Page 43 of Betrayal & New Beginnings

She listened intently without saying much except to laugh a little whenIexplained to her that we’d been sleeping at his place because he felt it broke some weird bro-code to sleep with me inJack’sbed.

After detailing everything,Iexhaled, then grabbed my margarita and took a very long swig—or three.

Her face changed from smiling and clearly entertained to one of concern.

“You don’t seem happy about this,” she said before leaning in close and speaking quietly. “Wasthe sex not good?”

“Oh gosh, no, the sex was great,”Iclarified but also talking low so the other tables didn’t hear us. “I’mpretty sureIhad an out-of-body experience that night.”

She chuckled, smiling.

“Then why the long face?” she asked.

“I just don’t want to rush into anything, you know?”Itried to point out.Iexplained how with everything withRandall, moving to a new state, and trying to enroll in school,Ididn’t need to get caught up in anything complicated right now.

“I get that, trust me.Ijust moved here and am trying to do the same in terms of getting the new version of me started,” she told me. “Butyou also can’t help when the timing is right.Whydon’t you just take it slow and see where things go?Ifit works out, then great, it works out.”

She made it seem so simple, but there were layers of complication withWadecompared to other guys.

“But if it doesn’t work out,Idon’t want it to be awkward withJackand the security business,”Irationalized.

“I get that, but you also shouldn’t hold back from something you want just in the off chance something might go bad,” she said, andIknew what she was saying was right, but it was hard to get my brain to understand. “Andin the short term, at least you get to have some amazing sex.”

We both smiled and chuckled, looking up just in time to see our food had arrived.

The rest of the conversation was easygoing, andIdecidedIreally likedRuthieand wanted to make a point to hang out with her more.

After dinner, bothArcherandWademade their way over to our booth, informing us that they paid the bill and it was time to get us home before we “drank ourselves into a stupor.”Ijust chuckled at the comment, butRuthietook personal offense and had no problem lighting intoArcheras we left the building, which just made me chuckle more.

It made no sense for me to ride back withArchersince he andRuthielived in the same building going one way, andWadeandIlived in the same building in the opposite direction.Ina brief reprieve from arguing withArcher,Ruthieturned to me, wished me a good night, and winked at me, holding her thumbs up— okay, maybe she was a little drunker thanI’dthought.

Wade met me at the passenger door to hisSUVand opened it for me.Hewalked around and got into his side before speaking. “How’dyour evening go?Didyou enjoy the class withRuthie?”

I smiled, nodding. “Theclass was fun, even though some of the moves were intense and thoroughly kicked my butt.Thedinner and drinks helped me recover though.”Ismiled even bigger. “IthinkRuthieandIare becoming really good friends.”

“That’s good, babe.Sheseems nice,” he said, and my heart fluttered a little bit at the sound of him calling me babe.

He’d only said that once before, butIthought it was a fluke.Ididn’t quite know what to make of it now that he had said it a second time.

“Umm…yeah, she is, and it’s fun watching her andArchertogether because they bicker like siblings,”Itold him. “Itreminds me ofJackand me when we were younger.”

“Yeah,Idon’t know the whole story there, butIdo know they knew each other back inVegas,” he divulged.

The rest of the car ride was filled with us explaining about our days, and it felt like a conversation you would have with a partner or a really good friend, not just someone you were sleeping with.Asmuch asIwould have liked to ask him about that topic,Ididn’t exactly know how to do it without it being awkward, soIjust let it go for now and enjoyed the comfortable talk.

We got back to the building and headed up to his apartment.Aftercleaning up and changing,Ifound him in bed watching a game onTV.Igot into the bed next to him and pulled out my phone to textKatieand email my brother to check in on him.Feelingtired after class,Iset my phone down and decidedIwould just watch whateverWadehad on theTVand let it put me to sleep, since sports usually did that for me.Isettled in, andWadereached over and pulled me into his side.Hewasn’t really looking at me, but his left arm was on my thigh, which he had now draped over his leg.Hisright hand was in my hair, just slowly fingering through the ends, and it felt so good.

“That feels nice,”Itold him.

“Yeah?” he asked, andInodded in return.

His eyes were now on me, and the hand on my thigh started sliding up.

His mouth came down to kiss me softly on my lips.

“That feels nice too.”Igave him a smile, and hoped he would take the hint.

He grinned at me lasciviously, then kissed me again.Thatkiss quickly turned heated, which led to other things that felt nice.

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