Page 57 of One Life to Loathe

“Just … don’t.” Denying it was a waste of time. Instead, I shook my head. “I don’t want to talk about it. I have to get ready for work.”

“Okay.” Jax made sure to give me a wide berth as he passed. “Have a nice day.”

“I know you’re smirking,” I hissed at his back.

“Actually, I’m thinking about the fact that I owe my fiancée fifty bucks. I’m hoping she’ll take it out in trade.”

I didn’t even want to know what that meant. “You’re kind of a putz.”

“I was just thinking the same thing about you.”

Sadly, I was a putz. I refused to wallow in it, though. “I’m hitting the shower. If you could keep this to yourself, that would be great.”

“I’ll do my best.”

That was all I could ask for, and I knew it.

16

SIXTEEN

Watching Leo leave was harder than I imagined.

I’d done the right thing, though.

I knew the moment we woke up together that he was still sparking. How couldn’t he be? I was a freaking inferno and wanted to do it all over again.

And again and again.

He would’ve killed himself trying to make something fit that wasn’t going to fit. Attraction didn’t equate to compatibility. We were not even remotely compatible. We wanted vastly different things. We couldn’t just gloss over that simple fact.

It was better this way. We’d scratched the itch. It would be difficult at first, but we would get through it. At the very least, I couldn’t help but feel we had a better understanding of one another. We would make our professional relationship our only relationship, and eventually—maybe—we would be true friends. That was better than the alternative where I fell head over heels for him, ended up with a broken heart, and mourned his loss for the rest of my life.

This was our only option.

I hit the restaurant for breakfast first thing. I swear I broke a bone in my neck looking for Leo. He was nowhere to be found, though. Daisy was another story.

“So…” She was all smiles as she plopped down in the chair across from me, eyes sparkling. “How was your night?”

I forced myself to remain calm. “Well, fairly good … after I realized I’d been abandoned alone in a cemetery.”

“First off, you weren’t in the cemetery. You were simply close to it. Secondly, you weren’t alone. Leo was with you.”

“How do you know he didn’t abandon me?”

“Because I went looking for you to tell you we were going to Finz.”

I stilled, my hands wrapped around my mug of coffee as I debated what to say. “It’s probably best you didn’t find me,” I said finally. “I would’ve definitely drunk too much under those conditions.”

Daisy rolled her eyes. “Who says I didn’t find you?”

Crappity-crap-crap. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because you were climbing Leo like he was a tree and there was no way I was interrupting that.” She leaned closer. “How was it?”

“How was what?” My voice was unnaturally squeaky.

“Oh, are we really going to play this game?” Daisy’s disappointment was palpable. “Are you going to deny that you spent the night together?”

---