“That’s why you like me.” She pointed an accusatory finger at him. “Because I’m like the dog you want. Hard to win over.”
He laughed. And laughed. And laughed some more.
In fact, he laughed so much that she kind of wanted to punch him.
When he finally pulled himself together, he swiped his hands across his wet cheeks. “You are not, in any way, shape, or form, a damaged dog in need of love. I can’t believe you just made that comparison—”
He peeled in laughter again.
She pulled out the white containers of Chinese food, shaking her head but hiding her face from him because his laughter was infectious. “Maybe not the dog part, but the rest is true. You had to win me over to being your friend.”
He started opening cabinets. “Where’s your silverware?”
“Bottom left,” she called out, smiling as she arranged the food on the table. It was nice, having someone to come home with, and eat dinner with. She’d been on her own for so long that she’d forgotten how nice it was to talk to someone and joke around over a shared meal. But this camaraderie that she and Eric shared reminded her that being alone was…well, lonely.
She hadn’t realized just how lonely she’d been until now.
Closing herself off to people had, at the time, seemed like the best option. If you didn’t let anyone in, they couldn’t hurt you, but if you did, then eventually they would. So, she’d just locked everyone out and saved her heart. But in doing so, she’d lost a piece of herself, too. A piece she hadn’t realized she’d been missing until now.
“Shel?”
She pulled herself from her thoughts. “Yeah?”
“Your phone.” He held it out to her, looking at her intently. “It’s ringing.”
She glanced at it. It wasn’t a number she recognized, so she silenced it and set it down on the table so she wouldn’t see the screen. “Thanks. Sorry, I was gone for a second.”
“Where’d you go?” he asked quietly, sitting down and undoing the sleeves of his shirt.
She watched as he rolled the sleeves up his forearms, baring inches of tanned skin dusted with light brown hair. His muscles flexed as he moved, teasing her, and she swallowed hard. It was on the tip of her tongue to blurt out that she wanted to kiss him. They hadn’t been drinking, and all they had out in front of them tonight were two cans of Dr Pepper.
If she asked him to kiss her again…
Would he?
Last night he’d rejected her, and neither of them had brought that up. Was he hoping the topic wouldn’t come up again? Had he decided he liked her better as a friend than as a future conquest to screw and forget? There was only one way to find out, but was she ready for the answer? That was the real question. “What are you doing this weekend? Have any hot plans?”
He opened his container and grabbed a spoon. “Nah. Just going to take it easy, maybe have a meeting with the builder I liked the most, and chill. You?”
“But you always go out on dates on Friday nights.” She cracked open her soda. “You don’t have to hide your sex life from me. We’re friends. Friends talk about that stuff.”
He stared at her, his spoon frozen halfway to his mouth. “If there were something worth hiding, I wouldn’t, but I’m not. I don’t have any dates. I’m taking a break from it all.”
“From what?” she asked slowly, her heart pounding, because even though he hadn’t said it, she couldn’t help but think he was taking a break from women because of her. Which was crazy. Stupid. Presumptuous. But still… “From women?”
“Besides you?” He lifted a shoulder. “Yeah.”
“W-Why?”
“Because there’s no one I want to date right now. I need some time to myself.” He set his spoon down. “Why? Would you prefer I sleep around?”
She stared at him. “I guess it doesn’t really matter, either way, right? If you sleep with other women, we’ll still be friends. If you don’t, we’ll still just be friends. So, really, it’s what you’d like to do that matters, not what I want you to do. So sleep with who you want to, or don’t. It doesn’t matter to me one way or the other.”
Oh my God, stop talking Shelby.
“But you’d prefer it if I slept around?” he persisted. “It would be easier for you not to like me if I can’t keep my dick in my pants. Then you won’t want me, right?”
She said nothing.