“Back to Dara’s.”
“I thought we were hanging out together.”
“We did, and now I have to go.”
He sat up and turned on the light.
She was glad she had her back to him since her hair was probably wild and her makeup smeared.
“Monique.”
“Yes?”
“Will you look at me?”
She shook her head. “I’m pretty sure I look like the Joker after rolling around in bed with you.”
He snorted out a laugh. “I highly doubt that.”
“No, really. Can you give me something to put on? I have no idea where my clothes ended up.”
He handed her his T-shirt, which was on the bed.
She put it on and got up to use the bathroom attached to his room. When she glanced in the mirror, she nearly let out a shriek. Thank God she hadn’t let him look at her. She scrubbed her face, did what she could with her hair—which wasn’t much—and used some of his toothpaste on her finger to brush her teeth as best she could.
Yet, even after all that, she still didn’t feel ready to face him with every flaw and insecurity on full display.
A soft knock sounded at the door. “Are you okay in there?”
“Not really.”
“Can I do anything for you?”
She felt ridiculous. The old Monique would’ve found this version of herself pathetic. Hiding from a man? In what lifetime would that’ve ever happened? In this lifetime, the one after Jaden, she had no idea who she was anymore or how to face Linc after the way she’d clawed at his back and shrieked like a wild woman in his bed.
Ugh.
She sat on the closed lid of the toilet and dropped her head into her hands.
“Whatever you’re in there thinking, you should knock that off. I had a great time, and I can’t wait to do it again. But you’ll have to come out of there for that to happen.”
“I don’t want to come out.”
“Then can I come in?”
After a long silence, she said, “Yeah.”
He stepped into the room and closed the door. Then he took a seat on the floor next to her and wrapped his arms around his knees.
His nearness made her feel better, which had her remembering one of Lewis’s favorite stories about Pooh and Piglet sitting with Eeyore when he was sad and how it had made him feel better to have his friends close.
“I’m sorry for the dramatics.”
“Don’t be. I don’t think either of us was expecting that to be so…”
“Wild?”
He grunted out a laugh. “I was going to say incredible or maybe life-changing or something like that.”
