He raised his brow even higher and smiled.
“Okay. So Torre is different. Yeah, we’ve been together a few times, but I don’t want him to think there’s anything more than sex.”
“Could there be?”
“I don’t know. Why’re you asking me?” My heart hammered against my breastbone, and I broke out in a sweat. “No, okay? There can’t be. He’s close with his family, and I’m not interested in having Sunday dinners with his mother and playing with his niece. I’m not Mr. Domestic. His mother might be the loveliest woman in the world, but—”
“You met hismother?”
I winced. “Jesus, I think you broke my eardrum. It was an accident. I was leaving his apartment, and she lives upstairs. I startled her while she was watering her plants. That’s all.” I glared at him, but he sat back happily with that stupid grin on his face.
“And you still say there’s nothing different between Torre and anyone else you’ve ever been with. Don’t you see?” Presley appealed. “It’s not that there can’t be; it means you won’t let it.”
“What the hell are you trying to get at?” I balled my hands into fists, and if it were anyone else, they’d be afraid. I fully admit it; I could get nasty if I had to. Over the years I’d never been less than brutally honest about Presley’s relationship with Jared and how fucked up I thought that was. With the person who knows you best, you can and should be blunt and truthful, even if it hurts. Now that it was my turn to be on the receiving end, I wasn’t sure I liked it, but I stood silent, ready to take my hit on the chin. Figuratively. I knew Presley wasn’t the type to shout or get in my face.
It was worse than that. His eyes grew wet and shiny, and he gave me a tender little smile. “I think you’re scared. You’ve finally met someone who intrigues you and who you’re compatible with sexually. Am I right on those two accounts?”
Of course he is, the devil whispered.Remember what it felt like when you were inside Torre? How much he wanted you?
Someone needed to stuff that damn devil on my shoulder into a box, lock him up, and throw away the key.
“I don’t know,” I answered woodenly, my lips stiff.
“Sure you do.” He grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “Frisco, there’s no shame in falling for someone or caring about them. It doesn’t make you weak. It takes strength to share a part of yourself with someone else. Giving a piece of your heart away is the most intimate thing you can do.”
“I have no problem sharing. I love to give of myself, you know that.”
“This is not a joke,” Presley huffed. “And until you see that, you’ll never be happy.”
I yanked my hand out of his and lashed out. “I am happy, goddamn it. I can have anything and anyone I want.”
“Including Torre?”
I couldn’t lie, so I shrugged without meeting Presley’s eyes.
“Why can’t you try it and see what happens?”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Tell me why.”
How could I tell him without revealing myself to be a liar? I was in uncharted waters, and though I’d never been a coward before, I was at that moment, and turned back to the safety of shore.
I shook my head. “It’s not important. Not anymore. I know what I have to do.” Not really, but I’d figure it out.
Agonized, Presley grabbed hold of my arm. “Please don’t do this. Don’t rush into anything without thinking it through. It’s taken so many years for you to even get to this point where being with someone steadily has entered your mind. Don’t throw it away because you’re afraid.”
“Afraid?” I yanked my arm out of his grip. “I’ve already told you I’m not afraid of anything. Torre isn’t the right guy. Not for me.”
“Bullshit.”
“Are you calling me a liar?”
Our gazes clashed, and a smirk tugged Presley’s lips upward. “Prove it.”
“What?” Annoyed this wasn’t working out as I’d planned, I pulled out my phone to check my notifications and grimaced. Edward had set up a staff meeting the day after tomorrow. Exactly what I did not need. I planned to be ill with the flu.
Press grabbed the phone out of my hand. “When Nate and I broke up, he said Jared didn’t give a damn about me. He called me just another easy fuck.”
