Easton’s longing gaze did nothing to sooth the turmoil boiling inside me. With a wry smile, he walked to the apartment door and let himself out.
I wanted him, but he’d made it clear he didn’t want emotional attachments. Would I be able to do that?
Yes, I told myself, I would. I’d experienced the white picket fence with two kids and a husband. Been there, done that. My priorities were different now. I needed security for my children and me, but I’d work toward independence and not lean on a man for anything. I wouldn’t be my mother, who’d required a man to bring home a paycheck and never picked the right man. She’d also considered her children inconveniences and done minimal parenting. She dumped me off with my older sister, who was struggling in her own living hell married to an abuser.
My senior year, I’d started dating Mark. His family had been my first taste of normal. Like a drug, I’d craved more normalcy. I’d clung to him like a lifeline until he’d left that summer for a tour of Europe, and I’d met Easton. We’d had a magical summer, but magic usually ended and you were left with nothing.
Now I had to save myself. I’d enroll in the winter quarter at the local college, and I’d never depend on a man for the basic necessities of life again.
Sleeping with Easton for pure enjoyment would prove I was nobody’s fool. I was a strong, independent woman who made mature decisions and was able to separate emotion from recreation.
I could do this.
Easton point of view
After leaving Caro’s, I trudged across the hall to my condo and let myself in. Steele was sprawled on the sectional watching a whodunnit, his jam as much as the Food Channel was Kaden’s.
“Hey,” I said as I slumped next to him.
“Hey,” he said back, never taking his eyes off the TV.
“Where’s Kaden?”
Steele shrugged. “Where’s Junie? He was supposed to bring her home.”
“Oh, she’s doing shots with some of the guys. One of them will see that she gets home.”
“You don’t know where Kaden is?”
“Probably with his secret girlfriend. Don’t think he’ll be home tonight.”
“The one we think is married?”
“Yeah, the one he’s texting all the time. The one he sneaks off to meet. She has to be married. They never come here or go to her place. They get a hotel room.”
“How do you know this shit?”
“I listen.”
“Eavesdrop,” I corrected.
“Not on purpose, but the two of you aren’t exactly discreet.”
“Why are you including me in this?”
“Because you have the hots for the mother of your children.”
“I do not.”
“You were strutting around like a bantam rooster when you saw Caro and the kids sitting behind the glass wearing your jerseys.”
“I was not.” I sounded like a whiny little boy who’d gotten caught filling up on candy before dinner.
Steele snorted and rolled his eyes. “You’re a dweeb.”
“A dweeb?”
“Yeah, in denial and too stupid to see what you want and go after it. Life is like hockey. If you want the big payout, you have to work for it.” Steele shrugged. This was the most I’d ever heard him say.
“Like you do?” The guy seldom dated or hooked up. He was a loner who rarely let anyone see even a glimpse of what was going on in his head. He was a great roommate. Quiet, no drama, and anal about housekeeping—one of us had to be.
Instead of being offended, he cracked a rare grin. “Yeah, like me.”
I grinned back at him. “Sometimes life isn’t as cut and dried as hockey. I mean, in hockey, there are definite rungs in the ladder, the top two being making the NHL and winning the Cup. In life, it’s not so obvious.”
“Why don’t you just tell her you’re crazy about her and figure out if you can start a life together. Then the remaining Puck Brothers can decide on a punishment.”
“I’m not crazy about her, so don’t start coming up with shit. There’s no reason to rush into anything.”
“But you’re rushing.” His smugness was starting to piss me off.
“I am not. She’s recovering from the death of her husband. That takes time, and I don’t want to be the rebound relationship. That shit never lasts. I wouldn’t be averse to sex. I had some of the best sex of my life when I was with her.”
“Did you ever stop to think it was so good because there was more to it than sex?” Steele shot me an unreadable look, stood, and left the room. I heard his bedroom door click shut a few seconds later.
I stared out the huge windows at the night sky and pondered what he’d said. Sometimes Steele was wise beyond his years.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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