My Beautiful Neighbor (The Greene Family #1) - Piper Rayne Page 0,73
I close my eyes, remembering how good she felt under me.
Don’t flip out. Be present. This isn’t anything. So what? You care for her. Of course the sex can be slow with longing looks and savored tastes. It’s all good.
I walk out with a washcloth and sit on the edge of the bed, handing it to her. She puts it between her legs and disappears into the bathroom herself.
Pulling on my pants, I stare out the window at the path toward the lake. She surprised me when she followed me, and something about her hugging me pulled me to bring her back here. But now I made the mistake of making this something she doesn’t want. Even if she thinks she does, she doesn’t understand my demons, my inability to really get close to anyone by opening myself up to get hurt.
The bathroom door opens and her gaze falls to my jeans. She picks up her clothes and gets dressed without saying a word.
I snag my shirt off the floor. “I should go.”
“Oh. Okay.” She sits down on the bed.
“We don’t have all the stuff for duo night, and I should, um… get that set for us.”
“Yeah, sure. I understand.” She nods.
“But this was nice, huh?”
“Nice?” She looks annoyed.
I stand and she doesn’t.
Just be straight with her.
“You know what I mean.” I smile and bend down, giving her a kiss. I allow myself to savor it, pressing my lips to hers until it’s creepy. Her hand is midair as if she was about to put it on my cheek, but I step back. “I’ll call you later.”
“Yeah, sure.”
I look back at her on the bed and give her a small wave, opening the door and leaving. Once I’m on the other side of the door, I release a breath and jog down the steps, away from my demons.
“What are you talking about? Presley’s gonna be here in ten minutes,” Jed says when I grab my keys.
“I’ll be back before it’s over, but I have to go.”
I’m not proud of my actions, but after that day with Presley, I bolted and haven’t looked back.
“Don’t do this, Cade.” Jed grabs my shirt, but I shrug him off.
“I told you I have to go. Grandma needs me.”
I walk out the back door and run smack into Presley coming in, almost making her drop all her stuff.
“Oh, hey,” she says, and her gaze goes right to the ground.
Probably because I’ve given her the brush-off for the past three days—saying I had to take Rylan to the doctor, or that I was busy with work and errands. All lame, which meant I had to find a new place to hang out since Presley and I are neighbors at both work and home.
“Sorry, Jed’s going to handle the meeting. I gotta run.” I touch her elbow and kiss her cheek. She turns her head at the last minute and our lips connect. There’s that spark that never seems to die, even when I’m being a total ass. Instead of sliding my tongue in as I normally would, I break the kiss and step back. “I’m sure one of you can catch me up on the plans.”
“Is everything okay? We could reschedule.”
I walk toward my truck, waving. “No. Don’t do that.”
I climb into my truck, start the ignition, and pull out of the lot without looking back. I’m not sure I could handle seeing the disappointment in her eyes right now. Driving away from the brewery, I release a breath and slam my fist into the steering wheel. What the hell is wrong with me?
Unsure where to go right now, I head to Lake Starlight, needing a different town where no one is watching my every move. After parking my truck, I enter a bar named Lucky’s and sit down at the bar. I ask for a whiskey. I think I’m maybe more than a few deep when Adam and Jed appear, each put an arm under mine, and walk me out of the bar.
“You’re fucking lucky Liam from Smokin’ Guns knows Fisher so well. He called him to say his brother was drunk and Nate from Lucky’s was refusing to serve him anymore,” Jed says.
All I really hear is blah, blah, blah. The guy loves to hear the sound of his own voice.
“I’m fine.” I shrug out of their hold, but they both have me good and I get nowhere. A gurgling churns in my stomach and I’m pretty sure… yep. “I’m gonna be—”