“A decent guy? He’s a liar.”
“That’s not fair.” My friend sucked both of her lips inside her mouth and shook her head. “You don’t know that for sure.”
I began to argue, but she lifted her hand to silence me. “Look, even if he did lie about Oliver, that could have been an isolated incident. You don’t really know what bad blood they have between them. But this picture you have of Jamie in your head? The awful, corrupt, untrustworthy former rock god? It doesn’t match up with the guy who let you crash at his house and brought you fucking coconut water.”
I couldn’t argue with that. It didn’t make any sense. “I’ve spent the past two years thinking badly of him.”
“Hmm. Did you think badly of him when you were grinding up on him?”
I shot her a glare. “Thanks for the reminder. No, as soon as I saw him, I was blinded by his hotness.”
Zoey snorted a laugh. “But the forgiving mood didn’t last once you sobered up?”
“I don’t know,” I confessed. “I’m confused about how I feel. He was so decent the entire time, even in the morning…” I remembered how he’d tried to make me feel less ashamed of my actions. It was kind of him.
“You have to allow for the possibility that there is more to him than the guy with a vendetta against Oliver,” Zoey said, wrapping her arms around her knees.
“So you’re saying I’ve misjudged him?”
“I’m saying it’s possible. The guy you’ve spent a truly mind-boggling amount of hours shit talking to me about does not sound like the guy who practically babysat you all night. And all that without trying to get into your pants, even when you all but offered yourself up to him.”
“Ah, shit.” I dropped my gaze. The memories of me trying to get intohispants filled me with embarrassment. “I’m never going to live that down.”
Zoey’s snicker made me look back up. “So much for trying to tell me you’re not attracted to him.”
“It was just the drugs,” I said. “I’m most certainly not attracted to Jamie Berg.”
But, shit. The way he’d looked in that kitchen, all sweaty and toned and practically ready to devour… I was dead sober then, and my stomach had still done a flip when I saw him.
“You look like you’ve just discovered a filthy porno you know you shouldn’t enjoy, but damn, if it doesn’t get you off.”
My cheeks heated. “Jesus. No need to call me out like that.”
She cackled, rising to sit on the sofa beside me. “I gotta give it to you. If you want to lose your V-card to someone memorable… Well, he’s the perfect candidate. Much better than some random you’d hoped to pick up at the club.” She wrinkled her nose in disapproval before growing more serious. “You could have gotten in a lot of trouble if Jamie hadn’t shown up when he did.”
“I know, I know.” I let out a shuddering breath. There were plenty of guys who would have been happy to take advantage of my state. In retrospect, my entire plan now seemed utterly reckless.
I’d been so desperate to make progress on finally getting over Oliver, that I’d put myself in danger. Dozens of emotions swam inside my head. I was mad at Mimi, frustrated with myself, but more than anything, I felt guilty. Guilty for how I’d responded to Jamie’s apology in that coffee shop.
He’d clearly been working really hard to turn his life around. His body was one obvious example of that, and so was the fact that he was apologizing to people he’d hurt in the past. That took guts. How would I feel if I tried to apologize to someone and all they did was throw that apology back in my face? Pretty goddamn miserable. And that was exactly what I’d done to him. Now, that seemed immature and cold-hearted.
I reached for my phone, pulling it out the back pocket of my jeans. “I think I need to do something.”
“What?” Zoey asked, leaning over to look at what I was typing. “You’re messaging him?”
I nodded, typing the text and quickly pressing send.
“What did you say to him?” she asked as I put my phone down.
“I asked if I could take him out for lunch. I think I need to apologize to him.”
“You didn’t do that this morning?”
“I apologized for last night, but I think I need to apologize for what happened at the coffee shop.”
She smiled, her eyes shining with approval. “I think that’s a good idea.”
I toyed with my right earring. “I want to tell him I accept his apology and that I’m ready to move on. End things on a good note, you know?”
