All Chapters of Play Me Like You Mean It: Chapter 81 - Chapter 86

The living room was empty. The kitchen too. I walked down the hall and stopped at his bedroom door. His bed was unmade and his practice bag lay open on a chair. So he was definitely home.I was about to call his name when the bathroom door opened.He walked out, hair wet, water still running down his chest. A white towel hung low on his hips, the only thing between him and naked. His muscles were defined in a way that made my thoughts scatter. I did a full body scan without meaning to. The abs. The arms. The ridiculous lines running down his torso. Maybe it was hormones or stress or weakness, but for a second I forgot why I came.He noticed.His mouth curved in a small, knowing smile. “Wow. Okay. It actually feels great that I still affect you like that.”Heat climbed up my neck. I looked away so fast my vision blurred. “Get dressed. I will be in the living room.”I turned away fast, because staring any longer was going to erase every rational thought I had left.Behind me, a quiet la

Neither of us spoke for a while. Cade ran a hand through his hair and let out a long breath.I stood there, still trying to process everything that just happened.“Maybe I should not have come tonight,” I said quietly. “If I knew my presence would break you two up, I would have stayed home. Now it feels like I caused it.”He shook his head. “You did not. This was already dying. I should have ended it weeks ago.”“That does not make it hurt less for her,” I replied.“I know,” he said. “But staying would have hurt her more.”I lowered myself into the single chair and tried to settle my thoughts. Everything replayed in my head, but one moment kept rising above the rest:Cade told Natalie he still loved me.I looked up at him. “You told her you still had feelings for me?”“Yes,” he said without hesitation. “From the beginning. If there is one thing I did right, it was being honest with her about that. I made it clear I was emotionally unavailable and she said she could handle it.”A small

Cade came back holding a bottle of wine in one hand and a carton of juice in the other.He set the wine on the centre table, twisted the cap open, and poured himself a glass like this was a good night. Like everything had suddenly gone right. Then he turned on the music. Something loud and upbeat.He started moving to it.Not dancing properly. Just swaying, shoulders loose, head bobbing, smiling to himself. Free in a way that made my chest hurt.When he said this calls for celebration, he meant it.He poured juice into a glass and handed it to me.“Cheers,” he said lightly.I stared at the glass in my hand. For a brief second, I wanted to dump it on the floor.The way he was smiling, celebrating, relaxed in a way I wasn’t. He looked relieved while everything inside me felt off balance. And that, more than anything else, irritated me, because my chest felt tight while his night had suddenly become easier.I took a slow breath and forced myself not to react.Then I sighed, set the glass