“So, we gonna talk about why you’ve been moping like when Liza fries okra, but you can only eat a sad plate of kale because of a photo shoot?”
Cory laughed, nudging Jamie’s shoulder until he did too.
Jamie groaned. “If I tell you, you can’t give me shit.”
Cory rubbed the crop of stubble on his chin with his thumb and pointer finger. “Sorry, but that dog won’t hunt. It’s in the best friend handbook that I give you shit. I’m legally bound.”
Jamie shoved his shoulder.
“But I promise to give you my honest advice, which you always need,” Cory reasoned, nudging him back.
“Damn, I must be desperate.”
Which, honestly, was true.
Cory howled, leaned back, and launched into high-knees. “And if you keep holding me in suspense, you’re running laps till you puke.”
Jamie gripped his hips and blew out a long breath. He hadn’t told anyone about what had happened with Brinton at the Skylight last night. But Cory was his best friend, and Jamie needed someone to talk to so he didn’t lose his mind.
Or worse, blow his chance if left to his own devices, which, frankly, he’d probably already done.
“Brinton and I…we’ve gotten pretty close.”
Cory eased into a trot and narrowed his eyes, earnestly concerned. “How close?”
“We kissed at the bar last night.”
Cory flung his hands skyward and ran circles around Jamie, who threw his own head back and laughed.
“Hallelujah! Judging by how y’all got on at the cookout, that’s a good thing, right?”
He slowed to a walk, returning to Jamie’s side.
Jamie shrugged. “I thought so. We were dancing and things got pretty…”
He let himself get tangled in the memory of her top-tier ass thumping against him and swallowed hard.
“Anyway, we both wanted some more”—he cleared his throat—“privacy, so I took her to my spot. Everything was going great until something set her off.”
With his massive palm, Cory smacked Jamie upside the head.
“What the hell, man?” Jamie hissed.
Cory stopped walking. “I could ask you the same thing. You don’t take a woman likethatto a back alley.”
“I take a lot of women back there,” Jamie said, rubbing his throbbing skull.
“You told her that?”
“Yeah. It’s quiet, so it’s easier to…” Jamie circled his hand in the air, fairly certain there was no helping his case. “You know, have a conversation.”
“And I bet you didn’t consider that she might feel like she’s no different than any other girl you’ve hooked up with? Not for nothing, but you’ve got a hell of a reputation. So of course she’d feel slighted.”
Shit.
Is that how she felt?Because Brinton shewasdifferent. She was unlike any woman he’d ever met. Jamie shook his head, raking his hands through his sweat-slicked hair.
“I’m an idiot. I’m a fucking fool.”
