Chapter 4
JESSE
Pulling up in front of Eric and Selena’s house felt like returning to the scene of a crime. Except the night I’d spent with them had been amazing. They were both hot and insatiable, and we’d all had a great time.
That was the only night I’d been here, apart from picking her up to go out or go to my place.
Shouldn’t that have been a clue, Jesse?
Probably, yeah. But I’d stupidly taken her at her word when she’d said it didn’t feel right for us to sleep together in the same place we’d hooked up with her and her ex. She’d said once her lease was up and she moved someplace on her own, we could “christen every surface.”
Yeah. That wasn’t going to happen. Instead, I was here to help her now-ex-fiancé move out of their place and into my condo while he got on his feet.
While I’d been texting back and forth with Eric about those logistics, I’d offered to help him pack up and move out of the house.
He’d accepted that offer without needing any convincing; apparently he wasn’t ready to tell anyone they were breaking up or why.
I knew the details, so I wouldn’t ask questions that hurt him to answer right now.
I got that, and I was happy to help. Everything I did for him felt like another grain of sand tipping the karmic scales back into my favor.
I tried to tell myself—and Eric had told me repeatedly—that I hadn’t done anything wrong. I hadn’t known. Sure, a lot of the red flags were obvious in hindsight, but I hadn’t been malicious or dishonest—just stupid.
As I shut off the engine, the two-car garage door opened, revealing an empty bay beside Eric’s Jeep.
Made sense that she wasn’t here—we weren’t confronting her yet, and she was still away on her bachelorette weekend.
She’d be home tomorrow, which gave us plenty of time to clear out everything Eric owned.
Eric appeared, offering a tired smile and a wave.
A rush of very pleasant but highly unwelcome feelings flashed over me.
The first time I’d met him had been at a dinner date for the three of us to discuss the threesome she wanted, and I’d been fully onboard the moment I’d laid eyes on the couple.
She’d been utterly gorgeous—a petite brunette with mischievous brown eyes, smoking hot curves wrapped in a little black dress, and a smile that pulled my entire focus to her full lips.
And Eric? Fuck me, but that man was sexy. He was white with dark hair that he kept a little long on top, and his blue eyes made my damn knees weak. That smile—that lip bite while we’d shaken hands the first time—oh my God, yes, I’d been down for anything those two had in mind.
Today, as I got out of the car to help him, I lost my breath.
Despite all the guilt and anger and grief, I had that same frisson of desire I’d had when we’d met in the restaurant, except this time I knew what those hands and that mouth were capable of.
I knew what he sounded like when he came.
I knew what he felt like sliding in and out of my ass.
I forced all of those feelings far beneath the surface.
They weren’t why I was here. While it was fun to imagine helping each other get over Selena by way of hooking up together, that wasn’t going to happen.
Even from across the driveway, it was impossible to miss the shell-shocked look in Eric’s eyes.
The last thing he probably had on his mind at all was fooling around with anyone, never mind the guy who’d been screwing his fiancée for most of the past year.
A pang of guilt helped to tamp down all those impure thoughts; even if I hadn’t known it at the time, I was part of the reason his life was a mess. If he was going to get laid to get over her, it wouldn’t be with me.
I cleared my throat as I approached the garage. “Hey. How are you holding up?”
The answer to that was a grunt and a dismissive wave. Then, “I started boxing things up already.”
I nodded. “Sure. Just let me know what goes where.”
It was weird to walk into their house and see it mostly intact. It almost seemed like there should be ashes and scorch marks—scars of some disaster that had left the place barely standing.
But… no. It was as immaculate and structurally sound as it had been the night they’d taken me into their bed.
There were boxes here and there, with a bunch of collapsed ones leaning against the couch, waiting to be assembled and filled.
I hadn’t looked very hard at the décor—I’d been a little preoccupied—but I swore there were some empty spaces on the wall that hadn’t been there before.
He must’ve taken some things down and packed them already.
I’d sent him photos and dimensions of my spare room so he’d know how much space he had to work with.
There were some boxes in the hallway outside his and Selena’s bedroom, all marked “condo,” so we started by carrying those out to my car.
Fortunately, I had a decent-sized SUV and he had a Jeep, so we’d be able to carry most of his things to my place in one or two trips apiece.
Later, we’d put what was left into a U-Haul and unload it at his storage unit.
Gazing at the boxes stacked in the hallway, Eric sighed. “I still can’t believe I’m doing this.” He turned to me, his expression somehow equal parts numb and full of pain. “I’m supposed to be having my bachelor party tonight.”
I grimaced. “Shit. That’s rough.”
“Yeah.” His voice came out hollow and his gaze drifted to the boxes again. “I told my best man I’m sick this weekend. Better to just skip the party and recover so I’m good in time for the wedding.” He paused, seeming to let his own words sink in a bit, and then winced. “Fuck, what a mess.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, because I had no idea what else to say.
