Chapter One

I took the last corners through my neighborhood hard, barely slowing down as I veered right, accelerated, and then turned left at the next intersection. Trisha rode with me and gripped the side of her door as we made the turns. We both smelled the smoke before we saw it, and we saw the smoke before we saw the fire. Stopping outside of my parents’ old house, I saw the dozens of firefighters hosing down the last corners of the fire on the far end of the house. The blackened, charred wood that remained looked like kindling after a bonfire.

Staring at the house, I hung my hands on the top of my head, at a loss for what to do. The skeleton that remained of the structure was seen through. I could see the backyard from the sidewalk where I stood. Everything my parents owned, everything my parents left me, was… was gone.

Trisha hesitated and gave me a few minutes to process the moment before she moved to my side. She apologized for my loss as she sidled to my hip and wrapped her arms around my chest. A part of me felt as though I had lost my parents all over again.

“Do you think it was her?” Tabitha asked. “That crazy college girl you told me about?”

“Yeah, it was her,” I said, void of emotion.

“Fucking bitch,” Trisha said.

A revving engine behind us pulled our eyes from the fire to the beat-up, and rusting brown sedan stopped beside them. In the driver’s seat sat Cynthia, and beside her was her daughter Brittany. The scornful look on their faces delivered the message more than any words could, but unkept Brittany still wasn’t having it. Opening her door, she bolted out of the vehicle and chucked a beer bottle at us. I tucked Trisha tightly under his body, and they both ducked as the bottle went over their heads and the bottle bounced across the grass.

“I fucking told you to stay away from her!” Brittany yelled at me. “You think this is a joke!? You know what’s going to happen?”

“I’m done, Brittany and Cynthia. I’m done with both of you. I never want to see you two again,” I said.

“We ain’t done,” Brittany snapped, walking around the front of the car. “I say when we’re done!”

“You know what we’re about to do to your life?” Cynthia yelled from her rolled-down window.

“He said he’s fucking done with you!” Trisha turned, taking a step towards Brittany. “Get the fucking message.”

“You want to go, bitch?” Brittany smirked, stepping forward like she was waiting for this.

“You fucking assholes, you see what he just lost!” Trisha screamed, stepping towards her.

The fight seemed all but inevitable as the two approached one another. That was until Brittany stopped at the last second and started backtracking quickly. With wide eyes, she ducked and ran back to the car as a beer bottle flung at her smashed against the windshield of Cynthia’s car.

“You fucking want to fight, bitch!?” Helen's voice was so loud it drew even the firefighters’ attention. Helen stormed forward, pulling her hair back in a ponytail and rolling up her sleeves like a woman who has fought and won several scrappy fights in her time. “Get your fucking ass over here, cunt!”

Brittany scrambled into the car as Cynthia gunned the engine and pulled away. That didn’t deter Helen, who chased after the car with a rock in her hand and threw it, cracking the back window.

“Fucking bitches…” Helen mumbled as she walked back to us. “Sorry about your house. Did they do that to you?”

I looked back at the house, which was now just a smoldering mound of blackened wood. “No, I don’t think so. I think it was someone else.”

“You’re a popular guy,” Helen smirked, looking over at Trisha. “25 years of friendship, and I’ve never seen you so ready to throw down like that, girl. I’m proud of you.”

Trisha rolled her eyes as her cheeks blushed. “Shut up.”

“Never understood how you were hanging out with them,” Helen nodded at me, shaking her head. “Even your parents hated Cynthia.”

“Really? She said they were friends,” I said.

Helen laughed. “Cynthia fucks over her friends. She ain’t got none. The couple of times I saw your parents’ path overlap with hers, your father hustled your mother out of the bar. Cynthia was always loud and rude.”

I shook my head, “hm. Now I know, I guess. That seems truer than the lies Cynthia spun.”

“So are you guys… you know, an item now?” Helen said with a reserved smile.

Trisha and I looked at another and allowed the awkward moment to quickly pass and to be replaced with our smiles. “Yes, yes we are.”

Helen beamed a grin like a mother standing proudly over her kids. She pushed my shoulder, making me take a step back, “well, it’s about time.”

