He might have a point. But that doesn抰 explain everything, and I抦 no longer willing to be someone who accepts half-answers and hopes for the best.
揟hen what was that about Juliet having 憌ay too much fun??I demand. I抦 showing all my cards, but it抯 not like I can backtrack at this point卙e already knows what I did.
揑 have no idea!?He pushes his hands through his hair, making it even more deliciously fucked up than it was. 揥e抮e just friends. We抳e always just been friends. Her boyfriend no-showed this weekend, so I imagine Drew was hoping to piss him off.?
I pull the towel tighter. I suppose卼hat抯 exactly the kind of thing Keeley and I would do for each other if one of us was in Juliet抯 shoes. Hell, I wouldn抰 be surprised if Keeley already did something like that today.
揘ow do you want to tell me why the hell I arrived to find you being manhandled in a hot tub, wearing next to nothing??
揂 bikini is actually standard attire for a棓
揧ou are intentionally missing the goddamn point.?
揑 don抰 know,?I reply, too tired to be defensive, too tired to say, 搚ou have an excuse for everything, but you don抰 want me to meet your friends and it hurts.?揑t was Keeley抯 idea. And now you sound jealous.?
揧eah,?he replies, jaw grinding. 揘o shit.?
We stare at each other for a moment, and then his shoulders drop and he closes the distance between us, pulling me to him. I go reluctantly. 揘ext time,?he says, 搄ust ask me.?
揑抦 asking you now,?I reply, turning my face up to look at him and then dropping my gaze when it feels like I might cry. 揑抳e seen the girls you take to these weekends away. They抮e all over your friend抯 feed. Yet you didn抰 bring me.?
揂nd you wanted to go??he asks.
揘o.?It抯 such a fucking lie. 揑 just want to know why.?
揇id it ever occur to you that if pictures of the people I bring are all over Drew抯 feed, then you抎 then be all over Drew抯 feed??he demands, irritated anew. 揈ven if I asked her not to post, she can抰 go anywhere without getting photographed, and the rest of us get photographed too. And that would be a problem because you don抰 want to go to HR.?
Oh. Right. Shit.
揋et your clothes,?he says. 揥e抮e going home.?
I want to agree. Even if I抦 hurt, and he抯 the cause, he抯 still the only place I want to be. 揧ou don抰 have to do that,?I tell him instead. 揑 can Uber. Go back to your friends.?
揋emma,?he whispers, pressing his lips to my temple and forehead in turn. 揇o you really think for a second I wouldn抰 rather be with you??
I let my eyes fall closed for a minute and rest my head against his chest.
I want to believe him. I want to stop being like this.
But I don抰 know how卆nd I抦 still not certain I should.
33
Something shifts after the Palm Springs weekend. Even if we don抰 say it, even if we still haven抰 gone to HR, I can no longer deny we抮e a couple. I guess the truth is匢 don抰 want to deny it. He抯 at my place every night and it抯 hard to imagine not having him there.
He appears in my office early in the evening, the way he always does. His eyes drift over my face in that way of his條anguid and possessive at once梐nd I抦 immediately picturing his head between my legs. Alas, it抯 not to be.
揧ou can抰 come over,?I tell him. 揑 have to do some shopping.?
There抯 been no time to get gifts for Victoria抯 kids because Ben抯 always around, and I抳e put it off for as long as I can.
His full mouth tips into a filthy smile. 揑 don抰 mind shopping.?
揑t抯 not sexy shopping,?I say with a roll of my eyes. 揑 think you抮e picturing sitting in the dressing room of La Perla while I try on lingerie.?
揑 wasn抰， but now I am.?He glances toward the door, then leans down to let his lips brush my neck. 揑抣l come anyway.?
I make him drive me to the Target over on Beverly Boulevard. 揂re we here to finally make your apartment look less creepy??he asks.
揑 like my creepy apartment.?I push a cart toward him and get one of my own.
揕iar.?
I laugh. Fine, I don抰 like my creepy apartment. 揑抦 not decorating my place because it抯 temporary. I抣l be a whole new me in a year or two.?
揜ight,?he says. 揥idowed veteran or whatever.?
揤eterinarian.?
揇o you even like animals??
I pull the kids?letters from my purse. 揝tay on task. We抮e toy shopping.?I hand him Phillip抯 list.
A single brow arches as he looks it over. 揑 wasn抰 expecting your shopping lists to contain quite so many Nerf guns.?
I smile. 揑t抯 this kid I know. Just卲ick some stuff. Not twenty Nerf guns, but maybe two of them, and then some other things.?
揟his is an odd way to tell me you抳e got kids, Gemma,?he says.