Page 72 of When We Were Reckless
Now that I was here, there was no way to get out of this gracefully.
Left with no other choice, I took the only empty seat at the table, next to the brunette. She was gorgeous. Stunning, even. Exactly my type, with almond-shaped brown eyes and long wavy hair. Curves in all the right places.
A woman. Not a girl barely out of high school.
And she was obviously my date for the evening.
Camryn was a physiotherapist specializing in sports-related injuries. Lila joked that we were a match made in heaven. Wouldn’t go that far, but Camryn was hot. I’d give her that.
She was also smart, with a Master’s degree from UT Austin and a sports fanatic. She lived in Austin and met Lila through her sister, who had gotten married in October. Lila had done the flowers for the wedding, and she and Camryn had kept in touch.
It could have been a lot worse. Conversation flowed. Food was good, and so was the company.
When dinner was over, I said goodbye to my family outside the restaurant and turned to Camryn. In heels, she was only a few inches shorter than me. Tall and willowy with mile-long legs and a plunging neckline that showed off her cleavage. Perfect tits, more than a handful, and a hot body that was fit and toned.
And yet, my dick didn’t even stir at the sight of her.
Fucking hell. There was obviously something wrong with me.
“Where did you park?” I asked her.
“In front of that row of shops.” She pointed a manicured finger in the opposite direction of where I’d parked.
“I’ll walk you to your car.” It was dark, and my mother had always instilled good manners in us. Not that you’d know it. I've done a shitty job of remembering them lately.
I walked Camryn to her car, an Audi A5 Cabriolet. Fuck me. It was the same model Alessia drove. Silver with a black convertible top. The quintessential hot girl car.
Her car was the only one in the lot, partially lit by the dull light of a streetlamp, so I waited until she dug her keys out of her purse.
Keys in hand, she leaned against the side of her car and faced me. “Was this dinner totally awkward for you?”
“Nah. It was fine. I had a nice time.”Nice.The kiss of death.
“I thought you knew about it,” she said ruefully.
“They were probably worried I wouldn’t show up if they told me in advance,” I answered honestly.
She nodded, not the least bit offended by my bluntness. “Yeah, I get that. I was the same way for months after I broke up with my ex. My friends kept pushing me to get back out there. But I’d been burned once, and I wasn’t ready to put myself on the line again. So I figured I’d be better off alone. Just focusing on my career and binge-watching Netflix with my cat.”
We both laughed. Somehow, I couldn’t imagine this girl sitting around watching Netflix with her cat. “What changed?”
She shrugged one shoulder. “I got lonely. I like being in a relationship. I like having someone …” She let her words trail off. “Okay, let’s be real. I missed sex, and I’m not a one-night stand kind of girl.”
I laughed at her candor. “Yeah, I hear you. Sex is pretty fucking fantastic.”
My thoughts drifted to Quinn. Not for the first time tonight either. Which pissed me off. I needed to get her out of my head. Last night after I’d carried her to her room, we kissed. That was it. Nothing more.
That wasn’t entirely true. With Quinn, it was always something more.
I’d held her, and she’d fit so perfectly into the curve of my body. She’d told me that if I held on to her, I’d keep her grounded.
I listened to her stories. All of them. Just like I always had when she was a kid. I loved the way her brain worked, spinning tales and bouncing from one idea to the next. Still a romantic who painted pictures with her words. Fairytale worlds that only existed in her imagination.
When she’d fallen asleep, I should have left, but I stayed to make sure she was okay. At least, that’s what I’d told myself. Truth was, I liked watching her sleep and loved the feel of her body. Loved the scent of her skin and her silky hair, the little sighs that fell from her lips while she drifted off to dreamland.
Once again, our physical proximity had made me hard, my cock prodding her ass while she’d slept, blissfully unaware of my predicament. And once again, I’d gone home and jerked off, coming so hard I’d felt like a teenager again.
Fuck my life. Fuck her for making me fantasize about her. Worry about her. Want to do everything in my power to protect her.
