The Fastest Way to Fall(44)

“Not so into that idea?”

“No, but she’s relentless.”

He stretched his arms over his head, his T-shirt rising an inch or two over his abs. “Relentless about Calvin or relationships in general?”

Holy six-pack, Batman!

I jerked my chin up, hoping he hadn’t seen me looking at his stomach. “Um, yeah.” I laughed.

He raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to finish.

“Sorry. Yeah, my parents met at a poetry reading in college. Like, my dad was reading a sonnet and their eyes met. My sister married her prom date. My brother and his husband met at the Eiffel Tower while both were vacationing in Paris. They’re very invested in me having a love story, too.” I loved all their stories, but it made me feel like a disappointment that I didn’t have my own yet. “Anyway. When I go home alone, they pounce. It’s like walking into this onslaught of love.”

Wes nodded, thoughtful. “Maybe you should bring a buffer home, someone to protect you and change the subject.”

“Yeah, right?” I laughed and stood with a groan. “You want a beer or some water?”

“Water,” he said. “And I’m serious.”

When my back was turned, I smiled to myself. I watched the water flow into the glass and let myself remember the feel of his hands.

“So, you really wrote all this?” He motioned to the shelf.

“Yep. You can snoop if you want.” I turned back to the faucet, a little excited for him to see my writing. Those notebooks were filled with a lot of random writing, but it was disconnected from journalism and Best Life and it was safe. I smiled and glanced over my shoulder, a little giddy at the prospect of him in my place, peeking into my head.

Wes was staring at a page of a red notebook intently.

“Find something good? I don’t even remember what’s in half of them.”

He closed it with a snap, the sound startling me. “Yeah, I mean, from what I saw, you’re a good writer.” He turned to place it back on the shelf quickly. Weird.

“C’mon,” I said, handing him a glass of ice water and lowering myself to the couch.

He glanced away from my face when I handed him the water, expression like he was shaking off whatever he’d read in the notebook. “So, buffer?”

“Who would want to drive to rural Illinois to be my buffer?”

“I don’t know. A friend?” He lifted the glass. “I would do it. I mean, if you needed me.”

I tipped my glass to my lips. “If you showed up, they’d think I’d paid an escort or something.”

“Why?”

“Look at you! Anyway, what would my friend get out of this ruse?”

He smiled and waggled his eyebrows. “You’d owe them a favor.”

“I’m not sleeping with someone because they protect me from being set up with Calvin.” Except I would totally sleep with you.

“I didn’t say a sexual favor.” He tossed a pillow at me.

He was about to say something else, but his phone buzzed, and he pulled it from his pocket. Frowning at the screen, he peeled himself up from the couch. He nodded toward the balcony, and I motioned for him to go ahead.

“Hi,” he said, answering the phone and stepping onto the balcony. “Kelsey . . .” The door closing blocked out the rest of his conversation.

Kelsey. I thumbed through my timeline while I waited, pretending I didn’t care who Kelsey was. I glanced at the insight numbers. Claire’s post from earlier that day had higher engagement than anything else Best Life had posted, including my latest piece. Claire had been kind lately, and I didn’t hate that her numbers were so good. Rather, I really didn’t want to hate that her numbers were so good.

Wes speaking into his phone pulled me out of my pettiness as he slid the door closed behind him. “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow night.” His eyes widened and his face reddened.

She was saying something sexy to Wes, and I felt like a jerk listening, but I couldn’t help myself. Was she saying she loved him or describing the things she wanted to do to him?

“Um, okay. We’ll see.” He tapped the screen and shoved it back in his pocket. “Sorry about that.”

“No problem,” I said, setting my phone aside. My plan was to play it cool, but I was curious. “Another client?”

“My ex,” he said with a sigh, finishing the water in his glass. “Do you mind if I grab that beer after all?”

“Sure, let me.” I groaned and pulled myself up, surprised when Wes’s hands closed around mine to help me up.

“It won’t always feel like that. I promise.”

He meant after working out, but as he helped me up, our bodies were close. I don’t mind if it always feels like this. While I grabbed a beer, one of the craft microbrews left from those I’d stocked for Ben, I couldn’t leave well enough alone.

I tried to adjust my voice so it seemed like I was a normal level of curious and not a jealous weirdo. “So, you’re going out with your ex tomorrow?” I handed him the opener, and our hands grazed again, that same rush traveling up my arm.

He took a pull from the bottle. “Looks that way.”

I flashed back to his face reddening when he spoke with her, and tried to picture the woman Wes would date. I came up with petite, blond, and the owner of killer abs.