“Oh my God, yes. Please.”
He set his beer down and slid from the booth, and I watched, grinning, as he made his way over to the bar, shooting me a wolfish look over his shoulder.
When he got close, Dog Bone Guy puffed his chest and wrapped an arm across his girl’s boobs. Josh veered left, laughing.
I put a hand over my smile. His boyish charm always got me. He was adorable.
He made his way back to our table and scooted in next to me, putting an arm around me. “You were right.”
“That was fucking hilarious.” I giggled, leaning into him.
His eyes gleamed and he drew his lower lip between his teeth, looking down at my smiling mouth. And like it was no big deal, like there weren’t any rules, as if we were a couple just out on a date, having a good time, he leaned in and kissed me.
And I let him.
TWENTY-NINE
Josh
She kissed me back. She didn’t push me away and get pissed, she didn’t object. She didn’t remind me that we’re just fuck buddies or tell me this wasn’t a date.
She kissed me back.
I hadn’t brought up the Vegas call—I didn’t have to. She was so different with me today it finally felt like we’d turned a corner. Maybe she’d missed me all those weeks or it was me telling her I loved her that night on the phone. Maybe she was over Tyler. I couldn’t be sure what finally opened her up to me. All I knew was it was a gift.
Her fingers clutched the front of my shirt, and I pulled her in, pressing her into my chest, loving the taste of hops on her tongue, inhaling her perfume.
The kiss was slow and full of emotion. And it was the first time we’d kissed when it wasn’t about sex.
I cherished this small gesture, this tiny public display that I had any claim to her. This stolen contact that didn’t adhere to any of her rules.
When we broke apart, her sideways smile was light and unguarded. She draped her arms around my neck. “You’re my favorite monkey to throw poo with, you know that?”
I stared into her eyes. “Then why aren’t we together, Kristen?”
And then like that, she was gone.
Her expression fell like a heavy curtain dropping.
I lost her.
She sat up straight and moved away from me. “It’s time to go,” she said
flatly, looking around for her purse.
Disappointment cut into me, razor sharp and violent. My hope, yanked out from under me.
No. Not today. Not again.
I flexed my jaw. “Kristen, answer me. Why aren’t we together?”
When she looked up, her face was cold. “I told you from the very beginning that this was just going to be sex. I never led you to believe that it was anything different, Josh.”
I shook my head at her. “It is something different and you fucking know it.”