Page 93 of You, Me, and Forever

He laughed. “Hey, man, if you can’t take the truth, just say so.”

“I can take the truth, asshole. I know what this is. She knows what this is. It was just a little getaway to say goodbye. It’s been great, and now—it’s over.”

“I know you like to keep things casual, dude. But is this your idea of casual? Hell, I like casual. That usually entails dinner, a cocktail, a little small talk, and maybe good sex if things are going well. That’s it. I don’t typically hang out with my casual hookups for months on end and then travel together. That’s just not normal. But maybe it’s a big-city thing.” He smirked, knowing that it wasn’t a big-city thing.

I’d fucked up.

Made this harder for her.

Made it harder for myself, if I was being honest.

I didn’t know, because I’d never done this before.

I wasn’t used to doing the simple things with someone the way I did with Montana. Cooking dinner together. Window-shopping and running errands. Grabbing lunch most days. Drinking our coffeetogether in bed. Making vision boards and watching movies and slow dancing in the kitchen.

How the fuck had I let things get this complicated?

“Listen, we’ve had a great time.” I cleared my throat.

“And you really don’t think you’ll keep in touch? I don’t know, man. You seem kind of attached.”

“Shut the fuck up. I’m a busy man. I offered to keep in touch, and she turned me down. She doesn’t want a guy that she sees twice a year and talks to occasionally. She wants to go cold turkey, or she doesn’t think she’ll move on if we don’t cut things off.”

I love you, Myles St. James.

She wasn’t the first woman to say those words to me. Hell, there had been a few over the years. But they hadn’t hit me like this. They’d come out of nowhere. They’d just felt like words being thrown out for a reaction.

Montana’s words felt real.

They caused her pain to admit, because she knew I couldn’t say the words back.

“Well, I get that. And she’s the kind of girl that’s going to get snatched right up. Hell, half the guys in this town have had their eye on her since she and Phillip broke up. She didn’t seem to jump back into the dating pool after he left, but maybe you were the perfect rebound guy to help her to move forward.” He clapped me on the shoulder. “Maybe you did some lucky bastard a big favor.”

“Fuck you, Charlie,” I said.

I didn’t want to think about some dirty fucker touching her.

I couldn’t fucking handle the thought.

He laughed. “Yeah. That’s what I thought. Good luck with that, Myles. I’ll be here when you want to cry in your fucking old-fashioned about what an idiot you were to walk away.”

“Hey,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “I’m the one who wanted to stay in touch. She turned me down.”

He chuckled again. The dude had never laughed this much in all the months I’d known him, and it was pissing me the hell off. “Letme get this straight. You hang out with the girl every day for months. You take her to meet your family. You take her on a romantic weekend getaway right before you leave. And you think offering to talk on the phone every couple of weeks or months, and fly in for a booty call twice a year, is a fabulous offer? I can’t imagine why she turned you down.”

I shrugged. “It’s the first time I’ve ever offered it. I don’t usually push to stay in touch, Charlie. But she’s different.”

“No shit, Sherlock. And I think you actually like that she isn’t agreeing to your offer, because I think even you know that she deserves better.”

“I don’t doubt that she deserves better. But I’m a selfish man, Charlie. I want to know how she’s doing. I want to see her when I can. I’m a busy man—that’s the best I can do.”

“Bullshit. We’re all busy, Myles. You’ve got more money than you know what to do with. You could have made her a much better offer than that.”

“Says the guy who doesn’t date. Glass fucking houses, asshole.”

“Correct. I don’t date. Been there. Done that. I’ve got a little girl to answer to at home. That is my priority. But if I found someone that I couldn’t get enough of, you bet your ass I’d do something about it. I’m sure as hell not looking, but I’m also not a dumb shit, and if I found it, I wouldn’t insult the woman with a lame-ass offer.”

I narrowed my gaze. “It was not a lame-ass offer.”

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