Page 72 of Drive Me Wild
“Promise I’m not stalking you,” she says, holding her hands up. “Again.”
I’m not sure if it’s too soon to laugh or not, so I just give her a small smile. Having to file for a temporary restraining order on a twenty-year-old woman is not something I’m proud of, but at the time, I didn’t have another option.
Taking a deep breath, I square my shoulders and stand tall. I can do this. If Josie has faith in me, the least I can do is try to have a conversation with her.
“So, uh, how are you?” I ask awkwardly. “Been a while.”
We’re now face-to-face, so I take a step away from the bathroom door. I don’tthinkshe’ll shove me in there and torture me, but that’s not a risk I’m willing to take. Waterboarded by toilet water is not how I want to spend the rest of the night.
“I’m good. How about yourself?”
A single bead of sweat drips down my back. “I’m… with someone.”
Maybe my nickname should be What the fuck, Walker?
“I’m not here to flirt with you, Theo,” she explains with an uncomfortable laugh. “I saw you walking this way and figured I should come over to apologize.”
I tilt my head like Champ does whenever Blake crumples up his water bottles. “Apologize?”
“Uh, yeah. I’m not sure if you remember or not, but I faked a pregnancy and then continued to show up to your house unannounced. Pretty positive that qualifies as legally bat-shit crazy.”
How could I forget?“Oh. That.”
“Yeah,” she says lightly, her cheeks flushing pink against her tanned skin. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t okay.Iwasn’t okay.”
Whatever I was expecting from this conversation, it wasn’t an “I’m sorry.” A bitch slap or a glass of water being thrown at me are more like it.
“I appreciate it,” I say after an extremely long, tongue-tied pause, courtesy of me. “And I’m sorry, too. I should’ve realized you weren’t okay with the kind of casual I was looking for. It wasn’t my intention to lead you on or give you false hope.”
Josie’s right. It feels good to say that. Really damn good. Maybe Blake’s onto something with the whole “boyfriends are never right” thing.
Her lips curl into a grateful smile. “I appreciate that, thanks.”
I wipe my clammy hands against my pant suit to distract myself from the silence between us.
“Your dad still hates me,” I blurt out. “A lot.”
Like hates me so much, he may’ve accepted this job just to ruin my career.
She doesn’t disagree with me, which makes the pit in my stomach sink even deeper. “Our relationship went downhill after everything in Milan. It’s easier for him to blame you than to take any real responsibility for what happened.”
My brows scrunch up. “How was he responsible?”
“Things at home were really shitty when we first got together,” she says, looking away. “Found out my dad was cheating on my mum, and I ended up in the middle of their fighting. You were the onlystable,consistent thing I had at the time, and when you tried to end things, I freaked out. My therapist calls it ‘anxious preoccupied attachment;’ I just call it embarrassing.”
I stare at her, dumbfounded. I may not have wanted to date her, but it wasn’t like we had sex and that was it. We did the whole pillow talk thing, too. “You never said anything.”
“I definitely did.” Christina lets out a low laugh like it’s no big deal. “You tend to like when things are on your terms, with you at the center. My family drama didn’t really fit into that box.”
Ouch. Her words slap me across the mouth before wrapping around my throat, humbling me to the highest degree. I may like attention, but that doesn’t mean I’m incapable of letting other people have their moments in the sun.
“I’ve grown a lot since then,” I say defensively. I mean, I have a girlfriend, for fuck’s sake. How much more personal growth can a bloke have?
She nods. “So have I. I’m only here as a sign of good faith to my dad that I’m ready to rebuild our relationship.”
A deep breath I hadn’t realized I was holding rushes out. “I thought you were here for me,” I admit with a shrug. “To tell me I’m a horrible person or something.”
“Cocky as ever, I see.” She gives me an easy smile. “I should probably head back in there, but it was good seeing you. I’m glad you’re doing well.”
