Page 71 of On The Edge

My hesitation is all she needs to point at me and shout, “Ha! I knew it.”

“I didn’t say a word.” I feign innocence despite knowing that of all the people in the world, she’d be my number one cheerleader on this.

But I hesitate because what do I tell her? Yes, we slept together, but then he just moved right along as per what I can assume is his typical MO?

I mean . . .

“You didn’t have to say a word. You only ignore me when you feel like you’ve done something wrong, and you were ignoring me.” I go to open my mouth and then shut it as her grin widens and her eyes light up. “So . . . please tell me Cruz Navarro lives up to his playboy status. Was he everything Michael wasn’t in the best of ways and then some?”

I stare at her, blinking, as a slow smile crawls onto my lips. “We were drinking.”

“Good. That means inhibitions were thrown out the window. And?”

“And I may have been the one to initiate it.”

She throws her arms up and shouts, “Woo-hoo,” like I just scored a touchdown.

“Tess. I was drunk—”

“So?”

“And he tried to say I was going to regret it in the morning and—”

“Did you? Do you? Talk to me so I can live vicariously through you.”

I hang my head for a beat and relive the highlight reel. “No. Not in the sense that we did it because, damn, Tess, the man . . . he knows how to make a woman come.”

Her grin is iconic. “After Missionary Mike, that’s saying something.”

I snort. “Hey . . .”

“Don’t defend him. Nice guys finish last and he wasn’t really that nice to begin with. He was the rut you got stuck in, and Cruz is the hill you mount to get out of said rut. So”—she clasps her hands and sets them on the table in front of her with authority—“why am I sensing a good time was had by all but hasn’t been had again?”

“Because I freaked out. When I woke up, he was nowhere to be found and—”

“And you backpedaled your way out of it, didn’t you? You took the blame. You said it was a one-time thing. You said it was a mistake that can’t happen again.”

“How do you know all of that?”

“Because I know my best friend and that’s what she’d do.”

I nod and chuckle a little. “Yeah, well, you’re right.” Then I sigh. “I don’t do that, Tess. I don’t just sleep with someone just to sleep with someone.”

“If you’re looking for me to judge you for it, you’re going to be waiting a long-ass time. So what if you slept with the man? I sure as hell would. It’s normal. You’re normal. You just came out of a relationship that didn’t light your fire. It’s perfectly fine to want to get burned by that man’s flames.”

“Well, that man’s flames were nowhere to be found the next morning. And when we tried to talk about it—”

“You mean when you played it down and tried to write it off as being a one-time thing versus something perfectly normal that most people do at least once in their lives?”

Jesus. She’s right, isn’t she?

“Well, he acted like it wasn’t a big deal. We had sex. We had fun. We cleared the air over it. And . . . then we went on our way.”

Her grin is full force now. “And you’re just taking him at his non-words that he wouldn’t do it again?”

“Of course I am. It’s awkward enough talking about it the first time. And for him, this is probably an every week or two occurrence.”

“Uh-huh.” She draws the syllables out. “So you’re saying that you wouldn’t do it again with him or that you’re not catching feelings for him or . . .”