Page 48 of All Your Firsts Without Me

He grimaces as he stretches his long legs out in front of him. His jeans ride up at his ankle and it’s then I notice he has a prosthetic leg. Hastily, he pulls his pant leg down.

We go back to the game, but he avoids my gaze. The mood has shifted, and he is quiet.

“Is everything okay?” I ask, placing my pieces on the board.

He sighs loudly and picks himself up off the floor. “I’m sorry, I should have told you. I’ll go.”

I hop up, grabbing his arm, spinning him to face me. “What? Why?”

He stares down at me, the corner of his eyes creased in pain. “Because, I should have warned you.”

“Warned me about what?”

“That I only have one leg.” He shakes his head and tries to pull away from me, but I only increase my death grip on his arm.

“And?”

“And I know it bothers people.”

“Westin, it doesn’t bother me. It doesn’t change how I see you at all.”

He blinks a few times. He presses his thumbs in the corner of his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he says before rushing out.

Lucky dances around my feet, questioning what just happened.

“I don’t know, girl. I don’t know.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Westin

I roll over in bed, growling as the sun pours in through the blinds I neglected to close last night. “God, I’m an idiot,” I groan.

Someone is pounding on my door.

Go away.

I pull myself to a sitting position, pulling on my prosthetic and grabbing a pair of jeans off the back of a chair. My chairdrobe. I cringe, recalling last night.

Goddammit, whoever it is, they are not giving in. I glance at the clock. Eight in the morning. Who in the fuck is at my house on a Saturday morning at the ass crack of dawn?

I pad my way down the hall, thinking it’s a delivery man and he’s needing a signature but when I whip the door open, there stands April. Her cheeks are bright pink from the cold morning air. She has a huge box and two coffees in her hands.

“April, what are you doing here?”

She looks down at the box in her hand. “Well, I figured we were even and…”

“Even?”

Golden eyes peek at me from under her long lashes. “Yeah, I ran out on you and now you’ve run out on me. We’re even.”

I stand there for a moment. She’s absolutely right. I ran out on her last night. Jesus help me, Iaman idiot.

“Um, can I come in?” she asks hesitantly.

“Oh, yes, sorry.” I take the box from her and shift to the side so she can slide past me.

She heads to the dining room and sets the coffee down before taking the box from me. “I wasn’t sure what you liked so I bought one of everything.” She peels back the lid, revealing dozens of brightly colored donuts. Her eyes drop to my naked chest, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip.

---