“Wild guess.”
“It was good,” I told him. “Jake is a really nice guy.”
Korbin said nothing to this, but I could tell he didn’t approve. It didn’t matter though. I didn’t need his approval. “Does he know that you’re hooking up with me?” he asked finally, and I punched him playfully in the arm.
“Yes, he does, because I was honest with him. We’re just being open right now, Korbin, because you and I—we’re not exclusive.”
Korbin smiled at this. I hated that smile. It was his self-assured, everything-will-work-in-my-favor smile. But then, just as quickly as it had been there, it melted from his face.
“Have you two—slept together?”
“Excuse me, but that’s none of your business.” I pulled away from him then, crossing my arms over my chest as a protective barrier. “That is insanely inappropriate to ask.”
“But you two discussed our relationship,” he pointed out. “What’s the difference?”
“The difference is, you already know that I had an interest in somebody else. Jake didn’t know about you.”
“Jake,” Korbin repeated. “Jake what?”
“I’m not telling you that.”
Silence settled between us as Korbin watched me flutter around the kitchen, wiping down the already clean counters just so I wouldn’t have to face him. But after a moment he stepped in front of me to stop me, wrapping his arms around my waist, pulling me against him.
“Let’s go upstairs,” he whispered as his thumb brushed a strand of hair away from my face. I closed my eyes and melted into him, considering refusing him, but I wasn’t sure if I could. His power over me was penetrating, and we both knew it. Jake was a good man, but he wasn’t Korbin. No man could ever be Korbin Butler.
But it didn’t matter. We weren’t together.
“No,” I said. “We’ve already talked about this, Korbin. I can’t.”
“You can’t?” he asked. “Or you won’t?”
“Both.”
“Why?”
“Because Jake is good to me. And I know that once you get me into bed, it will blur everything. It will fuck everything up. And I’m not ready for that, Korbin. I’m just not ready for it.”
I expected him to argue with me, to call me out for being so petty, but he did neither of these things. Instead, he nodded, and his rough hand dropped from my face as he took a step back, clearing himself of me.
“I understand,” he said. “You’re a good woman. You always have been.”
“Thank you for understanding,” I said weakly. “I like being around you, Korbin. I like being your friend.”
“What if I want more of that?” he asked, and I shrugged, uncertain as to where he wanted to go with this.
“These things take time,” I said finally. “You know that.”
He nodded, then turned and headed for the door, grabbing his jacket from the closet. I followed him out, wanting to stop him but knowing that I couldn’t. The truth was, I couldn’t ask more from him than he was willing to give. We were functioning on different wave lengths, it felt like, and we weren’t where we needed to be to make this work.
“I’m sorry,” I said, gathering my keys. “I really am.”
“You don’t have to be,” he said as we walked out into the rain together to get in the car. “Just know that I’m not giving up on you, Peyton. I made that mistake once and I won’t make it again. So I’m here. I’m here when you’re ready.”
Chapter15
Korbin
“How’s your knee feeling, man?” Hansen asked as he drove me to the therapy clinic for my session with Dr. Blake. This would be my fourth visit with the shrink, and by now I was falling easily into a rhythm, to the point of looking forward to our chat each week.
