Page 16 of Finding Forever in Cedarwood

Chapter Four

Stone glared at Jeff. He wasn’t sure why he’d allowed Jeff to convince him to chat again. “I need to go.” He’d spent too much time arguing with the man for nothing. All he and Jeff would ever be was a dead end.But trust my ex to show up at the right time. As if I know where Stone is at all times…

“No, you don’t.” Jeff stood in front of the door. “You ignored me.”

“We split and I have nothing to say to you.”

“You left me.”

“Christ.” He couldn’t handle this for much longer. “We’ve been through this. We’re over. You hate me and I’m tired of the verbal abuse. Let’s keep things split and go our separate ways.”

“Why? Did you find someone else? That skinny shit out there? He’s fake tanned and those highlights are bleach. I bet he’s had his teeth fixed and he’s tatted. You hate tatts.”

Where is this coming from?“So?”

“You like him,” Jeff snapped. “Oh my God.”

“I barely know him.” He edged around his ex. “I’m being a good neighbor and I need to go. I owe him a tour.”

“We were good together.”

“We were shit,” he said, lowering his voice. “We argued and you called me every name but my own. You threw stuff at me. That’s not love. It’s hell. Besides, everyone in town knew we were not only together, but feuding. It’s not cool.”

“It could be good again.” Jeff held up his hands. “Please?”

“I doubt it.”

“But that guy would make you happy?”

“He’s a friend.”

“With benefits?”

“Jeff, don’t do this.” He scooted around Jeff and grabbed the door handle. “I owe my friend a tour and I hate to let myfriendsdown.”

“Give me another chance.”

“No.” He left the room. He hated how he felt around Jeff. His heart raced, but not in a good way. His palms turned clammy and he wanted to retreat. That wasn’t attraction. It was disgust and fear.

He hurried through the building to find Liam. He finally located his friend in the weight room. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Liam perused the rack of free weights. “I’m fine. You don’t have to entertain me.”

“That’s not what happened.”Damn it.

“I hear the receptionist thinks you’re hot.” Liam crooked his eyebrow. “She does.”

“Jesus.” He’d have to talk to Anna and straighten her out. He wasn’t hot.

“Why are you surprised?”

“Because.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Look, I’m sorry. My ex-boyfriend is a dick. He wanted to cause trouble and it worked.”

“I noticed.” Liam trailed his hand over the edge of the railing on one of the treadmills. “He’s territorial.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to talk about him.”

“He hates that you moved on, doesn’t he?”

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