Page 15 of Hard To Leave

I blew out a deep breath. “She seems great, but to be honest, it’s a little too early to say if either of us could handle it.”

Chloe seemed like the type who needed stability in her life. That fact alone made things more difficult for me. I wasn’t sure if I could ever give her those things. But I really liked her, and there was no denying that I was attracted to her. There was a part of me that wanted to say fuck it, it wasn’t worth the trouble. My gut, however, told me I would regret it.

“Wow!” Cassie said with her mouth practically hanging wide open.

“Wow, what?”

She cocked her head sideways and looked at me with a glimmer in her eyes. “You really like her, don’t you?”

“Of course, I like her.” Who wouldn’t? The bigger question was, could I go into this with my eyes wide open and still keep things simple? I needed to be smart about this.

“She must be hot,” I heard Liam say.

Cassie reached over and smacked his shoulder. I laughed, “Yeah, she’s hot, all right.” Just thinking about her made my insides tighten.

“If you want my honest opinion, I’ll give it to you.” Cassie’s eyes were soft, but I couldn’t help but roll mine and grin. She was going to give me her opinion whether I wanted it or not.

“Hit me,” I said, smacking my hands on my knees.

“It sounds like you really like her or you wouldn’t be thinking about her so much. I know this is unexpected and I agree the timing really sucks, but what do you have to lose?”

I folded my hands behind my head and looked up at the ceiling.

Liam placed a throw pillow on his lap and took a sip of his beer. “Call her, see what happens.”

That was easy for him to say. Both of them were right though. I would just drive myself crazy if I didn’t at least follow through. There was something about her that pulled at me. I didn’t know what it was, but I was terrified to find out. My biggest fear was that I would really end up liking her. Then what? We lived in two separate states, two completely different lives. We were as opposite as night and day. What did I have to offer her? Sex? That’s all I knew and I sure as shit wasn’t planning on changing anytime soon. One fuck, I could do that. One taste, one night with her, then I could forget all about this shit I had rattling around in my head. Once I had her, I could move on and find another willing participant. Basically, I could put an end to this infatuation once and for all.

Or maybe, just maybe, I could actually have more. For once in my life, I could have something that was mine.

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