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He smirks. “Dude, you’ve got it bad.”
I straighten, insulted. “I do not.”
“I have never seen you obsess like this over a woman. And you’ve dated supermodels. Plural.”
“I’m not obsessed.” I down my beer and order another one.
Jaylen sits back and taps his fingers together like a circus ringleader. “Let’s play a little game. I’ll say a thing, and you say the first word that comes to mind.”
I sigh. “Fine.” I know the fastest way to get him to drop this ridiculous theory and move on is to just play along.
“Crawford Industries,” he tosses out.
“Responsible.”
“Personal chefs,” he says.
“Overrated.”
“Tom,” he tries.
“Guilty.”Fuck.
Jaylen’s eyebrows shoot up. “That was just a warm-up question. Why the hell do you feel guilty about Tom?”
I scowl.
Jaylen waits.
I grit my teeth. “I hooked up with Violet. But it was casual. Just a one-time thing.”
Jaylen whistles. “You told the girl who’s faking a whole-ass relationship for youand living withyouthat you only wanted a one-night stand? That’s cold, man.”
I stare at my beer and brood. “The one-night stand part wasn’t my decision.”
“Oh.Oh.” Jaylen’s expression shifts from judgment to sympathy. “Basically, for the first time in years, you have a crush on a girl. But she only wanted you for sex.”
I scowl. “That’s not what happened. She just said she didn’t want it to get complicated, so it was better if we didn’t do it again.”
“Uh-huh. And how many times have you used that line on girls you can tell are starting to want a relationship?” he prompts.
I open my mouth to protest, but I can’t. He’s right. That is absolutely a line I’ve used on women when I can tell they’re catching feelings.
I cross my arms. “Why would she think I wanted a relationship? I never said I wanted a relationship.I don’t do relationships.”
Jaylen shakes his head over his beer. “My dude, that line works a lot better when you didn’tliterallybuy the woman an engagement ring.”
“For the millionth time,” I say, starting to get pissed, “the engagement is a business necessity. It’s not like I havefeelingsfor Violet. I’m not pining over her. I sure as hell don’t want to be her knight in shining armor. The last thing I want is a serious relationship where I have to drop everything in my life just because some woman needs me...What are you staring at?”
He points wordlessly to the TV behind me.
I twist to see. It’s the one playing local news. There’s a breaking story about some idiot woman who got stuck up a tree in Central Park off 5th Ave and East 78th.
And then I see the face of the woman up the trees.
Big hazel eyes in a familiar, frightened face.
It’s the fear that gets me.
