Page 37 of Imperfect Match (Imperfect Match 1)
I turn around and face him, leaning back against the dresser. “Because we can’t do that again.”
“Sure, we can. We can do it right this very minute.”
“No, Reid.” I fold my arms across my chest. “I have to take a shower and get ready for work, and you have to go back to your apartment now.”
Reid sits up and scratches his head. The blankets fall to his waist, and I’m forced to contemplate his smooth, muscular chest. I can still feel the weight of it on mine, still smell his warm, bare skin, still remember the way his arms had been braced above my shoulders. “Why are you upset about this?” he asks.
“I’m not upset. I’m just facing reality. You and I are not a thing, we’re never going to be a thing, so we shouldn’t go through the motions of a thing, because it’s confusing.” I speak firmly and with finality, praying he’s not going to push back.
“I’m not confused.” He looks me right in the eye. “I know what I feel.”
“Well, I’m confused. And I don’t think you actually know how you feel, I think you’re just reacting to the sex. Sex can make you believe you feel things for another person, when really it’s just the chemicals in your body. The oxytocin and whatnot. It isn’t real.”
Reid keeps staring at me, and for a moment I’m worried that he knows me too well, and he’s going to call me on my bullshit. But he doesn’t.
“Okay, Willow. If that’s what you think.”
“It is,” I confirm, relief coursing through me as he starts looking around for his clothing. “And I’m positive you’ll think the same as soon as you get a little perspective.”
“Right.” Spotting his boxer briefs on the floor near the bed, he tosses the blankets aside and swings his feet to the floor.
Quickly, I turn around and start pulling things from my dresser drawers—underwear, a bra, a pair of dark skinny jeans. I don’t want to see his naked body. It will only mess me up more, and my emotions are already wreaking havoc in my belly. “I’m going to jump in the shower. Can you let yourself out?”
“Yep.”
Behind me I hear the metallic clink of a belt buckle. The hum of a zipper. “Great. I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Whatever.”
I avoid looking at him as I make my way into the bathroom. Once I’ve made it to safety, I shut the door, lock it, and lean back against it. Fighting the fierce urge to cry, I close my eyes and hold my breath.
Please leave, Reid. I can’t handle talking about this right now. I can’t deal with your disappointed face or your naked body or your feelings. Please understand, you’re the best friend I’ve ever had, and I don’t want to lose that. I need you on my side for the rest of my life, and if I open myself up to you, and you decide I’m not what you want, I’ll never recover. It’s not worth the risk.
I stay there choking back sobs until I hear the door to my apartment slam shut. Then I turn on the water, slip my shirt over my head, and step under the spray, finally letting the tears fall.
“Uh oh. What happened to you?” Aspen asks the moment she sees me at my desk that morning. Coming closer, she frowns at me and waves both hands in front of my face in a wax-on, wax-off motion. “Your aura is all kinds of fucked up.”
I push her hands away. “Leave my
aura alone today. Okay?”
“No can do, sis. When I sense a tortured soul in need of unburdening itself, I’m compelled to help it along. It’s part of my gift.” She drops onto the floor and sits in a lotus position. “Talk to me.”
Heaving a sigh, I close my laptop and rub my face with both hands. “I did something stupid.”
“Like what?”
I peek at her between my fingers. “I slept with Reid.”
She nods thoughtfully. “Of course you did. I could sense the anticipatory sexual tension between the two of you last night, and the five brightest planets in the sky were aligned and visible, including Venus and Mars, and we all know what that means.”
I have no idea what that means, but maybe I can blame astronomy for what happened last night. “It was the craziest thing. I came home after we left them at the bar. I ate dinner. I put on my pajamas and watched the Hallmark channel, and I was just about to go to bed when Reid came bursting into my apartment, breathing hard and chest all puffed up like he was furious with me.”
Aspen sighs. “Fucking Mars. Every time.”
“I thought he was mad about us spying on him and Kandace and I tried to apologize, but out of nowhere he just grabs me and kisses me so hard I can’t breathe.” I shake my head, remembering the shock of his lips on mine. “I tried to fight him off, because I knew it was a terrible idea, but instead of pushing him away, I suddenly found myself kissing him back.”
“That’s Venus for you,” my sister says with a sly smile.
