Read Out of My Element for Free Online Page A

frowned.
    “What’s up?” Chelsea asked around
her bite.
    “You know my friend Adam that you
met earlier?” She nodded. “Well, he wants your number.” I watched her reaction,
trying to gauge her level of interest.
    She shrugged. “Okay.”
    “Okay?” I asked. Well shit .
I didn’t want her to go out with him. He was almost as much of a man-whore as
me.
    “Yeah, okay.” She took a drink of
her beer and watched me as I replied to Adam and slipped my phone back into my
pocket.
    “I’m not sure why Adam even wants
your number,” I tried to sound nonchalant as I picked up my piece of pizza.
    “Why would you say that? Is there
something wrong with thinking someone might be interested in me, Nick?” Her
voice betrayed her, but I could tell that I had hurt her feelings.
    The truth was that there wasn’t anything wrong with her, which was, in itself, the problem. She was beautiful,
nice and fun to be around. Any man would be a fool to not want her. That was
exactly why I didn’t want her to go out with Adam.
    “No, it’s just … well, it’s just
that … I’m pretty sure he’s gay,” I lied.
    “Really?” She quirked her eyebrows
at me, trying not to laugh as she picked at the crust of her pizza.
    “Yeah. I mean, I don’t know for
sure, but I’m pretty sure I caught him checking me out in the locker room.” I
smiled and shrugged.
    She wasn’t buying it. “Wow, Nick,
could you blame him? I mean, look at you! You’re just such a hot piece of man
candy,” she gushed. “I mean, you’re so hot that if I baked cookies on you, I’m
pretty sure they’d burn.” She bit her bottom lip, trying to control her
laughter.
    “Sarcasm is truly an unattractive
quality.” I chuckled, shaking my head.
    “Let me ask you something.” I put
my pizza back on the plate. “Why is it when a woman has a close male friend
people automatically think she's sleeping with him, but when she has a close
female friend no one suspects a damn thing?” I asked seriously. “Just to
clarify, you aren’t sleeping with any of your girlfriends are you? Because that
would actually be hot.” I waggled my eyebrows as she giggled.
    “Does someone think we are sleeping
together?” She tipped her head to the side.
    “It was one of the first things
Adam asked me. As if it isn’t possible for me to have a female friend,” I
scoffed.
    “Well, rest assured that I’m not
sleeping with anyone , male or female, friend or not.” She winked at me
and took another drink of her beer.
    “That might change if you go out
with Adam. I’ve seen his moves; he’s almost as gifted as me,” I mused. “You
know he’s going to want to sleep with you.” The thought made me want to punch
something.
    “I thought you said he was gay.”
She grinned.
    I shrugged. “Probably just bi.”
    “Well, I’ve managed to make it
twenty-three years without sleeping with anyone , so I’m sure it would
take more than just a nice date with Adam to change that,” she said and then
almost immediately realized what she had shared.
    “Whoa, wait. Do you mean to tell me
that you’re a … um … that you are still a …” I stammered.
    “Shit, Nick. I didn’t mean to share
that with you. Let’s forget I even said anything.” Her face was flushed with
embarrassment.
    Holy fuck! If I remembered
correctly, she had said yes to come home with me the night of the
wedding, before I had completely made an ass of myself. What did she think was
going to happen when she got to my house? Christ! Had she seriously planned
on sleeping with me?
    My heart rate was out of control.
What the hell was I supposed to say? I really didn’t want to screw this up.
“Hey.” I covered her hand with mine. “Chelsea, please don’t be embarrassed. I want
you to feel like you can trust me and tell me anything, okay?” 
    “Thank you, Nick. I don’t know why
I even blurted that out. Sometimes I just feel so comfortable with you that I
say things before remembering that we