I had a hell of a time trying to keep my mind focused for the rest of the day. My thoughts kept drifting to Kaelynn. Most of them good, a few dirty thoughts, and a few moments when guilt hit me square in the chest about the damn background check. Every time I thought about it, I pushed it away. I needed to know what, if anything, she was keeping from me. I really hoped my gut was wrong about this—even though everything inside of me screamed Kaelynn was keeping a secret.
BLAKE LEANED AGAINST my kitchen counter, a skeptical look on his face.
“What?” I asked.
“Dude, I’m with Tucker on this one. Just ask her.”
“I can’t.”
“Just because Lily lied to you doesn’t mean Kaelynn is going to.”
“So now you don’t think she’s from money and hiding it?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, she seems really nice. You said you had a great time together last night. Why not just let things progress and see what happens?”
“We did. And tonight I’m going over to her place for dinner.”
Blake’s brows raised. “Dinner at her place. Okay, that could mean a few things.”
I towel-dried my hair then tossed the wet towel onto the sofa. “And those few things are?”
“One, she wants to get laid.”
“Dude, seriously? Why do you have to talk like that?”
He rolled his eyes. “Fine, she wants to have sex. Two, she wants to tell you whatever it is she is hiding . . . if . . . she is really hiding something.”
“And having dinner at home makes you think that why?”
“It’s simple,” Blake said, folding his arms over his chest. “She doesn’t want to see you explode with anger in public. Maybe she figures she can seduce you a little bit, get you all hot and worked up, then drop it on you.”
I stared at him, then laughed. “Dude, you’ve been watching too many movies.”
He narrowed his eyes at me, then looked up in thought. “Shit. Maybe I have been. Or the whole Charlie-and-Tucker thing is still in my head.”
Holding up my beer, I nodded. “Maybe that’s why we came up with this crazy idea she is hiding something.”
“We?” Blake stated. “Dude, that was all you. You’re the one who said she was hiding something. I simply gave you a few ideas of what she could be hiding. Again, we could both be wrong.”
“Shit, I hope so. I really like her.”
Blake smiled. “As much as you liked Lily?”
I shrugged. “I was in love with Lily. This is different, though. I feel things I didn’t feel with Lily. It’s confusing.”
“Like what kind of things?”
I wasn’t about to tell Blake how my heart hammered in my chest when I thought of Kaelynn. Or how the sight of her left me breathless. Or how my knees felt weak when she laughed or smiled. So I deflected.
“Well, I want her like my next breath.”
He frowned. “Bullshit, dude, every guy feels that way about all women they are attracted to. She makes you feel different in here.” He slapped me on the chest. “Don’t lie. I know you too well.”
My silence was all the answer he needed. Blake smiled. “Dude, it’s okay to feel that way. It’s okay to like her in a different way from Lily. That wasn’t the real thing. Kaelynn could very well be.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Lily asked you to take her back more than once. You said no. Why?”