Page 39 of The Rules of Dating

“Shit, sorr—” My words got caught in my throat when I looked up at the person I’d crashed into.

“Colby?”

“Billie, what are you doing here?”

She smiled. “Ummm…I work here, remember? A few buildings down. I was just heading to the deli to get my coffee.”

“Yeah, uh, of course. Sorry. Not sure what I was thinking.”

Her smile wilted as she looked me up and down. “Are you…just getting home from last night?”

My first inclination was to lie and say no, I’d run out for something. But she looked into my eyes, waiting for an answer, and I couldn’t bring myself to do it. “Yeah, I, uh, went out with the guys last night. I had a little too much to drink and, uh, fell asleep, I guess.”

“At one of the guys’ apartments?”

I frowned, and the look of disappointment on Billie’s face felt like a kick in the stomach. She shook her head and put up two hands. “Sorry. I don’t want to know the details. I have to go anyway.”

She started around me, but I stopped her.

“Billie, wait…”

She wouldn’t even look at me. “It’s fine, Colby. You don’t owe me any explanation. You’re a single guy. I get it.”

I shook my head. “It’s not what it looks like.”

“No? So you didn’t just leave a woman’s apartment after spending the night?”

“I did, but nothing happened.”

She pursed her lips. “It’s none of my business. And I really need to go get my coffee before my client gets here.”

“Just give me one minute so I can explain.”

She took a deep breath and exhaled without saying anything. But she wasn’t walking away anymore, so I figured I should get talking.

“The guys and I went out for our monthly meeting about the building, and then we had a couple of drinks. There were these four women, and Holden wanted to go back to their apartment. He gave me shit about being his wingman, so I went.”

She nodded. “Oh, I see. That clears it all up.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. So you spent the night to make your friend happy.”

“Exactly.”

“Well, I hope you used a condom at least.”

She tried to walk away again, but I stopped her. “I didn’t need to.”

She rolled her eyes. “Great.”

“I mean because I didn’t sleep with anyone. In fact, I slept alone in the bathroom, even though I could have had a threesome.”

The minute the word threesome came out of my mouth, I knew it was dumb.

Billie’s cheeks heated. “You should’ve stopped talking while you were ahead, Colby.” She started walking again.

This time I grabbed her arm. “Wait. I don’t want to leave you upset.”