“Thanks,” I said, and Trisha snickered.

“Do any of you live here?” A gray-haired firefighter asked as he approached us.

I told him I did and gave him the story behind the last hours and days of my life. Over the next several hours, I spoke with fire investigators and police officers as Trisha stayed by my side and helped as best she could. Helen stayed for most of it and spent her time flirting with the younger firefighters. The cops took my statement and said they would ‘look into’ Tabitha, the kidnapping, and the arson. I didn’t have high hopes, but revenge was the last thing on my mind.

Picking through the rubble of the home, I found little. Everything that wasn’t burnt to a crisp was soaked to the bone. Pushing aside several singed and collapsing boxes, I found one thing mostly intact. Some would say the most important thing. Photographs. My parents were from a time before cell phones and the internet, all their photos and memories were kept in a series of photo books that were among the first things I packed away and luckily so.

The box with them in was at the bottom of a pile shoved to the back of a room that was far from the start of the fire. I transferred the photos into a suitcase that was in the back of my car and had a last look around the property. Nodding to myself, I walked away, thinking I would come back and search for more later. I didn’t know that I’d never return.

Chapter Two

I lay in the motel bed, unable to go to sleep that night. The irony of life mocked me. This was the same motel room this all started in what seemed like a lifetime ago—the day I bought the lotto ticket, the day I decided it was time to stop moping and to allow myself to have some fun… the day I met Trisha.

After leaving the burnt house, Trisha had insisted I come and stay with her, but I insisted right back. There was no reason for it, and I didn’t want to be in the same place as Trish, just in case crazy Tabitha found me. It wasn’t like I was hurting for money, right? It was surreal moments like this that made me think there was a greater design to everything. Like I was meant to win the lottery. I was meant to meet Trisha. The house was meant to be burnt down. All so I could end up back here.

But why? What does it all mean?

I spent the night considering it and eventually dozed off to sleep. I never recall my dreams the morning after, and the next day was no different. But there was one thing that stood out. One moment and it was more of a memory than a dream. It was back in this hotel room days ago when it was the middle of the night. Trisha and I laid naked on this bed with our eyes lost in each other’s gaze.

It was when I woke I felt as though I had seen behind the curtain. The path my life had been and where it was going. I sat up out of bed, feeling like I had just stepped into the sun for the first time in my life. Perhaps the exuberance and excitement of the money had just sunk in. Perhaps my love for Trisha had just been realized. Maybe I just understood that I can’t live in the past and hold on to the future at the same time.

The first phone call I made was to my work. I had a long conversation with my supervisor, the principal, that ended with me resigning. Over the next hour, I spoke with movers, storage rental, and my apartment complex and informed them I was breaking my lease, paying the penalty, and having movers send my things to a storage facility. Phoning a local realtor service, I called them, and they were in charge of selling my parents’ property and removing what remained.

My last phone call was to Trisha.

“Hey… where are you at right now?” I asked.

It was noon before I arrived at Trisha’s office. Apparently, it was a busy day because I passed several people going in and out as I entered and even though it was lunchtime, Trisha said they were short staffed so her boss wasn’t letting her have lunch.

“How about a 15-minute break, then?” I suggested.

She found someone to cover her desk and led me back to the break room. I knew Trisha was excited to see me, the way her eyes lit up and the curve of her smile, but still, there was a pinkness to her cheeks as she ducked at the looks and stares. Like her having a man in the office was going to be a source of embarrassment later in the day. The old me could relate. The me who went to bed last night would feel the same if the roles were reversed. But the me who woke this morning with the clarity I felt thought differently.

Let them look.

Closing the door behind us, Trisha turned with a smile and dropped her hands to her sides playfully as if to say, this is it. The break room was about as modest as it could be, considering it was a break room. Sink, microwave, refrigerator, and a small table that could seat two people, but there was only one seat in the room.

“Sorry, I know you're busy, and I don’t want to bother you at work. I just… it couldn’t wait,” I started, pacing in the room.

“No, don’t worry. You’ve been through a lot. Here, do you need to sit?” Trisha moved to gesture to the chair.

