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I must look as confused as I feel because she blows out a harsh breath and shuts her eyes. “This isn’t something we should talk about on a sidewalk in the middle of the night.”
“Okay, then let me take you to my place. We can talk there.”
She opens her eyes. “Are you sure?”
I brush my thumb across her cheekbone and nod. “Of course. Text Leo and let him know I have you so he doesn’t worry while we hunt down my car.”
“Okay,” she agrees before I drop my hand to my side and shove both in my pockets.
While she texts Leo, I move to the side and will my body to calm down before my erection rips a hole in my jeans.
I flip the light switch on in the entryway and kick my shoes off, watching as Scarlett does the same. The air is tense between us, and even though she’s been in my home before, it feels vastly different this time.
Easton comes bumbling in our direction, his ears flopping with each step. Scarlett drops to her haunches and starts to give him chin scratches.
“He’s going to fall in love with you,” I tease.
She looks up at me, smiling. “He’s sweet.”
“Cooper trained him. He did a pretty good job of it too.”
“You hear that?” Scarlett asks the big pile of panting fluff. “Your dad says you’re a good boy.”
“Sometimes a good boy,” I correct her before moving around the two of them and further into the house. Turning into the kitchen, I grab us each a bottle of water and untwist both the caps. The time above the stove says it’s just before midnight.
Scarlett enters the kitchen a few moments after I do. “You didn’t drink tonight,” she notes.
I shrug. “You have more of an effect on me than any amount of alcohol would.”
“When you say things like that, I want to be a different person. Someone who can say the same things back.”
Her admission surprises me. I walk toward her and hold out one of the bottles. She takes it eagerly, bringing it to her mouth and drinking half of it in one go.
“I wasn’t always like this, Scary Spice. And I don’t need you to be anyone but who you are. Who you are is precisely why I say these things.”
“If you weren’t always like this, then what were you like? How does young Adam compare to you now?”
She spins around and leans back against the counter. Her fingers are tight around her water bottle. I stand beside her, copying her stance.
“I was someone who didn’t bother learning a woman’s name before taking her to bed and drank bottles of my father’s expensive wine just to piss him off. I was the guy crushing on his best friend and nearly ruining his entire relationship with her over it. I was half the man I am today.”
She blows out a long breath. “I don’t even know where to start with that. I mean, you were into Ava? Like Oakley’s wife?”
I laugh, looking at my socks. “You pieced that together pretty quickly. But yeah, I liked her. Thinking back on it now, it definitely wasn’t what I thought it was. She was, and will always be, my best friend. I was just a pissed-off teenager choosing to cling to someone who made me happy and reading all of the signals wrong.”
She hums in understanding. “Why were you so angry? I’m guessing it has to do with why you busied yourself with drinking your father’s booze.”
“My parents weren’t around much. I rebelled to get attention, but even that didn’t work.”
“I’m sorry,” she says.
“Don’t be. I’ve had thirty-three years to get over it.” I take a drink from my bottle, desperate to soothe my dry throat. Talking about my parents never gets easier. Betrayal is a lot harder to get over when it’s your family. “Were you a rebel growing up?”
“Right,” she scoffs, crossing her arms. “I didn’t even really date. It was all hockey, hockey, and more hockey. There was never time for boys or partying.”
“Well, you weren’t missing much. Boys don’t know how to treat a woman. That’s a man’s job.” I waggle my eyebrows.
“If that’s the case, I guess I should head out and go find one.”
