Teddy raised an eyebrow.
“Just kissed?”
I avoided his gaze but that only seemed to reinvigorate him.
“Oh my God, you slept together didn’t you?”
“I didn’t say that!”
“You didn’t have to. I can see it in your face.”
I covered my face and looked at Teddy through the gaps between my fingers.
“I’m so embarrassed.”
“What? Why?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I just am.”
“Wasn’t it good?”
I bit my lip.
“Of course it was.”
“Then what?” he asked.
Before I could answer, the front door opened and Dare walked in. As the goats passed him by and entered the house, he stopped and looked at us.
Teddy waved at him and he responded with a single nod, but when I did the same, he barely acknowledged my presence. Instead, he dipped his head, closed the door behind him and retreated into his bedroom with a word.
“What was that all about?” Teddy whispered.
“I…I don’t know,” I answered, staring at the corridor as a sinking feeling flared in my stomach.
Two seconds later, the bedroom door opened again, and I watched as Dare carried a pillow and blanket to the guest room then slammed the door shut, confirming my worst fear.
Dare didn’t like the pants out of me. He didn’t like me like I’d liked him all this time. He hadn’t enjoyed our night together. He’d regretted it.
He regrettedme.
My eyes stung with the hurt and I tried to stop the tears. Then I tried to suppress my emotions the only way I knew how.
By baking.
TWENTY-ONE
DARE
Iwas shaking. I was cold to the bone. But that was what I got for not thinking straight. For thinking with my dick and not my head. All these years I’d built the perfect life, a fortress around my heart to protect it from getting broken again and the first time I’m alone in a room with a guy, I go ahead and risk it all for a moment of bliss.
I was an idiot. A big fucking idiot and there was no one to blame for this but me.
I hated freezing Zach out, turning my back on him, ignoring him as if it was his fault but it was the only way I knew to keep myself from making the same mistake. I should have never brought him home with me. I shouldn’t have let him in. There were other ways—other people—he could have stayed with, but had I thought it through before I’d brought him here? No. I hadn’t.
“All my fucking fault,” I grumbled and changed sides.
I knew I shouldn’t be sleeping in the guest room. I’d only just recovered from the pneumonia. My immune system was stillvulnerable, but I didn’t feel like I deserved the toasty warmth of my living room or the affection of my dog or my goats.
