Page 81 of Can't Take My Eyes Off You

‘No, it’s not too much to ask. You deserve that and more.’

‘Am I just your backup ass? The girl who will never quite be enough? Is that why you’ve always kept me around? I mean, he said—’

‘I know what he said,’ I interrupt her. ‘I heard every word. Not one of them was true, either. Alex was mad. You were dumping him, kind of, in front of the competition and we both know hehasto win. Not to mention your words were things that I don’t doubt shattered the guy’s ego. He’d have said anything that hurt you. You’vealwaysbeen enough. More than I deserve, truthfully.’

She forces a sad smile, wiping her eyes and sitting up, crossing her legs beneath her. ‘This has been the most confusing twenty-four hours of my life.’

‘Want to know what I think?’

She shrugs.

‘I’m pretty sure you just won that fight,’ I say with a proud smile. ‘What you said to Alex…’ I chuckle. ‘Guys don’t forget words like that. They’re now burned into his brain in a way I don’t doubt the first thing he does when he gets home is a little Google search on orgasms and the clitoris. He’ll never forget you, and some other woman may one day thank you, that’s for damn sure.’

A smile crosses her face as she wipes away more tears. ‘You heardeverything?’

I nod. ‘Old building. Voices carry. Pretty sure your door was open.’

She lets out a heavy sigh. ‘Even when I said I love—’

I take her hand in mine. ‘Even then. In your defense, though, you probably felt like you were being attacked. I’m sure it slipped out.’ I stroke the back of her hand with my thumb, her eyes on our hands in her lap.

‘If someone or something better comes around, are you going to disappear?’ She glances up at me.

I shake my head. ‘Baby, you’re the love of my life that I somehow let slip through my fingers, and I’m desperately trying to get back what I lost. You’re still the one I want, no one else.’

She silently thinks about what I’ve said.

‘What did you lose?’ she asks timidly.

Of course she’d ask this. I don’t blame her. After what I just witnessed and our past, she needs confirmation.

‘That’s a big question with an even bigger answer but I’ll try to put it into words.’ Please let me choose the right ones here. ‘I hurt my best friend so badly that I lost her. I broke her trust and for a while I kept her on a string while I lived life without her, making decisions she should have been involved in. Turns out, I’m not whole without her. I needed her then; I’m desperate for her now. And in case you were wondering, my best friend is this beautiful, funny, smart, mouthy woman, who has the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever known and can fake a hell of an orgasm.’

She laughs under her breath. ‘Why are you so sweet?’ she asks like she hates it, but her face says that’s a lie.

Knock.Knock.Knock.

We both glance at the front door.

‘Hello?’ Mikey’s voice fills the room as he cracks open the door. ‘Willy, you forget we’re in the middle of a conversation downstairs?’

Ugh, these cockroaches will never go away no matter how much I try.

‘Whyare they here?’ Berkley asks.

I lift a single finger, walking to the door and pushing Mike’s head out with a hand on his forehead. ‘Give me five minutes, buttmunch.’

He glares. ‘Seriously,fiveminutes or those two are going to self-destruct, and I’m gonna have to watch.’ He throws a thumb towards the bookstore downstairs.

‘If they do, they do. I’ll be down in five.’

Mike rolls his eyes, walking back down the stairs. I close the door, locking it shut this time, then head back to Berkley.

‘They have had some financial troubles. The IRS has been tipped off to some fraudulent activity, their financial guy is sitting in the slammer on federal charges, Mom’s done something probably corrupt as fuck, and they think we are the ones who tipped them off.’

‘Us?’ she asks, pointing to herself. ‘As in you and me, we?’

I nod.

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