Page 9 of Single Dad Panther's Best Friend Romance

I walk us home and with each step I’m reminded of how wonderful it was to be with her tonight and how very quiet the night seems now that I’ve left her behind.

Temporarily?

Damn it, one thing I know is that I’m not going to wrestle with this for long. I’m a panther, damn it, not a fucking lynx.

Chapter Six

Elizabeth

I feel so damned good floating there. You know what I mean, I think. You know that place where you’re not awake but you’re not asleep. I always call it floating because it’s like when you’re at a pool or the ocean and just floating. You’re not sinking but you’re not swimming. You’re floating.

And I’m not sleeping anymore and I’m not awake yet. It’s just a beautiful place. I love it.

And then my eyes open up. I’m awake. I’m completely awake. I’m also naked in bed, which isn’t a strange thing at all except this morning I’m naked in bed because I made love to Preston, for fuck’s sake. I feel a surge of excitement that turns into panic when I realize I’m not just naked in bed. I’m naked in bed andalone.

I throw off the sheets and run out of my room. Then, I run back into my room doubly panicked now in order to grab my robe. See, in the back of my mind, I’m thinking maybe he’s not next to me on the bed because he’s in the room with Joel. Like,maybe Joel woke up and got scared and Preston went to be with him.

As opposed to Preston deciding that last night was a terrible mistake and skipping out before I even woke up.

Maybe it’s not all that in the back of my mind because I can’t find my robe at first and I feel trapped in my room. I’m not a poet or anything so I don’t know why I see a kind of connection to being not awake but not asleep. But it’s like that now.

I’m floating in this place where I don’t believe Preston left before I woke and I also don’t believe that he’s still in the house. I don’t know how exactly to explain it but I think I’m clinging to the idea of him being with Joel, clinging to it enough that I don’t feel comfortable leaving the room naked in case Joel sees. I’m clinging to that idea so I can cling to hope that things are okay with Preston and me.

I try to think and finally glance under the bed.

Bingo.

It got kicked underneath during the whole desperate to fuck each other episode, I guess.

I quickly pull it on and rush out of the room. The moment I’m out of the room, I slow way down. I guess now that I have my robe on, I have a hard time believing they’re here. I mean, I guess I always knew they wouldn’t be here. I guess…

Well, I guess I don’t have a best friend anymore.

There’s no going back.

No best friend. No lover. Just an awkward relationship with a guy who’ll probably still need someone to watch Joel.

Welcome to life after the one-night stand, damn it all to Hell.

Well, I want to tell you that I resolve to handle everything maturely and intelligently. I want to tell you that I’m completely committed to not getting all dramatic and angry. The problem is I open the door and Joel and Preston aren’t there and I go fucking crazy.

I run to the shower and do you have any idea how hard it is to take a shower when every touch from the water jets is a reminder of your big fucking mistake? I mean, if not for the fact that last night was the most breathtaking sex even possible, maybe I wouldn’t have to think about it with a bazillion little water tongues caressing me everywhere!

Fuck, I hate that I’m all poetic now.

I hurry my shower because I really don’t need that kind of reminder of how good things were last night. But hell, everything is a reminder of that, except for Preston himself. How could he just disappear like that? If he felt it was a mistake, why didn’t he just talk it over at breakfast or something?

Now, my anger is gaining traction and the poetry is wearing off. I want to go scream at him, throw something at him, I don’t know! I just know that I’m hurting in a way that I’ve worked very hard to avoid. There is a reason I don’t get too close to any guy, and it’s not just because of some crush on Preston.

Or is it?

Well, fuck this. I pull on clothes at breakneck speed and rush out of the house and over to Preston’s. I knock on the door (thankfully remembering Joel at the last minute so I can keep from beating on it like an angry villager in a horror movie.)

Finally, the door swings open and I get ready to unleash hell when I see that it’s the lady who brought Joel to me last night. “Oh, hello.”

She smiles. “Hello dear. How may I help you?”

I note the proper use of grammar and feel doubly stupid for being there. “Um, well, I just came over to see if Preston was here?” Oh my God, I sound like I’m asking a grown man if he can come out and play.

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