Page 9 of No Take Backs
But I don’t think I’ve ever been that lucky in my entire life.
4
JOSH
I handle the last call of my career as a Maine State police officer in what feels like the most ironic way possible—by telling a couple in room 202 to tone it down with the loud sex. It's almost laughable, really. Here I am, about to walk away from a decade of service, and my final act is asking two overenthusiastic lovers to keep it down. As I leave the room, the sound of muffled giggles follows me, and I can’t help but shake my head with a bemused smile. What a way to end things.
But as I stroll down the dimly lit walkway, the reality of what’s next starts to settle in. My steps slow as I approach room 222, and before I know it, I’m standing in front of the door, my hand frozen halfway to the wood, ready to knock. The cool evening air brushes against my skin, but it does nothing to cool the heat building in my chest.
What the hell am I doing?
The thought crashes into me with the force of a tidal wave. This isn’t like me at all. I’ve never been the type to randomly pick up a woman, to act on a thought based solely on a spark of attraction.
Hell, I’ve always been the guy who overthinks everything, who weighs the pros and cons before making a move. But there’s something about her—something that’s got me standing here like a damn fool, hesitating outside her door, trying to muster the courage to do something I’ve never done before.
I’ve never randomly tried to pick up a woman like this. The very thought feels foreign, almost absurd. I’m not the guy who chases after someone he barely knows, based on a few glances exchanged in a roller rink and a casual comment from a friendly innkeeper.
I’m the guy who plays it safe, who sticks to what he knows. But tonight, all those rules, all those carefully constructed boundaries, seem to have gone out the window.
And here I am, standing outside room 222, feeling like a teenager about to ask someone out for the first time. The logical part of my brain is screaming at me to walk away, to forget about this whole ridiculous idea. But that other part of me—the part that’s been dormant for so long it feels like forever—won’t let me leave. It’s urging me forward, reminding me of the way she looked at me, the way she made me feel in just a few short moments.
There is something about her that I can’t walk away from. After she vanished from the rink, I didn’t think I’d get the chance to see her. To find out why I was drawn to her from the moment I laid eyes on her.
If anyone came out of their room at this exact moment, they’d laugh and think I’m an idiot. Just standing there, with my hands at my sides, staring at a door without a key in my hand. But I’m not acting like an idiot. I’m trying to work up the courage to ask her out. At least, I don’t feel like I’m usually an idiot.
With a sigh, I finally raise my hand to knock on her door, but the damn thing opens before I can.
“Took you long enough.” The woman from earlier leans against the open doorframe and sips a beer. “I figured you’d have taken Charlie’s innuendo and thrown it out the window like yesterday’s breakfast.” Her head tilts to the side and I watch her study me, waiting for an answer.
So I oblige and say, “I’m off in an hour. I gotta shower, and then I want to take you out for a drink.”
My words catch her off guard completely, and I can’t help but relish the way her eyes widen slightly in surprise before something else takes over. It’s a subtle shift, but it’s there—the spark of interest, the thrill of being caught off guard when she didn’t expect it. For a moment, I think I see a flicker of vulnerability in her expression, something that tells me she thought I might ask for her number, that she wasn’t expecting me to be so direct and ask her out tonight. But it’s gone as quickly as it came, replaced by that familiar, confident look, the one that’s been driving me crazy since the moment I laid eyes on her in the roller rink.
“Who says I’m gonna go out for a drink with you?” she challenges, her tone playful but laced with a hint of something deeper.
She takes another sip of her beer, her eyes never leaving mine, and I can feel the tension building between us. An unspoken question hanging in the air. I lean in closer, lowering my voice to a near whisper, my smile widening as I watch the way her chest rises and falls, her breath catching ever so slightly. I’m close enough now to catch the faint scent of her perfume, something light and floral that mixes with the warm night air creating a scent that’s powerful enough to bring me to my knees.
“Because as much as you were watching me at the rink, I was watching you. Maybe more.”
Her breath catches, and I almost move in for a kiss. Almost.
Instead, I take a step back and wink at her. “Give me an hour and a half.”
She pulls her phone out of her shirt but doesn’t unlock it. The time lights up on the screen instead. “Fine.” She licks her lip. “But if you’re later than ten p.m., I’m gonna turn off all the lights and put my soundproof headphones on after I make myself come all over my hand and pass out.”
“I’ll be here,” I promise, my voice carrying an edge of determination that I hope she picks up on.
As I turn and walk back to my cruiser, the cool night air doing little to calm the heat coursing through me, all I can think about is the challenge in her eyes.
She doesn’t think I’ll come back. Doesn’t think I’m the type to follow through on a spur-of-the-moment decision like this. But what she doesn’t know, what she couldn’t possibly understand, is just how strong the pull is, how undeniable the attraction that’s been building between us since that first moment.
This isn’t something I can just walk away from.
She’s not something I can walk away from.
Not without seeing where it can go between us.
Distracted, I almost miss my phone ringing. “Hey, Kyle.” My brother’s face pops up as soon as I hit answer. “What’s going on?”