Page 134 of Counting On You

The first shows Bruce with some guy, both wearing red Christmas-themed underwear while making out in a dimly lit room that looks like a bar. She peers at the next one, then the next.

The last one’s so explicit, she claps her hand over her mouth and looks up. I expect her to cry, rage, anything but—laugh.

“I can’t believe I was so blind. The thought never even occurred to me. And I thought you were married with two kids and I was going to hell for breaking up your marriage.”

I don’t get this woman at all.

“You’re not angry?” I ask warily.

“Angry? Why would I be? I’m over him. I wish him nothing but the best. Maybe one day he’ll find the strength to be himself.” She stares at me as if she can’t believe what she’s just said. “I’m over him. In fact, I don’t see what attracted me to him in the first place.” She points at the explicit photo. “I don’t know what to say except, holy crap. And who’s the other guy? He looks familiar but I can’t place him.”

“Probably because his face is buried in Bruce’s lap. It’s his ex’s brother. Or maybe I should say his fiancée’s brother. They bought an apartment together a few weeks ago. That’s how my brother found out about them. He’s a lawyer. He knows where to dig.”

“You knew, didn’t you? That’s why you looked into him.”

I take the pictures from her outstretched hands and throw them in the waste bin.

“I suspected it. Seriously, no guy in his right mind would say no to you. But that’s not why I asked my brother to investigate him. I just didn’t trust him.”

She lets out a laugh. “You would fuck everything that has boobs, Kade.”

“Absolutely not.”

She slaps my arm playfully. “Why don’t I believe you?”

“That was before I met you, Vicky,” I say softly. “No woman ever meant anything to me. It was all a challenge. Until you came along.”

“Until I came along?” Her lips twitch. She’s clearly not believing me.

“I know how crazy it sounds.” I cup her face between my hands and look into her eyes, wondering whether she can hear how hard my heart is pounding. “But it’s the truth, Vicky. I don’t miss the kind of life I led before. But you, I miss you whenever you’re not around. I want you.”

More than she knows.

She isn’t a nameless conquest on my list. She broke all the rules by piercing her way into my heart.

“What are you saying?” Her voice is hoarse, barely a whisper.

“I’m not the same person. Can you forgive me?”

I know I’m expecting too much. She should be pushing me away, let me earn her forgiveness. Instead, she interlocks her fingers with mine and squeezes gently.

“Kade, there’s nothing to forgive. You never made a secret out of not wanting a relationship, so I knew pretty much from the beginning what I was getting into.”

“You were never a fling, Vicky.”

“I would like to think of myself as one.”

I frown. “Why?”

“It makes life easier.” Her mouth tightens. “It’ll make it easier for me to forget you once you’re gone.”

It strikes me that she isn’t just the first woman to reject me and avoid me after we’ve had sex; she’s also the only person who’s ever accepted me for who I am.

This goes beyond friendship.

I don’t want to lose her.

I have to make sure she knows that.

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