Page 91 of Just One Night Together

“I don’t know for sure! That’s the fucking point, Haley! It isn’t worth taking that kind of a chance.” Damon reached for the deadbolt, unlocked it, then opened the door. He met her gaze again. “We’ve reached the end of that good bit,” he said. “You need to go.”

Haley could have argued with him. She could have seduced him. But if he thought this was the end of the good bit, then it must be.

She pulled on her boots and grabbed her bag.

She wasn’t going to cry, much less beg. “It was really good. Thanks.” She held Damon’s gaze as she fastened her coat, then walked past him and out the door. She didn’t look back. She didn’t stare at the sidewalk. She kept her head high.

Did he watch her? Haley told herself she couldn’t have cared less.

Did he follow her? Haley told herself that she didn’t want him to.

Did he call out after her? Haley closed her eyes, hoping he wouldn’t and fearing he would.

Because there was something about Damon that drew her back over and over again, something that made him impossible to ignore or resist, something—she was starting to wonder—that really might break her heart.

It was hurting pretty badly already.

Walking away now was the smart choice.

He didn’t call her name or follow her. At the end of the block, Haley saw a cab and hailed it, never looking back. She folded her arms across her chest and fought her tears as she sat in the back.

She’d squeezed every moment out of the good bit and told herself to be glad.

But Haley, despite her best efforts, wasn’t glad at all.

* * *

Haley had just openeda can of tuna when her phone rang. It was her mom. She gave half the tuna to the cat, then answered. “Hi Mom.”

“Hello, honey. Are you busy?”

“Not particularly.”

“You sound blue.”

“Maybe a little.”

“That time of year is coming up. I’ve been thinking about your dad’s birthday, too.” Her mom sighed. “Every year I think it should get easier but it never does.”

“No,” Haley admitted around the lump in her throat. “It never does.” She watched the cat eat and decided it was easier to let her mom think the approaching birthday was the reason she was down in the dumps. She wondered how she could call him Ninja and not think about Damon eighty-seven million times a day.

Maybe she would anyway.

She was going to miss him, and not just because she liked the way he said thanks.

“But I have something to tell you!” her mom enthused.

“You’re pregnant,” Haley guessed, an old joke between the two of them.

“No!” Her mom laughed, then sobered. “Are you?”

“No.” Haley thought about not using condoms every single time.

Probably not.

She counted on her fingers and didn’t think so.

“Because there are lots of reasons to be feeling glum besides your dad’s birthday.”

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