Eric shook his head. “No. I’m glad you told me. It fucking blows, but… better now than after the wedding.”
I couldn’t be sure, but I thought he shuddered.
Then he cleared his throat. “Anyway. We should get to work. This shouldn’t take too long.”
He was right—in just a couple of hours, we’d staged everything for the storage unit in the garage, and everything he was taking to the condo was packed into our cars.
Once everything was where it needed to be, Eric stared at the stacks of boxes in the garage just like he had in the hallway earlier.
It was hard to read his shell-shocked expression.
If he was just overwhelmed by everything, or if he was wondering if he forgot something.
After a moment, he shook himself and turned to me. “I guess that’s everything.”
I nodded. “Okay. Let’s head over to the condo, then.
” I hesitated. “Oh. Uh. I definitely should’ve mentioned this sooner, but…
do you like cats?” Aw, fuck. He wasn’t allergic, was he?
I really hadn’t thought this through. Not that I’d thought much of anything through since this whole debacle had kicked off.
Fortunately, an adorable smile cracked through Eric’s miserable shell. “I love cats. You have one, I guess?”
“Two. And one really likes the guest room, so he might join you.”
The smile held. “I don’t mind at all. I’ll leave my door cracked for him.” He paused, and his voice turned a little sad as he added, “The company might be nice.”
Seriously, Selena. How could you be so evil to this guy?
Eric followed me over to the condo. I’d given him a parking pass, so he pulled into the space beside mine, and we each carried a box up the stairs.
Of course, my cats greeted us at the door.
“In,” I told them, nudging them back with my foot. “Come on. In the house. Let’s go.”
They protested but reluctantly went back into the condo, giving us enough room to come in and shut the door.
Eric put down the box he was carrying and crouched to say hello. Both cats immediately strode up to him, having apparently forgotten that I existed at all. Ingrates.
“Hi, guys,” he said with a ridiculously cute smile. “You’re friendly, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, they are.” I put my own box aside. “The gray tabby is Clyde. The black one is Chili.”
Eric cocked a brow. “Shelter names?”
“Clyde, yes. Chili?” I rolled my eyes. “He earned it.”
“Oh yeah? How did—”
Right then, Chili slapped Clyde across the face, glaring at him with airplane ears as he growled.
Clyde drew back, eyes huge, as if to ask the fuck did I do?
“Chili, you’re such a dick.” I scooped up Clyde. “Come here, buddy. I know, I know. He’s mean.”
Whatever trauma Chili had inflicted was instantly forgotten, and Clyde purred like a machine gun as he bumped his head under my chin and kneaded on my shoulder. He got over things pretty quickly.
“That wasn’t nice,” Eric informed Chili, who was now arching his back and purring. “You’re supposed to be nice to your brother.”
“Eh, Clyde knocks him around sometimes too. But Chili can be, shall we say, spicy.”
“What?” Eric feigned shock. “This little angel?” He scratched behind Chili’s ears, prompting louder purring. “Slander!”
“Uh-huh. Just wait till he pounces on your feet in the middle of the night. Then we can talk about who’s a little angel.”
Eric snorted. “Oh, he’s one of those.” He gave Chili another scritch, then rose, wincing when his knee popped. “Will they be okay with us moving things in and out?”
“Yep.” I tucked Clyde under my arm, then grabbed Chili under the other. “Because they’ll be penned up in my bedroom until it’s safe to let them back out.”
Clyde was cool with being carried around. Chili apparently sensed that something was afoot, because he started squirming and yowling as we got closer to the bedroom.
“Oh, stop it, drama queen.”
He flailed, kicking my side with his back legs and trying to bite my arm. I just rolled my eyes. I was pretty sure Clyde did too.
There were more theatrics when I closed the bedroom door. Chili banged on it and howled.
“You’ll be fine,” I said through the door. “It’s only for like ten minutes.”
According to the howls, that answer was unsatisfactory.
I just chuckled and headed back up the hall to where Eric was brushing cat hair off his shirt.
“They don’t like being penned up?” he asked.
“Ugh. No. I mean, Clyde couldn’t care less, but Chili is convinced it’s a grave insult and an affront to his ancestors.”
The muffled yowling almost sounded like, “I heard that, asshole!”
Eric laughed, which was so good to see. “Opinionated, isn’t he?”
“So much.”
“Well.” Eric nodded toward the door. “Let’s make this quick so he can get out of Purgatory.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Was that a pun?”
He cocked his head. “Uh. No?”
“You sure? Purr-gatory?”
The way he wrinkled his nose and groaned had no business being that cute. “Oh for fuck’s sake,” he muttered, and started toward the door. “Just… go get some damn boxes.” As he opened the door he added, “Purr-gatory. Jesus H. Christ.”
I laughed and followed him out to unpack our cars.