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As if I’d ever let you forget. xo
Jesus, that woman.
She was adorable and so fucking good to me.
She’d gotten out of bed at the same time as me, leaving before I did to go for a walk, but when I got out of the shower, there was a cup of coffee waiting for me on the bathroom counter, a little cream added to the dark roast because that was how I liked it.
Small gestures that hit hard.
“Are you going to tell us what the problem is?” Easton joked. “Or just stare at your orange juice?”
I caught eyes with the feisty motherfucker and barked, “Would you rather be in here, relaxing with your best friend? Or fielding emails and sweating your balls off over numbers?”
“I’d rather know what the problem is, so I don’t start sweating.” Easton pulled at the short sleeves of his shirt. “It’s never good when you call us in first thing in the morning.”
I peeled off the note and put it in the top drawer of my desk, unscrewing the cap of the juice to take a long drink.
Aside from needing to get work done, one of the reasons I’d come in so early was that I hadn’t been able to sleep last night.
There was too much on my mind. Too much eating at me.
Too much at stake.
The guys didn’t know that things had changed between Jovana and me.
They didn’t know that, in the last week, I’d told her I cared about her, and she’d been spending the night in my bed ever since.
That when she posted a photo of me kissing her cheek two days ago, that hadn’t been a planned shoot. That was just feeling an overwhelming desire to lean into her face, needing the feel of her skin under my lips.
Her scent.
Her warmth.
I’d been dragging my feet about coming clean to them.
Like the asshole that I was, admitting I was wrong about wanting a relationship, that I’d blown the fuck up and lost my shit more times than I could count, that they were right and I was wrong—I didn’t know how I felt about speaking those words to my best pals.
“As I was saying”—I cleared my throat—“we have a problem.” My gaze focused on Easton’s stare and then Holden’s. “I don’t think it’s a good idea that I marry Jovana.”
Holden pushed himself to the edge of his seat, holding both armrests. “We’ve already talked about this far too many times—”
“Hear me out,” I said, cutting him off.
“We have,” Easton countered. “We’ve heard you try to weasel your way out on multiple occasions, and brother, I don’t know how many times we have to tell you that you’re going to marry this woman. The contract is for one year. What you do after the twelve months is up to you.” He sighed. “I honestly don’t want to have this conversation again.”
I huffed out a lungful of air. “This isn’t the same conversation. It’s something entirely different.”
“It doesn’t sound that way,” Holden said.
I eyed him up. “That’s because you’re not hearing me.”
“That’s because you’re not saying anything,” Easton shot back.
It was rare that they got snappy. The dudes were typically as happy as goddamn yellow labs. But I knew this topic rubbed them the wrong way.
“I’m about to. Fuck.” I took a long, hard breath, trying to push my ego aside so I could be honest and vulnerable with them. “I’m bringing this up again because ... I care about her.”
“Wait ...” Easton immediately reacted, his brows so high on his forehead, I thought they were going to get lost in his hairline. “What?”
