Page 29 of Affinity

“A couple of hammocks would be nice. If I had an assistant, I’d have them up by tomorrow, but I guess it will have to wait.” I bit into my sandwich and moaned. Holy hell, how could she make chicken salad taste so good? “You’re the best cook I’ve ever known.”

Her cheeks blushed as she smiled at me from across the table. “I’m probably the only cook you’ve ever known. Why didn’t you hire a chef when you were married before?”

She really knew how to ruin the mood.

“Thanks for lunch. I’m going to go to my spot in the backyard and eat.” I stood with my plate in hand and grabbed my water bottle to a gaping Abbi. I started to walk away when I felt her tiny fingers wrap around my wrist. Looking down at her with narrowed eyes, I pulled my arm away.

“Reeves, please don’t leave. I’m sorry if my bringing up Poppy upset you. If you tell me to never mention anything about that time again, then I won’t, but please talk to me. I’m trying to make our time together as tolerable as possible, but I need you to meet me halfway. Deal?” She held out her hand for me to shake.

As much as I hated to admit it, Abbi was right. She had no idea what my triggers were, and if we sat down and discussed them, they’d hopefully be fewer incidents where she pissed me off. I shouldn’t have to hole myself away just so I could get some breathing room.

“Fine.” I sat across from her. “First, stop calling me Reeves. The only person who calls me that is my father, and you’ve seen how shitty our relationship is. Every time I hear it, it’s like nails on a chalkboard.”

“Fine.” She nodded, “I should have known you hated it when literally everyone calls you Jenner. From now on, I’ll call you by your last name.” She looked up for a minute before she met my eyes once again. “What’s your middle name?”

“Don’t have one. My parents couldn’t even bother to give me one. My dad thought it made me seem more badass, but I can tell you when I was growing up, it made me feel like even more of an outcast than I already did around kids my own age.”

Her face softened, and I could have sworn I saw her eyes start to water, but with a blink of her eyes, they were gone. “Is there anything else that’s off-limits?”

I knew she wanted to mention my ex-wife, but she didn’t dare go there after I’d almost walked away a moment ago. “I don’t like to think about my time with Poppy. It doesn’t necessarily make me want to drink, but it doesn’t put me in the best spirits, so it would be great if you don’t mention her.” I almost let it slip that thinking of my ex did make me want to snort a line of coke but caught myself in time. I didn’t want to see the look on her face if she ever learned the truth about why I’d gone to rehab. One bump and I was hooked. Hooked to the way every one of my problems floated away when I used. That was until my high wore off, and my world came crumbling down around me.

Never again was I going to slip down the dark path cocaine had led me. I was in the best shape of my life, and if I kept myself out of any scandals, I would hopefully get back the career I once had.

“Then, I won’t mention it or her.” She shrugged like it was no big deal, but I could tell she was dying to know the whole story. So was the rest of the world, but they were never going to find out. No one needed to know what a fool I’d been to trust someone with my heart.

A heart that was now dead to love.

Abbi bit her bottom lip before she popped a grape in her mouth and chewed thoughtfully, but after a few moments, she never spoke up.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, whatever you want. I’m an open book.”

“Who’s Paul? Is he your boyfriend? Are you holding out hope that he’ll still be waiting for you once our year is up?” More than once, his name had been brought up—even Catherine had mentioned him—and it was driving me crazy, not knowing who he was. It stirred insane jealousy in me that I didn’t trust.

“Paul?” she sputtered. “That has to be one of the worst things I’ve ever heard.” Her eyes scanned my face before they went round. One hand went over her now open mouth. “Are you jealous?”

“Jealous? No,” I protested, too much even to my own ears, “but we have a deal, and the only person we can have sex with for the next year is each other.”

Not that I thought they would be having sex since he had made her cry on the phone our first night here. I didn’t blame the dude, though. I’d be pissed off if my girlfriend got married to a guy as good looking as I was while she was having a weekend away with her girlfriend.

She bit her lip again, only this time it was to keep herself from smiling. “What kind of boyfriend do you think I have that we wouldn’t have had sex in two years?”

I hadn’t really thought of that. Abbi was obviously not a virgin. There hadn’t been any evidence of me stealing her innocence in my hotel room, and she had said it had been two years since her last sexual experience. Maybehewas saving himself.

“Some pussy who’s waiting for marriage,” I laughed out.

“Paul is not a pussy, and if he ever hears you call him one, he’ll probably kick your ass. In fact, he’ll probably do it anyway since you didn’t ask him for my hand in marriage. It should be interesting when you two finally meet.”

“First of all, I’m not sure how I was supposed to ask for your hand in marriage when I had met you mere hours before we tied the knot. You’re acting as if we were dating and decided to elope. Second, you never answered who this Paul guy is. Do you call your dad, Paul?”

Whoever he was sounded like he was going to be a royal pain in my ass and someone I should try to avoid for as long as possible.

“You’re such a dumbass,” she muttered as she looked down. “Paul is my brother. My big brother and the only family I have. He’s been taking care of me since our parents died when I was fourteen.” When her eyes met mine again, they were glassy, and her lower lip trembled.

Fuck, I was an asshole. How did I not know about her parents? Surely Catherine would have thought it was pertinent information I should have had before I opened my big mouth and said something stupid or insensitive.

“I’m . . . ” I cleared my throat. No matter what I said, it would never be enough. “I’m deeply sorry. I didn’t know.” Leaning forward so that my elbows rested on my knees, I continued. “Your brother must be an amazing person to have done that, and for having been a part of making the wonderful person you became.”

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