had his headphones jammed in his ears and couldn’t hear what was going on.
“Monica.”
I stared at the little box on the wall, and my heart began to beat double time. She was the last person I expected to hear from after the brush-off she gave me back in Melbourne. What the fuck was she doing here?
Knowing I had to get rid of her before she caused any trouble with Josie, I pressed the button on the intercom and said, “Wait there, I’ll be down in a sec.”
Grabbing my hoodie, I slid my arms into it and zipped up the front. Leaving Lincoln behind none the wiser, I clattered down the stairs and pushed out into the lane.
She was waiting by the door as I emerged, looking exactly as I remembered her from the other week—tall, lithe, athletic, big brown eyes, long wavy hair, and pouty lips… Monica Miller.
I used to get this rush of longing when I laid eyes on her, but standing before her now? All I could see was Josie.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, leading her around the corner and out of sight of the gym. Last thing anyone needed was for Josie or Coach Miller to turn up and see the bane of their existence hovering outside their workplace.
She followed me without question, not even doing a double take when I parked her near a skip bin. Clandestine liaisons in stinky alleyways must be her thing.
“I’ve come to make amends…” she began, and I narrowed my eyes.
“Coach isn’t here,” I said, sliding my hands into the pockets of my hoodie. I didn’t want amends. I wanted her to go away.
“Oh…”
I sighed sharply, turning my gaze away from her.
“I’ve been thinking,” Monica went on awkwardly, her gaze pulling mine back to her. “Ever since you came to see me, I’ve been wondering if I made the wrong decision.”
“What?” I frowned, wondering where the hell this was coming from. She’d always had impeccable timing, and I began to suspect she’d heard about Josie and me…but I wouldn’t know how.
“I’ve been doing really good,” Monica went on. “Working through my feelings and making amends. I realized that all these years, I’ve been wrong. I treated you horribly, and I’m sorry. I was blind.”
The world had dropped out of view, and all I could see was Monica Miller standing in front of me, practically on her hands and knees begging for forgiveness. I’d imagined her in the same position many times, but instead of begging, she was sucking. I’d jerked off plenty of times to the same image back when I was a horny teenage boy and later as a full-grown man, but right now, I didn’t want to imagine her in any scene that involved my cock.
Please, don’t say it, I thought. Please, don’t say it.
“I want to make a go of things, Dean,” she said, looking up at me hopefully. “You and me.”
After ten long years, she was finally saying the words I was so desperate to hear, and I didn’t feel anything. Scratch that. I did feel something, but it had everything to do with getting rid of her.
I stared at her unblinking for what felt like a millennia before I could gather my thoughts.
“Monica…” I began, lowering my gaze until it hit the ground.
“I thought the best thing to do was to sever ties with my old life and start again,” she said, beginning to plead. “I realized I was just running from my problems, not dealing with them. I’ve come to make amends with you and Dad. I want you, Dean. I’ve always wanted you, but I was too young and stupid to realize. Now I’m not.”
I sucked in a deep breath and looked her over, wondering what I ever saw in the woman. Josie was right that morning in the gym when she said I wasn’t interested in Monica for who she was. I was only interested in fucking her, but I’d blown up the fantasy into something more.
It was that moment I realized I was falling for Josie Cunningham. It was her I wanted to wake up with. It was her I wanted to know. It was her I wanted to fuck. It was her I wanted to love. Her.
And I didn’t care who the fuck knew it.
“No,” I said, leveling my gaze at Monica.
“Dean…”
“Listen to me,” I said firmly. “I should’ve let you go a long fucking time ago. I was a fool to let you walk all over me back