Page 12 of The Only Time

“Seriously. Had I known Layla’s friend was so hot and could cook like an eighty-year-old Italian woman, I would’ve offered up my place.”

I don’t know why that grates on me. “Well, I doubt she would want to shack up with you in your bachelor pad. She would also probably have to be okay with listening to you have sex with a different woman every weekend.”

He shrugs. “If she was living with me, I could focus on just her. She’s the kind of beautiful you settle down with and give up the bachelor lifestyle for.”

Of course he would be pining after Mia already. Is she classically beautiful? Yes, in an effortless way. I would be lying if I said I didn’t notice her full lips just now or the hint of cleavage under her top.

But all that does is stir a sense of fear and dread in me instead of arousal. Those are the dangerous ones. The ones who make you think that you could settle down with them and build a life together.

I know the reality of love. It can break you and make you second guess everything you’ve built in your life.

“Well, she isn’t living with you,” I reply coolly.

I try to focus on the game despite being fully aware of his eyes on me. “You like her or something?”

I chuckle to myself at the mere idea. “I think I’ve said five words to her. I don’t even know her.”

He shakes his head in dismay. “It wouldn’t kill you to be a little more friendly to the woman staying in a stranger’s house.”

“Do you know why she’s staying here?” I ask curiously. Maybe he knows something that I don’t.

He shrugs. “No clue.”

“Do you think it has anything to do with my money?”

His dark eyebrows arch at my words. “Kim really did a number on you, didn’t she?”

“What does this have to do with Kim?” I bite out angrily.

“You tell me, man. You’ve been the leader of this anti-women campaign ever since you two broke off your engagement.”

“I don’t see you settling down. What are you afraid of?”

“I just haven’t found the right one yet. You, on the other hand, are too afraid to find the right one.”

A burning sensation spreads across my chest. “Maybethe right oneis all a bullshit illusion we tell ourselves to justify this societal construct that we’ve created around the idea of love and forever.”

“Dinner is ready everyone,” Mom calls from the dining room.

I storm away from Liam, itching to get out of the conversation. The dining room is set up already with plates and fancy wine glasses. It’s strange seeing so many of my things being put to use. We normally eat at my parents’ house or Asher and Charlotte’s home. I didn’t even know I had this many plates.

“Take a seat gentleman,” my mom instructs. “We will bring in the food.”

She walks off with a big smile on her face. I don’t know what she is so happy about. She’s acting a little crazy if you ask me.

Josh takes a seat to my left. “You hanging in there, buddy?” he asks, sounding slightly concerned.

Good to know at least one person cares about me.

Charlotte walks in holding a big wooden bowl of salad. She places it in the middle of the table then proceeds to take a seat. “Don’t look so glum brother-in-law. You get to spend an evening with family that invited themselves over.”

A smirk breaks through despite my best efforts to stop it.

The rest of the women walk in carrying food, Mia last as she holds a big bowl of pasta. My stomach growls in response to the aromas that are floating in the air.

Layla sits next to Josh, seeming happy to relinquish control in the kitchen. She’s a chef and owns her own restaurant here in Savannah.

Mia is the last one to take a seat, on the last empty chair directly next to me. I adjust myself in my seat, feeling claustrophobic all of a sudden as I inhale the scent of her floral perfume.

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