heat. The first blast of water was cold. My skin sang with relief when the hot water took over and I scrubbed myself clean while wondering if I’d somehow messed things up last night.
It was entirely possible that I’d said or done the wrong thing and not even realized it at the time. I had an uncanny knack for doing stuff like that. Or maybe Kathryn had somewhere she needed to be that morning and she’d forgotten about it and didn’t want to wake me up when she left the house.
You’re not that naïve, I told myself as I got out of the shower and dried off.
I had questions only a woman could answer. There was only one woman I could think of who would give it to me straight—and who needed a bit of joy in her life at the moment to get her through her final weeks of pregnancy. I tussled with the idea of calling Casey. She’d have a field day with it. That was for sure. She might harass me until the end of time for hooking up with my work rival, but she might offer some valuable insight as well, and I could really use that right then.
Before I got cold feet, I wrapped myself up in my towel and made my way into the kitchen. I held my cell phone between my cheek and my shoulder as I set to brewing coffee.
Casey answered on the third ring. “Ethan? Why are you calling me so early on a Saturday? Are you okay? Did something happen? Is Eli with you?”
“Everything is fine,” I said, realizing my first mistake. I never called Casey at such an early time in the morning, and based on her questions, I assumed my brother had picked up some weekend overtime shifts to make a bit of extra cash before the baby came. “I didn’t mean to freak you out. I was actually calling because I needed some advice and you were the best person I could turn to. I hope I didn’t wake you up.”
Casey scoffed into the line. “I’m almost nine months pregnant, Ethan. I don’t sleep. I’ve been up since four.”
“Since four?”
“Yep. I have a seven-pound baby kicking my bladder, a pinched sciatica nerve, and my feet are so swollen they feel like they’re not even mine. Sleep doesn’t come easy these days. What’s up?”
I leaned against the counter while the coffeemaker bubbled, and pinched the bridge of my nose. “This might be a little left field, Casey. Just bear with me, okay?”
“Okay,” she said slowly. “Did you do something bad?”
“Bad is subjective.”
“Is it though?”
“I hooked up with someone last night and I went to sleep fully expecting them to be there the next morning. Only when I woke up, they were gone. Long gone, I assume.”
Casey was quiet for a minute before she started to laugh. “You called me because a girl ran out on you and your feelings are hurt? Ethan, this isn’t like you. Who was this girl?”
“I never said my feelings were hurt. All I said was I didn’t expect her to leave.”
“Who was the girl?” she asked again.
I’d hoped—foolishly—that I might be able to have this conversation without letting on that the girl was in fact Kathryn. It didn’t look like things were going to pan out that well for me. “It was Kathryn.”
“You’re kidding.”
“I’m not.”
“You took Kathryn home after dinner last night and the two of you had sex? Ethan, I thought you couldn’t stand this woman! What the heck is going on with you?”
I dragged a hand down my face in exasperation. Stubble tickled my palm and I made a mental note to shave. “I don’t know. One thing sort of led to another. She forgot her keys and I offered her a place to stay and then—” I broke off and gave my head a shake. “Hey, now listen, I don’t owe you an explanation. All you’ll do with it is hold it over my head until the end of time.”
“You’re not wrong,” she muttered.
“I called because I expected her to be here in the morning. We had a good night, Casey. A really good night. Now I’m wondering if it was all in my head.”
Casey sighed. “I don’t think it was in your head, Ethan. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t see something between you last night. I think we all did. Kathryn isn’t the kind of woman you usually go for but she brings something out of