Page 10 of 28 Dates

“I—”

“Please.” She shakes her head. “No more apologies. Just go, Jonas.”

“Okay.” I lean in and brush my lips over her forehead. She flinches away, and that kills, too. Perhaps I shouldn’t have given her one last kiss, but the desire to take away her pain is still inside of me. Even knowing what I’m about to do next. “Take care, Ashley.”

She steps away from me, hand on the doorknob to her apartment. It feels like I’ve been in this doorway for hours, dragging out our goodbyes. And maybe this is making it harder for her.

“Bye, Jonas.”

Her cues are obvious. Without another word, I turn and leave her apartment, startling at the quiet click of the door behind me. Behind it, I hear a sob break free before I’m steps away, and God, that stings, too. She cried when I talked to her, teary-eyed through her questions of asking me why, especially when I’d gotten her hopes up about the upcoming weekend. And lamely, all I could give her was that my heart just wasn’t in it as much as hers. Sure, I prettied it up some to make it sound nicer, but I don’t have a more concrete answer.

I reach the end of the hallway and stab the elevator button. I should wait for what I’m about to do next. Go home or back to the bar, have a few drinks, get shit settled in my head.

Yet, as the elevator doors open and I step inside, my mind is already made up.

I’ve been in love with Caitlin for almost two years, and right now, there’s a slim chance I can get her to see we’d be good together. I’ve hidden my desire for her. I’ve wrapped it up in a box and shoved it far away since, all because I was trying…trying to get past her, and trying to like Ashley as much as I should, but the truth remains…no one has ever captured my attention the way Caitlin has.

Which means by the time the elevator reaches the ground floor, I’m already pulling up a contact number on my phone, a number I haven’t called often, and I definitely haven’t done it in the last six months.

The last time I called him, Caitlin was drunk off too many martinis and I’d walked her back to her apartment only to realize we’d left her keys at the bar and we were locked out.

I’d called Trey and he’d come downstairs, laughing at the giggly-ridiculous drunken Caitlin, and he let us in using his spare key. The benefit of having one of her best friends and boss live ten floors above her.

Given how hard the man works and how much I know of his erratic schedule from Caitlin, I’m completely surprised when he answers his phone.

“Hey Trey. Jonas.”

“Yeah, man. What’s up? Caitlin all right?”

Shoving open the door, a blast of cool air slams into my face, making my cheeks sting as I step out. “Yeah. Actually, she’s part of what I want to talk to you about. Any chance you got time for a drink on me? I’m heading to Dirty’s now.”

There’s a beat of silence before he answers. Too bad I don’t know Trey well enough to know what he’s thinking. “Yeah, sure. I can be there in twenty, thirty minutes.”

“Good. See you then.” I disconnect and squeeze my phone, still staring at the blinking screen.

This has the potential to get screwed seven ways to Sunday.

Or get me the girl I’ve wanted for years.

Either way, it’s a risk I have to take.

—

I’m back behind the bar, well before Trey arrives. We’re not slammed, and my main bartender Tucker can handle the crowd. I don’t regret hanging back, drinking a beer, and trying to calm the nerves pounding against my skull while I wait for Trey.

He’s protective of her. He and Corbin always have been. Hell, once Trey heard we were hooking up, he came to the bar with her a few times and stood like the damn boxing-ring pro he looks like in the corner, glaring me down as if I were going to assault her in a public, packed bar. After that, I wondered more than once or ten times if there was something between Caitlin and Trey I was missing. Yet the one time I asked her about it, she laughed so hard she ended up with tears streaming down her cheeks.

“That buffoon? No way.” Her red hair whipped across her cheeks and stuck to her tears.

I reached out and tugged them down. “I had to ask. You two are so close.”

“Yeah, because he’s like my brother. Anything else is gross.” Her face scrunches, and if I’m not mistaken, she turns green at the thought.

Her eyes are shining bright green emeralds. Only a few hours ago, they were dark and hazy while she rode me. Now there’s nothing but pure hilarity sparkling back at me.

Who can blame me for being curious? A man and a woman—especially one as protective as Trey and one as sexy as Caitlin—being only friends? It’s an enigma. One I’m willing to let go.

We’re only friends who have sex, anyway.

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