Page 48 of Bend
“Wasn’t going to.”
She lifts a brow.
I exhale and drag a hand over the back of my neck. “All right. I was thinking about it.”
“I know, but you can’t.”
There’s no judgment in her tone, just certainty.
I lean back against the wall and drag a hand over my jaw. “Fuck. I knew this would happen.”
“Yeah, but you can’t expect him to just accept it all and be okay with it after one night.” She tucks one leg under herself on the bed. “He’ll come around when he’s ready. You just have to be patient with him.”
I look toward the door again. I want to believe her.
Echo watches me like she can tell exactly where my head just went.
“He likes you,” she says.
A laugh leaves me before I mean it to. “Yeah, but is that enough?”
“After what I saw tonight. The pull you two have. The chemistry he’s denying. Yeah, I’d say it’s more than enough.”
I tip my head back against the wall. “Maybe, but liking me and being ready for me aren’t the same thing.”
“No,” she says. “Sadly, they’re not.”
The room settles around us.
The AC hums. A car door slams somewhere out in the lot. Someone laughs from the walkway outside and keeps moving.
Echo reaches for her phone, then pauses. “Alright, give me your number.”
I smile. “You think you’re that smooth, huh?”
“Oh please. I’ve more than earned it.”
Fair point.
I take her phone, thumb brushing hers for a second as she hands it over, and type my number in myself. When I pass it back, there’s a Cowboy hat emoji beside my name that makes me laugh under my breath.
“Very funny.”
“I thought so.”
I glance around the room again, disliking it just as much as I did when we first pulled in. “Are you sure you’re good here tonight? I have a spare room at my place that doesn’t have questionable carpet stains?”
Her expression shutters for half a second.
Then she smiles. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“All right.”
She stands, oversized tee hanging off one shoulder, hair still twisted up into that messy top knot. “Don’t brood too hard, Cowboy.”
A laugh slips out of me. “I’m not fucking brooding.”
“Oh you absolutely are.”
