Page 20 of 7 Dirty Lies

“Sexually transmitted diseases.Oh god.”I buried my face in my hands.On the bright side, Colt was out of practice, too.And didn’t he say he always needed to trust the women he was with?That had to help with the disease factor,didn’tit?

Oh, who was I kidding?This was a crap shoot.“I need to see the doctor as soon as wegetback.”

He patted my head.“You and me both.However mine is just to be extra safe.We actually used condoms lastnight.”

“And how are you doing?What happened with the angrybrunette?”

He grinned.“Her name is Charlotte, Charley for short, and I’m in love.”He said it quickly andlookedaway.

Which could onlymean...“No.”

He peeked back.“Yes.I mean it, Lily.I love her.She’s the perfect woman.She’s a totalballbuster.”

“Obviously.”

“Obviously,” he agreed, swiping a hand through his dark hair.“She pushed me in the pool after our first conversation and I’ve got to tell you, she’s like that allthetime.”

I liked her already.“But love, Ted?After onenight?”

“Says the woman who hasn’t stopped smiling.Tell me, does your midnight cowboy speak to your soul when he’s fucking you blind or were those moans I heard coming from your side of the bungalow purelysexual?”

I didn’t answer.Mostly because I hadn’t realized I’d beenthatloud.

“I’ve heard you have sex many times over the years,” he said matter-of-factly.An unfortunate truth that went both ways.“And I’ve never heard you like that.Or him, for that matter.He sounded...happy.Very happy.And my impression of the grumpy cowboy was that happy was not normalforhim.”

“Were you standing outside my window orsomething?”

He shrugged.“Charley and I didn’t quite make it into my room the first time.”He cleared his throat andlookedaway.

Ew.“You two banged on that bench out there?And listened to us while you were doing it?”This was taking our friendship waytoofar.

Waytoofar.

“Don’t be ridiculous.We were trying very hard to ignore you.It’s not our fault you werethatloud.”

I covered my ears and tried desperately to drown out the image of Ted and Charley listeningtous.

“Which is it, Princess?Was the soul involved?”He lowered my hands and dipped down to catchmygaze.

I hated admitting how much Colt affected me.“The soul wasinvolved.”

“So you do understand what can happen in a single night.You can meet that person who gets youandknow.”

“All I know is that I don’t have timeforthis.”

He rolled his eyes.“That’s anexcuse.”

“Iliedto him.”I spun back, finger in his chest.“Because someone encouraged me todoso.”

“If he likes your soul as much as he likes fucking your body, he’ll understand.”He twirled away from my jabby finger.“Look at where we are.Half the people here are using an assumed name.You don’t know his real nameisColt.”

True.

Ted had apoint.

But it didn’t erase the fact that he was a workaholic and I was too busy cleaning up a mess to fall in love with someone.Love involved selflessness, something I didn’t have tooffer.

Notyet.

“Look, if Charley is your other half, great.I’m happy you found it and instantly knew.But don’t expect me to feel the same way.We’re best friends, not identicaltwins.”

He shrugged.“And here I thought you were making progress.Turns out crabby pants is still inthere.”

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