Page 35 of Secrets

"Yeah, I guess I should probably stop trying to tempt death. Seems you're always around to be my cowboy to stop it anyway."

"Let me take you out. On a real date."

Eyes wide, she stares at him. "Are you serious?"

"I'd say as a heart attack, but it sounds a bit crass considering the heart transplant and all."

"I'm good for a fun night, but I don't know about a date, Bodie. I'm sorry."

"Fate has put you in my path multiple times now to stop you from being taken off this planet. I think the universe has a plan for the two of us, and I'm pretty sure you'll come around. I don't want just a night with you, Jolie, and I don't think you want just one night with me, either. I'll wait until you're ready. Let me give you my number, and you can give me a call when you think you may be up for a date instead of a one-night stand."

Jolie just shakes her head as she gives him her phone, and he taps his number on the screen. Smirking, he lists himself as COWBOY, hoping to make her laugh when she finally breaks down and gives him a call.

Chapter Fourteen

Summerville

Rocky

Rocky sits outside in the backyard while Hannah's gone for a week to “think about things.” Something Rocky didn't want her to do, but he knows she'll find a way to go even if he tells her no. It's only nine in the morning, but he's already throwing back beers after having yet another night of passionless sex with the woman he loves more than anything in the world. If he had anything else to hold onto between them, he'd stop initiating anything. It's the only intimacy he gets from her, and he's worried.

Her disconnect hurts, and he can't seem to do anything she likes. Nothing he says or does can make her happy, and it's all he desperately wants to do. Seeing her smile and then laugh withLex after she told him he doesn't understand what she's going through hurt even more than if she'd punched him square in the nose.

"Things going that bad?" Marvin Cannon asks as he takes a seat in the lawn chair next to Rocky. "It's pretty early to be three beers in already. Unless you've been drinking since last night. Then you're just not going hard enough."

Rather than laugh, Rocky just shakes his head. "What are you doing here?"

"Checking in on you. Wanted to see how you were doing after Hannah kind of handed you your ass in the clubhouse."

He reaches into the cooler next to his seat and tosses a cold one to Cannon. "I started about forty-five minutes ago. Hannah's gone for a week to think about things."

"Uh oh," he says.

"Yep."

"I assume things are still a little rocky then, huh?" he asks, chuckling at his own stupid joke. "Sorry, I thought it might make you at least crack a smile. Guess we're not at that stage of drunkenness yet, huh?"

"I don't know what to do, man," he says with a sigh.

The look of pity on Cannon's face makes Rocky want to smack it away. "What's going on?"

How much should he share? Cannon's one of his best friends, but he doesn't have an old lady. His last woman gave him a daughter, but they never made it last. He's a one-night only type of guy. The only woman he's been consistent with in her life is Sutton, but it's different when it's a father-daughter relationship.

"Shit just isn't getting better with Hannah. It's like she's still gone, man. I thought it'd start to wear off soon, but it's only getting worse."

"Time for women is different than it is for us. She needs more time to reacclimate. Plus, we don't know exactly how it was for her on the inside. Being associated with us doesn't mean she's a queen bee in there, you know."

"Yeah, I suppose that's true. But how much time am I supposed to give her? It's been a long ass time. Months, man, and she's still... I don't know."

Opening the beer can, Cannon looks into the unlit firepit and takes a long drink. "Is she holding out on you?"

“Nope.”

"That's a good sign, though, right?"

"Nope."

He looks at his friend, his eyes narrowed. "I'm confused. When is getting laid by your girl a bad sign? Getting laid is a goal in basically every man's life."

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