“I’m sure his wife is his assistant…” The woman he cheated on me with.
He studied me for a while, his fingers around the handle of his mug. “You doing okay?”
I shrugged. “I’m not going to lie and pretend it doesn’t hurt…because it does. But I’m doing better than I thought I would be. It was weird to see Eric and Jason, people we used to see all the time. Eric and I planned Evan’s birthday party all those years ago, and now they’re strangers to me. Someone replaced me…like that.”
“Don’t let it get you down. It says more about them than it does you.”
“I know.”
“And if he cheated with her, he’ll cheat on her.”
“I hope not—no one should go through that.”
He watched me. “Even though she slept with your husband, knowing he was your husband?”
I shrugged. “I wouldn’t wish it on anybody.”
He shook his head. “He never deserved you.”
I drank my coffee and pulled my knees to my chest.
“What’s next with Dax?”
“Not sure.”
“You’re going to give this relationship a try, right? No more walls. No more running.”
“I guess.”
“Come on, I want to hear more confidence than that.”
“He told me we can do it however I want, so I guess that does give me some confidence. He won’t try to force me to be more than what I’m ready for. It’s kinda like a blank canvas.”
He nodded. “That’s right for you guys.”
“Yeah.” I drank from my coffee again.
“You don’t seem thrilled.”
I set my mug down. “It was just a crazy night, you know? And honestly, Dax and I didn’t really talk at all. He kinda just ordered me around and left, so I know he’s still mad at me. But when he kissed me…it made me realize it was right. It wasn’t just the kiss itself, but the fact that he stepped in and made me forget about the man who forgot me so easily. He’s been hurt, I’ve been hurt, and I know I could feel so much for him if I just let myself. Maybe it’s time to let myself.”
He pumped his fist in the air. “Hallelujah.”
“I haven’t been with anyone because he’s the only man I want to be with, so…maybe I should be with him.”
“Couldn’t agree more. I love Dax. He’s the man.”
“You loved Evan too.”
He rolled his eyes. “I was naïve then. He’s always been a piece of shit, I just didn’t see it. Now, Dax, on the other hand—real deal.”
“We’ll see.”
He didn’t text me for days.
Didn’t call.
Nothing.
So, on my way home from work, I called him.
He answered right away, but he answered with his silence.
“Hey.” I walked down the street, my phone in my pocket because I had the earbuds in my ears.
There was a pause before he responded. “Hey.”
“Haven’t heard from you.”
“I’m done chasing you.” His tone was clipped, like he was still angry. “Waited for you to come to me this time.”
I knew I deserved that, so I took the hit. “Well, here I am, chasing you.”
He breathed a quiet sigh into the phone. “Come by my place.”
“Right now?”
“Yes.”
I’d only been there once, but I remembered the way. “Alright.”
He hung up.
I walked to his building, checked in with the security officer, and then rode the elevator to his floor. The doors opened like last time, silently, and revealed the sleek penthouse ideal for a handsome playboy.
It was later in the day and the end of summer, so the sky was turning pink and orange from the approaching sunset. Some of his lights were on, and he sat on the couch in front of the TV in just his sweatpants and nothing else.
Every time I saw him, I realized I’d forgotten how hot he was.
I stepped inside, and the elevator closed behind me. It was the first time I’d been in this multimillion-dollar piece of real estate as more than just a friend. It changed the tone, changed the expectations.
He didn’t rise to greet me. He leaned back into the couch and stared at me. A decanter of scotch was on the table, along with a full glass. One arm was over the back of the couch, and he stared at me with that cryptic stare. His look was almost hostile because it was so intense. It was the same way he looked at me the night we met, that silent and brooding expression. He was the strong and silent type once more. He went back and forth, easy to talk to like a friend and then the indecipherable, rugged man who spoke like a caveman.
I walked to the couch and took a seat beside him.
He turned his head my way, looking at me next to him. His arm touched the back of my neck.
I was in my work attire, a skirt and blouse, my satchel with me. I let it sit on the spot beside me on the couch. When I looked at him, I didn’t know what to say. It was easy for me to navigate the most difficult situations, but with him, I didn’t have a voice. No one ever left me speechless, and I knew it was because I was afraid.
Even though I wasn’t afraid of anything.
His brown eyes were on mine, deep and captivating. They shifted slightly as they regarded me.
I knew he wasn’t going to say anything, so I went first. “It was easy to get close to you as friends because you were no longer a threat. But now that it’s off the table, I’m tense all over again. It’s not that I don’t want to be with you. I’m just afraid, afraid because the feelings you have…I have them too.”
Once I started to be vulnerable, that tint of hostility began to fade from his gaze. “Good start.”
“I want to take this slow.”
“Okay.”
“No pressure.”
“Alright.”
“And how we were friends before…I don’t want to lose that. It allowed me to give myself to you in the way I do with Charlie and Kat.”
His eyes softened. “That’s the part of our relationship I enjoyed the most. I don’t want to lose that either.”
“Okay…good.”
His hand moved off the couch, and his fingers slid into the back of my hair, playing with the soft strands, slowly massaging the back of my neck. “We can take this as slow as you want. I just want to be together…because you’re the only woman I want to be with.”
My lungs immediately drew breath.
“I won’t lie to you ever again. I will be faithful to you. I will never hurt you.”
“You should never say never…”
“Well, I can say it.” His fingers stopped in my hair. “Because it’s not easy for me to feel this way about someone. I didn’t even feel this way about Rose. You’re…different. I’m a loyal man, and when I commit to something, it’s a hundred percent. I understand you’re still in a fragile place, that your heart has never really healed since Evan, but you’ll trust me fully eventually. You’ve just never tried before.”
“I did try,” I whispered. “I saw all the signs that you were lying, but I chose to ignore them…and trust you.”