“No, no, it’s not that—well, it’s a little that. It’s more the lottery thing, well, it’s mostly you, actually,” I said and paused as our eyes met. There was a brief look of concern floating behind her eyes before the door suddenly opened, and a female co-worker entered and paused. There was an awkward energy in the room that made it clear to everyone that the co-worker was interrupting something.

“Ooop, sorry, excuse me…” the lady said as she grabbed her lunch from the fridge and left the way she came in.

Trisha blurted out in a scared, worried tone, “What is it? Is it about yesterday or the—”

I held up my hands and cut her off swiftly. “No, no, no, it’s nothing bad. Not at all.” Trisha’s expression softened, and I continued. “It’s just, I’d been walking around for the past few days trying to figure everything out, you know? Like my parents dying, winning all this money, who I was, who am I going to be? I felt it all pile on me and, like, bury me. And then I woke up this morning and… I don’t know what it was, but I was clear. I could see my future like it was right in front of me and it was just waiting for me to reach up and grab it.”

“That’s great! What do you want to do?” Trisha asked with a genuine smile.

“I want to travel the world. I want to help people—not just give to charity, but help individual people. Then maybe start a non-profit based on that. I’m leaving tomorrow, and I want you to come with me.”

I stepped closer, taking her hands in mine as I spoke. Trisha’s expression morphed from happy to sad to confusion to a laugh, “What? I can’t come with you, I have a job. I didn’t win the lottery.”

“Quit. I’ll take care of both of us,” I said simply.

“I can’t… look, I like you… I really like you, but I don’t want your money. One day, we are going to have a fight.”

“Impossible,” I joked, and Trisha tried to hide a smile.

“And when we do, no matter how small or big the fight is, no matter how quickly we make up, I don’t want there to be a voice in the back of your head that thinks I’m with you for your money.”

I smiled reluctantly, “I like you too… no, that’s a lie. I’m in love with you.”

Trisha’s eyes went wide with shock, then she giggled a stutter and broke a cute smile just to say, “I’m in love with you, too.”

My eyes lit up as my lips met hers and we kissed long and deep as my arms wrapped around the small of her back. The kiss lingered a second longer than it should have before Trisha pulled away like she felt herself slipping into a trap.

“Wait, wait, I still can’t quit my… what will people think? That I’m just a money-grubbing bitch?”

“Who cares?” I said defiantly.

“Oh, easy for you to say,” she scoffed.

I stepped closer to her and looked at the beautiful woman in the eyes. “Marry me.”

Trisha couldn’t hide her smile, no matter how hard she tried. “You’re insane! We just met. All the things you’re going through. You’re not thinking straight.”

“I told you, I see my future as clear as day, and you’re my future,” I beamed a smile at her. That was my truth. “Trisha, will you marry me?”

Trisha paced near the door, fanning herself as she giggled, shaking her head repeatedly. “Oh my gosh… I can’t believe you… I can’t… okay, okay, hotshot, here’s my response,” Trisha said, wagging a finger in my face playfully. “I’ll marry you, but only if we get a prenup. I don’t want any of your money.”

I soured my face. “You don’t—I don’t want you to sign a prenuptial agreement.”

“Well, we’re a package deal, me and the prenup.” Trisha made a show of putting herself on display like she was on a game show. “Take it or leave it.”

“Okay then,” I smiled, “let’s get married.”

“Oh my God!” Trisha was nearly hopping up and down excitedly as she leaped into my arms. My hand scooped under her butt as I held her lips to mine, and we kissed passionately.

Our kisses were desperate and eager. My tongue swirled against hers, and I felt her melt into me. When my hands fumbled with her pants, and my hand pushed inside, Trisha gasped and held up a hand in protest.

“Wait, don’t—we’re going to get caught!” Trisha whispered and looked at the break room door. Pushing my hand inside her panties, I ignored her worries as my fingers made a wide and wet swirl on her sex. “Oh… my God, you’re so bad. You’re going to get me in so much trouble—ahem!” My middle finger hooked inside her pussy and slid in, and I felt Trisha’s arm extend and wrap around my neck to sure her balance.

“Who cares? This is your last day of work,” I smirked. Sliding her pants and underwear down more, I pushed two fingers up her pussy, staggering her step wider as she parted her thighs for me.

