Page 45 - It Ends with Us

He no ds, and caref ully set s my foot back on the table. “Tha t is

correc t,” he says. “I spec ialize in one- ni ght stand s and you’re on the
ques t for your Holy Grail.”
I laugh. “You ha ve a good mem ory.”
“I do,” he says. A lang uid smile stret ches across hi s mouth. “But
you’re also ha rd to forget .”
Jesus. He has to stop saying thi ng s like tha t. I pres s my palms int o

the table and pull my leg down. “Naked truth coming .”
He lea ns agains t the table nex t to me and says, “All ea rs.”
I ho ld no thi ng back. “I’m ver y attracted to you,” I say. “There’ s no t
much about you I don’t like. And bei ng as tho ugh you and I both
want different thi ng s, if we’ re ev er around ea ch other again, I’d
apprec iate it if you could stop saying thi ng s tha t make me dizzy. It’s
no t rea lly fair to me. ”

He nods onc e, and then says, “My turn. ” He places hi s ha nd on the
table ne xt to me and lea ns in a little. “I’m ver y attracted to you, too.
There’ s no t much about you I don’t like. But I kind of hope we’re
nev er around each other again, bec ause I don’t like ho w much I thi nk
about you. Whic h isn’t all tha t much—b ut it’s more tha n I’d like. So if
you still aren’ t going to agree to a one- ni ght stand , then I thi nk it’s

bes t if we do wha t we can to avoid ea ch other. Bec ause it won’t do
ei ther of us any favors.”
I don’t kno w ho w he end ed up thi s close to me, but he’s onl y about
a foot away. His proximity makes it ha rd to pay attent ion to words tha t
come out of hi s mouth. His gaze drops briefl y to my mouth, but as
soon as we hea r the front door open, he’s ha lfway across the room. By
the time Allysa and Marsha ll make it to us, R yle is busy res tacking all

the crates tha t fel l. Allysa looks down at my ank le.
“Wha t’s the verd ict?” she asks.
I push my bottom lip out. “Your doctor brother says I ha ve to stay
off of it for a few days.”
She ha nds me my water. “Good thi ng you ha ve me. I can work and
do wha t I can to clea n up whi le you res t.”

I take a drink of the water and then wipe my mouth. “Allysa, I’m
dec laring you em ployee of the mont h. ”
She grins and then turns to Marsha ll. “Did you hea r tha t? I’m the
bes t em ployee she ha s!”