“Which question?”
I can hear him dragging on the electric cigarette. “Did you like being with me?”
I start to pace around the living room with the phone. Why does he keep doing this to me? I don’t want to be cornered like this.
“Yes, Storm. I enjoyed some of our time together when you weren’t being an ass or luring me into an orgasm. Okay?”
“That’s a start. I want us to be friends. Why is that so bad?”
“It’s not. We can be friends.”
“Did you miss me last night? Not sleeping next to me?”
Truth be told, I tossed and turned all night, unable to get comfortable or fall asleep even though I was exhausted. I missed his closeness. I missed the warmth of him next to me, the scent of his fancy shampoo. I could still feel the pull to him. It’s just he wasn’t there to get pulled against. Michael’s body next to me felt like an invasion, an intruder of sorts.
“Evie?”
“Storm, stop it.”
“I missed having you next to me. I missed you holding my hand the way you do.” His voice is doing the raspy thing it does when he’s serious about what he’s saying. The rasp comes out when he’s emotional, whether he’s happy, sad, mad or sexual. I can hear it in his voice and it goes right through me. Knowing what I now know, my heart hurts for him. I understand grief all too well, and I have a bad feeling Storm masked his grief in drugs, alcohol, and women. The problem is, I want to hold his hand again, and show him love in a thousand ways, which despite his protests of relationships, I think he really does want closeness, but I’m not able to give it to him. I can’t be this man’s toy or passing phase. I can’t allow myself to love someone and then lose them, and I’m pretty damn sure he can’t either.
“I did miss you. But that’s only because we were stuck together for two days and only had each other to focus on. It’s natural.”
“Uh huh.”
“I have to go, Storm.”
“Hey, the band is playing at the Silver Cloud next month. It’s a small local venue we used to play a lot when we first started out. Why don’t you come? Bring Michael and any friends you want, okay? It would mean a lot to me.”
Michael will be over the moon if I accept this offer. I guess it would be nice to hear the band play, too. “All right. That would be great. Michael is a big fan. We’d love to go. I’m sure Amy will, too.”
“That’s awesome. I’ll text you the details.”
“Good. I really have to go, Storm. Take care, okay?”
“You too, Evie.
Chapter Nine