Lincoln runs his hands through his thick hair before plopping down next to me, his leg brushing against mine. “You not showing up to Georgia’s party or to work tonight scared the shit out of me.” Shifting, he looks at me, the expression on his face brimming with exhaustion and concern. “I’m not sure if you’re avoiding me because of what happened, but I can’t …” His voice drifts as he searches for the right words … or the balls to say what is already on his mind. “I can’t lose you, Cassidy. I can’t lose you over a stupid miscommunication.”

My mouth falls open, all thoughts of Quinton temporarily pausing.

“I can’t lose you.”

As if I wasn’t hot enough in this hoodie, his admission sends a shot of warmth through my blood.

How long does it take the air conditioner to freeze this place up?

He squeezes his eyes shut. “That’s why I’m here … to make sure you don’t hate me.” Slowly opening them, he locks his heavy gaze on mine. “And if you do, then my next mission is to convince you not to.”

Just when I thought this damn man couldn’t be perfect enough, he has to show up and allow those words to fall out of his mouth. Never in my life have I experienced a man like this—a man who doesn’t prioritize hanging with his frat boys over me, a man who’s worried I’m upset and stresses about it, a man who has done nothing yet still wants to prove himself.

“I won’t lie and say it didn’t catch me off guard. It crushed my soul when I walked in to find you with her.”

He doesn’t break eye contact. “It was fucked up, I know.”

“Had I not shown up, I would’ve never known about her.”

“There’s nothing to know about her. She means nothing to me.”

“But she did once. I saw the hurt on her face when she left.” It was the same raw emotion I’d feel if I lost Lincoln.

“Isla and I were sex. Nothing more.” He signals back and forth between us. “You and me? That’s not us. I want so much more than sex with you.”

“How did you even get involved with her? It’s not like you went to school together.”

“She was one of my mother’s best friends.”

“Oh, wow.”

“Back then, I had trouble connecting with women my age—”

“Or younger women, it seems.”

He nods. “Fresh outta high school, I started dating one of my mother’s friends. It was a short fling, and I guess word got out that I liked”—he clears his throat—“cougars. After graduating college, I got involved with Isla.”

“While she was married?”

“She told me she was separated from her husband.”

“Did it last long?”

“Almost a year.”