Page 21 of Forever With You

“You didn’t lead me on, but I honestly didn’t know you’d flip out if I came to the bar.”

“I guess I thought you wouldn’t. I mean, I knew you’d come to the bar the first time, but I didn’t think you’d come back.” He paused, and I could hear the wall clock ticking. “I’m probably making no sense right now.”

Not really, but I wanted to try to figure him out. Some ­people said curiosity killed the cat, but I was on the side that believed knowledge brought it back. “You said something at the bar—­something about having rules?”

“Yeah.”

My gaze slowly drifted back to his profile. I really needed to stop staring at him, but I couldn’t seem to help myself. “You really have rules about these things?”

“Don’t you?” he replied.

“No. I ...” I trailed off. That was a good question and he had gotten me. I did have rules. “Well, I guess I do. Always use protection. Make sure I don’t have different expectations than the other person. I have to like them. There has to be some kind of connection,” I rambled on. “But I don’t have to never see them again.”

He rested the back of his head against the couch and turned his cheek toward me. “I have that rule so no one gets the wrong expectation. I don’t like for things to get ... complicated or messy.”

I considered that. “Or you just don’t like to get close to someone.”

“Do you?” he asked quietly.

“Yeah.”

“So why do you have sex with some guy you just met? Look—­I don’t mean that as a bad thing. I’m thrilled that you do—­did with me. But that doesn’t seem like a way to get close to ­people.”

I shifted, curling my legs up against my chest as I pushed the pillow away. “Maybe it’s because I have no problem hanging out with or getting to know someone I had sex with.”

His grin turned wry. “Okay. You got me there.” There was a pause. “But why don’t you have a boyfriend? Someone like you can’t be single for long.”

“I’m not sure I like how you keep referring to me as ‘someone like you,’ ” I admitted.

“It’s not an insult.” His serious stare met mine, and my gaze skittered away. “I mean it, it’s not.”

Wrapping my arms around my knees, I decided to let that go for now. “I haven’t had a boyfriend in a long time.”

“Bullshit.”

I laughed. “Totally by choice.”

“Explain,” he demanded. “I need more details on this.”

“Why is it so surprising? You don’t have a girlfriend and you’re hot. Granted, you are a dick, but a lot of chicks will overlook that for a nice set of abs.”

“You think I have nice abs?”

I rolled my eyes. “You know you have a great stomach.”

He chuckled. “I told you why I don’t have a girlfriend. I don’t do relationships.”

“Well, neither do I.”

There was a pause, and then, “I guess we are a lot alike.”

Looking at him, I tapped my fingers off my knees. “I thought so.”

“Past tense, huh?”

I nodded slowly. “I don’t have anything against relationships. I’m just a firm believer in not wasting your time unless you see a future with someone. That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy each other, but why put the effort into something when you know it’s not going to go anywhere?” I shrugged one shoulder. “That’s my motto.”

“And you’ve never met someone that you thought would go somewhere?”

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