Page 36 of For the Night

I grinned. “I’ve heard of worse ideas.” Then I gathered her hands in mine and kissed her knuckles, and I was rewarded with a faint blush bleeding onto her cheeks. “You’re getting under my skin, honey. That wasn’t the plan.”

She bit her lip as if she was trying to contain her smile. “To quote you from last night, that’s honest.”

Yeah, well.

“When one’s resolve breaks into a million pieces, all you have left is honesty.”

Part of me was still too wounded to rush into anything. Wounded from losing myself, nothing else. But I’d be an idiot if I didn’t at least give Nora a shot. She wanted it; I did too. Hell, I couldn’t go the whole event without seeking her out.

I wanted to open up to her. Tell her everything about myself, learn everything about her too, and pray she’d be okay with my sexuality being a little different.

“My heart’s freaking hammering right now,” she admitted.

She knew just what to say too. She made me hope. She ignited something within me that’d been stone-cold for years.

I leaned in and kissed her, and I cupped her cheek.

She smiled and kissed me back, and we—fuck, were interrupted by someone leaving. Or stepping out for a smoke. Whatever. Immediately annoyed, I broke the kiss and looked toward the door, only to see Ella there.

Good grief.

Excellent timing, really.

Seeing hurt slash through Ella’s features didn’t make a lick of sense, but I did see the fake indifference and anger coming from a mile away.

“I waited for you,” she said.

Nora cleared her throat and made a move to back away, and I didn’t let her. She wasn’t the intruder here; Ella was.

“I don’t know why,” I replied. “I’ve told you we have nothing to talk about.”

Ella’s jaw ticked, and she slid her gaze at Nora, then back to me. “It didn’t take you long to find a new toy.”

“Oh, meow.” Nora lifted a brow at her. “Have your claws always been catty, or is that a new feature?”

Salty hothead incoming.

I squeezed her hand and suppressed my smirk, because Ella was one insult away from lashing out.

“In response to what you said—I waited longer than you,” I told her. “You can leave now.”

She gnashed her teeth and stood there silently for a moment, but she had nothing. In the end, she headed down the porch steps and strode across the lawn toward the carport.

If I could catch a break, that would be the last I ever saw of her.

“So that was Ella.”

Nora snorted softly. “I saw her inside earlier. I guess she has some regrets.”

So she’d heard through the grapevine how our relationship had ended. I wasn’t surprised.

“I couldn’t care less.” I cared about what was right in front of me. I had to make sure I didn’t push Nora away anymore, and then… Fuck, I was too scared to hope or have any expectations, but I was going to open myself up for baby steps toward a future that didn’t depress me.

That was something, wasn’t it?

“What does the rest of your weekend look like?” I asked.

She quirked a curious smile and tilted her head. “I work tomorrow, ten to four. Then Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, ten to six.”

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