“I see why you need the coffee.”
I took my first sip and grimaced. “That’s disgusting.”
“Well, I didn’t add anything to it. Here, let me doctor it up.”
I slid it back to him and slumped against the counter again. “I can’t figure out what it means.”
“Maybe it’s exactly what it looks like,” he said, adding cream and sugar.
“I highly doubt that. No, JR is definitely not the commitment type. Which means he’s just doing this to get his way.”
“I’m sorry, sis. I know that hurts.”
“It doesn’t hurt,” I lied. “I just…don’t want to get attached. I was fine with the whole no-strings thing. I understood it would never be more, and he didn’t have to say a thing. But now…he’s confusing me.”
“And you’re going to end up with your heart crushed,” he added.
“Exactly. I’m not strong enough for that. I can’t deal with a man using me like that and pretending it’s more when it never will be.”
“He probably doesn’t even realize he’s doing it,” my brother said with a smile.
“So, what do I do?”
“Well, you either tell him this has to stop, or you go along with it, knowing nothing will come of it. You’ll eventually fall hard for him and tell him you’re in love with him, at which point he’ll break things off with you immediately, crushing your soul and making you wish you had never laid eyes on him. And then I’ll take you to the bar, we’ll get drunk, you’ll sing karaoke, andyou’ll wake up feeling sad and miserable, wishing you could go back in time to this moment and kick him out of your bed.”
I stared at him in awe. “Is that how you feel after every woman you break up with?”
“Pretty much,” he nodded. “It’s a sad and lonely existence, but someone’s gotta do it.”
I wasn’t sure I was ready to have my soul crushed, but I wasn’t sure I could go JR-free so easily. The last week had been hell on me, and just a taste last night was like heroin to an addict.
Groaning, I buried my face in my hands, wondering what the hell I was going to do. This was absolutely gut-wrenching. How did people go through this crap all the time? How did they constantly deal with the pressure that went along with a relationship?
I had dated and even had a few long-term relationships, if you could call them that, but I’d never actually fallen for any of them. They were just flings.
The bedroom door opened and I snapped my back straight, eyeing Sawyer to let him know not to say a word. JR walked out in nothing more than his jeans slung low across his hips, making this whole thing even harder.
“Well, that’s it for me,” Sawyer snickered. “I have to get to work, and you…” His eyes flicked between the two of us. “Well, have fun with that.”
I glared at him as he walked around the counter and pressed a kiss to my cheek.
“Be strong,” he whispered before grabbing his things and heading out the door.
“What was that all about?” JR asked, grabbing his own coffee. He eyed my mug warily. “Why are you drinking coffee?”
“Just thought I’d give it a try,” I smiled, hoping it came off as anything other than devastating misery.
“And?”
“And what?”
He tipped his mug toward me. “The coffee?”
“Oh, I haven’t actually tried it yet. I mean, I tried it without the cream and sugar, and I didn’t like it all that much. But this, I haven’t tried.”
I snapped my lips shut and tried to play it cool.
He watched me carefully before snagging my mug and dumping it down the drain. “You shouldn’t have that shit. It’s bad for you.”
