Page 65 of Take the Plunge

“Do you want my advice?”

“Probably not.”

“If all you want is sex, keep going until one of you gets bored. If you want more, tell her. And hey, if you ever want to think about batting for the other team, give my brother a call. You know he’s had a crush on you forever.”

I glare at my drink. “Why would you say that?”

“Because it’s true. Why else do you think I left you both in the lake house the other weekend?”

“I did wonder.”

“I even left you supplies.”

I know.

“Kian’s a romantic at heart. He wants to find ‘the one’, get married, settle down, and all that jazz.” He laughs. “He practised writing your name as his surname once.”

I gape at him.

“He was sixteen or something. Maybe fifteen. I caught him doing it and teased him about it for weeks.” He waves his hand. “Anyway, his crush on you goes way back.” He stretches out ‘way’.

Kian told me he had a crush on me, but I didn’t realise it was that intense. Fuck. Have I been toying with his heart this whole time?

“Which is why I was hoping my two favourite people would hook up.” Rufus sighs. “But I guess you’re not as curious as I thought you were.”

I stiffen. Does he know something happened between Kian and me? Does he know we’re still hooking up? Has Kian said something to him? No. He wouldn’t. He promised me everything would stay between us.

Rufus smiles softly. “This girl of yours—try not to hurt her, okay? If she thinks all you want is sex, she might not tell you if she wants more. No one wants to open themselves up to rejection.” He downs the rest of his pint. “Do you want another?”

I still have over half of my drink left, so I shake my head. “I should go. Thanks for the drink.” He’s given me a lot to think about, but I can’t do that while I’m here with him. I need time and space.

“But you only just got here,” Rufus says.

“Don’t you have a girlfriend now?”

“Yes, but we’ve only been on two dates. We’re not joined at the hip. I will always have time for my bestie.”

For some reason, his comment chokes me up, even though he’s probably trying to make me feel guilty for not seeing him for several weeks.

“Yeah, same,” I mutter.

“And if you change your mind about that double date—”

“I won’t.”

I finish my drink and then walk towards the bus station. I can’t stop thinking about what Rufus said. Is Kian hiding his true feelings because he’s afraid I’ll reject him? Is he settling for no-strings sex because he thinks it’s all I’ll ever give him? Fuck. The trouble is, I don’t know if I can ever give him more. Erica broke my trust in the worst possible way. I’m not sure I can ever give my trust, heart, and soul to another person again. Not even Kian.

Chapter16

Kian

On Sunday nights, a few of my friends gather at a pub on the edge of the city centre for a pub quiz. A core group of three of my friends are here for the quiz every week, and the rest of us turn up as and when we’re available.

“Hi, stranger,” Aria says as I sit beside her in the booth. She’s the centre of our group of friends, the one person we all have in common. “You’re just in time.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I was beginning to forget what you look like. You keep blowing us off.”