Their Virgin Neighbor by Saba Sparks

That
dress…those eyes…that hair…”
    “ I don’t think she even
realizes that,” Lee said. “The way she described her
upbringing…surrounded by a bunch of older ladies…”
    “ She must have had
relationships with people her own age.”
    “ I don’t know,” Lee said.
“But one thing I am sure of, she doesn’t have much experience with
men. I realized that just as she was leaving. Did you pick up on
how nervous she was? I helped her into her coat and she went bright
red.”
    “ Maybe it’s because of her
recent loss? The nerves, I mean.”
    “ No,” Lee said. “She’s
inexperienced. I’m almost positive of it.”
    Silence settled between the two men.
Jack took the opportunity to finish then refill his drink before
looking down at Annie’s cookie tin. The cookies were laid out in
neat little rows. From what Jack could tell some were chocolate,
some had nuts. She’d catered for all possible tastes. Those cookies
fit Annie’s personality to a tee. Though he barely knew her yet
Jack had picked up plenty from their conversation. She had nursed
her Grand right to the end. She’d set up her own small business
though he doubted she needed the money. She was conscientious,
thoughtful…in short, she had many of the qualities that appealed to
him in a woman. Add in the drop dead gorgeous and was it any wonder
he was struggling?
    “ So what do we do here?”
he eventually said. “We both want her, albeit for different
reasons.”
    Lee snorted. “I don’t think this is
going to be a best man wins sort of situation.”
    “ No. Not at
all.”
    “ Maybe we should keep our
distance?”
    Jack thought about how it had felt to
have her sat next to him in the truck. Her quiet presence, her
floral scent… “I don’t know if I can.”
    “ You’re that far gone
already, Jack?”
    “ I’m close.”
    Lee frowned and refilled his own
glass. “Me too.”
    “ She might not be
interested in either of us.”
    He shook his head. “No. She
is.”
    “ You’re sure about
that?”
    “ When we were in the
studio…” Lee shrugged. “I saw it. There was a flare of interest.
Not sure if she knows it herself, but it was there.”
    “ I thought I saw it too,”
Jack said. “When we were in the kitchen.”
    “ So you think she likes
both of us?”
    “ Why not?” he asked.
“We’re pretty alike.”
    “ So let her
choose?”
    Jack nodded. “I guess that is the only
option.”
    They each took another swig of their
drinks. “Is this going to cause a problem between us?” Lee
asked.
    “ No,” Jack said, and he
meant that, had not even considered the possibility. “Our
friendship runs too deep for that.”
    “ Too deep for a woman to
come between us, even someone like Anna.”
    “ Exactly.”
    “ It’s a shame that…” Lee
halted. “Never mind.”
    “ What?”
    “ Nothing. Something
stupid. I was thinking it’s a shame we can’t press a button and
have two of her. Two Annas.”
    “ Like twins?”
    “ Yeah, except…” He waved a
hand. “It’s not just about her looks.”
    “ No. It’s not.”
    “ Well we can’t share her,”
Lee said. “That would be…” He trailed off and shook his
head.
    Jack looked into his drink, Lee’s
words making him pause. Suddenly, and out of nowhere, he was
envisioning a situation where they were both able to spend time
with her, both able to touch and stroke her. Unsurprisingly, that
thought did not make him jealous. Lee was his best friend. His
happiness mattered as much to Jack as his own. “We
can’t…”
    “ No, of course not,” Lee
said quickly. “But if we did, not saying we would, but if we did,
would that be such a bad thing?”
    “ How do you
mean?”
    “ She’s hurting,” Lee said.
“She’s, like you said, delicate. We could help heal
her.”
    “ With sex?”
    “ Not just sex,” he said.
“She’s here for the entire winter. We’re here too. We could spend
time together, have fun…”
    “ And fuck?”
    Lee grinned. “Yeah,