Page 68 of Love or Leave

"What are you going to do about brother's friend guy?"

Hmm… that was trickier.

Cara knew what she had to do. She had to forget about her feelings for Antonio and move on. Maturely. That way, they could still hang out as a group.

She was certain that eventually, as time went on, she'd realize that her feelings for him were nothing more than postcoital hormones. And when he reconciled with Fran, she would be happy for him.

She gathered her thoughts, then started typing.

eighteen

Antonio stared at his phone’s screen, waiting. Ten minutes had passed since he'd texted Cara asking if she was okay with everything that had happened between them.

He'd been writing and deleting texts since Sunday night. Must have started at least a hundred, ranging from asking if she was okay to asking her if they should go out sometime, but he couldn't bring himself to send any of them.

He knew he should forget about it all and let Cara move on with her life, as she wanted. But that was much easier said than done.

When he'd agreed to spend the night with her, he expected he'd be able to separate sex from his feelings. But the feelings crept in through the cracks, and now he was trying to figure out whether to exterminate them or let them take over.

He'd finally broken down during his lunch break and wrote the most generic, surface-level text he could, hoping it would at least open communication so he could get a better idea of where her head was at.

They needed to get together and talk about it. There had been no chance for him to speak to her after he'd left his room with Max.

She might have hated him. Or maybe she felt indifferent about the entire experience. But what if she had feelings for him, too?

What if they were as deep as his?

He had to know.

Finally, a notification pinged on his phone, and he checked it, but it wasn't a text from her, it was an email from the property manager at his new apartment.

He rolled his eyes and set his phone down.

It wasn't urgent. He'd already completed the lease and gave notice to his current landlord that he was leaving. The new property manager said he was going to email details about when he could start moving his stuff in.

Antonio couldn't wait to get out of the place he was in, but it was hard to be excited about his new apartment when his mind was so occupied with the mess he'd made with Cara.

Why hadn't he just admitted his feelings to her that night, and told he thought they should give things a go?

Because two weeks ago you shot down her advances and told her you wanted Fran.

He dropped his head down on the table.

It had been fifteen minutes now, and he was getting worried. He tried to tell himself that she was probably busy, at her lab, doing whatever a person at a space lab does—that she wasn't staring at his text wondering how to tell him the truth, that he'd hurt her, and that she'd never forgive him.

Exactly what Sara had told him.

He'd thought that was the lowest he'd ever sink, but no. He went and slept with his best friend's little sister, whom he secretly loved—and who now refused to speak to him—and lied to his friend's face about it.

God, sometimes he just fucking hated himself.

He was about to give up and get back to work when his phone rang.

He shot up and grabbed it off the table, ready to answer it way, way, way too eagerly. But it wasn't Cara.

It was Maria.

He wanted to curse the universe for sending so much communication from all the wrong people. Why couldn't he get a response from Cara? She was the only person he cared to hear from at that moment.

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