Grabbing the pillow and blanket next to the couch, I lie down and close my eyes, trying not to let myself get worked up. But fuck, it’s hard. I gave her everything, all of me. My money, my time, my love. And what did I get in return? A cheating wife. At least we didn’t have any kids. The divorce will go through quickly and then I can move on, start my life over again. I can tell you one thing, there’s no way in hell I’m ever giving a woman that much of myself again.
Lesson. Fucking. Learned.
Chase
Fifteen Months Later
“Hey, what are you up to tonight?” I pop my head into Georgia’s room and ask, even though I already know what she’s up to… the same thing she’s always up to.
She looks up from her laptop, and her emerald eyes meet mine. “Working.” She lifts her laptop slightly.
“Any chance you want to go to Club Illusion with me?”
In the last two years, since I’ve known Georgia, I’ve only seen her actually go out a handful of times—usually when Lexi would drag her out for a celebration. But since Lexi and Alec moved out—after getting married and having a baby—Lexi has been too busy to go out, which means Georgia hasn’t been out either.
“No, thank you,” she says softly, shaking her head to emphasize her answer. She glances back down at her laptop, resuming her work. The woman practically lives in her room, on that thing. The only time she ever leaves it is to either visit her family or check on the art gallery she helps Lexi run. Hell, she even has her groceries delivered.
“All right. Not sure if I’ll be home tonight, but text or call if you need anything, okay?” I tell her the same thing every night before I go out, or before I leave for work. In the several months we’ve been living together, she’s never once texted or called me.
“Will do.” She smiles sweetly up at me. “Have a good night.”
As I’m about to dip out, I notice her smile quickly fades into a frown. I do a double take, and her eyes are already back on her laptop, but something about the way her lips quirk down rubs me the wrong way. I should probably ignore it. My friends are waiting, and while Georgia and I get along, we aren’t exactly friends. The only reason we ended up living together was out of circumstance—Alec was too lazy to sell the place, Georgia wanted to give her sister some space, and I didn’t want to deal with finding a new place to live.
“Hey,” I say, getting her attention.
She glances back up at me, her eyes slightly glassy.
“You okay?”
“Mmhmm.” Her gaze goes back to her laptop.
“You sure?” I assess her features, not buying her noise of an answer.
“Yeah,” she chokes out, her voice contradicting her response.
“No, you’re not,” I say, stepping into her room.
I glance around, realizing in all the time we’ve been living together, I’ve never actually stepped foot in her room. After Lexi and Alec moved out, she took over the master bedroom. The walls are filled with a mixture of art her sister has created over the years and family pictures. Her furniture is all feminine, white-wash wood, and her area is clean and organized, barely lived in.
“Umm…yes, I am,” she volleys without looking up.
“Look at me,” I demand. When she ignores me, I step closer and pull her laptop away from her.
“Hey! What are you doing?” She scampers off the bed and comes after me.
I hold it over my head, and she tries to jump to grab it, but she’s a good half-foot shorter than my six-foot self, and with my reach being longer, she doesn’t stand a chance.
“Chase,” she whines. “I have work to do.
“First tell me why you’re upset.”
“I’m not upset.” She huffs.
I can’t help but chuckle at the way her lips form the most adorable pout.
“Are you laughing at me?” she accuses, her eyes turning into thin slits. It’s not often Georgia gets mad, but when she does, it’s sexy as hell.
The first few months of us living together were rough. Our rooms were butted up next to each other and when I would have women over, they would be a bit…vocal. Georgia would get hella pissed and let me know. And then there was this one time when a woman used her shaver… Yeah, she damn near killed me.
It wasn’t until I agreed to stop bringing women around that things calmed down. Then, after Alec and Lexi moved out, she moved to the master bedroom, which gave her her own bathroom. She told me I could bring women over again, but for the most part, I prefer going to their place. That way I can leave the morning after.