“Oh, honey, I didn’t mean to make you feel bad,” Sarah said, reading him like a book. “I’m sure Cash knows your name, I was just being bitchy at the thought of him sniffing around. He’s the only friend from your missing year who’s stayed in touch, though, so dog or not, I’ve got to give him props for that.”
Robin made some sort of noncommittal sound that he hoped would allow them to drop the whole subject, but he should have known better. Sarah followed him back into the bedroom.
“Forgive me for saying something stupid?”
“Don’t worry about it, Sarah,” he said, trying to push away the little tinge of resentment he felt about her tarnishing his Cash-fantasy with a dose of reality.
Robin huffed out a breath, telling himself to stop being ridiculous. Nice guy or not, there was no way Robin was anything special to Cash, and Sarah was the last person who would ever try to shake his self-confidence. There was no point getting his feathers ruffled just because she had a more realistic view of Cash than he did.
“I just want you to be happy, Robin,” Sarah said. “And I can’t imagine that happening with someone like him. I mean, after all, isn’t that why we went through with this? So we could both be free to find someone special?”
She waved a hand in the direction of the divorce papers that had made the end of their marriage official earlier that morning—fitting, as the date of Robin’s birthday seemed to have become synonymous with major life changes.
“We went through with this because it’s what you wanted, Sarah,” he reminded her. “And because I want you to be happy.”
“Well, that’s not good enough,” she said with a small smile. “I want us both to be happy, Robin. I want a chance to fall in love, but I want you to fall in love, too. Everyone deserves that.”
She did, definitely, and Robin had never meant for marrying her to cage her in. He’d only wanted to make sure she was taken care of. The accident had been his fault, and sticking by her—especially given his prick-of-a-father’s unexpected support—had seemed like the best way to right the wrong he’d done her. To make sure she knew that she would always be able to count on him.
Robin frowned, wondering if there could have been a better way. If he’d held her back too much when he’d just been trying to do the right thing. But no. That hadn’t really been an option, thanks to his father.
Besides, back when they’d both been so broken, it had honestly never occurred to him that there might come a time when they—or at least Sarah—would want to get back to a normal life. Would be able to. She’d worked her butt off, though, gritting it out through agonizing years of physical therapy. Going from wheelchair to walking, even if it would never be with the same grace and ease she’d had before the accident. She had every right to pursue the dreams she’d had before he’d stolen them from her, and if she wanted to fall in love—to be free and single and embrace her inner Sex In The City—then there was no way he was going to stand in her way.
He’d taken too long to answer her question about whether or not they both deserved to find love, though, and she started nibbling her lip, an uncharacteristic hint of uncertainty in her eyes.
“Are you really okay with the divorce, Robin?” she asked, even though it was already a done deal.
“Of course I am,” he answered immediately. And he was, but when she looked at him like she didn’t quite buy it, he added the rest of the truth. “I just… I don’t know what I’m supposed to do without you, Sarah.”
For seven long years, his whole life had been wrapped up in her. Guilt and friendship and both their roads to recovery had consumed almost every waking minute of his days.
“Well, you’re not going to be ‘without’ me, silly,” she said, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head against his chest. “You know I don’t even want you to move out.”
Robin bit back a smile, hugging her back. “If—I mean when you meet someone, Sarah, you’re not going to want to bring him home to the house you share with your ex-husband. Gay or not, that would just be… awkward.”
Sarah laughed, her only concession on the point.
“What about you, though?” she asked, leaning back far enough to look up into his face. “Liam’s boat is pretty small. If you’re really not going to sleep with him—” Robin shook his head, grinning when she paused hopefully. No. But points to her for never giving up. “—then what about when you meet someone, and want to bring him home for a little…?” She waggled her eyebrows suggestively.
“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem, Sarah,” Robin said, refusing to blush again. The sight would only egg her on.
“Ooooh, you’re planning a threesome?” she asked, her eyes widening playfully.
“Sarah. Jeez,” Robin said, letting go of her. Also losing his battle with not blushing.
“No?” she asked in an overdone tone of innocence.
His theory about the effect his pink cheeks had on her was obviously spot on. She was just going to keep messing with him.
“Liam just likes to watch?” she asked, proving him right.
“Oh my God,” Robin sputtered, laughing. “Do you have any inhibitions?”
Sarah grinned. “Me? I can’t wait to find out.” Then her smile dimmed a little, her tone turning serious again as she asked, “But seriously, Robin, don’t you want to find someone?”
Robin ran a hand through his unruly curls, sighing. “Honestly, Sarah, all I want is to make it through the torture of dinner with my family tonight. Can I please just focus on getting through that part before I have to worry about coming out, much less finding some kind of everlasting love?”
She pursed her lips, obviously giving his question some thought.
“Okay, fine,” she finally said, nodding decisively. “I won’t press you on the everlasting love for now. But—” she poked him in the chest, narrowing her eyes as she stared up at him. “—you’re young, free, cute, and single now, Robin. So I reserve the right to push you all I want about getting laid.”
Sarah spun on her heel and walked off, making sure she got in the last word.
“Now grab your suitcase, honey, we’ve got to get you down to your floating love shack before Liam decides to sail off to Mexico or something. I want to get you settled in before we go have to go deal with your family.”
Robin pressed his lips together, refusing to give her the satisfaction of laughing again. He really did love her though, and deep down, he’d admit that her relentlessness was part of her charm.
Before he followed her out of the bedroom, he pulled out his phone again to answer Cash’s text. He wrote and deleted a few versions of the kind of replies that Sarah would have approved of if they’d been meant for anyone other than Cash, but that he would never have the guts to send, finally settling on a simple thank you message. Sarah could press him about his love life all she wanted, but Robin couldn’t imagine getting up the nerve to actually flirt with Cash, even in text.
Not, of course, that that would stop him from thinking about it.
Keep reading Again in the second volume of The Delicious Series
Also by Stella Starling
BOOKS IN THE BELOVED UNIVERSE
Standalone Holiday Romance:
All I Want
At Last, The Beloved Series:
Be True
Be Mine
Be Loved
A Beloved Series Bonus Novella:
Be Real
Semper Fi, The Forever Faithful Series:
Ready For Love
Looking For Love
Fighting For Love (coming soon)
#boyfriendsbybLoved:
The Boyfriend Game
The Twelfth Date
BOOKS IN THE DELICIOUS UNIVERSE
The Delicious Series:
Someday
Delicious
Falling
Again
Wrecked
Promise
A Delicious Series Bonus Novella:
&n
bsp; I Do
OTHER STORIES
Young Adult Novella:
First Time
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About the Author
Stella Starling is the contemporary m/m pen name of a certified romance addict who has more story ideas than she’ll ever have time to write and is thankful every single day that she gets to share some of them with others.
Interested in reading the books Stella writes in other genres? You can find her mpreg/omegaverse stories under the pen name Angel Knots. She also writes MMF romances as Chloe Lynn Ellis.
(…and other, dirtier things, under other pen names, but we won’t talk about that here.)
The Delicious Series: The First Volume Page 72
