Defeat started to creep into his face. “Then it was really rough…”
“You have no idea.” I walked past him. “I’ll work on it.”
He followed after me. “So…is she okay?”
I turned back around. “What do you expect, Charlie? The woman is still in love with you, and I had to tell her you had a thing for my sister and my sister has a thing for you. She hoped you would get back together at some point. She thought you still had a chance. So yeah, she’s fucking devastated.”
It seemed like he genuinely cared about her pain, the way his eyes dropped and he quietly sighed. “Jesus…”
“Yeah. Jesus,” I snapped. “Ugh, I wish my sister had never moved here. I wish none of this was happening. I wish I didn’t have to break my best friend’s heart again when you already broke it.”
He raised his hand. “I get that you’re upset, but stop yelling at me.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and forced myself to calm. “I just… This really sucks.”
“I know it does.” He walked back toward me, his eyes sympathetic. “I appreciate you doing this, helping me like this.” His hands went to my arms, and he gave me a gentle squeeze. “I don’t want to hurt Kat. I’ll always love her…in a way. I wish she were head over heels for Nathan and I was the last thing on her mind. But I can’t put my life on hold forever. I’ve waited as long as I can. This is complicated and painful, but it had to happen.”
I nodded. “She did say it’s given her the closure she needs. Now that she knows it’s never going to happen.”
“Then maybe some good will come out of this.”
“But she also said she couldn’t handle seeing the two of you together, if that ever happens. We all hang out together all the time, so it would always be in her face…and it would be too hard.”
He rubbed his hands up and down my arms. “Yeah, I get it.”
“But I’ll give her some time to process what I said—”
“Maybe I should talk to her now.”
“What?” I whispered. “I think that will just make it worse. You’re going to try to convince her to be okay with your infatuation with my sister? No. That’s not going to work, Charlie. Just give me some more time.”
He dropped his hands. “Alright.” His eyes remained on my face, looking at my features, particularly my lips.
“What?”
His eyes narrowed. “Your lips look all weird.”
My fingers brushed across the bottom lip, feeling the slight puffiness. “Dax and I…kissed for a bit on his couch.”
“A bit?” He grinned. “That had to be at least an hour’s worth of kissing…hard kissing.”
“Well, he’s a good kisser.” I dropped my fingers.
“So…you guys do the deed?”
“No. Just kissed.”
His eyebrow rose. “You guys made out on the couch, hard, for an hour and didn’t sleep together?”
“Taking it slow. I’ve done the fuck-a-thon thing already. I want it to be different this time.”
His smile remained, but his eyes softened. “That makes me really happy.” His arms circled my waist, and he brought me close, his chin moving to my head, his arms feeling like home. “You’re back…”
Seventeen
Dax
I sat at my desk and grabbed my phone. With a smile on my face, I texted Carson. Can I take you to dinner tonight? I’d avoided asking her on a date because that seemed like too much, too fast. But it felt right now…after our passionate interlude on my couch. That happened days ago, but I hadn’t stopped thinking about it.
Hadn’t stopped smiling.
She texted back. Yes.
I read that response three times.
Another message popped up. But I have one condition.
Name it.
Nowhere fancy. I want a hot dog or something.
My grin widened. Got it. Nothing fancy. But a hot dog? Really?
Are you telling me you don’t hit up the food carts on the street?
If I did, would I look like this? Not really.
Fine. No hot dogs. But something at that level.
How about that Chinese place we went to last time?
Peeeeerfect.
I chuckled. See you then, sweetheart. I set my phone to the side.
It vibrated again. By the way, I got flowers today.
Well, they weren’t from me. Yeah?
Your sister sent them.
Good. Finally mending the relationship she destroyed.
Said she was sorry about our last meeting. But that was totally unnecessary. She’s free to dislike me all she wants. I don’t care.
I liked her no-bullshit attitude. She was confident and unbreakable. I told her we’ve reconciled, so now she has no reason to dislike you.
Then they are even more unnecessary. But they’re beautiful and they’re a nice accent to my desk, so tell her I said thank you.
I will. I set the phone down.
Minutes later, Renee walked inside. “Your ex-wife is a real peach.”
Nothing could sabotage my mood, not even Rose. “Yeah?”
“She’s here, you know, causing destruction.”
“Lovely…”
She tossed some papers onto the desk.
I kept my stare on her face.
With one hand on her hip, she stared at me. “You look creepy when you smile like that.”
“Creepy? I have a nice smile.”
“But when it’s constant, it’s just weird. Why are you smiling anyway?”
I wasn’t going to tell her about the session on the couch, the way we collided passionately like we were making love. Her nails anchored into my back and left marks that were still there. She bruised my lips with her aggressive embraces. Her hands were all over me, in my hair, on my shoulders, scratching down my chest. She writhed underneath me without even needing my dick. I was more than enough. “She just told me about the flowers you sent.”
“Oh, good. I’m glad she liked them.”
“Yeah.”
“So, did that fix it?”
“She didn’t have any ill feelings toward you, so I guess there was nothing to fix.”
“Then, my job is done?” she asked.
“Not quite. What if the four of us go to dinner?”
“Really?” She cocked her head to the side.
It was a little soon to do a family dinner, but since Carson had already met Renee and William, I didn’t see the harm. “She already likes William, so that shouldn’t be a problem. And I know you would like her if you got to know her.”
“The smile you’ve been wearing for days already makes me like her, Dax.”
Good answer.
“She just needed to pull her head out of her ass. It’s okay, we’ve all been there. Just let me know where and when.”
“Got it.”
She turned to leave. “And get those papers signed by the end of the day.”
Charlie opened the door. “Hey, man.”
I walked inside and greeted him with a grip of our hands.
“What brings you here?”