“A fuck-and-run bastard?”
Cody snorted, “No. I mean one of the good guys. A one-woman kinda man.”
“So, what happened?”
“Boring story. How long were you and Holly engaged?” Cody asked.
“Eight years.”
“And how many women besides Holly and Gray have you slept with?”
“None.”
“And when was the last time you slept with Holly?”
“Is there a point to this? Or are you just trying to destroy what’s left of my manhood?”
“So what? A year? It’s been that long since you’ve been home, right?” Chase shrugged, and Cody continued, “Jesus Christ. You’re an idiot. You don’t fuck and run. The only reason you put off taking things to the next level with Gray is because you’re a pussy. Look around you. This is who you are. No offense but Holly was vanilla. She could never be a part of this world. But Rocky Road can. Hell, she already is. Look who her father is.” Cody hitched his chin at Chase’s closed door. “Gray is one of the good ones. I bet she’s in there beating herself up over this too. And you’re out here because?”
“Because I’m an idiot.”
“Exactly. Trust me, Mac. You don’t fall into the fuck-and-run club.”
Chase took the hand offered and let Cody pull him to his feet. The punch that followed snapped his head to the right, upper teeth shredding the inside of his lip.
“That’s for bailing on Gray.”
Chase grinned. “Thanks, man. I needed that.”
Cody slapped a hand on his shoulder and shoved him toward his door. “Matter of opinion, asshole.”
“Cody?”
“Yeah?”
“Someday, somebody worthy is going to come along and fix your broken heart.”
Cody acknowledged Chase with the slightest of nods. “I’ll see you and Gray in Montana.” He crossed the threshold of his crib for the last time, then poking his head right back out, he asked, “Any word on the size of the new beds?”
Chase snorted. “No idea, numbnuts. Z’s not talking.”
Cody groaned. “What else is new?”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-FIVE
Inner voice spewing a particularlynasty stream of hostility, Gray had to fight the temptation to put a stop to the monolog by putting her head through the wall.
Make me stop.
Jesus Christ,what had she been thinking? This mess? Her doing. She’d tried to apologize to Chase for pushing him to have sex with her. But he’d shut her down. Not that she blamed him. God! He must hate her now.
The thought stopped her mid-stride and mid-breath, her heart squeezing tight and skipping more than one beat. Mind spinning, she realized the time had come to admit some hard truths.She was in love with the bastard. And not in a casual fling kinda way. She was full-on, one hundred percent, all in.
Holy fuck. She needed a shot of Goose. Make that a bottle. Maybe even a case. Panicking and trapped in a vodka-free zone, she felt her exhaustion all the way down to her cells. She tossed her duffel to the floor along with his gun belt and sagged onto the middle of the bed.
She was in love with Chase Mackenzie.
How the hell had that happened? More importantly, what did she do about it now? A military man to his core, Chase already had a first love. Besides, she wasn’t happily-ever-after material. She didn’t want to get married. She didn’t want to be left behind. She didn’t want to be like her mother.
