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Biting into the delicious, sugary sweet pastry, I moan softly, savoring the divine perfection.
“You sound like me.” Ally laughs, biting into a forkful of her crumb cake, a small moan escaping her lips too. “Jake always makes fun of me for how much I love food. But why shouldn’t I? We should always enjoy what we put in our mouths.” She smirks. “And not just food.”
“Jesus, Jake has you thinking about sex 24/7.”
“And Ryan doesn’t for you?”
She’s not wrong. “Maybe,” I admit.
“Those Taylor brothers.” She sighs. “They’ll turn your life upside down in the most terrific of ways.”
“So, you’ve been with all of them then?”
“What? No. I just meant–”
“I know what you meant.” I laugh. “And yeah, he has done that for me–turn my life upside down.”
“How?”
“What do you mean how? He just has.”
“Oh my God, Ashley!”
“How are you exasperated with me right now?”
“Because I’m just trying to ask you what he does to make you feel like he’s different, that he’s the one.”
“The one? Aren’t you getting a little ahead of yourself?”
“I knew with Jake pretty quickly. I may not have been thinking ‘the one’ right away, but I knew I was falling too fast and too hard for it to be anything other than something serious.”
“Well, that’s you, not me. And you were living here, I don’t. I have to leave eventually, Ally. Most likely in a few days.”
“What? Why?”
“I have to find a new job. I have to start all over again.”
“Why can’t you do that here?”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes, completely. I did it.”
“Even if the idea has crossed my mind, which I’m not saying it has, I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Ally,” I say seriously, making sure she’s looking at me. “I like Ryan. A lot. More than a lot. But I can’t just decide to stay. He has to ask me. I’m not putting myself on the line like that for him to just crush me.”
“How do you know he’d crush you?”
“Because I’m falling for him. Hard. I’m trying to resist, but last night…last night I gave in. To myself, to how I was feeling, to how much I want him to want me with the same insane, crazy need.
“It’s all fucking crazy, Ally. He’s just a man. We had sex once, and then I couldn’t get him out of my head. I still felt him. Everywhere. All we had was an insane, impulsive, and amazing one-night stand. Actually, it wasn’t even a night. It was in the woods…at his parent’s house…during a fireworks show. There was no date, no bed, no sleeping, and barely any talking.
“But it stayed with me. The passion, and the way he made me feel utterly insatiable and irresistible. No man has ever done that.”
Rubbing my forehead, I stare at my coffee. For all the mornings I’ve craved it while the power was out, I find myself wishing it were a hot chocolate instead.
