turned her head and kissed my cheek. “We love you too Ollie. You’ll always have a home here.”
    I smiled against her cheek and gave her a quick peck. “I know.”
    ****
    The sound of the coffee machine echoed from the kitchen. Opening my eyes I found myself with a face full of Mel’s hair. My arm was wrapped around her tightly and I suddenly became aware of my morning wood pressing against her ass. Please don’t wake up. Please don’t wake up.
    “Well, good morning to you too rock star. That a banana in your pocket or are you pleased to see me?” Damn it.
    I was glad she was facing away from me because I was all kinds of embarrassed right now.
    “Sorry. Can’t help it. It’s nothing personal. I like you baby cakes, but Amy would cut off my dick if I even considered it.” Sitting up I looked down and winked at her. She chuckled and swung her feet onto the floor, rubbing her eyes. We were both fully clothed and as Amy emerged from the kitchen with her cup of coffee, I didn’t know where to look.
    Her expression was thunderous. She glared at us before shaking her head and going back to her room, slamming the door behind her.
    Mel sighed. “Great. Now I need to go fix this too.”
    I gave her a sympathetic look. “You don’t think, she thinks that we…” I gestured at the two of us.
    “No. She knows that I would never cheat on her and she knows you would never do that to, or with, a friend. She’s probably pissed at me because of last night at the bar and pissed at you over Kate.”
    I rolled my eyes and flopped back onto the couch.
    “Looks like we both have groveling to do. Rock, paper, scissors as to who goes first?” She laughed and shook her head.
    “Nope. I’ll go first. I’ll calm her down a little before she claws at you.”
    I groaned. “Great. Thanks…I think.”
    Leaving me on the couch, Mel headed for the bedroom. I decided to make myself some breakfast and as I began to butter my toast, I could hear Amy yelling. I definitely heard Ol lie, Kate, asshole and ‘turn into a fucking man whore’ thrown around. Ignoring the ranting going on in the next room, I finished my breakfast, got washed up and sat on the couch with my coffee . It sucked .
    I was just about to take a sip when my cell buzzed on the table in front of me. Eyeing the caller ID, I gave my cell a confused look. I didn’t know the number but I answered it anyway.
    “Talk to me.”
    “Ollie?”
    A woman spoke and for a split second, my heart leapt.
    “Hey, it’s Kate.”
    Short moment of tugging on my heart strings now officially over, I answered her.
    “Oh, hey Kate. What’s up?” Why does this feel weird? Maybe because only a few hours ago you had your tongue in this girl’s…
    “I was wondering if you were still cool with me coming to the tattoo place with you today. You can totally say no and I’ll understand but I really don’t think we have any reason to avoid each other. I mean, it was sex. No big deal right?”
    Right. It was just sex and it was between two horny adults.
    “Sure. I’ll pick you up in three hours?”
    “Sounds great. See you then.”
    I hung up and smiled to myself. I was back in the game. I’d had no strings sex with a great girl and I was still standing. I hoped I’d left her a little shaky on her feet from the sex and not too irritated by my bailing last night, but she seemed to be okay with the whole situation too. Granted, my heart felt like a steamroller had crushed it. However, I was on my way to recovery. Layla had been my drug of choice for almost a year and I was determined to make it through the rehab of our relationship.
    The whole apartment filled with silence as the yelling and arguing stopped. Maybe Amy killed her . I chuckled to myself and took a gulp of my coffee.
    Amy opened the bedroom door and made a beeline for me. Waving her finger in my face, she yelled at me. “I cannot believe you did exactly what I told you not to do! You’re