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“Just trying to be friendly and help out my mate’s little sister. That’s all you’re doing, right?” Nash laughs and my body tenses, until I feel Aubrey’s hand brush my thigh under the table. Sighing, I force myself to calm the fuck down. I know he’s just trying to wind me up, and it’s sure as hell working. All I want to do is reach across the table and wipe that smirk off his face with my fist.
“Come on,” Aubrey says. She gets to her feet, and I begrudgingly follow. “Thanks for everything, you guys. This was such a great night. I can’t wait to figure out how much we made.”
“I should have the tally tomorrow,” Cam says. “We sold a lot of tickets, so I’m confident we put a pretty good dent in the hundred thousand we need.”
“But we still have a long way to go,” Aubrey says. Her smile drops a few notches, and I wrap my arm around her shoulder and give it a squeeze.
“We’ll get there. We will just have to think of something else.”
*****
I lie in bed and stare at Drew, who is still fast asleep and snoring lightly on the other side of my bed. My latte-coloured silk sheets drape softly over his tanned chest.
For the second time in a week, I slept with Drew. The twelve-year-old in me wants to jump for joy, but that would just be creepy. Instead, I’ll just lie here and watch him to make this moment last as long as I can. Not only does Drew have the power to bring me to my knees, but apparently, he can turn me into a world class stalker, too. What kind of person watches someone else sleep? A fucking weirdo, that’s who.
Who knows where we’ll stand when he wakes up. Will he regret what happened? Will he tell me again all the reasons he can’t be with me? Even though this isn’t the first time we’ve been together, part of me is waiting for everything to blow up in my face. Things never go this smoothly for me. Especially with men. Either I don’t want them, and they can’t leave me alone, or I want them so badly it hurts, and they can’t act on it. There’s no in between for me.
Shivering, I reach over to the nightstand for my phone. As I scroll through the unopened messages from Nate, a pang of guilt cuts through me. He helped me when nobody else could. He deserves more than the way I’ve been treating him, but he just won’t take the hint that I can’t be with him like that. Not anymore. I’m done lying to myself, and that’s all being with Nate was. One big lie. That’s how it felt, anyway.
Nate: How are you settling in? Missing me, I bet. I can’t wait till you’re back here and in my arms.
Nate: You need your space, and that’s fine. You’re worth the wait, Aubs. You’re worth everything.
Nate: I never realized how annoying Jacey can be. Lol, only joking, you’re lucky to have a friend like her.
Nate: Aubs, talk to me. I miss your face.
Sighing, I shut my phone off and roll over. What does he see in me, anyway? How am I worth all the effort he seems to want to go to, to keep me in his life? Things would be so much easier if he’d just move on. I glance over at Drew. Like I have. Or am I just living in the past?
It feels like hours pass before Drew opens his eyes and glances around the room. They finally settle on me and he smiles in a way that makes my heart race. That’s a good sign, right?
“Hey,” he murmurs sleepily, stretching his arms above his head like this is any other morning, and it’s any other day, and this is exactly how he wants to start. It’s kind of normal and perfect.
“Hey, back,” I grin. I lift myself onto my elbow, my long, dark hair wrapping around my neck. “So…”
He chuckles and rolls onto his back. “Your brother would kill me if he knew I was in your bed.”
“Way to kill the mood,” I joke. “I was ten seconds away from giving you head, but now…” I shake my head and laugh.
“Oh, come on,” he coaxes. “I promise I’ll only think of Max for half the time.”
“You’re incorrigible.”
“Yeah, but that’s probably why you like me so much.” Drew tosses a wink in my direction, and I feel my heart melt just a little bit more. He’s definitely a ladies’ man—certainly knows how to work a crowd—but charming looks amazing on him, like he was built for the knight in shining armor deal.
“I have to head home for a little bit,” he sighs, throwing his legs over the side of the bed. He reaches for his pants, shrugging them on while I study his perfectly-shaped arse. “I only have another day off work, and I really need to get some washing done.”
“Does your boss know you’re a stripper yet?” I laugh. I sit up, tucking my legs under me, my hair tumbling around my shoulders. “And if you’re making so much money dancing, and could be making a lot more, why go back to welding?”
“Because dancing money is for Max, welding money pays the bills, Aubs.” He smiles at me, his eyes twinkling. “So, should I go home and clean my clothes, or are you going to take over the washing for me?”
“I’m sorry. Did we not have sex for just the second time a few hours ago? Now you want me to do your laundry? This is all moving a little quick for me,” I tease, and Drew hits me with a pillow.
“I guess asking you to move in would be too fast as well? What about marriage, is that out of the question, too?” he asks, and I’m not sure if he’s joking or not, but it scares the shit out of me. He has to go. Fast. I jump out of the bed, pulling on my robe.
“Okay, get out of here,” I say, all but pushing him out of the room. “I’ll come see you later after I visit Max.”
“How are you getting there?” he asks, cocking an eyebrow.
