I feel sick.
“Yeah. I did.”
Her eyes light up, “And?”
“He wants some space. At least for now, and I think you should give it to him. It’s a lot to take in, Hanna.”
She drops her hand, upset. “Okay. Well, will you keep checking on him for me? I just hate that he’s so upset. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
I press my lips together and smile, “Sure.”
“Thanks, Kar.”
She hugs me, and she and Ellie rush out the door. As much as I want to tell her the truth, I just can’t.
I walk back to my bedroom and notice that limp duck has slid off the bed into the floor. I pick him up and place him in the center of my bed.
Things are about to get a whole lot uglier than this duck.
CHAPTER 10
ERIC
We live in this perfect Eric and Karly Bubble for an entire month. When I’m not at work or she’s not busy, we are pretty much inseparable. We haven’t ventured out into public places or anything, but it’s been nice staying wrapped up in each other.
And the sex? Well, she’s insatiable. I’m not gonna lie. It’s nice having someone constantly wanting to jump your bones and stealing kisses any chance she gets. Plus, the nonstop texting of inappropriate memes, even while I’m at work? It’s fucking nice. I smile whenever my phone goes off, knowing it’s probably her. She even sends me songs that she hears and likes, and of course, I listen to the lyrics and wonder if she’s thinking about me.
I know why she wants to keep this on the down low, but that doesn’t make it any easier when she’s sneaking out of my house, and I’m sneaking over to hers. I feel like we’re giving dirty little secret a genuine vibe. I even have her saved in my phone as “Dirty Little Secret” just in case someone were to pick up my phone. They wouldn’t know it was Karly.
With secrets, though, come complications. With complications come lies. And I hate lying. It’s not who I am.
My phone hasn’t rang as much in the past few weeks with calls from Hanna, but I know I need to talk to her soon. The more time that passes, the more I see that we weren’t really meant to be. Not solely because I’m falling for Karly but because I understand that what we had wasn’t enough. Maybe at first, but not now. Not that I’ve felt this twinge in my chest that I’ve never felt before.
It’s like when Hanna held me down, Karly encouraged me to fly. It’s hard to explain, really. The fact that I was blind to it for so long blows my mind.
I take out my phone and shoot off a text. It’s a quarter past nine. She should be here by now.
Me: Where are you?
Karly: Almost there! Every single dog I pass barks at me.
Me: Well, if you’d just park in my driveway, we wouldn’t have this problem.
Karly: What if someone saw my car?
A ping of frustration hits me, so fucking what if they did? Would it really be so terrible, two people who like to be around each other? I shake the thought. If this is the way she feels comfortable doing this, then I need to respect that, at least for now.
The back door slides open, and she slips inside, her long hair spilling effortlessly around her shoulders. I can already imagine how it smells, distinctly like her. A scent I’d be perfectly content with smelling for the rest of forever. If I’m honest.
“Hey, you.” She huffs, slinging her bag down at the door.
“Hey yourself,” I grin, leaning down to kiss her. “I missed you today.”
“Quit lying. You know you’ve been sitting here dreading my arrival.”
I scoff, “Girl, if that were true, you wouldn’t be standing here. I can promise you that.”
“Then, I missed you too.” She twirls, plopping her tiny frame into the loveseat.