Page 151 of Payoff Pitch
“What does that mean?”
“Talk to him. Do you love him?”
My eyes fill with tears. Kam answers. “Yes, she does.”
Fallon bites her lips and nods. “When you’re ready, talk to him.”
I sigh. “I can’t even have a normal conversation with him rightnow. He’s treating me with kid gloves. It’s driving me nuts. I know he’d say whatever he thinks I need to hear in the moment. I don’t want his pity.”
She shrugs. “Maybe sometime in the future then, but talk to him. Trust me, communication is key.” She sits up and pats my leg. “You did a lot today. Probably more than you should have. You need to take a nap.Kamand I will leave you alone.”
I whine, “Ugh. I feel like I’m eighty. I need a nap from trying to walk. Can we watch a movie? I promise to rest my body. I don’t want to sleep all day though. It keeps me up at night, and then I can’t shut off my mind from the negativity.”
Fallon grabs the remote. “Sure. As long as you relax. What do you guys want to watch?”
At the same time, we both answer, “Titanic,” and then giggle.
Fallon turns on the movie. She pulls me over her body a little. “I’ll rub your shoulders. Your muscles are tight. They’re being overworked.”
I lay back on her and she begins rubbing them. “Hmm. This is nice.”
Kam wiggles her eyebrows. “Can I get a turn too, Fallon?”
TANNER
Cheetah stands in the doorway of Bailey’s room with his mouth wide open. “I’m going to jerk off to this image every day for the rest of my life. You’re the luckiest man I’ve ever met. “
Kam, Bailey, and Fallon are all asleep in Bailey’s bed. The back of Bailey’s head is on Fallon’s chest with Fallon’s arm wrapped protectively around her, and Kam is curled up with her head on Bailey’s leg.
He elbows me. “At least you’ve slept with two of them.I’m only at one. Do you think I’ve got a shot with Fallon? I might like to try an older woman.”
I narrow my eyes at him, and he silently laughs, loving to bust my chops.
I see Kam stirring before her head lifts and she notices us. She sleepily stretches before quietly walking out of Bailey’s room and closing the door behind her. “It’s totally normal that your ex-wife and your girlfriend are cuddled together in bed.”
Cheetah asks, “Should I go replace you in that cuddle sesh?”
Kam smiles. “You’ll probably jerk off to the image of the three of us lying together.”
Cheetah winks at me. Kam knows him well.
I ask, “How was today?”
She scrunches her face. “Probably her worst one yet. She was upset about it. We gave her a pep talk. I think she felt better afterward, but this isn’t easy.”
I exhale heavily, sad that she’s going through this. “I wish she’d let me help more. She’s shutting me out. I know we’re in a weird place, but I want to be there for her.”
“You two have been in a weird place for months.”
“She’s changed, and I don’t mean since the accident. She was so sweet and loving our first time around. She became so much colder the second time.”
Kam looks at me with pure venom. “At first, a woman treats you how she wants to be treated. After a certain amount of time, when she reaches her breaking point, she treats you how you treat her.”
“I’ve always treated her well.”
“Is that so? You lied to her for months and made her fall in love with you even though there was zero chance of a future.”
“I told her from the very beginning what we were.”