Page 32 of The Inquirer

“Does Bradyn know?”

“No. At least, I didn’t tell him. Not about Art’s family being from Savannah or his last name or his being a lawyer. I guess he could’ve found out if he really wanted to put in the time or money, but I don’t think he did. He has a decent poker face, but he wouldn’t have kept quiet if he knew his family’s lawyer was connected to me.”

“Are you sure? Kinda seems like he’s been an ass.”

“Yeah, well, this is where things get really interesting.”

“You fucked him again, didn’t you?”

Heat flooded my cheeks. “It wasn’t like that.”

“Bullshit.”

“Okay, it wasn’t completely like that,” I corrected myself. “I saw the law firm’s name and had a flashback. The kind that put me on the floor and made me want to throw up.”

“Oh, hon.” Kaimi never pitied me, but she also never hid how seeing me hurt made her hurt too. “I wish I could’ve been there.”

“When I came out of it, all I could think about was getting to Bradyn. Even with everything, he makes me feel safe.”

“And he makes you forget.”

“That too.” I rubbed my forehead. “One look, and he knew I’d had a panic attack. He didn’t ask me what it was about, just what he could do.”

“And that’s when you had sex with him.”

“Yes.” I sighed. “But that’s not all. I mean, afterward, he apologized for how he’d behaved. For all of it.”

“I suppose that’s good.” Kaimi’s tone said she didn’t entirely agree with the words.

“I think he meant it. I mean, he jumped to some conclusions, but it wasn’t like he’s lied about anything. Not any more than I did. He’d told me his last name before. I just didn’t know how it connected.”

“But you’re hiding the law firm stuff from him.”

“Yeah, for now anyway.”

Kaimi was silent for a moment, and then said, “If he’s just a one-off, then it doesn’t matter, but you’re calling me, which means there’s more to it than that.”

“There is.”

“Then spill it.”

This was why I’d called my best friend in the first place. She spoke her mind about everything, but she didn’t judge or look down on me, no matter what her opinion was.

“He told me that he cares about me.” Saying it out loud sent a shiver through me, and I could almost feel his hands on my body, the heat and weight of him. “He called me my little firebird.”

Silence.

I waited, letting her figure out what she wanted to say. It couldn’t be easy, dealing with my shit all the time.

“Did he say what he wanted? With you? From you?”

“Um…he, uh, said he wanted us to spend time together while I was in Savannah.”

“Is that ‘spend time together’ as in go to dinner and talk or more like a ‘hooking up whenever you get the urge’ thing?”

“He said he wants us to get to know each other, to see if there could be something more than sex between us.” I tucked my feet underneath me. “But he didn’t take sex off the table.”

“Does that mean you’ve had it on the table already?” Kaimi teased.

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