I paused there, my hand raised in mid-air, when I heard the laughter. It was a high-pitched, female giggle. My heart started hammering wildly in my chest as I urged myself to stay calm. I reminded myself that it could be his mother, his sister, a cousin, or just a friend. I couldn’t bring myself to acknowledge the other possibility, even as I struggled to take in enough oxygen around the elephant that had plopped down on my lungs.

I peered through the colored glass, hoping to decipher the identity of this woman, without being seen. I found a piece of clear glass and pressed my eye close to it. I could see the woman’s long, blonde braid. My breath started coming faster. Okay, it’s definitely not his Mom or sister, but I need to give him the benefit of the doubt.

I forced myself to take some deep breaths. There could be a simple explanation for this, and Sam and I would laugh about it later. I heard his voice then. It was deep and masculine, utterly sexy. He walked around the counter in the kitchen, and I caught my first glimpse of him. He was naked, except for a towel slung low around his hips.

His beautiful, perfect body that I craved with every ounce of my being was in there with another woman. The elephant sitting on my chest had invited ten friends to join him there. I struggled to get enough air into my lungs. My legs felt wobbly, so I slid my back along the door until I arrived in a sitting position. My mind wasn’t functioning properly.

I don’t know how long I sat there in shock. I forced myself to focus on breathing in and releasing air. I was frozen, unable to do anything but sit there and breathe.

Suddenly, the unwanted mental images of Sam and the blonde braid lady started flooding my brain. His mouth on her breast, her hands touching his smooth abs, her riding his massive cock, him licking and nibbling the inside of her thigh, her crying out in ecstasy as he rammed into her, him clinging to her as he came. I couldn’t stand the thought of any of it. I wanted it all to be me, not her.

It was all too much. My stomach started roiling violently. I ran to the side of the house and retched the bagel I had eaten into the grass.

The only positive thing about throwing up so frequently was that I had become rather quiet at it. When I finally regained some of my wits, I realized the last thing I wanted was to be caught here puking at the sight of Sam being with another woman. I wanted to maintain some semblance of dignity, so I picked myself up and drove home on autopilot.

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