Into the Tide (Cottonwood Cove #1)(86)

He nodded, his arms folded over his chest like the broody bastard he was. “You only need one reason for it to work.”

I shook my head and ran a hand down my face. The closer it got to her leaving, the more panicked I was. “Yeah? What’s that? Because I live in the real world. Where guys like me stay single because they’re damn good at it. A world where you need to keep your job so you can pay your bills. I don’t live in a fairy tale, man.”

He chuckled, but it was sarcastic in a Cage kind of way. “I sure as shit don’t live in a fairy tale, brother. I’m raising a fucking toddler on my own, and somehow, she’s turned out to be a little angel. I haven’t ruined her yet. I have to pencil in sex, which is my favorite thing to do outside of spending time with Gracie, and I have to coordinate my sex life around our mother’s social calendar. So don’t talk to me about fairy tales. You’ve got a shot at the real deal. I see it in your eyes, whether you want to admit it or not. And you’re not going to screw it up. You’re the most reliable guy I know.”

“Look at my track record. I wouldn’t have the first clue how to make this work.”

He sighed and reached for his beer, taking his sweet-ass time to respond. He set the glass down. “News flash. No one has a fucking clue how to make it work, brother. When Dad met Mom, he’d never been in a relationship. They figured it out because they loved each other. No one knows what they’re doing until they find someone worth doing it with.”

“Awfully wise for a guy who hasn’t had anything serious in years.”

“Right. And I have a four-year-old daughter who came from a woman I spent one night with. So, you aren’t talking to the poster child for relationships. But I’ve been in love, and I know what it looks like.”

Presley Duncan.

The name we never spoke of anymore. Hell, I was surprised he’d brought it up.

“And what does it look like, ole wise one?”

“Take a look in the fucking mirror, smartass.”

I chuckled. “I don’t even know what this is or how she feels. We made a deal. We’d have a little fun for a while. Hell, she’s never been with anyone else. This could just be her testing out the waters before she finds the right guy. I hardly think anyone looks at me and sees forever. Because I sure as fuck never have.”

“Until now.” He smirked. “Listen, I’m here to tell you that you’re lucky to feel it once in your life. We all love to give Dad shit, but he’s right. It’s a one-and-done situation most of the time. I know that it happened to me at the wrong time, so I blew my shot. But you’ve got nothing to lose.”

“I’ve got everything to lose. If I fuck it up, I lose her. If she doesn’t feel the same way as I do, I lose her. If she wants this job in Chicago the way I think she does, I lose her. There are very few scenarios where it works out. So why risk making it awkward and pissing off Travis, putting Lila in an uncomfortable situation to tell me she cares more about her job than me? Or that she was just having some fun this summer and wants to go back to being friends?”

“Do you think there’s some sort of class that dudes take that suddenly makes them ready to take a shot?” A cocky laugh escaped, and seeing as I was fluent in Cage’s sarcasm, I knew it was his way of telling me that I was being a dumbass. “I got news for you, brother: Nobody knows what the fuck they’re doing.”

“That’s your advice?” I downed the rest of my beer.

“You don’t need advice. You’ll either let her go without taking a risk and spend the rest of your life regretting it, or you’ll just wake up and realize that you’re being a dumb fuck, and you’ll go for it.”

“That was riveting. It’s amazing you aren’t a therapist.” I smirked.

“Well, I hope like hell that you come to your senses and do something about it.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I can’t wait to see the infamous Hugh Reynolds running around town like a pussy-whipped motherfucker who can’t live without his girl,” he said with a chuckle.

“Never going to happen. I’m going to stick to the plan. Let her go chase her dreams while I go back to my unfulfilling life of meaningless sex and mind-numbing conversations with people I don’t give two fucks about. And Lila can go take over corporate America and marry some preppy intellectual asshole who wouldn’t know good sex if it slapped him in the face.”

Cage looked down, searching for something on the floor beside his feet before he snapped back up and raised a brow. “Sorry. I must have lost my tiny violin, you dramatic motherfucker. Stop being a coward and man up.”

I sucked in a breath because that insult struck a fucking nerve with me. “If one more person calls me a coward, I swear to God, I’ll snap.”

“I wouldn’t mind seeing you snap and doing something about it.” He shrugged. “Listen, I need to say this to you. I know that you gave up your dream to be a big, fancy sports agent in the city to come back here and help out Dad. It was stand-up of you. But if this isn’t what you want, we can sell it all. I’ll help you. You deserve to be happy, brother.”

I squeezed the back of my neck with my hand because this conversation was wearing on me. “I love what I do. It wasn’t the plan, but I’m not complaining. I needed to do it, and I made it work. I’m fine with that. But asking me to ask Lila to do the same thing for me—never going to fucking happen. She’s not some big fish in a little pond.”