Page 63 of Wildly Inappropriate

“Have you actually confirmed that with him?”

“No,” I reply.

“So you still haven’t asked him about Vegas?”

“No. What am I supposed to say, ‘Hey, remember how after we hooked up in Vegas you completely ghosted me for breakfast the next day and then were a complete ass when I asked you about it? Can you explain that to me? Because I really don’t understand how that guy is the same as the guy I’m falling in love with right now.’” Tears push at the corners of my eyes and the back of my throat, begging to be released. I’m so pathetic.

But that is what this conversation with my best friend is for—to get this out of my system before JT gets home. Once he’s here, I’ll be in the roommates-with-benefits mindset, not this one that wants something more from him.

“Wait, did you just say ‘love’?” Elise’s voice crackles with disbelief.

I open my mouth to explain, but a sudden, deep thud echoes from outside my bedroom door. My heart seizes as I turn toward the sound, feeling the blood drain from my face.

“What was that?” Elise whisper-yells through the phone.

I press a finger to my lips instinctively though she can’t see it. “Shh,” I murmur, listening intently. The silence on the other side of the door is somehow louder, prickling at my nerves.

“Lila? What’s going on?” Elise’s voice is barely audible now.

“I... I think someone’s in my house,” I whisper back, gripping the phone tighter. “Stay on the line. Call 9-1-1 if I don’t respond to you at any point.”

Grabbing one of my high heels from the floor, I creep toward the door, my pulse hammering in my ears. I press down on the handle, pushing as I swing the door open, only to find the house empty, with no sign of what made that noise.

Chapter thirty

JT

I hurry out ofthe house, limping from the pain shooting through my toe. One brave kitchen stool attempted to stop me as I fled from the house, but I’m not one to be deterred when freaking out.

How did me surprising Lila end up as a big surprise for me? Maybe surprises aren’t my thing. Yeah, I should stick to letting people know where I’ll be and when.

I basically run down the hill to the golf club’s restaurant, all the while thinking about what I heard. She’s falling in love with me? I can’t…I don’t know what to do with that. She was never supposed to feel that way about me. I can’t lose focus right now on my game. My dad lectured me for almost an hour after my round today about how I let him and my mom down with my performance. They need first-place money for the investment, and I couldn’t close. Lila might be my good-luck charm, but she’s also a major distraction. All I could think about today was coming home to her, and my round suffered.

I can’t let myself get caught up in my feelings for her.

The shittiest thing is that I might just be starting to fall in love with her too. But I was okay with breaking my own heart if it meant I was able to help my parents without hurting Lila. What am I supposed to do now that there’s no way to avoid breaking her heart?

I try to force myself to think of anything else, but it keeps spiraling back to the conversation I overheard, a second, far less important portion of the conversation popping into my mind. What the heck was she talking about when she said I completely ghosted her for breakfast and then was a complete ass about it? I would certainly remember it if Lila ever asked me to breakfast.

I head straight for the bar as I walk into the restaurant, secretly hoping one of the Harpers will be there to coach me through this mess that is my life. I feel like Kelsey and Ken would be a solid advice combo right now, but I would take any of them at this point. I wouldn’t even turn my nose up at an overly friendly bartender I could work through this with. Unfortunately, as I plop down at the end of the bar, I realize the man two seats down from me is none other than Lila’s date-turned-friend, Matthew Something-or-Another. Perfect. Had to be the one guy whose face I want to smash for no good reason.

“Hey, you’re Lila’s boyfriend, right? JT Johnson?”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” I say gruffly.

He chuckles like there’s something fucking funny about us not dating. “Right. Okay.”

He takes a swallow of the dark amber liquid he’s drinking before turning his attention back to me. “Want a drink?” he asks.

“No,” I say, and he just smirks at my lie. To be fair, I’m sitting at a bar, alone, at night, so it’s not hard to puzzle out that I want a drink.

“Fine,” I sigh. “Whiskey on the rocks, please,” I tell the bartender, and Matthew signals with his finger to indicate that she should put it on his tab.

“I can get my own drink.”

“Did you know this golf course is on land that used to be my grandfather’s ranch?” he asks. “My family ran cattle right here for over a hundred years before my grandpa sold off this part to build the golf course. He negotiated memberships for all his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, living or future, as part of the deal too. Since it’s the closest bar to my house, I tend to end up drinking here when I’m looking to drown my sorrows or to forget.”

I say nothing, nodding my head graciously to the bartender as she drops off my drink.

---