Page 55 of The Dallas Dilemma

I roll over, tucking myself into his side. His arm moves around me, holding me close while his fingers toy with the ends of my hair. Neither of us speaks as we cuddle, and soon, Dallas’ breathing slows down into the long, even breaths of sleep.

I lie awake for a long time, thinking about him and us and the secret I’m keeping. I should’ve told him. Should’ve put it out there and let the chips fall wherethey may. As amazing as what we just did felt, I know I’ve only made matters worse by sleeping with him again before hashing it all out.

It feels deceptive.

And now it’s going to be even harder to tell him the truth. That I knew he was Buckaroo, didn’t confess, and had sex with him under false pretenses.

Fuck, he’s never going to forgive me, is he?

I know I’m spiraling. That my anxiety is making me a bit irrational, but I can’t control it. When Dallas finds out I’m JoeyB, he’s going to dump me like yesterday’s trash.

And there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Dallas

I slowly waken,and it takes me a second to realize I’m still in Josette’s bed. Looking over, I see she’s still asleep. As I watch her breathe, my mind reels. Last night, I expected her to call me out for being Bodacious Buckaroo, but though she seemed nervous at first, she eventually settled and acted like nothing at all was bothering her.

Then she instigated the sexy times, and I kind of panicked for a minute. I know we should’ve cleared the air, first. But she seemed so desperate for the connection, and her kisses and soft touches made me forget everything but that moment. I don’t exactly regret anything that happened. I could never regret being with her. But Ido feel a sliver of guilt for not laying everything out on the table before I took her to bed.

I don’t like this. I don’t like Josette keeping this secret from me. Why would she do that? Taking her anxiety into consideration, it slowly dawns on me that she’s probably nervous I’d bail if I found out she’s JoeyB.

At least, I hope that’s the case, and she’s not still trying to decide if she wants to be withmenow that she knows the truth. On some level, I know that’s ridiculous. If she didn’t want to be with me, she’d have called me out already. And definitely wouldn’t have invited me over and let me spend the night last night.

It’s much more likely that she’s all in her head about it, certain that I wouldn’t want her if I knew the truth. She doesn’t know that our online interactions only make my days brighter. Even though I’ve always assumed JoeyB was a man, nothing on Cackle entertained me more than our little verbal tiffs. I always kind of thought we could be bros in real life. Like, hanging out and arguing over movies in more of a good-natured way.

And now, knowing that “he” is a “she,” andsheisJosette?I know I was right. We do get along.

If the idea that they were both one and the same didn’t seem so farfetched, I might have even figured it out on my own. Josette loves all the same movies as JoeyB. Hell, shetoldmeJoe Vs the Volcanowas her favorite Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan flick, and that’s her handle. It just never occurred to me to put two and two together.

I should wake her up right now and put it all out on the table. That I know the truth, and I know she knows it,too. We can hash it out and be done with it before I go to work.

No. I can’t do that. I can’t have this huge conversation with her, then leave her to her own devices. I need to wait until we have plenty of time, and I can stick around to make sure she doesn’t get all twisted up over what she assumes I’m thinking or feeling. She’ll pull away, thinking I’m better off without the drama. I need to be able to prove I’m not going anywhere, that what I feel for her is rock solid and nothing as stupid as an online beef is going to chase me away.

The alarm on my phone starts playing, startling me. I reach over and shut it off quickly, and when I look back at Josette, she’s blinking at me drowsily.

“Sorry about that,” I whisper. “I need to get going so I have time to shower and get ready for work.”

She gives me a sleepy smile, and my chest pinches. Nope. Definitely can’t clear the air, now. She looks too content.Happy, even. I lean over to press a sweet, gentle kiss to her lips. She moans quietly before snuggling deeper into her pillow and falling back to sleep.

Grabbing my clothes from the floor and pulling them on as quietly as possible, I walk on soft feet as I leave her bedroom. I stop and turn back, watching her for a few beats as my heart rattles in my chest.

I can’t lose her over this. I can’t lose what we’ve found.

But we can’t go on pretending neither of us knows, either.

Fuck, I don’t know what I’m going to do.

“Just ask, already,”I sigh after finding Linc watching me with a curious expression for the umpteenth time today.

I know he’s been dying to ask about my conversation with Josette since Royal revealed our online connection. I’ve been ignoring the looks for most of the morning, but as we get ready to break for lunch, I know the questions will come. Might as well bite the bullet and get it over with now.

“How did your talk with Joey go?” he asks with a tiny smirk.

It’s a bit of a shock, hearing him call her that. I don’t know how he’s gone this long without saying it before. I guess we haven’t actually talked about her that much.

“I went over last night. We ordered takeout and watched a movie.”

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