Page 36 of Secret Love

I shoot up. “Oh, I should be getting home. I need to check on my…Earl. I need to check on Earl. And I need to get ready for tomorrow. Dance will come early,” I say, laughing awkwardly.

“Oh, right. Yeah, sure. Can I help you?” He reaches out to grab me before I trip into the fire and I mumblethank youunder my breath. I start to shed the hoodie and he shakes his head. “No, it's okay. You keep it. Stay warm.”

“I’ll give it back to you the next time I see you. I promise.”

“Not a big deal,” he says.

The mood is broken and I feel bad because I’m the one who put a halt to how magical things were feeling between us. But what else can I do? I want to get lost in his eyes and possibly jump the guy’s bones, but I can't exactly do that, can I?

Sadie looks up and her face falls when she notices that I'm gathering my purse. “Oh, are you leaving?”

“Yeah, I need to get home and check on my kitten. I feel bad for leaving him for long stretches of time.”

“You should bring him. Next time you come over, bring him.” She gets up and hugs me and Felicity does too.

“I had such a good time. Thank you so much for inviting me.” I turn to Felicity. “And I'm so happy I got to meet you too.”

“Me too,” Felicity says. “Have Sadie bring you to Landmark Mountain sometime. It's a whole other vibe there, but you'll love it.”

“That sounds fun.”

I say bye to everybody, avoiding eye contact with Henley. If he smiles at me one more time, I’m not sure I’ll have the strength to leave. Sadness overrides all the warm fuzzies I’ve had from such a great night, and I walk away feeling like I'm missing out on a chance.

There’s no doubt in my mind that I will regret it later.

Because I already do.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

BOLT & BARREL

HENLEY

“Well, that went well,” Sadie says excitedly, when Tru is out of earshot.

“Yeah, man, it looks like you guys were hitting it off.” Weston grins.

Sadie does a little shoulder shimmy and I groan. “Yeah, it went so well that she justboltedright when I was about to ask her out.”

“Oh no.” Sadie's face drops. “But… so youdidn'task her out yet?”

“I got out the words, ‘Tru, would you like to go’ and she found a reason to practically run out of here…”

“No, she was probably just anxious about Earl,” Sadie says.

“Yeah, I don't think so. I think she was anxious to get away fromme.”

“Nobody is anxious to get away from you, Henley,” Felicity says. “Trust me, no single woman wants to do that.”

Weston glances at her. “You better be glad Sutton's not here and that you just clarified with the single woman part.”

“Are you kidding? Sutton would agree with me.Suttondoesn't want to get away from Henley. He’s as obsessed with Henley as Caleb is.”

“No oneis as obsessed with Henley as Caleb is,” Sadie says, laughing.

We all laugh. Felicity’s husband Sutton is a good guy.

“Too bad hanging with the guys isn't getting me a date.” I shrug.

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