Page 26 of One Pucking Destiny

He raises a brow, a small smile present on his lips. “Don’t want to be seen with me. Noted. At least you remember me, though. I wasn’t so sure.”

“I don’t want to be seen outside your door while you’re half naked, no. And of course I remember you. How many guys do you think I sleep with?”

He retrieves some clothing from a suitcase. Shaking his head, he releases a sigh. “I couldn’t tell ya. Turns out, I know absolutely nothing about you.”

I can’t quite place the underlying tone to his comment. “What does that mean?”

Stepping into the bathroom, he closes the door. “Exactly what I said. I know nothing about you. I realized that when I tried to find you for months and couldn’t,” he says from the bathroom.

“What?” My confused stare bores into the door of the bathroom. “You’ve been looking for me. Why?”

Bash exits the bathroom dressed in a T-shirt and shorts. He chuckles dryly. “Thank you for being the reality check I clearly needed. My ego needed to come down a few notches.”

“What are you talking about?”

He shakes his head. “There’s not much more to it. I had a great time with you and was thinking about you. Thought you might be thinking about me. So I tried to find you. But I guess I was wrong.”

“How did you try to find me?”

“How didn’t I?” He’s smiling, but there’s a sadness to it. “It doesn’t matter. I read our night together wrong. My mistake.”

Everything about this conversation is throwing me off. The night I spent with Bash was incredible, and I’dbe lying if I said I haven’t replayed the events of that evening more than a few times. But I thought we were on the same page with what that night was and, more importantly, what it wasn’t.

“We said it was a one-night thing,” I say, confusion etched in my voice.

He steps toward me and turns to face me, resting his elbow on the dresser. A warmth radiates in my chest as he takes me in. His gaze flicks from my eyes to my lips.

“I know. We did. But it felt wrong when I woke up the following morning with you gone. Hookups have never felt like that before. Like more. At least for me, it felt different, and I wanted to find you to talk about it at the very least.”

“I’m sorry. I thought I was clear that I can’t do more right now. For me, there’s not a possibility of more.”

“Why?”

His question throws me off guard. “Bash,” I huff. “We talked about all this that night. I don’t want anything serious or even regular. I wanted a night to feel good, one night, and I thought that’s what you wanted too. I’m busy. No part of me wants more.” My shoulders lift and fall as I sigh. “I can’t believe you were looking for me, and now I feel bad about it. Like I wasted your time because I left without leaving anumber when I was under the impression that was the way we both knew it was going the whole time.”

“Hey.” He grabs my hand and holds it in his. “I’m sorry. Please don’t feel bad. You’re right. You were very clear. You didn’t waste my time. In fact, I have time to spare. So much so that I just love looking around for people for no reason at all. No. Better yet, I lied. I didn’t look for you at all.” He winks. “Okay? No need to feel bad.”

I hold back a laugh. “You are the worst one-night stand ever.”

“Really?” His tongue peeks out to wet his lips. His gaze drops to my mouth as he leans in, just a fraction, but enough to make me inch back.

I clear my throat. “Okay, the neediest, then.”

“So out of all your one-night stands, I’m not the worst, but I am the neediest. Interesting. How many one-night stands are we talking here?” His voice is playful.

“That’s none of your business,” I quip. “But I guarantee it’s less than you.”

He shrugs. “Yeah, that’s probably true. Just tell me this. Have you thought about that night we shared?”

My stare locks with his. “It was just a hookup, Bash.” I shrug. “No, I never think about it.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“Oh.” His face drops, and it makes my chest hurt.

I hold my hands up, palms out. “So we’re good.”

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