“He took the credit for our shared research, and I was walking into a conference room just as the applause began, and there was Sean, soaking it all up, as if I hadn’t been part of any of it. They were my theories.”
“The spiral thing?”
“Yeah, and it’s application. Those were my ideas, but you know what, all he has is the research, it’s me who got funding, so fuck him.”
“Yeah, fuck him.”
“What’s different between my shitty ex and your shitty ex is that I won’t meet mine randomly in LA.” I hesitated. “At least I hope not. He’s back in New York and he’d have to be dragged to the west coast kicking and screaming.” I sighed, the old frustration flaring up briefly. “I never should have stayed in New York after Oli came here but y’know, I was trying to make the boyfriend thing work. Sean was the only reason I stayed there as long as I did. And after Oli got traded here, I missed him and thegirls so much and I just wanted to be with them.” Craig squeezed my hand. “I want to reassure you that I will never be a shitty ex.”
Craig chuckled. “You mean you don’t want a full membership of the shitty exes club?”
“Nope.”
“Me neither.”
“Yeah, we’re the good guys, right?”
“Totally.” He paused. “I will tell you, if…”
If this goes any further? If he can?
I squeezed his hand. “I know.”
Against the perfect backdrop of Los Angeles at night, we leaned into each other and kissed. It was deep, sweet, and hot—a kiss that felt as if it were pulling every pent-up emotion to the surface.
When we finally separated, both of us were a little breathless; Craig’s eyes were bright, alive with something that looked a lot like hope. “You want to come back to my place?” he asked, with the words soft between us.
“Yes,” I answered without hesitation, my voice steady despite the racing of my heart. The idea of continuing, of letting go of this connection, felt exactly right. As we headed back to his car, I couldn’t help but think how perfect this night was turning out to be.
And remembering the barbecue and how hot that experience had been, I imagined the night was about to get better.
Chapter Fourteen
Craig
I hadn’t plannedon this.
My place was a mess. Unlocking the door with Jamie at my back, I stalled after the tumblers rolled, turned, and gave him a pathetic glance.
“Okay, so, just as a warning I wasn’t expecting us to be doing this tonight and I’ve sort of not picked up in a few days.”
He took my face between his hands. “I don’t care about throw pillows scattered about or the dust on the telly.”
“I love you call it a telly.” I loved every word he spoke.
“Whatever, Mr. Hockey. Open the door so we can get naked.”
He kissed me soundly. I reached behind me, found the knob, and turned. We stumbled inside, his fingers cradling my skull, my hands coming around him to cup his ass. Mouths fused, we somehow managed to only crack our elbows on the doorframe. Hissing at the pain, we broke apart, snickering for a mere moment before falling back on each other like hungry jackals. His tongue curled around mine as I kneaded his backside through his slacks.
“Good Lord,” he panted when we had to break apart so I could find the lights. “I’m this close to coming in my underwear.”
I chuckled, gave his ass a good squeeze, and then took a step or two to the left to find the switch. When the room filled with light I saw his gaze flitting about as he drank in the sloppiness.
“Sorry, this is…” I hustled around my living room, picking up empty cans of soda, cheesy doodle bags, a stray sock, and a pizza box. “I have a housekeeper, really nice lady named Doris, but she’s on vacation visiting her son in Killington, Vermont, where he’s gotten a good job as a legal assistant. She’s very proud of him.” I stooped to fish some sneakers and a hockey stick out from under the sectional. “Worries he doesn’t have a steady girl yet but is giving him until he’s thirty-five to settle down or she’s going to start looking for a nice girl for him.”
“You don’t have to tidy up for me, honestly. I live with two children. Chaos and things being tossed about is the norm,” Jamie said as I ran about.
“I just feel funny. My mother would chew me out for bringing home a guest to a pigsty. Not that it’sthatbad, but she would think so. Mom is all about everything in its place. Oh, wait, let me move those.” I dumped my armload of debris, sock, and pizza box to the floor by the kitchen and raced over to clear a space on the sofa. “You can sit here. These are just papers from the local dyslexia foundation explaining their goals and hopes for the year. It’s taking me a hot minute to get through them all. I told my sister it seems a group working for folks with learning disabilities would be less reliant on written words and use other means of communication. A short video seems like a great way to convey what they want to say, right?”
