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The brokenness in my voice must have been what caused him to look at me with a sigh. “Look, don’t push it. You have my blessing. That’s all you’re getting out of me today. Friendship?” He tilted his head to the left and the right.
“If it’s even possible, it wouldn’t be now. I’m not sure you’re my friend, man. I can’t trust you. You convinced me to give you another chance before, but you lied to my face when we went over to Tiffany’s place together, and I can’t tell if this,” he said, waving his hand around my face. “...is all another act. Just another lie for no fucking reason.” He raised his shoulders up and laughed in dismay. “I don’t think I can ever believe another word out of your mouth ever again and if I can’t trust you, then how can you be my friend? It doesn’t make sense, does it?” he asked.
Now, he looked like a strawberry, and there was irritation registered in the slight raise of his top lip. Gulping against the pain of his rejection and knowing that I was the cause of the hurt in his eyes, I shook my head. He was right. There was nothing I could say or do in this moment that would ever give him a reason to trust me again. There was no friendship between us even if nothing had changed for me on my end.
He was still my friend, but I was a bad friend to him. And a bad friend was equivalent to ‘no friend.’ Since there was nothing more I could do here, I decided to focus my attention on the other person I let down this week. Tiffany.
Fuck, I missed her. And I hoped she was willing to take me back with open arms. But first, I needed to get myself together.
“Thanks, again,” I said to Chris while getting up off the stool. Pressing a soft fist against his shoulder, I walked away.
There was still heartbreak here, for sure. It sucked. And it would take me a long time to heal all the shit that made me this way. But for now, I wanted to make things right with the one person who I went to sleep and woke up thinking about, wondering how she felt and worrying about messing things up for if I called her.
Now that I had Chris’ blessing, it felt like there was nothing standing in our way, unless she wanted me to step away so she could work on her relationship with her parents. In that case, I wanted to give her the chance to tell me that.
Waving down a taxi, I hopped in and made my way first to the hairdresser to get a trim. Yes, I went to a hairdresser. Taking care of these curls was no easy task, and I didn’t need a barber taking clippers to my hair. That had been done before, and I looked like a peanut.
After the hairdresser made my curls look like they weren’t stranded out on a desert for days, I rushed back home to trim my beard, shower, and put on something flattering. A shirt that fit loosely and sleeves that could be rolled up. A bit of my chest hair was left out on show because hey, it wouldn’t hurt my chances with her forgiving me. I knew she liked it. Oh, and flowers. I’d pick up some flowers on my way to see her.
Leaving the house, my stomach was in knots. I checked my hair and face several times in the rearview mirror before looking myself in the eyes and sighing. Man, I hoped she still wanted me… us. Whatever this was.
Chapter 35
Tiffany
Blowingoutabreathof exasperation, I slammed the car door of my blue Lamborghini and clicked on the alarm to make sure it was locked before making my way through the parking garage. My shoulders felt heavy as I dragged my ass over to the elevator, flopping my head on the back of it as it moved.
That pang of loneliness was back, and I was trying not to think about it. Keeping my focus on the fact that at least the court case was over, I tried to keep up the celebratory spirit, but it was damn near impossible.
In my silly head, I imagined us celebrating this win a little differently. The deepening ache within my chest barked at me, and the elevator ride seemed to take longer than it needed to. By the looks of things, the rest of the day would find me cozying up to a bottle of wine and my pillow.
Pulling out my phone while stepping out of the elevator, I checked to see if at least Jared messaged me about finding Anthony. It must have been magic, luck, or something because just as I was about to put my phone away after not seeing any messages from him, it vibrated. My eyes lit up when I saw his name, and my cheeks reddened at his message.
‘Hey you,
I’m sorry again for dipping out on you. But I want to make it up to you. As soon as I can step away from work, why don’t you meet me at my place? I want to do things a little differently tonight to show you how much I adore you. What do you say? Meet me at my place at 7:00 tonight?
Yours,
Jared’
That did more than just turn my frown upside down; it set me on fire. Waves of current danced through my entire body in excitement and anticipation. Oh, thank goodness. Gratitude brought tears to my eyes and a giddiness to my smile.
‘Can’t wait! See you in a few hours. XO’I texted back.
Smiling, I turned the corner to the hallway of my apartment and was almost knocked backward in surprise by the sight of Mario. He stood at my door and had his head down. He didn’t see me immediately but when he did, his grin widened. There were at least five more apartments before I got to mine, but that was too far away. My heart started doing gymnastics in my chest, and my lips trembled.
My legs pulled me forward, and I took off running toward him in my heels. His eyes flew open along with his mouth and in a few steps, he was there to scoop me up in his arms, cupping my ass as I threw my arms around his neck. He walked a few steps back to my apartment, and I buried my nose into the soft, warm crook of his neck.
“I was wondering why you left me,” I said.
“I couldn’t stay a second longer at the courthouse when all I wanted to do was celebrate by burying myself deep within you, if you’ll have me,” he breathed into my hair.
“Oh, I’ll have you,” I moaned, and he put me down so he could kiss me properly, groaning in frustration; my skirt was too tight for me to wrap my legs around him.
His lips came down on mine soft and slowly but deep and coaxing. Feeling the magnetism of him through my nipples, I leaned into him so they could press against his hard chest.
“Mm,” I groaned, tilting my head back as he pulled his lips from mine, nibbling my bottom lip a little toward the end.
