Page 40 of Mad Love
“I don’t like being away from him, but no. I trust that Sadie will bring him home tonight.”
“I like her. She seems straightforward and honest to me, despite the way she came into your life.” Felicity takes a drink of her Coke and turns to face me. “And she’s really hot.”
I roll my eyes. “I can’t believe you’re taking it there. The guys didn’t even do that after they had pizza with her the other night.” I was actually shocked that they didn’t. Rhodes flirted with her, but he flirts with everyone.
“Well, don’t tell me you haven’t noticed,” she says. “Are you going to be okay with her staying at your place? She isreallyattractive.”
“She’s all right,” I say.
Felicity snorts before I’ve even gotten the words all the way out.
“What, do you want to date her?” I tease.
“I’m a happily married woman, thank you very much. I just know you have a way with the ladies and unfortunately, as much as I’d love to see you settle down, you haven’t been in any hurry to.” She lifts an eyebrow at me.
“No argument there.” I hold my hands up.
“Is she really going to be okay with all the women you parade through your house?”
Felicity stayed with me for a few weeks after she graduated from college, so she thinks she knows all about my lifestyle.
I frown. “I’ve changed since you stayed with me. That was over a year ago. I didn’t like who I was becoming,” I admit. “And finding out I had a son and didn’t even know about it—that’s only underscored the fact that something needed to change.”
“That’s not on you, West. Sasha should’ve told you. But back to Sadie…are you interested in her?”
Felicity is like a dog on a hunt when she’s digging for information. She ended up not going to law school despite being accepted in all the top schools. She chose a different career path,and it’s suiting her well, but she can get to the bottom of the truth better than anyone I know.
“No, I’m not…interested in her.” That feeling I got when I hugged her comes back to me and I push it down. “I can’t be mad at her for Sasha’s choices. I want to get along with her. I want us to raise Caleb together and hope that we can develop some sort of friendship while we do that.”
Felicity leans in. “And she’s pretty.”
I groan. “Yes, she’s pretty, but so are a lot of women. It doesn’t mean I have to get in their pants.”
“Whose pants are you getting in?” Rhodes asks, perking up.
Shit. I thought they were deep in conversation over there, but when I look around, everyone is focused on me.
“No one’s pants. In fact, I’ve not been in anyone’s pants for longer than usual, and I’m okay with that. It’s been on purpose. And the subject is closed. My sister is right here and even if she weren’t, I don’t want to talk about it.”
“That’s usually when we need to talk about things the most,” Bowie says.
“Oh really.” I give him a droll look. “How about we talk about your dry spell then?”
Bowie glares at me and looks down at his plate.
“Thought so.” I chuckle and take a long swig of my water.
I glance at my watch for the hundredth time, wondering if Sadie is done at the cemetery yet. How is she holding up? What time will they be home? Should I have food waiting for her when she gets back?
I run my hands through my hair, exhausted by my thoughts.
“Why would you purposely go through a drought?” Rhodes asks, not willing to let the subject drop. “We need women to survive.”
“Maybe he was tired of the flooding,” Henley says, smirking. “He had so many women, he needed a break to dry out and get his house in order.”
“And it’s a good thing, because now there’s a beautiful woman in his house,” Bowie says, grinning before he takes a drink of his beer.
“Oh, I was hoping we’d talk about that,” Rhodes says, his full-wattage smile coming out.