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“I didn’t have the heart to tell him we slept in the same bed, even if it was innocent. It wouldn’t have made sense to him.” She muttered, “It doesn’t even really make sense to me.”
It wasn’t exactly innocent. We both knew it, even if we weren’t saying it. That was the problem.
“I get it. You’re trying to protect him. I can respect that. But we didn’t…” I chose my words carefully. “Cross any lines. So you have nothing to feel guilty about.”
“Yeah, I know. I know.” Her eyes momentarily fell to my chest before she shook her head. “Anyway…let me go change so I can give you back your shirt.”
She returned to the bathroom for a few minutes, then emerged and handed me my shirt. As I slipped it over my head, I breathed in deeply. This shirt was going to mess me up for the rest of the day; I wouldn’t be able to think straight.
We checked out of the hotel and headed to the auto parts store to get what I needed to fix her car.
Once the job was done, Lala hit the road, since she was already missing the first part of her workday. There was no time to talk about any residual awkwardness left over from last night or this morning.
It took me a little while to get the tire on the van replaced, but then I headed back as well. The drive to New York was crappy, to say the least. Not only could I still smell her all over my damn shirt, but now I was smelling her with the memory of what it felt like to hold her, to have her ass pressed against me. I’d actually fallen asleep with a woman in my arms. You know how many times I’d done that in my life? Never. Not intentionally, at least. Sounds crazy, but I’d never had the urge to do that. As many women as I’d slept with, I couldn’t remember a single time I’d specifically wrapped my arms around someone. There might have been some tangled bodies here and there, but nothing as intimate as holding someone.
I’d told Lala we didn’t do anything wrong. And maybe she didn’t do anything wrong, but I’d crossed the line the moment I made the decision to get up off that floor and join her in the bed. I knew it was dangerous—especially after she admitted she was nervous because she was attracted to me. I’d made her believe she could trust me.
But she shouldn’t.
An evil part of me wanted to tempt her. I hated myself for that because I knew a girl like Lala would never forgive herself if she cheated on her fiancé. Why would I put someone I cared about in that position? But my feelings for her were very complicated—and selfish.
The ride went by in a blur because I was so stuck in my head, and it seemed like just a few minutes before I arrived home and parked the van in a lot down the block.
If I thought my day was going to get any better once I got back, I was sorely mistaken. Owen stormed down the hall toward me as I entered the building.
“There you are! Where the fuck have you been all morning, and why aren’t you answering your phone?”
“Sorry, dude. Phone is dead.” I hadn’t brought my charger with me on my unexpected trip.
His ears were red, and a vein looked like it was ready to pop out of his forehead. “I had to miss a fucking important meeting because of a leak you were supposed to be here to fix. The least you can do is charge your damn phone.”
My head was killing me. “What happened?” I asked as I opened the door to my apartment.
He followed me inside. “Sink leak in 410 was causing water to come through the ceiling in the apartment below it.”
“410? That’s where Frick and Frack live. Did you fix it?”
“No! I put a Band-Aid on it, but it’s not fixed. And those two little shits greased the pipes under the sink and the faucet to fuck with me. They’re out of control.”
“I’m sorry, man.”
“You were at some chick’s house, I assume?”
“Actually, no.” I hesitated, dreading having to tell him. “I was helping Lala.”
His eyes narrowed. “Helping Lala with what?”
“Her car crapped out on the way home from Philly, and she called me to help her get back.”
He arched a brow. “Is that all you helped with?”
I wanted to punch him right now. “What kind of a question is that?”
“Your crush on Lala is the worst-kept secret in the world. You’re wondering why I asked you that?”
“She fucking called me!” I spat. “What do you want me to do?”
“How about get one of us to do it because you know you can’t be trusted.”
