Clover sighs and threads her hand through mine, leading me inside. “Tell me all about your night. No detail is too small.” She pauses and laughs to herself.
“There are no small details to be told.”
“I knew he was packing,” she announces, just as Felix opens the door, eyes narrowing on her.
“What did you just say?”
“Nothing,” she lies, flashing him a big smile. “Just escorting Cara inside and asking her why she didn’t tell Decker that she was moving here.”
I didn’t really know how to tell him that Rhett also half owns the house I live in, and that now I’m going to have to sell it or buy him out, which I can’t afford without asking my parents. Something I do not want to do. And even if I did have the money, I don’t know that I’d want to stay there. It has too many memories.
Nope, I’m going to pretend all of those things aren’t happening, and I’m going to hide at my best friend’s house until I know what my next move is going to be.
I quit my job at the high school because it’s the end of the school year, and that gives me plenty of time to find another job.
Decker knows my life is a mess, but I don’t think he knows that it’s this bad.
If he’s smart, he will run while he can.
Chapter Fifteen
Decker
I spend the rest of the day having flashbacks of the night before. Cara surprised me. She was wild. She was confident, bold and knew exactly what she wanted. She was untamed. And I loved every second of it. It’s like our bodies were meant to be pressed up against each other.
Reality came to a halt when I saw Rhett calling her. It was a reminder of the situation we’re in. What a fucking dilemma. I’ve never been in this position before. I usually can go about my business without worrying about getting attached to someone, but this time it’s different, and I need to be cautious here so I don’t end up disappointed. I do not want to be her rebound, yet somehow that’s exactly what I have become. Could we just go back to being friends after this? After I’ve tasted her? If I want something more than sex from her, I think we’re going to have to try.
And who am I?
I’ve never considered a relationship with any of the women I’ve slept with over the last few years, no matter how beautiful, or intelligent, or witty they had been.
But with Cara?
Something is different about her. I’ve been fighting it. I should have told her no last night, but I couldn’t, and I can’t even find it in me to regret it.
I get hard just thinking about it.
Sleeping with one woman for the rest of my life never sounded appealing to me until this moment. And that is why I need to distance myself, because this is a situation that I can’t win.
She needs time to heal. Or, hell, for all I know she and Rhett will eventually get back together. I don’t know. With her not living in town, it will be easy for me to go about my daily life, not seeing her, and only having minimal contact.
It’s been a long time since I’ve thought about a woman so much, and distraction is going to be key for me to control that.
I flash to her bent over in front of me, throwing her hips back and moaning.
Fuck.
I grab my gear and head to the muay thai gym to work out. I need the fucking distraction.
This is going to be really fucking hard.
Puns intended.
* * *
Monday morning comes back around and I do what I usually do—I throw myself into work. There’s been no contact from Cara since Saturday morning, so it seems like she has the same idea as me. Move on and pretend the whole thing never happened.
“Decker? Is everything okay? I’ve said your name three times now,” Nadia comments, putting her coffee cup down and staring me. “What’s up?”
“Nothing. Sorry, I’m just a little distracted today.” Fucking Cara. My life would have been much easier if I’d never met her.
“I can tell. You want to talk about it?” Nadia asks.
I close my laptop and give her my full attention. “Okay, but don’t laugh.”
“Why would I laugh?”
I press my lips together. “There’s a girl.”
Her eyes widen.
“And I think I like her—”
“Holy shit, I never thought this day would come.” She grins, laughing softly and taking a seat.
My mouth drops indignantly. “You said you wouldn’t laugh!”
“I’m sorry, it’s just... I’ve never heard you say something like this before. What usually makes you the happiest is casual sex.”
“It was a simpler time,” I mutter.
“So what’s the problem? Does she not like you back?” Nadia asks, lip twitching.
“I’m never opening up to you again,” I deadpan.
“Decker, come on. You haven’t been the most...caring with women’s feelings, so it’s just kind of...karma if you happen to like the one woman who isn’t into you.”
“It’s not that she doesn’t like me. She just got out of a long-term relationship, and I actually care about her and don’t want to just be a rebound for her,” I admit, shrugging. “So I like her, but nothing is going to happen, basically.”
“You don’t know that. Just because it might not happen right now doesn’t mean that it won’t happen,” she says. “And I truly believe that. I’m not Trade’s first love. He didn’t think he would love again, but you never know what can happen. And it’s nice to know that you can have deeper feelings for a woman. I low-key thought you were broken.”
“It’s not nice on my end,” I grumble, wondering what Cara is doing right now. Did she head home yet? Or is she still at Clover’s house? “Caring fucking sucks.”
Nadia laughs, shaking her head at me. “It makes you human, Decker. And love is scary, but it’s worth it.”
I put my hands up. “Okay, who said anything about love?”
She flashes me an amused look and then gets up to go to her desk. Since I became her partner, Nadia redid the office space and our desks are now facing one another.
There is no escaping her now.
“Nice chat,” I mutter.
I almost feel worse than before because admitting this shit out loud makes it more real.
* * *
I head out to a dodgier part of the neighborhood to follow my client’s husband, taking photos for evidence and documenting all of his whereabouts. I knew this was going to be an all-night stakeout, so I prepared with coffee and snacks. My client suspects her husband of cheating on her instead of working late, like he has been telling her. She’s already right, he’s not at work, but now I just need to take her back the solid evidence of what he truly is up to instead.