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It was a shame he had chosen to let his green-eyed monster loose, because I had hopes we could be friends when we both moved on. It was clear that couldn’t happen now.
I saw Cal through the back window of my car before I felt the heat of his body against my back. Then his hands were on me, one on my shoulder and the other gripped my waist as he spun me around and pressed my body between his and hard, cold steel of my truck. He didn’t say a word, just let his deep blue eyes sear right down to my soul before his mouth crashed down on mine.
This wasn’t a normal kiss, not at all. It was hotter, hungrier than Cal’s kisses normally were.
His lips and tongue moved in concert as if they had something to prove, as if he had something to prove. I wanted to push him away, to tell him that his games wouldn’t work on me, but the kiss was addictive. I had never felt a kiss like this before, one that was so dark and intense, so determined that I could hardly breathe. I didn’t dare wrap my arms around him, but I accepted the kiss, I submitted to the demands of it, opening wider and letting my tongue dance with his.
It was sweet, beautiful torture, and I wanted more of it.
Cal pulled back with a satisfied smile. “Let’s see if Rusty can make you feel like that.”
“And you ruined it,” I told him with a groan. “You can’t screw me into accepting the crumbs you’re willing to offer. Yeah, I want you, and maybe I always will, but there are plenty of things I want that I don’t have, I don’t pursue, and that I’ve learned to live without. You’ll just end up another one of those things.”
I yanked open my truck door and hopped inside without waiting for a response.
Yeah, sure, I thought about that kiss the whole way home, but it only made me more determined than ever to finish his house as soon as possible and put the Cal period of my life behind me.
Permanently.
Cal
“This is ridiculous, right? I mean, she was just in my bed, and now she’s going on a date with someone she just met?”
I shook my head even though I knew Hannah couldn’t see me. To be honest, I was grateful she couldn’t see how upset I was because she might read into it too deep.
Hannah laughed and I could just picture her, amused to hell by my discomfort. “It’s not ridiculous that Teddy would accept a date from a handsome man who is clearly into her. It’s ridiculous that you think she wouldn’t go out with him because she slept with you.”
“Why the hell not? She’s not that kind of woman.”
“Yeah,” Hannah said, her tone low and filled with something I couldn’t quite name, but I knew it was bad news for me. “What kind of woman is that? The kind who does what the hell she wants with her body and her life? The kind of woman you happily took to bed over and over again?” She let out a long, frustrated sigh. “Seriously, Cal, do you even listen to some of the crap that comes out of your mouth?”
“She told me she could sleep with me while she found a man who wants what she does. Women don’t do that, do they?” I didn’t bother to tell her that the idea had been mine, and not the greatest in hindsight.
“Of course we do, idiot. Just because you offer up satisfying sex doesn’t mean she’ll suddenly change what she wants for her future. Are you willing to give up your precious bachelorhood to give Teddy what she wants for her future?”
“No.” The answer came easily, because love and babies were not what I saw for my future.
“Then you have no choice but to deal with it. Or you can move on like she told you to do. You can’t do this stupid if I can’t have you, no one can stalker thing. It’s creepy as hell, and it makes me question who you are as a person.”
Those were almost the exact words Teddy had shouted at me earlier, except now that I thought about it, she hadn’t shouted. Hell, Hannah was more upset than Teddy had been in the parking lot. She hadn’t raised her voice, not even when I had blatantly questioned her virtue. I didn’t want to deal with Teddy going out with another man—I wanted her for myself, dammit.
“You’re right, Hannah, and I’m sorry. Let me make it up to you with dinner?”
“I’m always up for pizza,” she shot back, a smile in her voice. “You know, it’s alright to admit you don’t want to be alone while Teddy’s out on a date. It makes you human, and I promise not to tell anyone.”
