Like going out to a nightclub and getting so incredibly drunk that I couldn’t see straight. I wasn’t twenty anymore. This type of behavior wasn’t exactly cute.

“Cute but dumb.”

The words hit me like a brick.

I couldn’t reduce the stress, and I couldn’t keep working at the pace I had been going without losing my shit now and then. And that obviously wasn’t an option, given the disaster I’d left behind at the office.

So stupid…

“Okay, stay focused,” I said, rising from my spot on the sofa to resume my leisurely pace around the room. I felt like a caged lion, desperate for fresh air. I needed an outlet, a way to let go of this pent-up stress that was constantly coiling around in my gut, messing with my head and keeping me up at night.

“Jesus, I’m an idiot.”

I just needed sex. It was what I had gone out seeking in the first place last night. That feeling I’d had mere moments after my encounter with the sexy redhead was exactly what I needed.

Everything else, I could do without.

There had been a time in my life when I could balance work and sex in my life, like a beautifully choreographed dance. Too much work? Add a little more sex. Too much sex? Okay, that really never happened.

When Jude had left, the balance had tipped.

I’d never been on my own before. In the past, there had always been Jude or my father—someone to fall back on. But, now, it was just me. Sure, Jude was there in the background, ready to bail me out if needed. But he had a family, and I couldn’t be that guy anymore. The slacker. The wanderer.

So, I’d stepped up, and suddenly, that scale—that perfect scale—had gone to shit.

And so had I.

I needed to find harmony again.

It sounded shallow, but I was a guy after all. And a Cavenaugh.

Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I began skimming through my contacts, looking for one specific number.

“Found it.”

I could feel the stress already falling to the floor as I hit Send.

“I’m surprised you called,” Jo said, her body still stretched out across mine. “It’s been a long time.”

“Just needed a break,” I replied, running my hand down her side.

Her skin felt like silk and smelled like some sort of exotic fruit. It was exactly how I remembered her. She hadn’t changed since the last time we’d been together, and honestly, I had known this when I called.

It was one of the reasons I never let go of her number.

She was constant while the rest of us were on the go, ever changing.