Page 68 of Clueless Romeo

Caleb rolled his eyes. "Just go already. Your morose attitude is dragging me down."

Morose? I wasn't aware the word was in his limited vocabulary. It probably wouldn't help to point that out, so I reluctantly agreed. "Okay. I'm going to go change clothes."

He waved me off as he started tapping on his phone. "Go, or you'll ruin my appetite, and I won't be able to forgive you for that."

I didn't need further convincing, not with the promise of getting my feet on the court. I headed for the back of the shop and then jogged up the stairs to the apartment. Within minutes, I had slipped into a pair of mesh shorts, a sweat-stained t-shirt with the sleeves torn off, and a pair of high-tops. Taking my hoodie off a hanger in case it was cold, I shoved it under my arm and scooped up the basketball from my closet floor.

After gathering my phone and a water bottle from the refrigerator, I headed back down the stairs. I opted to take the back alley to the court rather than going out the front. As I was locking the door, the sound of an engine drawing close made me look down the narrow path.

My heart sped up as his familiar truck came slowly rolling down the drive. Anger and pain bubbled up inside me as I stared at the old beat-up truck coming to a stop in front of me.

Roman climbed out, looked at me, and opened his mouth to say who knew what. Didn't matter because speaking to him was the last thing I wanted to do. I hit the steps hard as I bounded right, turning down the road at a quick clip.

"CJ," he called from behind me, but I ignored him, walking faster to get away. "Damn it," he cursed just loud enough for me to hear.

Did he seriously expect me to talk to him after yesterday? Apparently, he did because the sound of his footsteps followed mine. "Go away, Roman."

"Not until you hear me out." He grew closer, feet pounding the pavement as he chased after me.

I kept walking. "Nope. The time for talking came to an end when you bailed yesterday."

"You kicked me out," he argued as a hand grabbed my arm.

I spun around, wrenched my arm free and glared daggers at the man who'd wreaked havoc on my heart over the last twenty-four hours. I clenched my jaw but tried to keep my features neutral and unaffected, failing miserably because I was pissed as hell. I didn't want Roman to know that his blatant dismissal of us had struck a deep chord that rocked my world. "I kicked you out after you bailedon us,Roman. You were the one who wanted there to be an us and then changed your mind seconds later."

He scowled. "That's what I needed to talk about. Why aren't you answering my texts?"

"As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing to talk about anymore." I hadn't even known he texted because I'd blocked his number, not that it would have mattered. I didn't want him to know I'd stooped to blocking him, though. "And I've been busy."

"Too busy to tell me you were fucking busy?" His tone sounded like he didn't believe me, but I wasn't going to cop to the lie.

"I wasn't aware I owed you an explanation or a copy of my daily schedule, especially now." I turned on my heels, walking away again. "Don't follow me."

Ignoring my order, Roman was right behind me, his shoes hitting the concrete at the same pace as mine. He growled low in his throat. "You're pissed at me, and you have every right to be."

No shit."You're damn right I'm pissed. But if you're worried shit will be awkward now, don't be. You changed your mind. It was nothing more than a little experimental fun. No need to be doing whatever it is you're doing."

Roman groaned. "You're headed to the court?"

I bounced the basketball against the pavement. "What gave you that idea?"

"Damn it, CJ. I'm sorry, okay?" He blew out a frustrated breath. "If you'd read my texts, you'd know nothing between us wasjust a little experimental fun. I fucked up. Bad. I know that, but if you'd give me a chance to explain—"

I shook my head, a dark chuckle tearing up my throat as we turned onto the sidewalk along the main road. "Just go away."

"After you hear me out. If you still want me gone, I'll leave you alone." A group of people huddled at the crosswalk, but Roman didn't bother to keep his voice down. "I messed up, but I won't make that mistake again. I wantedusthen, and I still wantusnow, if you'll just give me a chance to fix it."

I came to a grinding halt behind the group, and Roman crashed into my back with a curse. Spinning around, I pushed on his chest to create space to breathe. "Yeah? You want an us? And what about when people see us together, Roman? You going to freak out and just leave again?"

"I would never do that again." His voice softened. "I'll tell all these people here right now that you fucking own me. Just say yes, and I'll tell fucking everyone that you are mine."

There wouldn't be a need to announce it. I could feel stares trained on us and the scene we were creating. I had to give Roman credit for one thing. He obviously didn't care who knew we'd been together. Past tense. For all of a few minutes. I shook my head. "No."

Roman crossed his arms over his chest. "What do you want from me? You just want to be neighbors and pretend we don't even know each other? Because I can't do that, CJ."

I leaned close. "Well, you're going to have to because I don't want a motherfucking thing from you, Roman."

"Well, I want something from you." His voice rose. "I want you to love me because I'm so stupid in love with you." His words froze me in place. That had been the last thing I expected him to say. His voice softened again. "Crazy out of my damn mind in love with you, Corey Joe. I can't just walk away from that without doing everything I can to make it right."

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