Dragging my hands down my face, I dropped my head back against my truck seat.
What in the hell did she do to me?
I lifted my head and glanced over to Corina’s house. The last twelve hours had been the most amazing of my life. The feel of her lips on mine, moving in and out of her body… Fuck. It would forever replay in my mind.
“What in the hell did you do, Mitch?” I whispered as I stared at her door.
It was pretty fucking clear what I did. I spent the night with Corina like a greedy bastard. Took everything I could get from her and seared it into my brain…and now I was going to walk away, too damn afraid to admit I had feelings for her.
With a shake of my head, I started my truck and headed home. The sound of her sweet moans was still vivid, and the feel of her hands moving over my skin had left a burning trail in its wake.
“Fucking hell,” I yelled, slamming my hand against the steering wheel.
I made a U-turn and headed to Cord’s. He lived above his bar, and I knew he would be home. It was too early for his ass to be up and gone.
After parking, I made my way around back and hit the intercom.
It didn’t take long for him to answer.
“This better be good!”
“It’s me…Mitch. Can I come up?”
“Jesus. You slept with her, didn’t you?”
“Can I come up or not, asshole?”
The door buzzed, and I took the steps two at a time. Cord had remodeled the historic building. The bar took up the first two floors, the third and fourth housed Cord’s bachelor pad—except I was pretty sure he’d never actually brought a girl up here.
The door to his place was open slightly, so I walked in. I could smell coffee brewing as I met Cord in the kitchen.
“Coffee?” he asked, holding up a mug. “Or something stronger?”
“Coffee and something stronger,” I mumbled, sitting at the countertop island.
He poured some whiskey into my mug and set it in front of me. “You know Tripp called dibs.”
I blew out a long sigh, and I took a drink.
“Fuck Tripp and his damn dibs. He knew I liked her and that was the only reason he called dibs. Don’t make me feel any guiltier. Just remembering her face this morning as I left is killing me.”
“What do you mean?”
I shrugged. “I mean she had that look, like she hoped for more.”
“Did you give her the impression that it was more than a one-night stand and wait a fucking second, did you say this morning?” His eyes widened. “Dude, you didn’t. Please tell me you didn’t stay the night with her.”
“I was only going to walk her to her door and one thing led to another and…yeah, I stayed all night.”
Cord’s head dropped. “Aw, hell. Mitchell, Paxton’s gonna kick your ass. Dude, you can’t be playing around with a girl like Corina. She’s not like the ones who are happy with a quick piece of you. She’s the long-term, want-to-settle-down-with-a-nice-guy kind of girl.”
I groaned. “Fucking hell. The worse part about all of this is I wanted to stay with her. I stood at her door this morning and stared into those blue eyes and had to force myself to leave.”
Pushing off the counter, Cord walked closer. “What do you mean, you wanted to stay?”
I dragged my hands down my face. I felt like shit. “I mean I didn’t want it to be a one-night stand. I wanted to spend the whole fucking day with her. Find out every single thing I could about her. Go to breakfast and all that stupid ass shit a guy does when he’s attracted to a girl. Take her somewhere fun and devour her again later when we got back to her place.”
His brows pinched together. “Then why didn’t you? You can’t say it was Tripp because we both know he would have gotten past the whole claiming dibs.”
“I can’t. As much as I wanted to stay with her…I couldn’t do it.”
“Why the fuck not?”
“Why haven’t you?”
“I haven’t met the person who makes me want to stay the night, and have breakfast in the morning, and spend the day with. If I did, I sure as shit wouldn’t have walked away from her for no goddamn good reason.”
I jumped up, nearly knocking the stool over. “I have a goddamn reason!”
“What is it, Mitch? Why did you leave Corina when you really wanted to stay?”
My heart pounded, and I fought to find the answer. Why had I left the person who woke up my heart for the first time in my life?
My phone buzzed with a text. Pulling it out, I said, “I’ve got to go, I just got called in. Looks like they found a body earlier this morning in the Frio.”
Cord frowned. “Life of a cop.”
“Yeah. Sometimes I get tired of it.” I headed to the door. “Thanks for the coffee and ear.”
“Hey, Mitch?”
Stopping, I glanced over my shoulder. “Yeah?”
“Don’t lead her on. She’s a sweet girl, and she deserves more than a guy playing with her feelings.”
I swallowed hard and stared at the floor. I knew my brother was right. When I looked back up, I nodded. “Guess it’s a good thing I didn’t stay then, huh?”
The moment I shut the door I felt sick.
Corina Miller deserved someone who wouldn’t end up destroying her heart. A guy who was willing to give her the life she wanted.
I wasn’t that guy.