"Deal." She leans forward and kisses me gently. "One day maybe you can tell me why you never sleep."
I pull back and grab her face with both of my hands. I stare into her intense blue eyes. "I will. I promise and when I do, you'll tell me what's living inside of you and eating away at your heart."
Her eyes flicker away from mine, breaking the moment. "Last night was everything. Thank you for all of it."
"Never thank me for fucking you." I kiss her mouth, pressing my lips into hers. "You gave me more than I deserved. I'll prove to you that we can be friends and lovers."
"I want that," she whispers against my lips as her hands glide over my bare arms. "You can't know how much I want that."
I do know. It's the only fucking thing in the world that I want and I'll do whatever it takes to make certain that nothing, and no one, tears us apart.
Chapter 35
Adley
"How was your weekend of sun and sex?" Tilly asks as she types on the keyboard of the computer at the reception desk.
"Interesting," I answer with a sigh. I'm not about to go into details of what Crew and I did intimately. I'm also not about to talk about Damaris. That's a topic that's too ripe for gossip. If I tell Tilly about the awkward moments when Kade showed up with Crew's ex-fiancée, the entire clinic will know about it by day's end.
"Is that a good or bad interesting?" She turns her head to look at me. "You don't seem all that happy to me. Was he good in bed or not?"
I try to ignore the way she's glaring at me with expectation in her eyes. "I'm not talking about Crew's performance with you."
"I'll tell you about the last guy I was with if you want." She winks. "We can share stories of misery and missed orgasms."
"I never said anything about missing an orgasm."
She twists her chair completely to look right at me. "You two are friends first, right?"
I nod. She knows that from the times that Crew has walked through the door to say hi to me in the middle of the day.
The first time it happened, she pressed me for details about who he was, and I answered quickly that he was just a friend. The skepticism in her expression was enough to tell me that she didn't believe a word I said. That changed when I set them up for their one and only disastrous date.
"I think that's the best foundation ever for a successful relationship."
Her words surprise me. I thought she'd launch into an emotional lecture about all the things that can go wrong when you sleep with a friend.
Tilly is smart with her heart. She's also yearning for a family of her own since her twin sister took the plunge last year and welcomed a baby girl three months after saying I do to her childhood sweetheart.
"I'm not sure where we're headed." I pick up the file of a pet snake that is set to slither through the door with its owner in five minutes. "We're taking it day-by-day."
"He's a catch, Ad." She turns back to the computer. "I hope that day-by-day turns into forever for you."
***
"So you and Crew?" Ellie takes a bite of a pear. "Tell me about that."
I knew this was coming. Ellie has been working part-time for the police department. She was on as a full-time employee but decided to cut back to part-time for the summer and the remainder of her pregnancy.
She's on shift today but called me an hour ago demanding I meet her for lunch. It wasn't rude. It was firm.
I haven't given her any details about Crew and me in the text message exchanges we've had since I got back from the Hamptons.
"We like hanging out." I take a bite of the apple she brought me. I didn't have the energy to pack a lunch today. I went back to bed after Crew left and when my alarm went off, I pushed the snooze button twice before I jumped in the shower and got ready in a hurry.
"You're going to need to do better than that, Ad." She sighs.
I shrug. "He's fun?"