Page 80 of All The Ways to Miss You

She wrinkles her nose. “Making friends takes work and time. You’ve seen what I do with my time. Work, school, work, school. Yawn. But I have you and Steph, right?”

“Of course, friend.” I smile.

“My turn.” She jabs a finger into my chest and draws the letter V. “Fess up. Are you really a virgin?”

With complete certainty that she won’t remember this tomorrow, I tell her the truth. “Unfortunately, yes.”

“But why? You’re hot.” She gives me her puppy-dog eyes.

Though she makes me smile, the answer doesn’t. Either way, the details are unimportant. “I had a girlfriend for a long time, but we never got around to it.”

“That’s a shame. But I guess you already figured I was one too.” She appears sympathetic.

“But why? You’re hot.” I mimic her tone.

At this admission, she grabs my shirt and tugs me forward for the second time tonight. Her kiss is more urgent this time, and when she traces the tip of her tongue along the seam of my lips, I moan. It takes a fuck-ton of willpower to extract myself from her grip. Right now, I could sink into her lips and never look back.

“You should go to bed.” I rub her arm.

“We could change our status. One night, no strings?” Her grasp is still tight on my shirt. She’s bobbing back and forth in a sexy little sway, her bottom lip disappearing behind her top teeth. All of it’s driving me nuts. My dick stands at attention.

“You might regret it in the morning.”

“Would you regret it?” She tilts her head.

I’m a dude. Of course I want her, but I know she would hate me if we did. She means something to me, and I don’t want to sleep with her like this, so I do the right thing. I move away.

Cait reads my body language and flops back onto the bed, covering her face with her hands. “Gah. You would regret it.” She groans.

I lift her feet onto the mattress until she’s lying flat. Against my better judgment, I kneel to hover over her, the mattress dipping beneath my weight. “It’s not for the reason you think.”

I drag her hands away from her face and kiss her softly, savoring the shape of her lips, her taste, and the heat of her tongue. Depending on how she remembers tonight, she may not let me kiss her tomorrow, so I soak it in. I soak in everything about our amazing night.

“Happy birthday, Cait London.” I pull away, but she’s already passed out cold and purring.

thirty-six

I stumble from my room earlier than reasonable after an extravaganza like last night, but I’m anxious to find out where I stand with Cait. The living room and kitchen are empty, so I backtrack down the hallway and push open her bedroom door. I expect to see her sleeping in the same spot I left her, but there’s no sign of Cait. And even worse, her bed’s already made. Not good.

I groan and wander through the apartment before crashing on the couch to follow my usual Sunday activities. With the remote pointed at the TV, I click the On button, find the my favorite app, and settle into an episode of South Park I’ve seen fifty times.

It’s no surprise when I wake, my eyes snapping wide, to the front door clicking shut. I peek over the back of the couch toward the sound.

“You’re alive,” she says as she heads for the kitchen with her arm wrapped around a paper bag.

“To be determined,” I croak with a dry throat. “Up to anything fun?” I sit up, feeling less zombie and more human because of Cait’s appearance, but she has that power over me.

“The usual. Running, and then I went to the store.” She unpacks the bag and begins putting groceries away.

“It’s time to update your vision board. Your motivation is embarrassingly high. You need to aim a little lower.”

“But I needed to get this.” She tosses a small plastic bag at my face.

My reflexes haven’t caught up, so it nails me in the head before sliding into my lap. I blink a few times and shake my head at the surprise, but it didn’t hurt. Or I can’t let her think it did. I peek inside the bag to see what she’s bought, but after I do, I can only offer her a perplexed look.

“Please tell me this is some kind of sex toy disguised as a kitchen utensil?” I lift the red spatula from the bag.

“Sorry. It’s actually a kitchen utensil disguised as a kitchen utensil.”