Page 62 of Shameless With Him

Fuck, I hadn’t meant to sound so possessive. Because I couldn’t be that way with her. Zoey wasn’t mine. We were just friends. Doing this casual thing.

Zoey:Don’t worry, mister. No strip clubs for me. I’m not a huge fan of glitter.

Me:Well, they would be wearing the glitter. And you better not get any glitter on you if you ever go to one.

Zoey:LOL.

Me:So, what are you doing now?

Zoey:Just hanging at home and reading. I should probably work on my accounting or do something. But I’m just not in the mood.

Me:You want me to stop over after I’m done?

I hadn’t actually meant to text that, but suddenly my fingers were moving, and I couldn’t take it back.

Things were getting a little too serious, too fast, but I wanted to be near her.

Fuck.

Zoey:If you want. It’d be nice to see you. It’s been a couple of days. Unless you stay up too late with the boys.

I looked up as John played with his phone, and the other guys started to slow down.

Me:Give me an hour or two.

Zoey:See you soon.

I ignored the way my gut clenched, and my heart raced at that.

Crap.

We couldn’t be anything more than we were. I couldn’t let that happen. But I had a feeling I was going to.

The guys and I ended up going to that bar, but only for about thirty minutes. They hadn’t been in the mood, and frankly, I wanted to get out of there and get to Zoey. That probably made me a fool, but I couldn’t help it. I was losing my mind when it came to her, and that thought just reminded me that I had already been losing my mind for many things.

I really should step away, but I knew I wouldn’t.

I dropped John off at his place, and he just grinned over at me. “Thanks for tonight. I know it wasn’t a rowdy night like most bachelor or stag parties, but I had fun.”

I returned the smile.

“I had fun, too. Not every stag party needs to be a gorge of excess.”

“Exactly. I’ll talk to you soon, but thank you for everything. Seriously. I know I sort of dragged you into this, not quite kicking and screaming, but close enough.”

“I didn’t do anything I didn’t want to do.”

And that was the truth. I liked John, and I wanted to see him happy. And Lacey was the one who made him happy.

The fact that I was scarily falling for Lacey’s sister was something I really didn’t want to think about.

Because, fuck it. I wasn’t allowed to fall for her.

“Have fun tonight, and say hi to Zoey for me.” John winked as he got out of the car, and I froze.

“Huh?”

“I saw you texting tonight. Tell Zoey hi for me.”

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