I could feel Kale’s sympathy all mixed with a bolt of exasperation. “And who exactly are you cheating on? Because that bitch left you and Sydney is gone. They are both gone, man, and they aren’t coming back.”
My entire being flinched. Anguish and this blinding guilt that ate me up from the inside.
Kale’s voice dropped to match mine. “You need to tell Ollie, Rex. Fucking get this off your chest once and for all so you can finally move on.”
“I’m not sure how to do that.”
Question was, did I really want to?
Rynna’s face spun through my mind. I swore I could feel that place that had ached forever transform. Grasping for something different. Something better.
And that scared the shit out of me.
I glanced over at Kale. When I caught his expression, my irritation came back full force. “Why the fuck are you grinning?”
“Oh, you know...because it’s super entertaining to watch you realize you just might want something but the thought of it makes you want to crawl right out of your skin.”
“Always such an asshole,” I mumbled.
“Who doesn’t hesitate to say it straight. Admit it. You like her.”
“I don’t like her. I don’t even know her.”
“But you want to.” The jackass had the audacity to sing it as he twirled his finger in a circle in front of my face.
I smacked it away.
He was worse than a thirteen-year-old girl.
“Come on, man. Admit it. You want to.” He flashed me one of those ridiculous smiles that had every girl in town dying to lock that shit down. All fucking dimples and bright white teeth. “Tell me about that pie.” He waggled his brows, keeping right on with the ribbing, having no idea the knives he was driving into raw flesh. “Tell me how badly you want her to eat yours.”
My throat bobbed, that guilt rising around me like jagged cliffs. Guilt for giving in. I had already made more mistakes with her than I could make excuses for. Had already gotten deep enough that I wasn’t sure I was ever going to climb out.
“Oh shit,” Kale muttered under his breath. “You lucky bastard, you already did. And you’re over there pouting about it.”
I shifted away, not needing to pretend I was keeping a close eye on Frankie. “Not like that. ..we just...”
Visions assaulted me. The ecstasy on her face when she’d come with the sun shining on her gorgeous face. How good she’d tasted. How right she’d felt in my arms.
“Just what?” he pressed.
I blew out a frustrated breath, voice barely a gritted whisper. “It was just a kiss.”
Kale laughed. “Just a kiss, huh? Considering you haven’t touched a girl in years, I’d bet the pink slip to my car, which you know is my baby, that it meant a whole lot more to you than it just being a kiss. You have some kind of superhuman strength or balls of steel or some shit, because those fuckers should be so blue they’d have fallen off by now.” The guy knew me better than anyone, and he didn’t hesitate to pull punches.
“You think you regret whatever you’re feeling now? Just wait to see how much regret you feel when you don’t do anything about it.” He sighed. “It doesn’t have to be a big thing, Rex. Test it out. Hang out with her as a friend. See how it goes. It’s not like you’re asking her to marry you.”
I flinched with that, and he snorted, shaking his head before he spun all the way around and waltzed over to the reception desk. Two nurses behind it immediately tuned in to whatever the flirty bastard had to say as he rested his forearms on the counter and leaned toward them.
And I wondered how he’d done it.
Managed it.
Overcome it.
Or maybe I was the one who’d really been at fault all along.
15
