Page 67 of Don't Let Me Fall (Don't Let Me 1)

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know,” I admit. “I don’t know what I want. Logan hurt me, Mia. He broke my trust badly. And yeah, Colt and I have some off-the-charts chemistry when it comes to physical stuff, but emotionally? I’m scared to let down those walls again. What if it blows up in my face?”

“You won’t know until you try.”

“Yeah, but in order to try, I’d have to put Colt’s friendship with Logan on the line, along with putting you in a not-so-great position with Shorty.”

“Do you, though?” she asks.

“What do you mean?”

“What if…” She taps her fingers against her lips, thinking. “What if Colt and I keep up our charade of dating while you and he figure out where you want your relationship to go? You know, whether you guys can open up to each other emotionally or if your connection is purely physical.”

I cringe. “Sounds messy.”

“Maybe? Maybe not. You guys can hook up, have all the rebound sex you want, and if it turns into more, Colt and I can stage a fake breakup.”

“Which puts you back on Shorty’s radar,” I point out.

“My fake relationship with Colt is going to have an expiration date anyway. It’s not like I’m going to be able to convince him to marry me or something. He’s a good guy, Ash, but he’s not that great.”

I laugh. “But what about Colt’s friendship with Logan?”

“You already know Colt would be willing to put his friendship with Logan on the line since he kissed you.”

“Which shouldn’t have happened,” I mutter.

“Why not?” she challenges. Reaching for her fork, she stabs another piece of French toast and shoves it in her mouth. “You said he kissed you after you and Logan broke up. In my book, you guys did nothing wrong. And like I said, you aren’t even saying you want to jump into a relationship or anything. You only want to test the waters. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Chewing on the pad of my thumb, I let the million potential obstacles roll through me. Finally, I ask, “Do you think Colt would go for it?”

“To get in your pants?” She quirks her brow. “Yeah. I think he’d go for it.”

Another laugh escapes me. “Mia.”

“You know what I mean,” she argues. “The question is, when are you going to talk to him?”

“No idea. We have a tutoring session in a couple of days, but I don’t exactly want to run into Logan at his place, so…”

“You shouldn’t let Logan control you like that.”

“I’m not letting him control me.”

“You’re refusing to meet at his house all because he lives there. That’s letting him control you.”

“Says the girl who’s fake dating a guy to keep her ex off her back?” I challenge.

Her nostrils flare, but she doesn’t deny it. “Fine. What if you guys come here?”

“And you’d be okay with it?”

She gives me a look like I’m crazy and asks, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know?”

“We aren’t really together,” she reminds me for the hundredth time. “I have no claim over Colt Thorne. And I don’t want to have any claim over Colt Thorne. Invite him over. See what he thinks about your idea.”

“About us hooking up without a title?” I grimace, the idea leaving a bad taste in my mouth. “You know what would happen if someone found out. They’d think he was cheating on you with me. It would make everyone look bad.”

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