“Yeah, that would be a huge deal breaker for me too.” Reaching out, she squeezed Skye’s free hand. “I’m really sorry. I wanted things to work out for the two of you.”
She took another spoonful of icing before replying. “The timing was just off. I should have known better than to get involved with him so soon after his breakup. That’s totally on me. I got so caught up in the fantasy of it all that I wasn’t being particularly smart.”
“Love doesn’t always make you smart,” Leanna said wistfully.
“This isn’t love,” she said miserably. “This was me and my stupid crush that I should have gotten over years ago. It was all much better when it was in my head. The reality sucks.”
Leanna looked around for a moment before leaning in close. “Was the sex bad? Is that why it sucked?”
“What?!” Choking on the icing, Skye coughed hard for several seconds until she could catch her breath. “No! No, that’s not what I meant! I meant the current situation and the whole casual aspect of it all.” Then she sighed. “The sex was so freaking good that I think I’m ruined for other men.”
“Wow…what’s that like?”
“Um…”
“No, seriously, what’s it like to have great sex?”
“Lea, surely you’ve had great sex,” Skye said, placing the icing down. “What about Nathan…oh, what was his last name? You guys dated in college.”
“The sex was fine, but I definitely would never say he ruined me for other men. I want some of that.”
“Don’t we all,” Skye muttered and sighed again. “I’m glad I’m off tomorrow because I think I’m going to have a total pity party of a day and just lick my wounds.” She paused. “And possibly burn my sheets, I don’t know.”
Leanna hopped off of her stool and hugged her. “I’m really sorry, Skye. I truly believed this was going to be wildly romantic and everything you dreamed it would be.”
“Sadly, so did I.”
When the weekend rolled around again, Elliott didn’t have a reasonable excuse for not going out with his friends again. This was something they always did when he wasn’t in a relationship, and maybe if he just put in a little effort, he’d enjoy himself.
Or he could continue to think about Skylar and the look on her face when they talked on Monday.
Climbing into his car, he let his head fall back as he let out a huff of annoyance. This was what he said he wanted–his freedom, to be single and uninvolved. So why wasn’t he enjoying it? Sleeping with Skye was supposed to be safe. They were friends and that was it.
Friends who had amazing sex, but…still friends.
She wasn’t making any demands on his time and seemed perfectly fine with keeping things casual…
Then why did she look hurt when she thought he hooked up with someone last weekend?
“This is bullshit,” he murmured. All week long he had made himself crazy thinking about that look and he wasn’t going to be able to go out and do a damn thing until he got an answer. “Or I’m using it as an excuse so I don’t have to go to Flanagan’s again.”
Okay, there was that, but as he continued to sit in his driveway and think, he knew what the true motivation was.
He wanted to see her.
The only problem was that it was Friday night and he knew from conversations they’d had and also from his sister that it was usually a work night for them. She could be at a wedding or a rehearsal or some other kind of event.
“So now what?” he wondered. Did he drive over to her place and take the chance or did he do a little research first?
The solution was a no-brainer. He pulled his phone out and pulled up Josie’s number and hit send. It rang several times before she answered.
“Hey, El!” his sister said when she answered. “What’s up?”
“Nothing much. I was wondering if you were free tonight to hang out?”
It was pretty much the last thing he wanted to do, but…it was the first scenario to come to mind.
“Ooh…what did you have in mind?” she asked excitedly, and Elliott wanted to kick himself.
“I was planning on going downtown to Flanagan’s with everyone,” he explained, and did his best not to oversell it. “You know, no big deal. It’s just going to be me, Ty, Alex, and Jared. No biggie. But since we haven’t hung out much and you know everyone…”
“You picked a great night, big brother! We don’t have any events until tomorrow night and it’s an engagement party, so it’s very low-key, so…yay! We get to hang out!”
Me and my big mouth…
“We don’t have to go to Flanagan’s, you know. We can go and grab some dinner or something if you’d prefer.”
“Why wouldn’t I want to go? Flanagan’s has the best selection of craft beers and some seriously addictive wings. Besides, I’ve been meaning to catch up with Ty for a while now, so…”
“Wait, wait, wait…why do you need to see Tyler?”
She let out a little huff that told him how much she hated when he questioned her on anything, but that didn’t deter him.
“You know he’s really gunning to make partner at the law firm and he’s in charge of organizing some big fundraiser thing. I told him I’d help him and we just haven’t had any time to get together and talk about it. So if he’s going to be there, maybe we can get the ball rolling and then get something down on the calendar. It’s no biggie.”
And for some reason, relief washed over him. “Oh, okay. Good.”
She laughed. “You are such a dork! Like I’d ever go out with any of your friends. Please! Give me a little credit. That would just be weird.”
And I’ve clearly stepped in it again…
“Fine. Whatever. Forget I said anything,” he grumbled.
Yes, please forget I said anything!
“I usually do,” she teased. “And besides, Ty and I are just friends. He’s seriously like another brother to me–just less annoying than you.”
That made him laugh and relax. “Good, can we let this go now?”
“I wasn’t the one who got weird about it in the first place. But…speaking of friends…would you mind if I invited Skye and Leanna to join us? We haven’t been out for a girls' night in a while and even though we’re technically crashing your guys' night, I think it could be a lot of fun. Are you okay with that?”
Don’t sound anxious…don’t sound anxious…
“Um…yeah. Sure. I don’t see that as a problem. Do you want me to come pick you up?”
“No, I’m good. Plus, I’ll bet you’re already walking out the door and I’m definitely going to need to put a little effort in before I can be seen in public. Figure I’ll be there in maybe an hour. Ninety minutes, tops.”
They hung up and suddenly Elliott was filled with nervous energy and wasn’t so sure he should head out just yet, but…there wasn’t anything else to do and the guys were probably already there holding a table, so…
Muttering a curse, he pulled out of his driveway and made his way downtown and tried not to think about whether or not Skylar was going to show. If she didn’t, he at least knew she wasn’t working and could possibly be at home. He could fake…something…and leave and go to her place to talk to her if he had to.