“Get together, girl.” I swatted her backside playfully, and she shot me a look.
“Don’t spring that kind of shit on me, mid-swallow. You. And a sexy, innocent virgin? Oh, hell, no.”
I laughed and took another healthy sip of my own wine, finding my stomach currently doing somersaults, and needing something to distract me. Was hanging around Cohen as bad of an idea as Ashlyn made it seem? No, I didn’t think so. We were both adults. We could choose what we did and didn’t want to do. It wasn’t like I was going to purposely tempt him into sleeping with me. Much.
“I’ve got it under control, Ash.”
“So you guys are…friends?” she scoffed, clearly suspicious.
“Yeah. Friends.”
She let out a hearty laugh. “Okay then. Let me know how that works out for you.” She continued shaking her head, trying to contain her laugh as her expression turned more serious. “Gosh, Liz, you’re more jacked up than I give you credit for sometimes.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You choose men that are so unavailable to you. It’s almost comical how you find yourself in these situations. I’d just like to see you have a normal relationship at some point.”
“You know I’m not looking for that.”
“I know you’re not. But I reserve hope that someday maybe you’ll grow out of this.” She waved her hand in my general direction.
A few minutes later Ashlyn’s hand on my forearm snapped my attention back to her. I don’t know how long I’d been silently staring off into space.
“You can’t give up on having a real, meaningful relationship just because there are a few jerks out there.”
I gave her a pointed stare. “I do have meaningful relationships. There’s you,” I counted off on my fingers, “my cats, and my vibrator.”
She shook her head. “I meant something with a penis.”
I avoided mentioning my flesh rocket in the night table by my bed, and instead pressed my lips into a line, sure that Ashlyn would only add on the stipulation that the penis be attached to a living, breathing male. Pfft. Overrated. I’d been taking care of myself, including all my needs, for several years now. There was no reason to mess with the system. I firmly stood by the saying If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
I fiddled with the stem of my wine glass. “Enough about my non-existent love life. Tell me what’s new with you.”
She patted my knee. “You know I love you, sweetie. As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.”
“I’m happy.” I plastered on a smile, hoping she wouldn’t notice the way my mouth twitched at the corners. The truth was I hadn’t been happy in a long time. Five years to be exact. That was when after one fateful night, I fought to turn off all emotion. And I intended to keep it that way.
Seemingly unaware of the personal battle raging inside me, Ashlyn continued. “Aiden rented a lake house for next weekend on Lake Michigan. There are two bedrooms, so of course you’re invited. Sort of a celebration of the end of summer, before the weather turns.”
“Yeah. I’m in. That sounds fun.” Catching some late-summer sun, drinking with Ashlyn, it would be a nice end to the summer before the pain sure to follow in this fall term for us both. I only hoped I didn’t feel like too much of a third wheel on their sure-to-be-romantic getaway. I gulped down the remainder of my wine and signaled the bartender for another.
Chapter 6
After Cohen’s admission about being a virgin, I found myself inadvertently steering clear of him. I hadn’t slept over again, and I hadn’t seen Stu either. It was too strange knowing Stu was one of Cohen’s professors. Also, I couldn’t seem to shake Ashlyn’s judgments. I wasn’t ready for a relationship, plain and simple, and so I knew deep down that I shouldn’t lead Cohen on. He knew what he was looking for—and I wasn’t it, so there was no sense in fooling myself.
After my run early that Sunday morning, I saw Cohen and Bob just returning from a run themselves.
I stopped in front of our house to stretch. “Hey there,” I called as he jogged the last few paces toward me.
“Hey, Easy E.” He smiled.
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the ridiculous nickname that seemed to have stuck. Yes, because being named after an old-school rapper was so endearing.
Cohen’s smile alone worked to ease some of the tension of my conflicting emotions over the last few days.
He stopped beside me, breathing hard, and Bob dropped to the sidewalk, his tongue lolling from his mouth. “Where have you been? You haven’t been over.”
I looked down at my tennis shoes. “Sorry. I’ve been busy.”
He tipped my chin up to meet his eyes. “You were weirded out by what I told you.”
It wasn’t a question, and I didn’t respond. I just held his blue gaze, searching for what, I didn’t know.
He chuckled. “Don’t get weird on me. I’m still the same guy. Sure, I’ve probably held myself to stricter standards than some, but don’t treat me different now that you know.”
“I’m sorry,” I blurted without thinking, realizing that my apology had just proven he was right—I had been treating him differently.
“Bob and I have missed you.” He reached down and ruffled the dog behind his ear.
“Do you want to grab some breakfast or something?” I offered.