I’d really hoped we’d be able to get through this brunch without the mention of him. Without the reminder that he’d given me no less than three earth-shattering orgasms last night.
Also without the reminder that he’d vanished by the time I’d woken up this morning, even though I vaguely remembered him asking to stay the night. Something I’d foolishly given in to, something that had given me hope that maybe, just maybe, we couldwake up and, I don’t know, repeat the things we’d done? Start the day off even better than we’d ended it?
But no, it was worse.
A million times worse.
Waking up alone, without the feeling of his body pressed against mine, without his breaths against the hollow of my neck or his fingertips brushing the curve of my hip bone?—
“Sully kept glaring at Beau.” Natalie cut into my thoughts, lifting a brow. “Couldn’t keep his eyes off you, wherever you were.”
She had no idea that she was cutting me to my core, did she?
And it was infuriating. Maddening that I was so easily affected by the thought of Sully watching me, something he’d already confessed last night.
He’d said and done so many things last night.
Before justleavingwithout saying a single parting word.
I hated him for that. As much as I could hate Sully London, that is.
“I know he’s your brother, but…” I rolled my eyes, trying desperately to keep the heat out of my voice and the flush from rising to my face, but I knew I was failing. “Sully can go to?—”
“What can I get you ladies to eat today?”
It was probably for the best that the waiter interrupted.
I was at serious risk of saying too much, of spilling everything to Natalie when I’d gone into this brunch determined to keep things light, or at least for the conversation to revolve around her. She was the one who deserved the support, what with the custody battle with Korey and all. I shouldn’t say a single word about Sully, especially if it wasn’t good. If it was, in fact, that I’d plummeted back into that familiar, dark hole this morning. The one I’d only just recently managed to escape.
“Um, good question.” Natalie gave a half laugh, glancing at me and then at the food options on the table in front of her.
It was a silent communication.
I wouldn’t push her anymore on Cameron.
And she wouldn’t push me on Sully.
Denial was on the menu this morning, but we were going to pretend it was something else.
“I’ll take the waffles,” she said.
Like waffles.
“And I’d love the strawberry pancakes,” I added.
And pancakes.
I didn’t like being in Boston.
It served up too many memories of my least favorite period of time in life, which was right after I’d left Minnesota—left Sully.
I’d lived with Natalie for a time. Well, sort of. Korey was, of course, the worst, so he didn’t want me living with them. But they’d owned a duplex and let me stay in the attached unit to theirs at a reduced rent. In exchange, I took care of Chloe on many evenings when Natalie was working and Korey was off doing fuck-all. I had no ideawhatthat entailed most of the time, probably cheating.
He actually hadn’t been at peak asshole status yet. Just enough to have me a little worried, though it had been hard to tell if Natalie walked around looking like a ghost because the medical field was dragging her through hell or because her husband was.
The only good thing about her slightly despondent state was that she hadn’t asked me too many questions. About Sully or what I was doing there. I suspected she thought that us being apart was only temporary. That Sully might come join me whenever he graduated from undergrad, or maybe I’d move back there. It was logical. It had been what I’d wanted all along, and I hadn’t gone into depth about our relationship when I came to Boston, only saying that Sully and I were taking a break, and that I’d gotten into my dream graduate program atMIT, which was located less than twenty minutes from Natalie’s house.
My client meeting on Monday morning had me driving down familiar streets to get there, and I found it challenging to stomach my coffee.
