Page 23 of I'll Carry You

“Aren’t you, though?” She flashed him a knowing look.

He shrugged. “Casual is easier. No messy goodbyes.” His gaze pierced hers. “You’ve never just . . .”

Her cheeks grew warmer. “Just what? Hooked up with a random guy?”

“Basically, yeah.”

She’d pretty much invited him to have a conversation about her sex life. This was why she needed to butt out of his. She shook her head. “Nope.”

“And how’s that going for you?” They got closer to Yardley’s, and the beat of the drums from the live band sounded into the night.

She stopped, cocking her head to the side. She should feel shyer than she did right now. Noticing her lips were dry, she dug through her purse for a lip gloss. “Honestly?”

Jason’s eyes followed the movement of her hands as she uncapped the lip gloss and applied it. “I wouldn’t want anything but.”

Was she really having this conversation right now? Maybe the fact that he was a stranger—a stranger she’d kissed—made it easier. “Honestly, I haven’t had sex in a really long time, and it’s driving me crazy.”

A satisfied smirk came to settle on his face. “See? Casual is better. You don’t have to wait for the ‘right’ person, if that even exists.”

She paused on the sidewalk and eyed him. “So you don’t believe in love and marriage and monogamy and all that?” All the things she was waiting for.Because you can’t afford to be selfish, Jen. Someone else is affected by everything you do.

He shrugged as they started walking again. “It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”

Jen raised a brow. “You’ve been married?” He seemed too young to be divorced. But some people married young and divorced right away. Maybe that was what it really was: he seemed too fond of the bachelor lifestyle to have ever been married.

“A monumental mistake.” Jason stretched his shoulders back. They reached the door, and he held it open for her.

As she passed him into Yardley’s, she felt oddly thrilled to be coming back here with him. A hot, mysterious stranger in town? That she’d been seen kissing? Let them talk. She’d earned the right to have some fun after the crap week she’d had.

They went to the bar and ordered drinks, but there was standing room only. Finding a corner against the wall of coasters to stand near, Jen slipped her coat onto her arm. “Here, I’ll take that from you,” Jason offered. He hung both their coats at a nearby coatrack, then returned with their drinks. He nodded toward the coasters. “What’s that about?”

“It’s an old Brandywood tradition. When you’re an official couple, you go up there and tack a coaster with your names written on it. The owner leaves it up forever, so it’s not anything to be taken lightly. Think of it like the lock thing people used to put on Parisian bridges, sort of.”

“Except it annoyed the ever-living shit out of Parisians, and they were always cutting locks off and throwing them out,” Jason remarked dryly, clearly unimpressed with the sentimental gesture.

Trust him not to care about sentimentality. She twirled the stem of the glass of wine. She should have switched to something that would make her less woozy, but she might throw up. Watching Jason take a pull from his beer, she analyzed his features. What was it about him that made her feel so at ease?

“So how does the casual thing work?” she asked when he stepped closer to her. “One night, no repeats?” That was the situation with the woman the other night, right?

Jason gave her a questioning look. Then he smiled. He’d probably had braces because no one had teeth that straight. Slinging back another drink, he shrugged. “It would never work for you.”

Cocky bastard.She glared. “I didn’t say I was considering it.” She had totally been considering it, but he didn’t have to know that. A one-night stand might be exactly what she needed. Someone to make her feel wanted, who never had to meet Colby. She was smarter about sex than she’d been when she got pregnant.

And Kevin had taught her that being in a loving relationship didn’t stop the other person from walking out on you.

“You’re too set in your ways. You want romance. This isn’t romance. It’s just sex.” Jason’s eyes drifted over the names of couples on the coasters tacked to the wall. “That—that’s you. I bet you even have a coaster up there with your name on it, don’t you?”

Yep.She purposely avoided scanning the wall for the coaster Kevin had put up there. She sipped her wine. “I’m currently fifty dollars in the hole from entering that couples-only baking competition as a newly party of one. I’m willing to consider my options.”

Jason cringed. “You’re making me feel even guiltier about that kiss, you know.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be. I’m glad you kissed me.” Maybe it was the alcohol or the forced proximity, but she was enjoying the intimacy of their no-holds-barred conversation. “First decent kiss I’ve had in a while.” Without waiting for a reaction, she lifted her chin toward the crowded bar. “So show me how it’s done. How do you find your one-night stand in a throng like this?”

Jason stood shoulder to shoulder with her, facing the bar. “What makes you think I can teach you?”

“You’re the expert, remember?” She stared at the sides of her glass as she swirled the white wine around.

“You make it sound like I go around bragging about my exploits.”

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