Page 30 of Why Not Both?

“Have a good night, Lis. See you Friday.”

“Bye.” I get into my car, trying not to think about how breathy my voice is or the fact that my lungs still haven’t figured out how to work right.

Chapter 12

Spencer

For the rest of the day Wednesday, all day Thursday, and since I woke up this morning, I think about how I almost kissed her and curse myself.

Friends. We’re supposed to be friends. Yesterday morning, I stood at the front window and watched her run along the Seawall with that funny little dog. I’m watching for her again today. I feel like a fucking stalker.

Friends, I reiterate. We’re friends and that’s good enough. I have other girl friends. Vic. Adalie. I can have one more.

One more who I have been inside. Who I’ve seen naked and traced every line of her body with my tongue. Who took me so far into her mouth and milked my dick for all it was worth.

I close my eyes, but it doesn’t stop the memories.

“Fuck,” I say.

“What’s wrong?” Vic asks, coming out of her room.

“Nothing. I’m fine.”

“Liar. If you want to be with her so bad, ask her out.”

“She wants the space, Vic. I need to respect her wishes.”

“Right. So you’re just going to watch her while she runs like a creeper. Think about her while you jack off in the shower. And act completely sane around her in person. How long you think that’ll last?”

I thunk my head against the window, but I don’t stop watching for her. “I get it. I’m a dumbass. Can we move on?”

“Sure.” She holds out her pinkie to me and I link mine with hers without looking.

“Even when I fuck up,” I say, resigned.

“Let’s go to work.”

“I can’t. She hasn’t run back yet.”

Vic laughs at me and pats my head. “Poor boy. I’m really not sure if you’re creepy or pathetic.” But she stands next to me.

I sigh as I watch Lis come into view from down the Seawall and run past back to her apartment. Just like on the way out, she casts a quick glance at my apartment. “Both. I’m definitely both.”

Once she’s out of sight, I turn toward Vic and notice her scowling at a folder in her hands.

“What’s that?”

She looks up and shakes her head. “Dad gave it to me last night.”

She’d gone out for dinner with her parents the night before. Their relationship was tense at best, openly hostile at worst. I’d assumed, since she hadn’t wanted to talk when she came home, that something had happened, and she’d let me know when she was ready.

“What is it and why are you staring at it like you want to burn it?”

“It’s the company quarterly earnings.” She hands it over and I scan the report while she puts on her shoes.

When she says company, she doesn’t mean Blue Vista. She means Sterling Properties, her father’s real estate company. It includes a portfolio of hotels, resorts, restaurants, and other venues throughout the province. It’s a company that Vic had every intention of joining when we were in university. A part of her still wants in, even though Blue Vista is doing so well. Since she was a little girl, she’d grown up believing one day she would work at the company with her father.

Right up until the day he told her he wasn’t hiring her.

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