“He meant well… Really?”
“Lochlan knows me how Thea knows you.”
“He’s your best friend. You can just say that you know?”
He rolls his eyes. “He’s more like a brother, honestly.”
“You regularly get into physical fights with yourbrother?”I air-quote.
“Well, yeah, actually. He’s the only person who encourages me to fight because I need to. He gets me on that level. We’ve been there for each other all these years. Keeping each other in check when we need to, punching each other in the facewhen we need that.” He shrugs.
“Men are idiots.”
He chuckles, scrubbing his hand over his chin. “Yeah, I guess we are.”
Silence descends as the sounds of the night linger around us.
“I’m glad you didn’t get married.”
My stomach somersaults, and I take another long drag, letting that statement sink in. “Why?”
“You know why.”
“So you can keep toying with me?” I take another deep pull, and I choke on the smoke, coughing until my airway clears.
“Put that out,” he demands, stepping closer.
“Do I seem like the type of woman who follows orders?”
“Not yet.” He sinks into the seat in front of me, letting his knees brush the tips of my toes.
I hate to admit that something instinctual inside of me almost makes me snuff out the joint, but my mind fights it. Instead, I put my hand out and tip my head, offering it to him.
His eyes don’t leave mine as he plucks it out of my fingers and places it between his lips. The smoke fills his mouth, but he lets it out quickly and smoothly before jamming the burning end into the ashtray.
“Not in the mood to get high?”
“I don’t do drugs.” He relaxes into his chair, clasping his hands over his chest. “I just wanted to taste where your lips had been.”
“Jensen, don’t,” I breathe, overwhelmed with the implication of that.
“Why?”
“I just ended my engagement 12 hours ago.”
“I can wait.”
“Don’t say that.”
“Why not?”
“Because I already waited for you!” The words fly out hotter than I intended, and I have to squeeze my eyes shut to regain my composure. “You made me think you died instead of manning up and breaking up with me– I mean…” I scrub my hand over my face. We weren’t ever dating or even technically together, but I was in love with him. It felt worse than any breakup.
Including the one I had today.
“I did.”
“You did what?”
