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“Then—”
“But you were right a couple of weeks back when you suggested I must be missing it. Sex, that is,” I say. “And if I’m jealous of anything, it’s how casual Ben can be about sex. He has it all the time and I don’t know when I’m ever going to experience it again.”
She nods, looking relieved by my confession. Hardly surprising, considering we both know that being jealous for any other reason would spell out trouble for me. He’ll never be over Amber.
“I know you’ve never been one for casual sex, but maybe it’s time to reconsider your stance on that, especially if you’re not planning on getting involved with anyone anytime soon.”
She makes a good point. I’ve always thought I’m not cut out for casual sex, but how long will it take for me to be ready for a relationship again? Am I going to abstain until then?
My persistent fantasies about Ben suggest it might not be healthy to do so.
“You may be right,” I say, standing up and shaking my empty wineglass. “I need a top up.”
Cass offers up her glass to me. “Top me up while you’re at it.”
“So demanding,” I joke, taking her glass and walking to the kitchen.
When I come back with our wine, I take a seat next to Cass on the couch instead of sitting on the floor. Cass is checking her phone and smiling like a lunatic. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this happy before, not even when she got her big break on Green’s Law. I know she’s smitten with Duncan, but can’t she take an hour out from thinking about him?
“Now that we’ve got boy talk out of the way, maybe we can focus on the movie,” I say.
Cass looks at me, then her phone, then back at me, biting her lip. “Actually, I need to tell you something.”
“What?” I ask, getting a sinking feeling in my stomach.
“I kind of invited Duncan and the guys to join us tonight. He kept telling me he missed me, and when I invited him to come over, I didn’t think he’d actually consider it, but—”
“He did,” I cut her off.
“I asked him to bring Ben and Sebastian, thinking we could all hang out together, but they weren’t interested.”
“Because it’s guy’s night,” I say through gritted teeth.
“I know, and Duncan said he wasn’t coming, so I didn’t think anything more of it, but I just got a text and now...”
She trails off awkwardly, implying he is coming.
“Can’t you tell him we’re busy?”
I know I sound grumpy, but damn it, I am. Why does Duncan have to be a part of all my time with Cass now?
“I would, but he’s only about—”
The knock on the door stops her mid-sentence. She shoots me a look full of apology as she gets up to let Duncan in. “I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you. We can still watch a movie, I promise.”
“But it’s supposed to be girl’s night,” I argue with the empty room, turning off the movie.
I look at my still full glass of wine and think about how much I’ve already had to drink. There’s no way I can drive home yet.
I glare at my wine as I hear passionate kissing. Yay, I get to be the third wheel again.
Or not.
I’m so happy to see Ben when he walks in and sits down on the couch beside me that I lean over and throw my arms around him. He strokes my hair a little and drops a kiss on the top of my head, and that simple gesture sends lightning streaking through my body. I tingle and burn everywhere with awareness. God, it’s nice to be in a man’s arms.
No, it’s better than nice to be in this man’s arms.
The alcohol has impaired my judgement and, instead of telling myself I shouldn’t, I bury my nose in his shirt, inhaling his clean, crisp scent. Months ago, the smell of his aftershave was simply... nice. Now, however, the smell of it is so appealing it makes butterflies swarm in my belly, spreading a dangerous sort of warmth through me that makes me want to drag him down on top of me.
