Effortless (Thoughtless, #2)(102)

A thought struck me that made me frown. There was no way I could tell Kellan that Denny was here in Seattle, not while Kellan was thousands of miles away. He’d flip out. He’d drop everything and come back here. He was friends with Denny, considered him a brother, but there was way too much uncertainty between us…our rings were proof of that. And Denny was the one person on this earth that I had actually cheated on Kellan with.

That wasn’t really what had happened; technically I was cheating on Denny, not Kellan. But I’d made love to Kellan, told him that I was his…then I’d slept with Denny one final time. Kellan knew about it…it ate at him. Denny was the one person Kellan would never trust me with.

I just couldn’t risk him throwing away his dream on an unfounded fear.

And I’d never hurt him like that again. Never. Not even if Kellan cheated on me and I hated him. I’d break it off with him before I ever touched another man. I would not be a whore again. I just couldn’t live with the consequences.

Besides, that wasn’t going to happen. Denny and I were past that point in our relationship and Kellan had nothing to worry about. But I’d never be able to convince him. He’d possessively watch over me like an animal marking its territory, warning the other males away. Kellan didn’t share…he’d already told me that much.

Maybe noticing my expression, Denny quietly asked, “Everything okay?”





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I straightened my face, shaking my head. “Yeah, just thinking…” I bit my lip, wondering if I should confess my fears to Denny or not. Again, he’d probably find it morbidly funny. Deciding to put it a different way, I shrugged and asked, “Is Abby okay with you being here…with me.” Denny immediately shook his head, lowering his mug from his mouth.

“I’m not here with you.”

I flushed and looked down, not expecting words that harshly true to leave his mouth. I was used to flowers and poetry. I was used to sappy comments about me being his heart. He sighed. “That came out wrong. I just mean…I came here for the job.” I looked back up at him and he shrugged. “Abby knows what went down with me and you. She knows that I would never go back to you, Kiera.”

He held my eye, not backing down from his coldly honest statement. I felt my lip quaver as so many emotions flooded me I couldn’t sort through them all. He was bluntly saying exactly what I’d been thinking.

It was no great shock, but still…hearing it put so plainly… Yeah, it stung.

Frowning, he shook his head. “I’m sorry that’s sounds…cold.” He finally looked away from me, down to the cup cooling in his hands.

“Sometimes the truth is cold.” He peered up at me, and when he spoke again, his accent was thicker with emotion. “I still want your friendship, though. You’re still important to me.”

I nodded, swiping a stubborn tear away from my eye. “It’s okay to be honest with me, Denny.” I sighed, laughing a little. “I was sitting here, sort of thinking the same thing anyway.” He tilted his head, his dark brows bunching, and I laughed again. “Just that Kellan had nothing to worry about because you and I would never…go down that path again.” Denny laughed and shook his head. Raising his mug, he extended it to me. “To never sleeping together again?” he teased, a sparkle in his eye.

Seeing my favorite goofy grin returning, I smiled and clinked his mug with mine. “To never having sex again.” He raised an eyebrow at me and I quickly added, “With each other, I mean.” 286



Laughing heartily, he sipped his tea as I quickly downed my coffee.

God, I was an idiot. Still chuckling, he relaxed back in his seat again. I smiled that the residual tension had started melting away. I didn’t think I could ever just be friends with Kellan again—hell, we’d never managed to just be friends when we were friends—but Denny…the comfort there made it easy to slip into that role with each other.

As Denny smirked to himself, I worried my lip, thinking of Kellan again. Setting down my drink, I cleared my throat. Denny looked up at me. “Um, this is going to sound weird, but if you happen to talk to Kellan anytime soon…can you not tell him that you’re here?” Denny sighed, his shoulders slumping. “Kiera…” I shook my head, interrupting his protest. “Please? Just…fail to mention it?”

Sighing, Denny leaned over the table. “Kiera, I don’t want to tell you how to handle your relationship with him, but…you’ll never last if you start lying to him.”

I shook my head, leaning over as well. “And I won’t lie…I just don’t want to tell him right now.”

Denny gave me a dry look, like he didn’t see the difference in my statement. Honestly, I knew I was stretching the truth line, but Kellan would not react well to Denny being so close to me while he was gone. It was too similar to how we’d first gotten together.

Placing my hand over Denny’s, I shook my head again. “I know this is big, and I will tell him.” I sighed, pausing. “I just need to figure out how to tell him without…scaring him.”

Denny stared at me a moment, then his face softened into compassion.

“Alright, I won’t tell him…but I won’t lie either. If he asks me, I’ll tell him.” I started nodding immediately and Denny raised his eyebrows.