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I nod. “Yes, I understand. I love you too, and that’s not what I want either. What are your tour dates?”
He wraps me up in his arms and places a kiss on my temple. “I’ll have my people call your people.”
I laugh out loud. “Come on, funny man, let’s go to bed.”
Derek turns off the fire and we head inside. As we’re crossing the kitchen and heading toward the stairs, I hear the sounds of moaning.
“What is that?” I ask Derek.
“Someone’s having sex,” Derek replies. He sneaks into the living room.
“Derek,” I hiss at him. “No…” Realization dawns on me that the girl having sex has to be Emma. And I’m not sure if she’s fucking Brent or Aiden, but God, I hope it’s not Aiden.
Derek comes back over, chuckling.
“What?”
“Aiden and Emma,” he tells me. “Aiden is giving it to Emma pretty good in there. I guess that’s one form of helping him cope with today. Should we go up and do the same? She particularly encouraged it out there.”
“Ew. How can they do that? Come on, that’s so weird.” I’m sick to my stomach with this. I hope Aiden’s not taking advantage of her. I tell Derek as much.
“Leave them be. They’re adults, and they have no idea that we saw them. Let’s just see how this plays out in the morning.” He drags me up the stairs into my room.
“But Derek, we have to…” I’m not sure what we have to do, but I feel like it should be something.
“Aud, think about it. What is so different about what they’re doing and what we got caught doing? We can’t go down there and bust them. We’d look like hypocrites. As we said, they’re consenting adults. Let them be.”
“But—”
“Nope, not happening. And as far as they know, we don’t know. So, let’s just keep it that way. We have no idea if this has been happening since we got here or if this was just a one-night lapse in judgment. Leave them be, Aud.”
I sigh. “Fine. But I hope Emma is okay.”
“Oh, she sounded more than okay,” Derek says with a laugh.
“Gross,” I tell him, smacking his shoulder.
“You know, we could have fun too. Get your mind off today.” He pulls me in and gives me a deep kiss.
I almost turn him down, but then I remember that this may be the last time we have together for a few months. Derek may have realized the same thing because he makes low and slow love to me. I feel cherished and loved as he looks me in the eye while he drives into me slowly.
When we come back down to earth, he pulls me into his side. “I love you, Audrey,” he whispers in my ear.
“I love you too.”
He holds onto me and kisses my shoulder and neck. I don’t feel like he’s pushing for another round here, just memorizing every inch of my skin with his lips. Because who knows when will be the next time we get to lie here just like this, together. The world has a funny way of working out and breaking things that are meant to be preserved.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
I did it. I left him. I’m back now in my own apartment. It felt like a part of my soul was left there on that curb when we said goodbye. But I had to do it, and he knew that. We’re not over and it’s not a breakup, but it felt like a breaking of sorts. Like a piece of my heart permanently cracked when he hugged and kissed me goodbye yesterday. I promised myself that I wouldn’t follow a man around, that I would do my own thing. So that’s what I’m doing.
Emma has yet to confide in me about her night with Aiden, and following Derek’s lead, I’ve decided not to say a word to either of them about it. It might have just been a moment of weakness on both of their parts. The next morning, everything seemed fine and there was no weirdness between them. I expected some, but no one was bothered or even seemed hurt or angry. In fact, when Emma left, Aiden just waved her goodbye. She smiled widely at him like normal, and off she went. When she’s ready and wants to, she’ll confide in me.
For now, though, I focus on training my clients and head to a North Carolina Courage game. It’s fun to watch them play. I never played soccer, but I’m always impressed with the speed and finesse that some of them can move the ball with. I can’t imagine the thrill of being an adult and still playing the sport you played all your life.
Heading through the gate, I spot a friend I’ve made since coming to the stadium to train the team. “Hi, Ryan. How’s life?” I ask.
He scans my badge and allows me to enter through the side entrance of the stadium.
