Hush (Just This Once 1)

“I like that it’s uncomplicated,” I admit. “There’s no expectation about when he’ll call. I never feel disappointed if he hasn’t called in days. It’s just easier if we keep numbers out of it.”

“Easier?” she mocks my tone. “You just told me that you meet him at a coffee shop in the mornings. You only know sparse details about him. For all you know, his real name is Greg and he’s a trapeze artist.”

I’ll take that to mean that she’s fucked a man named Greg who likes to hang in the air.

“Aren’t you the one who is always telling me that if something isn’t broken it doesn’t need to be fixed?” I take a tentative bite of the apple she gave me when she walked into my apartment. “What Evan and I have is not broken.”

“It’s not broken,” she agrees quickly. “It’s just really fucked up.”

“Why does fucked up have to be a bad thing?” I ask with a laugh. “If I like him and he likes me, I don’t see any reason to change anything between us.”

“You’re heading down a slippery slope at breakneck speed.” She wraps the apple core in a paper napkin. “This is going to end with you hurt. I feel it and it breaks my heart.”

“That’s not going to happen.” I wave away her comment with a brush of my hand against her knee. “Sooner or later it will run its course and we’ll both walk away with no baggage and absolutely zero regret.”

***

Evan pins his eyes on me. “Can you even talk? I thought I cheered loudly but you’re something else. I’m surprised you haven’t lost your voice.”

I push against his side with my elbow. “It’s a proven technique to help with player motivation. Don’t tell me that you’ve never heard of it.”

He stops to pull me close to him. We’re on the sidewalk outside the café. We ran into each other here more than twelve hours ago when he told me that he had tickets to tonight’s game. He apologized for the short notice, but I was excited.

I met him back here after I went home from work to change into jeans and a white sweater.

We laughed when we took off our coats in the hockey arena and realized that he’d chosen a white sweater and jeans too.

“You’re beautiful.” His lips skim over mine. “How can a person be so beautiful inside and out?”

The words catch my breath just as much as the kiss does. It’s romantic and unexpected. It’s also near midnight and as much as I’d like to find a room so we can spend the next few hours together, I don’t want our perfect second date to end in an uncomfortable bed in an hourly rate hotel.

“Come home with me, Chloe.”

I almost lose my footing when I hear those words. It’s an invitation I wasn’t expecting and now, I’

m unsure whether I should accept or not. This is unchartered territory for the two of us. I repeat the question back to be certain that I heard it correctly. “You want me to go home with you?”

He kisses me. It’s tender and filled with desire. “I want you in my bed. I want to smell you on my sheets. I want you to see where I am when I’m dreaming about you.”

Do I want that too? I think I do.

I know I can trust him. He didn’t have to tell me about the broken condom but he did. He could have fucked off and avoided me for eternity. That’s not hard to do in this city.

“I’ll go home with you,” I say against his lips. “I can’t wait to go home with you.”

Chapter 27

Evan

There are times when I readily admit that my dick gets the best of me. That’s not what happened tonight. I want Chloe to see where I live. I need her to understand that I value her and I can’t convey that if I keep taking her to cheap motels for sex.

I can’t do that anymore. I knew before I met her at the Roasting Point Café that I’d ask her back here.

My heart skips a beat when we walk through the door and into the apartment. I know it’s not a palace by any means. She doesn’t strike me as the type to judge.

“It’s cold.” She tugs her coat tighter around her. “Did you leave a window open?”

I huff out a laugh. “I turned the heat down when I left.”