Page 88 of Somehow You Knew

Closing his eyes, Gage sighs. “Blueberry.”

With a laugh, I hop down from the counter and grab a clean towel from the rack, wrapping it around myself. “He probably needs to go outside.”

Wobbling on my feet, I head for the door, but Gage stops me.

“I’ll take him out so you can get ready for bed.”

I blink up at him. “Okay.”

With a nod, he leaves.

As I turn and look at myself in the bathroom mirror, the room begins to spin. God, waking up tomorrow is going to suck. Not just because I’ll have to face the consequences of the alcohol, but because I have no idea how Gage is going to act after tonight.

After I put on a pair of silk pajamas and brush my teeth, I stumble to my bed, burrowing under my blanket.

At some point, I swear I feel the weight in the bed shift and a hand stroking my back.

But when I wake up in the morning, I’m alone.

***

“Wow. Mutual masturbation is really fucking hot,” Laney says through the phone. “Perhaps one day I can fulfill that fantasy as well.”

“It was one of the most erotic moments of my life.”

“Well, that’s saying something—considering you hold sex toy parties for fun.”

I giggle—then groan as soon as a fresh wave of throbbing hits my temples. “Oh God, don’t make me laugh.”

“Had a little too much to drink last night, did ya?”

“Let’s just say that the liquid courage was in full force, and the second I woke up, I brushed my teeth because I swear, it tasted like a cat shit in my mouth while I was sleeping.”

Laney laughs. “The joys of drinking. But I think it’s a good sign that he denied you... Repeatedly.”

I frown. “Are you kidding? I mean, I did still get an orgasm out of it, but…”

“Well, it shows he’s not a creep who takes advantage of drunk women, and he’s not just into you for sex. I mean it sounds like youthrewyourself at him. Multiple times. Like, low-key kinda desperate—”

“Hey, I was not desperate! I was drunk and horny—there’s a difference.”

“Uh-huh. And he wouldn’t touch you, or let you touch him, even though he clearly wanted you. He must care about you.”

“Or he’s just terrified of my brothers…”

We both laugh.

I think about our conversation afterward…when I asked him why he was afraid of me and he responded by placing my hand over his heart. I have no idea what that meant, but the only logical explanation is that he’s feeling something for me too.

“Well, I’d love to ask him about it, but I have no idea where he is. Probably back to avoiding me and pretending nothing happened, as usual.”

“God, I seriously just want to strangle the two of you.”

Groaning, I open the medicine cabinet and grab the bottle of ibuprofen. “I know…Enough is enough. When he gets home, I’m going tomakehim talk to me. I can’t do this anymore.”

As if I summoned him, Gage walks through the front door, holding a box from Astrid’s bakery, two coffees, and a bottle of Pedialyte. Our eyes meet and the corner of his mouth lifts. “Hey, Spitfire.”

“Uh, Laney, I gotta go.”