So this is what being completely satisfied feels like.

I don’t open my eyes, but a smile spreads across my face and I feel almost giddy.

Remembering last night sends a shudder through me and I stretch in Dane’s comfortable bed, peeking an eye open to see if he’s still in it.

He’s not.

“So much for morning sex.” I murmur, rolling to the edge and sliding my feet to the cool floor.

I use the bathroom and check his organized drawers until I find a new toothbrush. Thankfully, I don’t feel a need to puke up anything.

I debate on if I should just walk around his place, naked as a jaybird. Would that be presumptuous?

I don’t feel uncomfortable. I think this was an unexpected step into territory I didn’t think I’d ever be able to explore…

But now? Now the possibilities seem endless.

And…I’d be lying if I said I’m not hoping for a repeat, amongst other things. What’s a little more soreness?

I see a t-shirt laying on a chair in the corner and I snag it, shrugging it over my head. Smells just like him, and he’s massive so it looks like a sleep dress on me.

Now to find the man.

Last night was…more than I ever anticipated.

I knew I was intrigued by him, but I didn’t really let myself think for a second that maybe he felt the same.

There were too many what-ifs. Too many ways it could blow up in our faces.

But now I want to jump. I want to forget about everything I’ve ever thought and just go in feet first. Hell, last night was spontaneous and it was amazing…what’s to say that starting a relationship with Dane won’t be?

But first, I have to find him.

I might’ve held everything in before, but there’ll be no more of that now.

This is step one of doing things I’ve always wanted, although I’m fairly certain my Dad wasn’t talking about this kind of situation exactly.

I feel like I’m floating on air, but when I turn the corner, I stop short.

He’s not there either.

I stand still and listen, but I realize…I’m the only one here. Looking around, I see my purse and phone on the table and one of the bright blue sticky notes I carry stuck to my phone case.

I take a deep breath, bile rising in my throat.

It feels like the wind’s been knocked out of me.

Suddenly, the brush-offs Dane gave girls he slept with don’t seem so amusing anymore.

I have to be over-thinking it.

He wouldn’t treat me that way.

Would he?

* * *

“You look like someone put you up wet and never hung you out to dry.” Mickey whips her shades off and sits them on the table at San Carlo, thanking the waiter when he immediately comes over and pours her glass of water.

“I ordered you an expresso and steak and eggs.” I sip my coffee, keeping my shades on.

It’s that type of morning.

I’ve been restraining myself from calling Dane. I don’t do needy, I’m not going to chase him.

He left me alone.

I want to talk to him, figure out what last night meant…but not at the expense of my dignity.

“What’s wrong with you?” Mickey snatches off my sunglasses before I realize her intentions, and I scowl.

“Can I have my shades back, please?”

“You’re not Anna Wintour, so no.” She drops them into the Louboutin Paloma bag that I got for her birthday.

When I saw it, it screamed Mickey. It’s black calfskin with a nude top handle and Louboutin’s red sole emblem, with a red interior peeking out. What really sold me on it were the gussets.

Leopard-print patent leather, spike detailing and CL’s trademark red - bold, but still sophisticated.

It’s how I’d describe Mickey to a T. My sister’s a little wild and I didn’t always approve of everything she did, but she has a certain way about her that makes you want to be her.

If I’m honest, I was always a little jealous of that.

I’m glad that we’re better connected now…most of the time.

Today might not be one of those times.

“I could really do without your antics today.”

“I wish I cared. Now, spill.”

“Nothing to spill.” The waiter brings my Eggs Benedict and Mickey’s steak and eggs then tops up my coffee.

“So you’re not going to tell me how sex was with Dane?”

I choke on a swallow, and she sits back with a smug smile on her face, tucking her hair behind her ear.

She’s always reminded me a little of Leona Lewis and it’s even more evident now with her hair being longer and a honey blonde-ish brown instead of the red she likes.

“I’m surprised at you. Must’ve been mind-blowing if your poker face is so terrible.”

“Does anyone else know?” I whisper, rubbing my hand over my eyes.

“I just thought about where we left you, how tortured Dane looked when he left the bar and just gave it a shot in the dark. You confirmed with your reaction.”

“We had sex. Haven’t talked about it. That’s it. Tortured?” I cut into the smooth egg with my knife and fork, questioning.

“You had sex or you had sex,” Mickey emphasizes the second option and stares at me and I stare back, trying not to waver.

I cuss and she laughs, whooping and startling the other people at brunch.

“I can never look at him the same way again,” I mutter, and she snorts, picking up a forkful of eggs.

“You mean with stars in your eyes, the same way you have been?”

“I do not look at him that way.”

“Not anymore. Now every time you see him, you’re going to have a flashback of his hands all over you and it’s going to be a struggle to keep standing upright.”

I raise a brow, looking at her staring intently at her expresso.

“Are we still talking about me?”

She looks up, green eyes shuttering. “Duh. So what are you going to do now? What about Michael?”

“I remember drunkenly ending things with him, and I honestly don’t want to correct that. And I’m going to wait for him to call me, and go from there.”

“The Keyra I know doesn’t wait on anyone.”

“Well the Keyra you know is on vacation for the next six months, and this one doesn’t have time to worry about what’s going through an inconsiderate hockey player’s mind after amazing sex and him disappearing before she could tell him how she feels.” I clink my knife down a little hard on the plate, and Mickey puts her hands up in mock surrender.

“I guess that’s enough poking the bear today. I wanted to run a few ideas past you anyway.”

I’m grateful for the topic change, and for the next hour and a half, I listen to Mickey’s ideas about expanding her lingerie brand.

With Dane’s silence in the back of my mind, my stomach roils because I have the suspicion that it’s not going to end well for me.

And it’s heartbreaking.