Chapter 21

On the way back to Tampa, no one spoke. Nick was too busy worrying he’d say the wrong thing and scare her off, and Lauren was going over all the reasons in her mind why she shouldn’t have slept with him. Finally, Nick couldn’t take it anymore. “So where are we, Lauren?”

“We’re almost home,” she replied, looking at him strangely. “Don’t you dare tell me you got us lost.”

“I didn’t get us lost, Lauren. That’s not what I meant. Where are WE, as in you and me, as in us?” Nick clarified.

“I wasn’t really aware there was an us, Nick.”

“But what about last night? You said it was perfect.”

“It was, but Nick…” she paused, looking for a decent argument. She did find an argument, but it wasn’t very good. “Don’t you watch Friends? Rachel and Ross said that every couple has a night of passionate sex after they break up, no strings attached. It meant nothing. We aren’t back together. It was just our night.”

Nick looked at her, disgusted. “You mean you just did that for fun, Lauren?”

“Yes. I thought you knew that,” Lauren lied, ignoring the fact that her heart was shattering.

“It was just sex,” Nick muttered, more to himself than to her.

The rest of the car ride was awkwardly silent, except for occasional murmurs from Nick. “Just sex.”

Chapter 22
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