Page 7 of Love, Luck & Clusterf*ck

“Well, yeah, but now that I have that new job….”

Christa was the responsible one, the one who had her shit together. Went to college, had the respectable career in a dermatology clinic, made good, consistent money. She may not stick with a man longer than a night or two, but that’s where her fickleness ended. She needed that indulgence because the rest of her life was so structured.

“It wouldn’t be a hardship to her if you left, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“No, that’s not what I’m worried about.” I removed his hands from the insides of my thighs before he stuck his fingers somewhere I didn’t want. “I like living with Christa. She’s my best friend. I want to stay here. At least for now.” I could always revisit my decision later.

He tugged me down to his chest so he could suck on my shoulder. “I can be your best friend, Perry.”

“I don’t want you to be my best friend. You’re my….” What exactly was he? Boyfriend? That didn’t sound right. Lover? That sounded even more hilarious.

“One and only,” Dre finished. His tongue dragged over my collarbone, and I just felt… wet. And not in a good way.

What Christa had said the night before popped into my head. “Why do you want this, Dre? Why now all of a sudden, after all these years?”

He palmed my face and looked at me. “Because it took me that long to realize I don’t want to share you anymore. I also don’t want to lose you. I want us to be a real couple.”

“And that extends to you too? I also wouldn’t be sharing you anymore?”

“Of course. I told you that yesterday. You don’t believe me?”

“No, it’s just that you kind of sprung all this on me. It’s not the type of thing we’ve done before.”

“So, what’s wrong with that? New is good. Let’s try something new together.”

Dammit. I couldn’t disagree with his logic. Again, it made too much frickin’ sense. We’d already been together for years. We knew each other well and had a decent time together. We rarely fought and he tolerated my bitchy times. I loved him in a way I couldn’t define, but it could still be considered a form of love. He was familiar.

“Okay,” I said.

“Okay?” I nodded and he covered my lips with his. “You won’t regret this, Perry,” he muttered between kisses. “We’ll be great together. You’ll see.”

I tried returning his kiss because that’s what happy exclusive couples did, right? They showed their affection often and only shared it with each other. We wouldn’t be going outside the relationship to get it from anyone else again.

The pinch on my nipple took me completely by surprise. I didn’teven know he was in that vicinity until bam! I flinched and broke our lip seal.All right, enough. I can’t do this right now.I’d never describe our sex life as toe-curling, but it was acceptable. I even came from time to time, although that was usually through the help of my own hand. I’d certainly had worse—muchworse—and hadn’t found anything better. That had to mean something.

Despite all that, I couldn’t bring myself to go any further with him at the moment. Not only was I not turned on, but my vagina was starting to retreat into my abdomen.

“What’d I do wrong?”

“Nothing, Dre. It’s me. Like I said, I’m just off right now.”

“Hey, what about meeting up at Lucky’s later? Since I couldn’t make it last night.”

I swore Dre’s brown eyes flashed blue for a second, and I scrubbed my hands over my face. Good. They were back as they should be. But I had to make sure I never peered into that shade again, and I could greatly increase those odds if I didn’t make another appearance at the Irish pub. I’d never seen that man there before, and there was no reason to subject myself to a repeat. Not when there was a different bar on practically every block to choose from instead.

“If you don’t mind, I’m just going to stay in tonight. I figure one more day and I’ll be good to go again. Tomorrow I’m heading over to see Sam and Emily if you’d like to come along.”

“Nah, that’s all right. I’ll let you just go ahead.” He hopped off the bed. “You start first shift Monday, right?”

“Yep.”

“Okay, how about we go to Wengo’s after? Monday nights are slow at the gym. It’ll be our first official date as a couple.”

“Sure.” I smiled. “That sounds good.”

A date?What had gotten into this guy? Although, Dre was only talking about rational everyday stuff, so why did it sound so fuckinginsane?God, please let me feel some kind of normal after this weekend.

Best to hold on to that necklace after all.

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