“Dustin-”
“Oh come on, Avery. Don’t be stubborn.”
Reid tucks his bottom lip into his mouth to hide the smile at my panicked state. Of course he’d find this funny, the guy who, just by appearance, seems to have all of his shit together. Whereas me…I’m a hot mess all year round.
Dustin continues, nodding to the inside of my apartment. “Go get your keys to lock up. I’ll wait for you in the car.”
Just to get Reid’s eyes off of me, I duck inside. On shaky legs, I head to the table where my keys are and take several deep breaths. “This is fine. Everything will be fine. He’s not interested. It was one night. That’s all. We can pretend that it didn’t happen, and everything will be fine.”
Grabbing my keys, I bravely head back into the hallway, just to stop again. Dustin is gone, but Reid is leaning against the hallway wall right next to my door. “What are you doing?” I ask nervously.
“Do you always talk to yourself,Sarah?”His expression is neutral, but I can tell he’s upset that I lied to him.
Butterflies beat against the inside of my stomach. “You weren’t supposed to hear that.”
“Well, I did.”
I close the door and lock it, then rest my forehead against the wood, knowing this conversation needs to happen so that things don’t blow up around my brother. “And—um—sorry about the name thing. I was drunk, and it was stupid.”
“I’ve been walking around thinking the girl I can’t stop thinking about was named Sarah. Although I think you look more like an Avery, I’m a little whiplashed.”
Did he say he can’t stop thinking about me? That has to be a lie.
Keeping my forehead against the door, I turn my head toward him to meet his gaze. Gosh, is it intense, smoldering, and I know then and there that he means every word that he said. “You should stop thinking about me, then.”
“And why’s that?”
I lift my forehead off of the door and turn to face him. “Because I’m not interested.”
The grin returns to his face. “Liar.”
I scowl at him. “I am not.”
He tips his head to my apartment. “Did you forget that I just heard you talking to yourself in there?”
Looking away in shame, I bite my bottom lip and repeat myself. “You weren’t supposed to hear that.”
He brings two fingers to my chin and tips my head back to face him. The feel of his skin, although very minimal, melts my insides. “But I did, and I’m not mad about it. It lets me know that I’m not the only one affected here.”
His gaze moves to my lips, and I know exactly what he’s thinking. Even though my insides are screaming at me to let him kiss me, I move his hand off my chin and say quietly, “Not going to happen.”
I cannot get involved with another guy, my brother’s best friend at that, right now. No matter how hot he is. No matter how he stares at me. No matter his pretty words. He left me, for crying out loud. He didn’t say goodbye. I was a quick fuck, and that’s probably all he wants right now. That’s all guys like him want anyway.
“Why?”
“Because I’m not interested,” I whisper, glancing at his lips, wondering just for a moment whether they taste just as good as they did the other night.
He smirks, and god, if it isn’t the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. “Oh, you’re interested.”
I flick my gaze back to his with pinched eyebrows. “I’m not going to get involved with someone.”
“Why?” he asks again.
“Because I know guys like you. I’ve dated a guy like you. I’m not interested in a repeat.”
That must stun him silent because he says nothing as I lock up the apartment and all but jog down the stairs. I need to get away from him before I do something stupid. Something I’ll regret.
No. I can’t have Reid. He has heartbreak written all over him, and I have no interest in having my already fragile heart broken all over again. I barely survived what Neil did to me. I won’t survive it again, especially since he’s my brother’s best friend.
