He chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, she does. Don’t know why.”
Because you’re lovable and kind. Because you make everyone around you smile. Because you have a really big heart. I remember you taking the time to make a scared little fourteen-year-old girl feel safe in high school. I didn’t say any of those things, though. I couldn’t. Not now. Not after last night.
“You’re blushing. You thinking about last night?” he said with a wicked gleam in his eyes.
I covered my warm cheeks with my hands, hating my tendency to blush.
“It’s okay. I can’t seem to stop thinking about it either.”
Oh my. The silly flip my heart always did around him turned into a wild flutter.
“Problem is, I got to stop thinking about it. You do too. We can’t go there. We have Micah to think about, and I don’t do relationships, Sienna. It’s not me. I’m my own man. I don’t like to be tied down. I don’t even want to think of settling down. Being the man you deserve. It’s not me. You need the settling-down type. You need a Cam Dodge in your life. Not me. Us,” he said, motioning his hand between the two of us, “we’re friends. Hell, we’re family. That boy in there is what’s important, and we both love him. Let’s not mess up what he needs with something that won’t end well.”
The fluttering stopped. It sank to my stomach and made a tight, painful knot. He was making sure I got that he wasn’t interested in something with me. Just some phone sex and he was ready to move on. That hurt way more than the “average” comment he’d said he hadn’t meant.
“You understand, right? It ain’t that you aren’t gorgeous. You’ll make a man a really lucky sonuvabitch one day. I’m just not the man you settle down with. I’m the bad boy girls sew their wild oats with. But I’ll be the best damn uncle in the world. And if you need anything, you come to me. I’ll take care of it. Always.”
He would do anything for me because of Micah. That was it. If it weren’t for Micah, he wouldn’t care that I was back. That I existed. I was a young single mom with a job that got me by from week to week. I didn’t have a lot to offer someone. I got that. But hearing Dewayne say I wasn’t enough hit me hard. Really hard.
I just nodded. I couldn’t speak.
He smiled, walked over, and pressed a kiss to my forehead like I was a kid. Then he turned and left.
I stood there for a long time. Letting it all sink in. Tomorrow I would move on. Tomorrow I would find a way to forget Dewayne Falco. But right now I wasn’t ready.
DEWAYNE
By Thursday I had stayed away from Sienna’s for a week. I had texted Sienna and told her to take Micah to my parents’ Saturday morning, that I would pick him up there. I had spent the day with him, then left him with my parents minutes before Sienna got back, using my job as an excuse for running off.
I was trying to give myself time to forget how much I wanted her. She had been so accepting of my reasons for not being able to be with her that it had been painful. I wasn’t sure what I had wanted her to do. Argue with me? Maybe. Maybe I wanted a reason to kiss her lips again. Touch her in places I’d dreamed about. Fuck. Who was I kidding? I loved being near her. Watching her move. She had this way about her. Even when she was doing something simple, I was completely fascinated by her.
She had listened to my reasons and then nodded. That was it. Nothing else. So I’d run out of there and hadn’t been back. I couldn’t face her. Because I was pretty damn sure I’d grab her and kiss her until we both forgot what a bad idea that all was.
I took a drink of my Coke and fought the urge to light up a cigarette. Not drinking or smoking was f**king kicking my ass. When I had turned down a beer and ordered a Coke, Rock had looked at me like I’d lost my mind. He didn’t understand. He had never laid a hand on Trisha that wasn’t a hand she wanted there.
“Preston’s alone. That’s odd,” Rock said as he took a drink of his cold, foamy beer. I was lusting over his drink. Shit.
The pretty boy in our group pulled out a stool and sat down with a grin. He was engaged and happy about it. Real happy. He was always smiling. Asshole.
“Where’s Manda?” Rock asked.
“She finally shake you loose?” I asked.
Preston shot me an annoyed glare. “No. She’s coming. She’s bringing a friend,” he said, then grinned again.
“Stop smiling so damn much. Hurts my eyes,” I grumbled, and took another drink of my Coke.
“Ignore him. That Coke he is drinking is straight-up Coke. Nothing added. He’s sober and surly,” Rock explained.
Preston’s eyebrows shot up about the same time Rose Mann walked up beside me, wrapped her arm around my shoulders, and gave me a good view down her shirt. I’d known Rose since high school. We all had. She’d moved into town when we were sophomores, and she immediately made the cheerleading squad. I’d f**ked her back then, but only once. Hadn’t touched her since.
Still, she had aged well. Still had perky tits and a head of brown curls. “Hello, Rose,” I said, sliding my arm around her waist and pulling her closer.
“Hello to you, Falco,” she purred, and pressed against me. She then moved her gaze over to Preston. “You leave the fiancée behind tonight?”
Preston shook his head. “Don’t let her too far out of my sight. She’s headed this way soon.”
Rose rolled her eyes, then glanced over at Rock. “And where’s your little missus?”