Page 121 of Almost Love

“Just…text her. Nothing needs to come of it besides a friendship. You admitted that she’s pretty.”

“She’s gorgeous, but I don’t have the time for any of that.”

“I want to remind you that you said you wanted to fuck someone not too long ago.”

“For fuck’s sake. You’re impossible.”

“But you love me.”

Mack growled and shot her a glare. “I’m starting to regret everything I said today.”

“Love you, Rossy poo.” She pressed a loud kiss against his cheek and he huffed.

“You’re the fucking worst.”

Once Mack had pictures of his pencil drawings, she dropped him off at his house and then went to the bakery. While she had left Roscoe and Freya in charge of the festival menu, Clementine wanted to make a batch of donuts to drop off at A Fine Needle. However, being a workaholic, the minute she walked into the kitchen, her fingers started to twitch with the need to help out.The whiteboard had a list of items they were making for the food fling, with names beside things people had claimed. By the looks of it, she had nothing to do, which was disappointing. But also a good thing considering it meant she could relax.

Finally admitting that they didn’t need her assistance, Clementine made space in a corner of the kitchen and worked on a dozen Banana Bread donuts. During the drive back to the bakery, she’d decided to finally tell Oakley how she felt. Let him know that he was more than just her friend and she would be fine if they didn’t have benefits anymore. As long as she got to have him. The whole time she baked, she had to fight back the smile tugging at her lips. Mack was right, she had been smiling a lot more. Sometimes it was because of Oakley, but a lot of the time it was because she just felt like it.

With the donuts boxed up, she drove to A Fine Needle. The first time she’d showed up with dessert, Clementine had kissed him. This was far from the last time she would be bringing dessert to the shop, but it felt like a full circle moment.Walk in there, feed him a donut and sayI love you. It’s that simple.There was nobody at the front desk when she walked in, so she left the box there and took one donut as she headed to the workstations. She was still busy psyching herself up that she almost missed the deep voices laughing and talking.

“The sex good?”

Oakley’s laugh reached her. “The sex is phenomenal.”

“She’s gorgeous.”

“That’s too lame a word for her. She’s fucking perfect.”

“You sure it’s just about sex? Sounds like you’re in it for the long haul,” the other man said, chuckling.

She held her breath as she waited for his response, but rustling of curtains and other voices drowned it out. Tears welled up and she backed away, afraid of what he might or not have said. Her heart splintered as she speed-walked out of theshop, tossing the donut into the box. She heard someone say her name, but Clementine didn’t stop. She just kept moving, scared that if she turned around, her resolve would falter. Pressing a hand to her chest, she tried to breathe normally, but every inhale felt like glass was scraping against her throat.

Sucking in a sharp breath, she collapsed against the side of her truck and exhaled as tears slid down her cheek. Wasn’t this her biggest fear? That she would be ready to give all of herself and he wouldn’t want any of that? She’d told him as much how trusting her own feelings had gotten her heart broken and trampled on so many times. And then he—

“Clementine!” His voice broke through her inner ramblings and she shook her head, trying to find her words. When he spoke again, he was much closer. “You heard only a bit of the conversation.”

“It’s fine, you should get back to work.”

“Can you please look at me?” he asked, pain clear in his voice. She pinched her eyes shut and pressed back against her truck. “Baby,please.”

It was thepleasethat did it and she turned to look at him, glad there was enough room between their bodies. Her heart hurt for herself, but also for the way Oakley looked right then. It wasn’t only because he was still wearing his gloves and his hair was flat thanks to his cap—it was the worry in his eyes.

“You know how I feel about you.”

“Do I?” she mumbled, looking anywhere but at his face. Because shethoughtshe knew how he felt about her.Clearly I was fucking wrong.

“I didn’t want to pressure you to say it back.” Nodding, she dug in her bag for her keys and she heard him growl. “For fuck’s sake, stop running away.”

She huffed and turned to face him fully. He looked devastated, but irritated at the same time. She’d seen him withdifferent expressions, but this was definitely the hardest to swallow.

“You said that what we have isjustsex.”

“Look at me right now and tell me that you believe that.”

Clementine stared into his eyes and shook her head, because she had to trust that he wouldn’t just toss aside what they had. “Then why did you say it?”

“That is not what I said!”

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