Page 76 of Summer Heat
She looked down at Oreo while she played with his ears, giving herself time to contain her disappointment. On the two hour drive out of Austin, she’d built up images of Ethan looking sexy, smiling, and welcoming. He had only been one of the three—sexy as hell in the thin T-shirt that barely contained his muscles. She’d built up fantasies. Castles in the sky built from pecs and a dimple coated with scruff.
But it was time for a reality check. And a confession.
“We broke up.”
He blinked once. Twice. “No, you didn’t.”
She tried to pretend that didn’t hurt. “Yes, we did.”
“You can’t break up. You’re perfect for each other.”
So, this reality check was coming in the form of a sledgehammer to the heart. Okay then. “Our goals didn’t align,” she said tightly.
“What are you talking about? You both wanted the same things. A house, a family. The whole picture.”
“A lot of people want those things,” she snapped, knowing she sounded grumpy and not caring at all. “That doesn’t mean they should pair up and get married because of it.”
Ethan ran a hand over his face, looking stressed. Looking more stressed than Chris had been when she’d left him. “This can’t be happening.”
She rolled her eyes. There were a lot of things she’d do for Ethan Montgomery, but holding his hand through her breakup wasn’t one of them. He was just going to have to deal with it. Or maybe he could finally return to Austin, where he and Chris could hang out and commiserate over how dumb she was for ruining a good thing.
Her impulsive trip into the country had gone from ill-advised all the way to completely humiliating. They had years of friendship between them. And there’d been that moment at the Trail of Lights that hinted at more. But that was the old Ethan. The familiar Ethan. This Ethan was barely tolerating her presence. He didn’t want her here even when he thought she was with his best friend. Without that tie, she was nothing to him.
Her stomach turned over, and she nudged Oreo’s head from her lap. “You know what? I think I’m going to leave.”
“You can’t leave.”
“You seem to think you can tell me what to do. You can’t break up. You can’t leave. Well, guess what? We broke up a month ago. And I’m leaving right now.”
She grabbed her purse, her movements jerky. Oreo tangled in her legs, as if conspiring to keep her there. Ethan’s palm landed on the door just as she reached it.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I was being a dumbass.”
“Some kind of ass,” she muttered.
“Every kind of ass. It took me by surprise and I said stupid shit.”
“Don’t worry about it. I shouldn’t have showed up uninvited. So how about I go and we pretend this never happened?”
“Stay. Please stay.”
She sighed. He really had no right to look so adorable when he’d just been so insensitive. Between Ethan and Oreo, she had two pairs of pleading eyes on her, and she was helpless to say no.
“I’m leaving,” she said, but Ethan looked so stricken that something inside her softened and gave way. “I think the tacos survived the trip, but if they sit in the cold much longer, they’re probably not any good.”
Both man and dog perked up.
“Tacos?” Ethan asked, still wary.
“From your favorite taco truck. With extra pico.”
The low sound from his chest made her think of tangled sheets and pulsing shadows. And that was only for tacos. They were amazing tacos, but still. Imagining him actually tangled in sheets or bathed in shadows sent a shiver down her spine that had nothing to do with the chill.
By the time she had returned to the cabin with her paper bags in hand, Ethan had built a fire. Oreo danced at her feet as she passed out tacos for everyone. Two for her, a handful for Ethan, and a special meat-only taco for the pit bull. She watched the canine dig into his dinner on a foil plate.
“What’s wrong?” Ethan asked.
She realized she’d been staring at the dog with something like longing. “I was the one who found him. Remember that?”
