Page 65 of Love Bites Hard

“If my mom and sisters were here, they’d kill me. I should be doing everything I can to make this easier for you.”

That one made me pause for a moment, but I caught myself quickly and continued eating.

Porter ran a hand through his hair. It was just as messy as usual, but maybe a little more tangled than it often was. “What you said when you were in the lake was right. I’m sorry I’ve hurt you, and I’m going to do better.”

I took another bite of potatoes.

Nope, wasn’t acknowledgingthatpromise. I didn’t believe him. And even if I had believed him, I wasn’t going to act any different. He hadn’t earned that.

Finally, he unwrapped his plate and started eating too.

Guess we were done talking.

Finally.

fifteen

IZZY

We atein silence until I finally stood up and made my way to the bathroom wordlessly. I’d pulled the curtain over the doorway a few days earlier, so there was a little more privacy.

The lake water was clean enough that I didn’t reallyneedto wash my hair, but I wanted to give myself more time before I went back out there and found Porter gone again. So, I showered.

Afterward, I pulled a brush through my hair and put my clothes from earlier back on. Throwing some lotion on my face and brushing my teeth came last, before I padded back into the room.

I stopped suddenly in the doorway, the curtain falling halfway over my shoulder.

I blinked once.

Then again.

Porter was sitting on our bed. His back was propped up against a pillow.

He was typing on his phone, but paused and lifted his gaze to move over my face and down my body for a moment before he looked back at his phone.

He probably just needed to use the bathroom or something.

Letting out a short breath, I finally walked to the bed. My gaze caught on a pile of underwear in the far corner of the room, and I noticed a balled-up sheet beneath it, along with the blankets that had been on the bed.

I’d never seen the sheets and blankets that were on the mattress before, so it seemed safe to assume Porter had stepped out to find them while I was getting ready for bed. Or maybe he’d asked someone else to bring them over.

Either way, he’d definitely gone hunting for the underwear I hid around the room. And found most of it, by the looks of the pile.

He went into the bathroom while I slipped into bed. Though I could’ve redistributed the underwear to continue the war, I figured my efforts would be best spent in another way that he wouldn’t see coming.

And I didn’t really want to share my bed with dirty underwear.

So, I just sprawled out in the middle of the bed. I always slept like that, and since Porter would be leaving, I saw no reason to stop.

Not wanting to watch him walk away from me again, I pressed the button to lower the canopy, and got comfortable in the dark, cozy space.

Maybe I wouldn’t feel so lonely that night.

Closing my eyes, I let out a slow breath. Though I could still smell the other men faintly, Porter’s scent was much stronger. And more pleasant too. Honestly, it relaxed me.

I wasn’t even almost asleep a few minutes later, when the canopy lifted.

Porter rolled underneath it, and I turned my face toward him. My forehead creased, but my heartbeat picked up a little.

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