Chapter Fifteen
Now what? What’re you going to tell him?
I hung my jacket on the chair, having no idea what I planned to say.
I have a crazy idea, the devil whispered.How about something you’ve never tried before? Like the truth.
Never. Not a chance in hell.
Never say never!The devil laughed.
Torre waited for me, face hardened unlike I’d ever seen him before, and I knew this wouldn’t be easy.
“How’ve you been?”
Eyes wide, his lips tightened into thin white lines. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. You came all the way to Brooklyn to ask me how I am? That’s bullshit.” He folded his arms. “If that’s all you have to say, leave. I have plans.”
Fidgeting, I took a step toward him, but he backed away and I stopped. Took a breath. My hands clenched into fists, then released, and I let out my breath in awhooshof air.
“I-I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have disappeared again. It was…wrong of me.”
“So what?” Looking unimpressed, Torre remained like a statute.
“I’m trying to apologize.”
“All of which you could’ve said over the phone. Why are you here?”
Frustration bubbled over. “Dammit, Torre, you’re not making it easy for me.”
“Why the hell should I? We had sex. It was, I thought, amazing. I never expected you to ghost me. And now a week later you show up? Why? What did you expect? You think I’m going to let you fuck me again because you took the big step to cross the bridge?”
“No. I don’t know.” No one had ever talked to me like this except Press, and even he didn’t cross the line.
“Well, I do know. Not going to happen. Look.” Torre pushed his fingers through his hair. “It’s obvious we had different expectations of what would happen after the last time. It’s obvious you were only interested in getting laid.”
I flinched and shook my head. “That’s not true.”
“Really?” He arched a dark brow. “You’d been trying since the first date.”
True, but there was so much more that I hadn’t realized until right now. I didn’t want to let him go. Not yet. I wasn’t ready.
“Whether that’s true or not, I do like you. A lot.”
“Lucky me.” Torre clapped his hands. “Okay, Frisco. You made your pity call. I have things to do, and I’m sure you have other people to dazzle with your bullshit. So let’s call this quits now, okay?” He took a step away, and I instinctively grabbed his arm.
“Don’t go.”
He pulled away. “Stop. You can’t have it both ways. I don’t know what kind of games you like to play, but not with me. If I’m physical with someone, it means I care enough to give him a part of me I keep separate from everyone else. You obviously don’t feel like that, so you’re free to move on.” He walked to the door. “Bye, Frisco. Nice knowing you.”
It was slipping away from me. Why did this man get under my skin? No one had ever talked to me the way he did and from the first, I’d allowed him to direct the conversation between us. I didn’t like it, but I wasn’t ready to say good-bye to him. Dammit, why did I have to? I closed my eyes briefly, my decision made. I had no idea what the hell I was doing.
“Wait, please.”
His jaw tightened, but I saw the hurt in the downward slope of his mouth, and I hated that I was the cause of it. I knew he’d been cheated on, and I didn’t want to be another story he’d tell a future boyfriend.
I took my jacket and joined him at the front door, and from the glint in his eyes, I knew he remembered us pressed against the door, chest-to-chest, hands grasping, mouths locked in a hungry, demanding kiss. I knew I did and wanted it again.
“What if I don’t want to move on?”
