Page 22 of Wild Card
I can help you think of ways to say thank you since you’ve decided you like those words now.
And there he is.
Also… thank you. A lot. It should be ready on Monday, so I can have the keys back to you Sunday night or Monday depending on when you get back and want them.
Penciling in a Sunday night truce, Spitfire. Don’t let me down.
As long as there’s rosé.
Done.
And just like that, I’ve signed myself up for a second one-night stand with Westfield.
THIRTEEN
Scarlett
Sunday nightI’m at Harper’s. Joss and Violet have come over and we’re having a girls’ night after having watched the afternoon Phantom game and ordered a bunch of takeout for dinner. Now we’re deep into the wine and talking about guys, museums, Joss’s boudoir photography business, and what it’s like to have to sleep in airports.
I drove over in Tobias’s car so that I could return it to him since he lives in the same building and the shop was able to get the part and get the car patched up. The only trouble is, I now owe my credit card company a small fortune for it, but that’s a problem for another day. Joss is pouring the two of us another glass of wine when the door pops open and Xander, Tobias, and a gorgeous brunette walk in.
“Hey! That was fast.” Harper smiles and kisses Xander who picks her up with one arm and gives her the kind of kiss that has the rest of us looking at the ceiling and the floor.
“Traffic was light,” he grunts when he’s done, tossing his bag on the floor. “Hello, ladies.” He nods at the rest of us. “I just gotta get Tobias a charger. His phone’s dying.”
“You don’t have one upstairs at your place?” Harper raises a brow.
“No, my spare one was in my car and I… put it in the shop.” His eyes drift to me.
“Ah. You going to introduce me?” Harper’s eyes fall on the tiny brunette who shifts on her heels. I feel like I’m staring at his latest hookup, and I’m surprised by how nauseous I feel.
“Sarah this is Harper. Harper this is Sarah. She’s just coming up to help me with the outfit for tomorrow’s media thing.”
I feel my stomach untwist the slightest bit.
“Oh yes. For the record setting thing. We saw tonight, it was amazing. And nice to meet you, Sarah.”
“Nice to meet you too. Xander’s talked a lot about you. Tobs and I have just been missing each other all week and now we’re down to the wire. Plus he promised me he’s got some new wine I have to try.”
“He always has something good.” Harper studies the woman and smiles as she talks.
I can tell just from the subtle look on Harper’s face she doesn’t like her, which makes two of us, and I have so many questions already. Ones I can’t ask without sounding like I have an out-of-pocket crush on Tobias. One I most definitely do not have. Because I can have one-night stands. I don’t have to bethatgirl. The one who always chases something more. The new thirties thing can work. I can watch my one-night stand go and hookup with his new one-night stand, if that’s what she is, and feel okay with it.
One hundred percent okay.
Either way, he’s forgotten our penciled-in meeting or it got bumped when she decided she needed his time. So I feel silly for staying here so late when I’m not waiting for the guys to come home. I down the glass Joss filled and push it toward her for another. She’s remarkably quiet, and I watch her silently studying Harper and me but not saying a word about anything.
After they leave,I walk out onto the terrace with what’s left of my wine. I need a breath of cold air and a moment to get my shit straight. I was going to have to pull it together and hang out with the girls for a while before I ran the keys up and got a car home. I didn’t want to interrupt them at an awkward time, but it would also be weird for me to run up there after him now.
This is why I don’t do things like this. Get involved with men like Tobias. Let them in. It’s too much for my heart to take. The sex is hot as fuck. The best I’ve ever had in my life by a wide margin, but I’m not sure it’s worth my sanity and my dignity when I fall apart because I can’t keep my stupid head from thinking about more.
“So… how long have you been fucking Tobias?” Joss walks up silently behind me before she speaks, and I nearly jump when she does.
“What?” I try to act stupid, but she smiles in a way that lets me know I’ve been caught.
She grins, sipping her wine and waiting me out.
“Just once. Last week. It was stupid. Harper doesn’t know, and I don’t want her to yet. She’ll… want to help, and I don’t want help.”
