Page 6 of Gray Hair Don't Care
He laughed and smacked her leg with the back of his hand. “Yes, women my own age. I like you.”
Their gazes connected again, completing a circuit. “I like you, too.”
His breath became heavy, so much so that it felt like it had to be heaved out of him. He found himself leaning closer to Lela, drawn to her in the inevitable way metal couldn’t stay away from a magnet. “I hate that our friendship ended. I know it was my fault and I’m sorry.”
“I’m sure I share just as much of the blame.”
“No. What you said at John’s was dead-on. Getting back together with Genevieve ended everything. I should have said something. Just so you wouldn’t have to wonder what I was thinking.”
“We weren’t a couple. We were friends. I don’t think you owed me that explanation.”
Donovan felt the need to bring up one of many elephants currently occupying the room. “But we slept together. So we weren’t strictly friends.”
“That was a one-time thing. You get a free pass on that.”
“I don’t want a free pass. I know I messed up by leaving the next morning.”
Lela shot him a quizzical look. “Um. If I were you, I’d take the free pass.”
“Why?”
“Let’s just say it wasn’t the absolute best.”
“What? It was amazing, wasn’t it?”
“Mostly? I was just left a bit…” She was clearly searching for words. “Unsatisfied.”
That word. It was a dagger to his heart and his ego. “Hold on a minute. The one time we had sex you didn’t have an orgasm?”
She shook her head, looking sheepish. “Nope.”
“Did you fake it?”
“No. You just didn’t happen to notice.”
He slumped back on the couch, feeling more than a bit defeated. His entire memory of that night was now cast in a far less flattering light. “Wow. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not a big deal. Plenty of guys in college didn’t really know what they were doing.”
“Uh, I definitely knew what I was doing.”
She unleashed a patronizing smile. “You don’t need to get defensive.”
“I’m serious.”
“Okay.”
“No. I’m absolutely dead serious. More serious than I’ve ever been in my entire life.” He put his glass down on the coffee table, feeling like if he could only right one wrong in the world, this was it. “Let me prove it to you.”
“This isn’t darts. Don’t treat me like I’m the elusive bullseye.”
“I’m not. That’s because the bullseye, for me, is not elusive. It’s not only attainable, it’s an imperative. Your bullseye, of course. Not mine.”
“You’re drunk.”
“A tiny bit tipsy. That’s it.” He cleared his throat, if only to let some noise fill the silence between them. “Of course, if you don’t want to have sex with me, I understand.”
Lela traced the top of her glass with her finger, not taking her eyes off him. “Okay. But I get to be in charge.”
