Page 75 of I Could Never

“Where are the spare sheets?” I asked, still panting.

She pointed to the left. “In the closet right there.”

I stepped off the bed and turned on the light inside the closet to grab a new top sheet. Rolling the dirty sheet into a ball, I tossed it in the corner of the room before tucking myself back into my pants and slipping my shirt over my head.

Carly continued to lie there, limp and sated, waiting for my next move.

I sat at the edge of the bed and leaned over to kiss the top of her head softly. “Get some sleep.”

CHAPTER 20

CARLY

WHAT THE HELLwas that last night?

That was all I could think as I lay in bed the next morning. What would I even say to him?“Thank you for NOT fucking me in the best way?”

When I could hear that Josh had gotten Scottie up, I took that as my ticket to sleep in. Although I wasn’t really sleeping. I was obsessing. I had no idea how last night would change our dynamic moving forward.

I finally garnered the courage to get dressed and make an appearance in the kitchen.

“Morning...” I said as I grabbed a mug from the cabinet. Josh was in the living room, watching TV next to Scottie. I wasn’t even sure he’d heard me, since he didn’t respond.

But as I waited for the coffee to brew, I suddenly felt the heat of his body behind me. A chill ran down my spine, a combination of nerves and arousal. I was clearly still sensitized from what we’d done together last night—and the idea of what wedidn’tdo.

“Did you have coffee yet?” I asked.

“No.”

“You want one?”

“Yeah, that’d be great,” he said in a gravelly voice.

I reached for another mug, but it slipped from my hands, shattering on the ground.

“Shit!” I bent to clean up the pieces.

“It’s okay. I got it, Carly.”

“No, let me,” I cried. “It’s my fault.” I ran in search of a broom and dustpan, and I wouldn’t look at him as I cleaned the pieces of ceramic off the ground.

Josh knelt and grabbed my wrist. “Stop.”

“What?”

“You’re acting like you’re in a race against time.”

“I don’t want Scottie to step on it.”

“That’s why you’re acting like this?”

“Maybe not,” I admitted, slowly standing up.

He stood and placed his hand on my chin. “We don’t have to talk about it, Carly.”

“We don’t?”

“No, we don’t. It doesn’t have to mean anything.”