But her eyes don’t match her words.
Something in the way her gaze lingers a little too long over there catches my attention. I don’t comment on it, just file it away for later.
We keep painting, laughing, and drinking, and by the time my portrait is about complete, I’m exhausted in all the best ways. I’ve had the most fun I’ve had in a long time, and it’s because of these people. And not just the ones sitting at the table with me. Allison and the girls I work with. Cade, Collin, and the rest of the guys at the bar.
This is comfortable.
This is home.
Cade catches my eye and offers a smile. It’s full of promise and makes my core clench with need.
Need for him, and not just a sexual demand.
I need his smile, his light, and his warmth. I need his strength when I’m weak and his touch when I need to be grounded.
I watch as he laughs with his brothers and takes a sip of his water. He’s not drinking, and that’s because I am. Because he cares enough to make sure I get home safely. He’s a natural protector, even when he doesn’t have to be.
And I’ve fallen in love with him.
The realization hits me hard in the face, like a glass of cold water thrown at me.
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
It was meant to be fun…a fling.
But here I am, realizing I’m helplessly in love with the one man who won’t ever love me back.
It’s like history repeating itself, but that’s not fair either, because Cade is nothing like Lance.
Except, like Lance, I’ll never have the one thing I’ve always wanted.
The one thing I refuse to live without moving forward.
The one thing not on the table.
His heart.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE
Cade
“You gonna tell her?”
I look over at my twin and narrow my eyes. “Tell her what?”
He flashes one of his rare smiles. “Come on, man. You’re not obtuse.”
I take a sip of my water and grin over the rim of the plastic cup. “You severely underestimate my obtuseness, my man.”
He shakes his head before catching sight of one of the regulars placing his empty beer can at the front of the bar. Cade walks over and retrieves a fresh can from the cooler and places it on the bar. He says something to the other two men before tapping on the computer screen for the register system. Then, he makes his way back to me and leans against the bar casually.
“Well?”
I sigh, knowing exactly what he’s talking about, but wishing he weren’t pushing the topic. I don’t want to talk about my feelings for Oaklee, especially when they’re all a little jumbled and scattered in my own head. “You’re annoying.”
He chuckles. “That’s rich, coming from the twin who used to hang from the top bunk and pretend he was Spider-Man at all hours of the night.”
