Page 46 of Only You

“No! Kayla.”

“So what?” Ryan said, clearly not understanding the problem.

“I called out her name, and she heard me.”

“Oh,” Ryan said, shooting Jack a sympathetic look.

“Wait. It gets worse.”

Ryan raised his eyebrows.

“Kayla came into the bedroom to check on me, and my hand was—”

Ryan shook his head vehemently. “Don’t say another word. I get the picture.”

Jack turned his gaze out the window. “It was so embarrassing.”

“How did she react?”

“She was surprisingly cool about it. She kept saying how everyone has dreams like that, and it was no big deal.”

“Well, then, what are you worried about?”

“Come on. We only dream about people we secretly want to hook up with. This never would have happened if I hadn’t asked her to move in with me.”

“Have you had sexy dreams about her before?”

“Yes, but she never knew about them. This is so much worse.”

“Maybe she was flattered by it,” Ryan suggested.

“Huh?”

“You said she handled it well. Maybe she’s been having sexy dreams about you, too.”

Jack peered at Ryan’s profile. For someone who avoided serious relationships like Jack did, Ryan was surprisingly knowledgeable about women. “She admitted it.”

“Great! Now you two can stop playing pretend and get down to business.”

Jack shook his head. “It’s not that simple.”

“Why not?”

“It’s Kayla,” Jack replied, like that explained everything.

“She’s a beautiful woman who is also your friend. I don’t see the problem here.”

“That is the problem. If we hooked up, it might ruin our friendship, and I can’t let that happen. Plus, we work together, which makes it worse.”

“How did it go when you introduced her to your parents?”

“Good. They really liked each other.”

“I think you’re making this way more complicated than it has to be. Kayla’s a great catch. You like her, and your parents approve of her. Sounds like the perfect scenario to me.”

Jack sighed. “She’s a forever girl, and I’m not a forever guy. She won’t settle for a casual hook-up.”

Ryan glanced at Jack. “You sure about that?”