Page 89 of Feels Like Love
Guilt twisted my gut, and I resolved to put forth more of a sincere effort with Arlo. Here he was wanting to meet my son. Offering to whisk me away for a romantic weekend. And I could barely make the time to be with him?
“Actually…” I smoothed my hands down his chest. “I’m supposed to hang out with my brother tonight. Do you want to come?”
What am I thinking?
“Really?” Arlo was way too excited about this. He had no idea…
“Yeah. He’s been asking about you.”
And maybe it would finally put the rumors to rest about Bennett and me. Not that they weren’t semitrue, but no one could ever know that.
“Awesome. I’m stoked.” He gave me a quick peck, seemingly mollified.
We grabbed some coffee and chatted a little bit, catching up on life. Talking about work. It was nothing like the deep conversations I had with Bennett, and I found myself yearning to talk about something more than just surface-level issues.
Sometimes I wondered if I knew Arlo at all. But then I reminded myself that I’d only met him a few weeks ago. Our relationship was evolving. We were still getting to know each other. I had to be patient.
When we finished the coffee, he walked me back to my office. I met Arlo’s eyes and looked at him for a moment, really looked at him.
He was handsome, but his weren’t the eyes I wanted gazing back at me. His hands weren’t the ones I wanted caressing my skin. I was attracted to Arlo—he was hot, for sure. But I didn’t feel that deep, thrumming need for him like I did with Bennett. That connection.
For weeks, I’d been telling myself it was because I hadn’t known Arlo that long. But deep down, I worried no amount of time would make any difference. Not when my heart belonged to Bennett.
“So, I’ll see you tonight.” He grinned before giving me one more kiss.
“I’ll text you the details.”
“Beauty!” He grabbed my cheeks and pressed his lips to mine once more. “I can’t wait.”
I texted Liam before I went back inside. He’d been surprisingly quiet about my love life lately, almost eerily so. Maybe telling him to back off had finally worked.
Perhaps it was time to introduce him to Arlo. See how the two of them got on. If nothing else, it would help dispel any doubts in either of their minds about my feelings toward Bennett.
Me: I’m bringing Arlo with me tonight, but only if you promise to be nice.
Liam: When am I ever anything but nice?
I rolled my eyes.Mm-hmm. Right.
“What’s that look?” Harper asked when I returned. I slumped down in my chair and said nothing. “Oh no. He didn’t break it off, did he?”
“No.” I barked out a laugh, thinking that would make things much simpler. “He asked me to go away with him for the weekend.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
“It is when I’m still sleeping with Bennett,” I whispered.
One day, I’d confessed everything to Harper. She knew that it was fake. That Bennett was coaching me. But the more time we spent together, the more real it felt.
She shook her head with a laugh. “Okay… Well…” She was silent a moment, clearly thinking. “It’s not like you and Arlo have talked about being exclusive, right?”
I didn’t think Arlo was seeing anyone else, but who knew. I was sneaking around with Bennett after all. Bennett and I always used condoms, though he’d stopped asking about Arlo. And I’d stopped talking about my dates.
“No, but…”
“And Bennett knows the score.”
“True.”But…
