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Neither of us says anything for a while. With my face against his chest, my mind is racing.
Am I the rebound for this other woman?
Was it really just a job to her?
Did she give him something I can’t?
“Do you want to come up?” he asks again.
I want to—I really do. But my mind is a mess, and I don’t want to have sex when I’m so in my head.
Pulling away, I gaze up at him with an apologetic expression. “Mind if I don’t? I’m just ready to go home.”
With a half smirk, he nods. Then he kisses my forehead again as he mumbles, “Of course, baby. Text me when you get home.”
Pressing up on my tiptoes, I lean in and give him a kiss. His hand wraps around the back of my neck as he deepens the kiss, massaging his tongue against mine. My body starts to warm from the kiss, so I pull away before it gets too tempting to stay.
“Night, Clay,” I murmur, walking toward my car.
“Night, Jade.”
When I reach my Jeep, I stop and turn back toward him. He’s watching me.
“For what it’s worth,” I say, “I’m glad it didn’t work out. I like you better with me.”
When I smile, he smiles.
“Me too,” he replies.
After climbing in my Jeep, the entire drive home is spent thinking about how it took him a second too long to say that.
But maybe that’s in my head.
* * *
I’m curled up on my bed with an episode ofThe Bake Offplaying in the background while I scroll through various websites on my phone. There’s a knock on my door, and I look up to find my dad slowly peeking in.
“Hey, Cupcake,” he says softly.
“Hey, Daddy.”
“How was the movie?”
I shrug. “It was good.”
“You went with Nettie?” he asks, referring to my best friend. My eyes cast down to my phone as my mouth twists into a knot at the corner of my lips.
It’s bad enough that I’m twenty-three and still living at home, but it’s even worse that I have to lie about who I’m spending my nights with.
“Yep,” I mumble without looking at him.
“Hmm,” he replies with a nod. “Well, good night, Cupcake. Love you.”
“Love you,” I call back.
As he shuts the door, I stare blankly at where he just stood, lost in my thoughts.
How did it get like this?