“Oh, God—yes, yes!” she sang in a moan. Kissing me hard, I felt her pussy drip juices down my palm as my biceps and chest flexed with each fuck up into her pussy. The pad of my thumb ground against her clit with every thrust. “Ooohh, God!” Trisha moaned like she was pissed at how good it felt.

Our foreheads pressed together as I felt Trisha lean against me and her hot breath with every one of her pants. My fingers vibrated in and out of her pussy, filling the space between us with the wet-smacking sound of me entering her.

“Yes, yes, yes… oh—oh, God…” Trisha’s breaths became staccato as she froze in place, and her milky white thighs trembled. After a long moment, the moans stopped escaping her lips until all she could do was nod an affirming yes as I brought her to orgasm.

The muscles in my forearm flex and threaten to lock up from such repetitive motions. I could feel Trisha’s pussy tighten around my fingers before her legs nearly gave out.

“Oh, my God!” Trisha screamed, then quickly covered her mouth as she came.

I felt her pussy drench my hand and drip on the tile floor between us as she gasped for air desperately. Falling backward as I removed myself from her grip, Trisha caught her balance on the kitchen countertop behind her.

Trisha stumbled about for a few seconds as she recovered and began grabbing at her pants to pull them back up. But I wasn’t done with her. Not yet. I grabbed her pants too, but I did the opposite. I pushed them down to her ankles as I did the same with my jeans and boxers.

“Wait… what are… where’s…” Trisha mumbled, searching for the right words but never finding them.

The sensitive head of my hard cock pressed on the lips of her wet pussy and rubbed back and forth, causing Trisha to arch her back and release a guttural moan. It came out more than a whine as she knew what was next, knew the risks, but knew she wanted it too much to stop.

Feeding my long, hard cock into Trisha’s pussy, I watched her back flatten as she pressed her ass back towards me. The more of my shaft fed into her, the more she moaned. Her loose black top rode up her back, and her necklaces dangled as I grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back onto my cock.

“Ahh-ohh God—ahh yes, don’t stop!” Trisha cried.

Humping into her with hard thrusts, I felt her tight pussy grip my shaft as she pressed back on me. Her arms were nearly outstretched as her body begged for every inch of my cock. Sliding my hand underneath her chest, I grabbed her large breast as it bounced wildly in her bra.

“Oh, yes! Fuck me! Fuck me!” She moaned.

The only thing that slowed our pace, but for only a half second, was when the break room doors opened. A coworker of Trisha’s, no doubt. A younger woman with hair tied back in a tight bun and too much makeup on. The look on her face was that of someone screaming, even though no sound escaped her.

“Oh—God, wait—no,” Trisha started to say, but the girl quickly apologized, left, and closed the door. “She’s going to—ahhh! Oh God!”

As soon as the door closed, I slammed my cock hard into Trisha’s pussy, feeling every inch of her pussy pulsating around my throbbing cock. Ramming over and over again into her pussy, I heard her whines and moans grow wordless and guttural as she succumbed to the moment.

Grabbing a lock of her hair, I pulled her head back by it, and she yelped, “Oh God—yes! Cum inside me. Cum inside my—oh yes!”

Releasing a groan, I released my cum inside her at the same time she came. Ramming my shaft deep inside her as her juices leaked free from her pussy, I continued to fuck her as she continued to moan.

The break room door opened while my softening cock slid out of my fiancé, and Trisha grabbed at my arms, pulling her back between her legs to cover her parts. Whoever was at the door wore a suit and left as quickly as he entered once he saw what was happening.

“Oh my God…” Trisha half gasped, and half laughed. “That was my boss.”

“I guess this would be a good time to tell him you quit,” I laughed as I pulled up my pants.

“I can’t believe I’m about to do this,” she said, reorganizing her clothes. She looked nervous, so I brushed her cheek and kissed her once more, long and deep.

“I love you,” I said.

Calm and collected, she smiled. “I love you, too.”

Taking a deep breath, she walked to the break room door, and I smacked her thick round ass once before she opened the door, and she gave me a devious smile over her shoulder before leaving.