Page 197 of More than Friends

We walk into the apartment again without a word. Ian’s asleep in the stroller. She leaves him to nap and walks over to the kitchen and pours herself a cup of water.

“Why are you here?” She asks after taking a long drink.

I motion for us to sit at the table. She nods and sits down across from me.

“I haven’t slept with anyone but you in four years,” I say softly.

She coughs into her glass and then sets it down so hard it sloshes over and spills onto her hand.

“What?” she asks like she’s sure she misheard me.

“You’re the only person I’ve had sex with in four years,” I say a bit louder.

She blinks a few times and then tilts her head to the side. “What are you counting as sex?”

“I haven’t even kissed another woman much less done anything else.”

She’s reaching for her glass again and nearly knocks it over. “Dammit,” she leans over and grabs a dishtowel to clean up what she’s spilled.

“Declan, I’m so confused. You had a different woman over every night after we ripped up the contract. Sometimes more than one woman.”

“They all left disappointed.”

Her eyes grow. “What?” I don’t understand. Why did you bring them to your apartment?”

“I brought them to my apartment to have sex with them, but...”

“But what?”

“I couldn’t.” I sigh. “I couldn’t...”

She cuts me off. “You couldn’t get it up?”

I dart my eyes away and then shrug.

Her jaw drops open. “What?”

“I tried, Maggie. I couldn’t do it.”

“What the hell did you do with those teenagers then?”

I laugh. “They made out in front of me for a bit and then when they saw I wasn’t interested, we talked about you.”

She starts coughing. “What?”

“They told me to tell you how I feel about you.”

Her mouth is hanging open.

“I tried to be with other people, Maggie. I’ve tried for years.”

She blinks a few times.

“Olivia,” I say.

Her eyebrow shoots up. “I thought you weren’t with Olivia because of Will.”

“I’m not that good of a brother. I couldn’t be with Olivia because of you.”

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