Page 65 of Reckless Love
I grabbed my shoes and we walked the rest of the way to the house together. Once we were inside, he tried to stay close and tell me who everyone was, but people kept coming up and interrupting us. Eventually I gave up trying to have a conversation with him and just people watched.
This was a whole different world that I wasn’t a part of…his friends here hadn’t even known I wasn’t some bro from college. He’d made a life for himself and I was happy for him, but I felt on the outside for the first time. The longer the night went on, the more painful it got to realize things would change between us, whether we wanted them to or not. Life would take us in different directions.
We didn’t talk about the moment on the beach. I didn’t even know if it really was a moment or if I’d just wanted it to be one so badly. When we got home from the party, he suggested turning on a movie, but I told him I was exhausted, and I went to bed.
He brought up me moving to Miami a few more times that visit, but I knew following him wherever he was drafted wasn’t a path I could take.
It would only lead to heartbreak.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
EUPHORIA
ELLE
Now
“Whoa, these boxes are heavy,”Rhodes says as he brings the last few boxes from my office into his house.
All that’s left at my condo are the larger pieces of furniture—my couch, the dining table and chairs, my bedroom set, and my desk. Bowie said he knows someone who canmove the rest of it, so I jumped on that. He said he’d take care of it, so it could stay quiet that I’m moving in here, which sounds ideal.
We offered to get the guys dinner to thank them for their help, but they all had other plans.
“You know me and my love for books,” I say, grinning.
“Would you like them in your room or what if we set up the room next to yours as a library or, I don’t know…an office? What do you think?”
“I feel bad taking up two rooms, but?—”
He shakes his head, lifting his hand. “Nope. Not hearing that anymore, roomie.”
I laugh. “Then yes, I’d love to set that room up as a library slash office.”
I have no idea how I’m going to keep him from seeing my books, but for now, I’m thrilled they’re hidden away in boxes. He moves them into that room while I go to the kitchen to find something for us to eat. He has the ingredients for a chicken cobb salad, so I work on that. When he walks into the kitchen, he’s carrying a bottle of wine, and I’m putting the huge wooden bowl of salad on the island in front of our plates.
“Should I open this? Feels like we need to celebrate.”
“Sure.” I grin.
He opens the bottle and fills two glasses, handing me one. I clink my glass to his and we both take a sip. He leans against the island and stares at me, lips quirked.
“What?” I ask.
He tries not to grin, but those dimples give him away. “So, what was in your office that was so secretive?”
I lift my eyebrows. “Wouldn’t you like to know!”
“I would.” He laughs and puts his hand on his hips, his muscles bulging.
It’s like a feast for the eyes at all times around him.
“I thought when I found your vibrator in Miami, I was inducted to theknow all your secretsclub.”
I put my hands on my flaming cheeks. “There’s no way I can let you in onallmy secrets.”
“Why not? You don’t think I’m trustworthy as your secret keeper?” he teases, his dimples popping out.
“I trust you with my life,” I tell him, my voice getting husky.