Stir Me (Rouse Me 2)

Her gaze turns to the floor. She sighs, unwraps her legs, and scoots back on the table. "You've done so much to help her. You can be done with her now. It's more than she deserves."

"Sure, but I can't. I'm not going to leave her to kill herself."

"So is she going to be able to play that card forever?" Alyssa looks at the table. "What if the only thing that will make her feel better is your cock inside her?"

"That's ridiculous."

"Is it? It could be late one night, and she's miserable, and she promises, just this once Luke. Please. Just one last time, so she'll feel a little less lonely for a while."

"I'd never do that."

"But would she ask?"

I bite my lip. It's possible Samantha would make some kind of play for comfort sex, but it's unlikely.

I bring my gaze back to Alyssa. "I would never do it."

She sighs, shifting off the table. "This isn't you. You don't let people push you around, and certainly not this transparently. You don't even like her!"

"I know." The second the words are out, I can't deny it any more. I don't like Samantha. I hate Samantha. She betrayed me and held my life hostage for years.

She's still holding it hostage.

"So why are you helping her?"

"I have to repay this debt."

Her eyes find mine. "And when will that be enough?"

"When she's better."

Alyssa looks out the window. "I'm trying here, I really am, because I know you mean well. But I can't do this. I can't be with you unless you let go of this."

"But..."

"From everything you tell me, it's clear she has some kind of serious problem. Maybe depression. Maybe borderline personality disorder. I don't know. I'm not a shrink. And neither are you. Maybe you don't realize this, because you're fortunate enough not to have had any brushes with mental illness, but you can't friendship her out of her sickness. She needs a professional, not a friend, and not a friend acting like a boyfriend."

"I can't just let her kill herself."

"You can't stop her," Alyssa says. "If that's what she really wants, you won't be able to stop her."

"Ally..."

She looks right at me. Her eyes are on fire, but there's something so sad about her expression. "I'm sorry, but I love you too much to share you. If we're going to do this, we need to do this all the way."

"Give it another month."

"I can't." She moves into the bedroom. Without a word, she gathers her things and heads for door. "I hope you come to your senses."

And then she's gone, again. And everything is cold and gray again.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Work does little to distract me from the overpowering dullness that surrounds me. I check in with a few clients, finish a few contracts, glare at Ryan's office from behind my closed door.

I take lunch alone. I talk to no one.

But, come my meeting, I turn on the charm. I have another potential client courtesy of Ryan. He claims she requested me. But it's more likely that he is making it impossible for me to make any kind of clean break from this firm. The more new clients I take on, the more difficult it will be for me to leave.