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“Yeahhh.”
I pulled out my key, letting us in.
I laid my bag on the table and spun around. “Do you want a drink?”
“If I drink anymore tonight, I won’t be able to drive home.”
“Okay,” I sighed. Any other time I would’ve asked him if he wanted to stay, but something told me that wasn’t where this was going. I swallowed hard, hoping we could salvage our friendship at the very least. “Do you want to sit down?”
“Sure.” He pressed his hand to the small of my back, guiding me over to the sofa. I sat on the end, positive he’d sit on the opposite side. Instead, he sat in the middle, stretching his arm across the back of the couch as he twisted toward me.
I reached behind to turn the lamp on, but he rested his other hand on my thigh. The moonlight and rows of the buildings outside cast the only light in the room, causing his eyes to glimmer ever so slightly. He didn’t withdraw his touch. Instead, he curled his fingers over the back of my hand, slipping them between mine. “You didn’t reply to my text, so I assume it didn’t go well?”
“I know.” I exhaled. “Sorry. Eliza was excited about the guy I’ve been seeing and was getting nosy about who was texting me and my sex life. I didn’t want to risk it.” His gaze swelled, but I continued before he could completely freak out. “Obviously, I didn’t tell her it was you. But she isn’t stupid. We’ve been friends forever, so she knows I’m hiding something.”
“I’m so sorry.” He withdrew his hand, placing it on his own leg.
“My only saving grace was the fact she hid her relationship from everyone, including me, so she didn’t press the matter.” I took another deep breath. “How long have you been sitting out in the hall waiting for me?”
“About an hour.”
“James—”
“Vinny knows.” Taking a strand of my hair between his fingers, he looped it behind my ear. He offered an apologetic smile, but I could tell it cut him deeper than he was letting on.
“How?”
He pressed his lips into a thin line. “Besides the fact he’s Vinny?”
I blinked rapidly, somehow still shocked.
“I’ve been acting differently. You’ve been around me a lot. We’ve grown closer.” He shrugged his shoulder. “The list goes on, but he’s questioned me about you several times recently. Tonight, he didn’t dance around it. He called me out, quite bluntly actually.”
“Shit.” I averted my gaze at the thought of Elizabeth knowing before I’d had the chance to talk to her.
He touched my thigh again. “He’s not going to tell Eliza because he doesn’t want to be in the middle, but he said we need to tell her if this continues. And we both know he’s right.”
Lifting my hand to my mouth, I rolled my bottom lip back and forth between my fingers. We sat in silence for what felt like an eternity. Several times, I tried to speak but couldn’t. I wanted to cry. I’d betrayed my best friend, and I was about to lose the man of my literal dreams.
I knew we needed to discuss us, but I didn’t want to acknowledge the fate. Finally, I steadied myself for what was to come. I buried my face in my palms, groaning. “What are we even doing? He’s right.”
“One night.”
I lifted my eyes to him. “What?”
Taking my hand, he stood, pulling me to my feet. He gripped my hips while I held his biceps. “When Vinny asked me what my intentions were with you, I told him I didn’t know.”
I arched a brow, my lip quivering.
“I had an hour to sit on that uncomfortable bench out there and think about things.”
My nerves caused me to shiver, and I rasped, “And what did you come up with?”
He rolled his tongue over his bottom lip, biting it as he stared into my gaze for a moment. “My kids have been through enough hell, and I don’t want to fuck up their lives more than Alicia has. And right now, all I know is the last few months, you’ve made me the happiest I’ve ever been, and I’m not ready to let you go just yet.”
“What about—”
“I told Vinny I wanted just one more night with you.”
