Chapter 21
Jake
Not surprisingly, I could not fall asleep after watching Ali get herself off to just the sight of me watching her. I was not expecting our night to go quite like it had.
Leaving her alone in that room and saying good night was torture. I walked back and almost knocked again like three different times. Chic was lying on the floor down the hall looking at me. Willing me to settle down and go to sleep. He was right. He was always right.
Except that he didn’t actually know what had gone on in that bedroom. If he had, he’d understand why it took me three tries to finally walk away.
I decided a shower was necessary, a way to wash off the frustration clinging to me.
I’d already sought release the fastest way I knew how, stroking myself while picturing her.
It hadn’t taken much. And afterward, I felt like an ass.
I could’ve had her, held her, been with her for real, yet here I was alone, chasing echoes of my name on her lips as she came.
It didn’t make sense, not in the haze of wine and lust and the sharp crash of an empty orgasm.
I had to believe the version of me who’d pulled away—the one who promised himself another chance with a clear head—had been right.
The next morning, I was still wired. I needed a run.
I checked on Chic before I laced up my shoes and hit the trail. I was leaving him behind again. But his breathing was slightly labored just getting around the house. The pulse I felt in his femoral artery was steady, and he wagged his tail even as he was outstretched on the floor—a good response.
I left some food for him in his bowl and filled his water.
“Okay, buddy, I am going to hit the trail. You stay here and rest.”
Before heading out the back door, I left a note for Ali.
It didn’t take long for thoughts of her to reemerge. I needed to work out how to get back to where we were last night. Or maybe she would wake up and regret the entire thing.