Heaven With You by Rebecca Julia Lauren

It’s not you, Izzy. It’s me.”
    “That line is overused. You could have come up with something more creative than that.”
    His hand caught mine. “It’s the truth.”
     He leaned in.
     I swallowed hard.
     “You’re looking for a commitment. I can see it in your eyes. That’s not the kind of relationship I’m looking for.”
    “Are you telling me you’re only interested in sex?”
     “I’m sorry, Izzy.” He sounded regretful.
    “Don’t be. I respect your honesty. I’m not going to fall apart so stop looking at me like you’re scared I’m going to need an exorcist to calm me down.”
    His phone rang. Glancing down, he silenced the call and I couldn’t help but think he didn’t want to talk to whoever it was in front of me. A knot of jealously sat like a heavy rock in my belly.
    “So I’ll see you next Saturday,” I said lightly.
    “I’ll talk to you before then,” he assured me.
    I walked him to the door and he kissed me on the forehead. After he left, I got ready to spend the day at the lake with Ellie and Cora but the visual of a naked, aroused Hunter kept trespassing in my mind, and one regret refused to leave me in peace.
    If only I’d stayed in the bathroom with him…
     
     
     
    The late September sun soaked into our skins and revived our fading summer tans. We’d set up our tent, grill and cooler on the strip of ‘beach’ that bordered the lake and were now chilling in our pop-up chairs. Kids played in the sand, a couple was throwing a Frisbee, and in the gentle waves people were on jet and water skis.
    “Is it just us today, or are Dr. Hot Kiss and Jase coming?”
    Cora and Ellie both looked at me. Ellie was the first to speak. “If you keep calling him that one day you’re going to slip and say it to his face.”
    Cora laughed. “It wouldn’t matter if she did. From what I’ve heard all the women call him that at the hospital, and who can blame them. Hotchkiss, Hot Kiss, that kind of name is begging for jokes.”
    “Does he really give a hot kiss?”
    “I wouldn’t know,” Ellie said, shaking her head. “For the umpteenth time, I am not dating Stephen Hotchkiss! We’ve only been on one date.”
    “Must not have been a good date if you didn’t kiss him,” Cora quipped.
    “He kissed me, but it wasn’t that kind of a kiss.”
    “What kind of kiss was it?”
    Ellie took a sip of wine from the plastic flute we’d brought as she pondered the question. “It was the sort of kiss you’d give a friend.”
    Cora and I shared a look.
    “You don’t kiss friends.”
    “It was closed-mouth and quick.”
    Cora’s expression was one of clear disbelief. “How the hell did he get the nickname with closed-mouthed and quick?”
    “I don’t know, Cora. He probably doesn’t kiss everyone that way,” Ellie replied.
    I laughed. “So did you invite Jase?”
    “Why would I do that?” Cora asked defensively.
    “Because you like him,” Ellie said, grinning.
    “Yes, but I don’t like his harem. He’s got too many women and I’m no harem-girl.”
    “Jase can’t help it that women love him, and he really is a nice guy,” I told them.
    “Isabelle, wasn’t it you that called him a man-whore?”
    “He wouldn’t be that way if he had a girlfriend.” I turned to Cora. “I think he likes you.”
    Cora didn’t say anything, but I could tell my comment intrigued her. Pulling off my t-shirt, I draped it over the back of my chair and sipped my wine.
    “Ah, now that you know there won’t be any men around, the shirt comes off,” Cora smirked.
    “What?” I asked, confused.
    Ellie frowned. “Cora, stop.”
    “I’ve noticed that you’re an outrageous flirt and you talk a big game, but then you won’t even take off your t-shirt until you know that no men will be around to see that little bikini I gave you.”
    I resisted the urge to glance down self-consciously at the tiny, red, string bikini Cora’s mother’s boyfriend had given her for Cora’s birthday. I hated