Page 67 of The Blind Date

"What are you doing?" I asked curiously, trying to quench my never-ending thirst by sipping more water. I knew it was pointless. As long as Cedric was close to me, the thirst would remain, and last long after he had left.

“Pouring us both a glass of wine. Or would you rather drink from the bottle?”

“A glass is fine.”

"I know you find white wine pretentious, but I hope you don't feel the same about red,” Cedric chuckled and handed me a glass before proceeding to pour one for himself.

I shook my head with a small smile. “Red is fine. Nothing pretentious about it.”

By the time he poured himself a glass, I had emptied the contents of mine. I would need all the liquid courage I could get for this conversation. After all, it had been brewing for nearly a week now.

"I'm going to need you to pour me another glass," I told him, expectantly holding out my glass.

“I don’t want you drunk for this conversation,” Cedric frowned, but he topped up my glass.

"It's going to take more than two glasses of red wine to get me drunk,” I told him but made a mental note to only take small sips to make this glass last. The determined look on his face told me that this would be a long conversation. And I only had myself to thank for that.

"I don't know about you, but I'm going to sit down," Cedric told me, moving to sit on the sofa. I knew I should follow him, making more sense to be sitting and comfortable for what I could only assume would be a long and uncomfortable conversation, but I couldn't bring myself to move.

I cleared my throat and said, “I’ll stay here."

As the living room and kitchen area were open plan, that meant there was no hiding for me. I could try and keep as much distance as possible between us, but there was no escaping his intense gaze.

“As you wish,” he murmured and took a long sip of his wine. “I don’t know about you, but I had a great time with you the other night."

“I had a great time with you, too,” I admitted, unable to meet his eyes.

“If you had a great time with me, why did I wake up alone?” Cedric asked, staring at me until I finally caved and met his eyes.

"You sure don't beat around the bush, do you?" I chuckled, but my reaction was not well received. When he sent me a pointed look, I sighed and bowed my head, knowing that this wasn't something I would be able to bullshit myself out of. “I couldn’t believe that I had actually slept with you,” I admitted in a small voice.

Cedric exhaled deeply. "I kind of expected you to say that, but it doesn't hurt any less. I’m sorry you regret what happened that night."

"I don't regret it,” I was quick to deny, fearful that he would misunderstand me. "I haven't regretted you once, Cedric.”

He raised his eyebrows, almost as if asking,then what?

“I don’t regret sleeping with you, but when I woke up in the morning and found you next to me, I was kind of shocked. I couldn’t believe that it actually happened.”

"Surprised to wake up in bed next to the man you slept with the night before?” His lips curved up. “That's new."

“Don’t look so smug,” I huffed and rolled my eyes. “You can’t tell me you weren’t surprised as well.”

“I was, but I reacted better than you did.”

“Perhaps, but that’s not the point.” I narrowed my eyes when he sent me a pointed look. “All we drank was cheap beer that night. And not that many either, if I remember correctly. What could have possibly persuaded us to sleep together if we weren’t drunk?”

“Maybe it’s because we wanted to.” Cedric shrugged as if it was as simple as that.

“What do you mean?”

“I know it’s difficult to comprehend, but maybe we slept together because we wanted to. I know I certainly did.”

“What?”

"I wanted to sleep with you because I liked you and was attracted to you. Still do. Very much. Is that so hard to believe?" Cedric quirked a brow at me, and I didn’t know what caught me off guard more. His admission or the questioning brow he cocked at me.

“Yes,” I answered, flabbergasted.

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