Camera Shy (Lessons in Love, #1)(61)

The line is silent for a while before she speaks again. I can feel the atmosphere shift. I can picture her eyes narrow and her hand on her hip as her tone turns frigid. “You’re seeing someone.” She says it like an accusation.

I’m silent. Just hang up, Finn. This is a textbook trap.

“Did you hear me?” she asks, her tone still icy.

“I did.”

“Well, are you?”

I carefully compose my words. “Whether I am or not doesn’t change anything I just said.”

“Who?” Nora asks in what can only be described as a hiss.

“Why? So you can put a target on her back?”

“No. I just want to know who is so damn great that they’d make you close the door on us. How could you just move on like—”

I howl in irritation. “Are you fucking kidding me with this hypocrisy? You’re living with Morgan. You’re on his cell phone plan. Of all the dudes you could pull—Morgan? After what we went through?”

“It’s not like—”

“Stop. We’ve been broken up for almost a year now. Yes, I’m seeing someone. Yes, I’m really into her. No, I won’t tell you who. There’s nothing left to accuse me of.”

“I’ve been trying to call you for months, Finn. It takes a new number for you to even answer your phone? You left me and broke me. You didn’t keep any of the fucking promises you made. I actually thought you loved me.”

I ignore the tug in my chest. “The gaslighting is old, Nora. You say you’ve changed, but this is exactly the shit I left behind. We’re not together. I care about you. I want good things for you. But I don’t love you anymore.” I blow out another breath, trying to calm my rising blood pressure. When the heat of my frustration subsides a little, I add, “Look, we’re better apart. End of story. I’m happier now.”

“You’re a goddamn liar. You’re never going to stop thinking about me. Just like I’m never going to stop thinking about you. You can act like you don’t care, but you are never going to love someone the way you loved me.”

“Yeah, I hope not. That love almost destroyed me.”

“Fuck you, Finn. I hate you,” she says through sobs before she abruptly hangs up.

They aren’t crocodile tears. They’re legitimate. Nora’s furious enough to cry when she doesn’t get her way and she loses control of a situation. It used to work on me. I’d see her wet eyes and the tear-stained cheeks on her pretty face and I’d completely forget I wasn’t the one in the wrong. That kind of love is dangerous. Blinding. Manipulative. It will steal a man’s soul. I barely escaped with mine…I’m not risking it again.

One thirty-two a.m. Dammit. I’m up now.

I pull off the covers and swing my legs around, my feet hitting the wood floor with a soft thud. This house always sounds so hollow at night. Every step I take toward the kitchen echoes loudly off the walls.

Opening the fridge, I decide on an Alaskan Amber. I grab the magnetic bottle opener from the fridge door and I’ve barely popped the top on my beer when I hear the faintest knock at the front door. It’s past one in the morning. Either this is Avery or the politest burglar in the world.

Pausing by the security alarm, I disarm the front door and open it to see Avery, her hair in its usual disarray. She’s wearing pajama shorts and a tight tank top that’s so long it hugs the outward curve of her womanly hips. I never thought I had a type before but fuck, do I like her full hourglass figure. I love how she feels in my hands, like her body was made as my personal playground. Why is she so confused about how enticing she is?

Avery holds out my sports coat and speaks before I can. “You’re up.”

I can’t help my smug smile. “I tried to sleep. A call woke me up. Not your call, which was a little disappointing.” I lean against the doorframe and she takes a tiny step backward, still holding my jacket out. “This might be better, though.”

“I’m crazy for bothering you this late, but you forgot your suit jacket. I wasn’t sure if you’d need it tomorrow.”

I cock an eyebrow. “For what?”

She sucks in her lips, her cheeks flushing. “You know…for like meetings or…meetings.” She snorts in laughter at her lame excuse as I take the jacket from her and toss it behind me. It hits the floor with a clank, the metal buttons meeting the hard floor.

“What’s up, Avery? Do you want to come in?” I hold out my hand, but she doesn’t take it. She only shakes her head and shrugs.

“The last time I had sex outside of a relationship is when I was seventeen. It was so awkward, I was happy to leave for college and never see him again.”

I nod along, unsure of where this is going. “Okay.”

“I’m not a hookup kind of girl, so this is new. Everything is new. I thought I was okay, but I couldn’t sleep. Tonight was…”

I raise my brows fully, feeling my forehead crinkle. “How was it?”

“Physically? Spectacular. By far the best I’ve ever had… But my heart feels a little empty right now. I guess I wanted to come by and ask you for more advice.”

“Being?” I scour her eyes, looking for a clue. Is she okay? Is this too much, too soon?

“Does it go away? How many hookups until sex doesn’t feel so…hollow?”