I couldn’t tell her that we had a one-night stand, and I definitely couldn’t tell her that I wanted a relationship with him.
Because I didn’t.
I knew how they ended.
I could read about love in my romance novels all day long, because at the end of the day, that’s all they were, novels. The author got to choose how she wanted their love story to end. She got to handpick their happily ever after and scribble it across the pages that made us fall in as deeply in love as her characters.
I didn’t get to chapter thirty when everything was finally back in order and everything seemed to be going perfectly and find out that hero never really loved the heroine at all. He was using her the entire time until he decided he didn’t need her anymore.
What kind of love story was that?
Spoiler alert: It fucking sucked.
“What are we doing for lunch?”
I dropped the stack of paper towels I had been tearing off and stacking perfectly as Livy plopped in my chair and scared the crap out of me.
“What?” I turned my eyes to her before dropping to my knees and collected all the paper towels that were now trash. There was still a trace of ink on the floor, and I winced and hoped she didn’t see it.
“What’s up with you today?” She narrowed her eyes at me and my stomach flipped.
“Nothing’s wrong with me.” Nope. Not a thing. I didn’t sleep with your brother last night.
“I’m your best friend.” She looked me up and down. “I know when something is wrong with you. Did you get laid after I left last night?”
Oh. Dear. God.
I couldn’t do this. Not today.
“Yeah. That’s it.” I smiled, but she didn’t look convinced.
“Not buying it. Usually, you’d be in here telling me how many inches he was packing, how many times he made you orgasm or what crazy position he put you in. Did he put you in a position that threw your equilibrium off or something?”
Oh, he definitely did that, but it wasn’t from some acrobatic sexual position.
“No. I’m just tired. Long night.” I stood up from the ground and stuffed the wasted paper towels in the trash.
“I don’t believe you. How long was it? Six inches? Twelve?”
I shook my head and looked to the ceiling.
“I’m not having this conversation with you.”
“Why not?” She grinned. “Does he have you sprung? Are you about to break out in song about how amazing his dick was?” She giggled to herself and I cringed.
“Please stop.”
“Why?” She wagged her eyebrows. “Was it too much for you?”
“For the love of God, please stop.”
“I bet you weren’t saying that last night.” She slapped her knee like the total dork she was as she laughed at her own jokes, and I couldn’t take anymore.
“It was your brother.”
I wasn’t quite sure why I yelled it at her, but I did. I yelled. And she looked like a deer in head lights. She just stared at me, stock still, then she busted out laughing.
“Livy.” I tried to get her attention, but she was bent at the waist laughing so hard that she couldn’t catch her breath.
“I don’t understand what’s so funny.” I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at her.
“You.” Laugh. “Slept.” Gasp of breath. “With Mason.” More laughter.
“I’m aware of that fact, but what’s so funny.”
She put her hand on her stomach and tried to calm herself down.
“Was it good?”
“What?” I screeched. “I’m not talking to you about your brother.” I ran my hands through my hair that I wished I hadn’t washed so it would still smell like him.
“Did you all make plans to hang out again?” She was watching me closely, calculating but still had a large smile on her face.
“Of course not. Mason and I aren’t the kind of people who makes plans to hang out again.”
“Did he say that or you?”
“What does it matter?”
“It matters.” She nodded her head as if that somehow made it true.
“He asked if we could be friends.”
“Friends?” She looked down at her lap like she was trying to figure out what was going on. “My brother asked you to be friends?”
“Yes. I don’t understand why that’s such a big deal.” I started tearing more paper towels.
“You are so screwed.” She was still laughing, but I turned my attention to her.
“Why?”
“Because I have known Mason my entire life, obviously, and I have never once known him to ask a girl to be his friend.”
“Don’t be crazy.” I waved her off, but my stomach formed a knot. “I’m sure your brother has had plenty of female friends before.”
“No.” She shook her head. “Not really and definitely not after he’s fucked them.”
“Can you not talk about your brother”—I looked up at the ceiling—“fucking me?”
“Fine.” She stood from the chair and crossed her arms as she looked at me. “So, you and Mason are friends.”
“Yes, Livy. Just friends. But you’re not mad.”
“Of course, I’m not mad.”
“How come?” I never thought she would be this calm.
I watched as her dimples popped out. “Because this is going to be fun to watch.”
Mason
Inviting Staci out for a night with the boys might not have been my brightest idea, but I knew she would never agree to come out with me alone. She had agreed to this friendship, but she wasn’t stupid.
“So, is this Staci chick hot?” Drew asked before taking a sip of his beer.
Drew and I had been friends since we started working construction together when we were eighteen years old, and when I decided to open my own company, he was the first man I wanted on my team.
“She’s hot as hell.” It wasn’t a lie. Staci was incredibly hot, but she was so much more than that. She was fucking beautiful. “But she’s off limits.”
“I thought you said the two of you were just friends?” He smirked.
“We are just friends. For now.” Another one of my brilliant ideas, but the idea of Staci just shutting me out after the night we had together completely fucked with my head. I didn’t do second dates or second hookups, whatever you wanted to call it. I sure as hell didn’t develop friendships based off one night of the best sex I had ever had in my life, but something with Staci was different. It may have made me a pussy, but I would take time with her however I could get it.
“Are you whipped?” my other buddy, Nate, said from the pool table next to us.
“That’s a lot coming from you. What time did your wife say you had to be home?” I looked down at my watch, but not before I saw him flipping me off.
“You laugh now, but you should see this thing she can do with her tongue.”
I held up my hands for him to stop after I almost spewed my beer. “Don’t you try to fuck up the angelic image I have of Macy in my mind.” We gave Nate shit about being wrapped around his wife’s little finger all the time, but in reality, that motherfucker got so lucky. Macy was a damn catch, and he was right to thank his lucky stars he had her.