Page 27 of She's Like the Wind

I loved Lia. I may have only been a kid, but I’d loved her, heart and soul.

Nearly fifteen years had gone by, and I couldn’t remember her face as clearly as I used to. My love for her had tempered.Butthe pain of losing her—hell, that I remembered clearly in my bones.

I’d decided after Lia, while I was dealing with her loss, that I’d never put myself through that shit again. I already had people I loved. My parents, my brother, and my sister. If anything ever happened to one of them, I’d….

Ezra let the silence sit for a while before he spoke. “So, you’ve spent your whole adult life avoiding love to avoid loss?”

“I’m not going to add anyone to the list of people who are important to me.”

Ezra took a long sip. “Kayla is going to get married one day and have kids. You’ll have nieces and nephews. And Ryan has a girlfriend and?—"

“I get your point,” I interrupted him, angry with him. Myself. The world. “I can’t take the risk, E.”

Ezra’s brows knit in irritation. “You’re not living, Gage. You’re maintaining. Preserving. Like one of your old buildings. But Naomi? She made you come alive. Even all the way from DC, I could hear your excitement about her. Now, I can see your devastation at losing her.”

I closed my eyes for a moment and then shrugged stiffly, avoiding his gaze.

“Look, she’s not going to take me back. I kissed another woman in front of her. Told her that I slept with her. And all that just two days after Naomi told me she loved me. I made sure she knows she means nothing to me. Just a woman I fucked. So…there’s nothing to discuss.”

Ezra leveled me with a stare that screamed,Are you serious?

“What?” I muttered.

“The woman I saw today is not past you. And you’re not over her.”

“Haven’t you been listening to me? I fucked it up with her. She said she loved me, and I dropped her like she was burning my hands.”

Ezra sighed, shaking his head in quiet disbelief. “Dude, get your head out of your ass and fix it. You’re in love with?—”

“Fuck you.” I drank some more beer.

“You’re in love with her,” he finished.

I shot him a glare brimming with frustration. “You should stop drinking anytime now because this is crazy talk.”

Ezra finished his drink and waved to the bartender, indicating he was ready for a refill.

“I think if you told her honestly and openly why you’re so fucked up, she’ll give you a chance. She looks like a softy.” Ezra patted my shoulder. “And maybe you should grow a fucking spine.”

“Mind your own fucking business.”

Ezra grinned. “Youaremy business, buddy. So…what’s your plan?”

“Plan for what?”

“For getting your girl back?”

I gave a long-suffering sigh. “E, I’m not getting her back. What I am going to do is find someone to spend time with and fuck into the mattress. That’s my plan.”

“Sounds simple enough. So, how come you haven’t gotten your dick wet since Naomi dumped your tight ass?”

Because no other woman will do!

Hell.

Kill me now!

I gave him the finger and asked for another beer.