Chapter 23
Saturday nights out were a regular occurrence. We’d done them every week for nearly four years now. What wasn’t a regular occurrence was going a little too hard on the alcohol.
Typically, one of us would always be mindful and have only one drink—two at most—so we’d always have a ride in case we needed one. That was usually Gabe, and by choice, because while he drank, he wasn’t a fan of being shitfaced and dealing with the killer hangover that came with it.
It’d been a long time since I got carried away, but Lucas was celebrating getting an offer on his house that he’d put on the market. It was an eight-figure offer. So, it gave me a reason to throw back a few more than usual.
I wasn’t stumbling down drunk, but I was definitely feeling it.
I’d moved from our table to the bar and was casually nursing another beer when my eyes slid down to the other end, where Morgan was shamelessly flirting with some guy. I saw him approach her a little while ago when she was playing a round of pool with Callie, asking if he could buy her a drink.
He’d now bought her three.
Something about this thing between me and Morgan as of late was drawing me in more than it probably should and certainly more than I should let it.
I stopped actively looking to find flings and casual dates; I still went out, flirted, and struck up conversations, but I wasn’t going out of my way to find anyone else to take home.
I knew I had Morgan to fall back on, so I became lackadaisical in getting it anywhere else.
As someone not looking for anything serious, it worked for me because I knew nothing between us would ever go beyond meaningless sex, and I was fine with that.
But that meaningless sex with Morgan had become almost addicting in a sense. Because it was fucking good. Everything about it was exactly what I needed and wanted, and each time, she made it better than the last, making me want it again and again.
At that point, I was wholly convinced Morgan Hayes was a real-life succubus.
Because how else could she, of all people, have this much of an effect on me?
To the point where she could simultaneously irritate me and turn me on.
To the point where I craved her. And to the point where I didn’t want someone else taking up time and space with her that I could have…
like the prick who’d bought her three drinks that night.
It wasn’t jealousy. That’s what I kept telling myself because I was not a jealous man. I just didn’t want anyone stepping on my toes.
“Hi.”
I glanced over in the direction of the voice to see a gorgeous red-headed woman taking the stool beside me.
Or perhaps it was all a sign that I should go back to looking for flings and casual dates instead of relying on Morgan for a release.
I smiled. “Hi, yourself…”
As I struck up a casual conversation with the woman, I couldn’t shake the feeling that a certain someone was watching me, but I wasn’t going to look to confirm or deny it.
Later, Morgan and I sent the people we were talking to on their way—alone—when everyone finally decided to call it a night.
We stepped out of the bar first, both a little tipsy, waiting for the others to hurry their asses up.
We were both getting a ride from Gabe since we were a little too impaired to drive ourselves.
As we stood on the sidewalk, our arms crossed with ample space between us, my eyes shifted in her direction. “You seemed to enjoy yourself tonight…”
Morgan looked at me. “I did. What’s it to you?”
“It’s nothing to me,” I bit back.
“I see you decided not to take your new friend home.”
I looked away from her as a smirk tugged on my lips at the slight hint of sarcasm in her tone. I guess she was watching me after all. “Was someone jealous?”
“Please,” she scoffed. “Why the hell would I be jealous?”
“Good question. Maybe because you wanted me to take you home tonight?”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” she spat.
Gabe, Lucas, and Callie stepped out of the bar a moment later and started down the sidewalk, heading in the direction of the law office parking lot where our cars were parked. As the two of us trailed behind them, I couldn’t help but notice Lucas and Callie as they walked hand-in-hand up ahead.
They were nauseatingly affectionate with one another.
Lucas had changed so much since Callie came back into his life, but not in a bad way. He was so damn happy all of the time. It was like her coming back to Bayport filled a void.
He was so at peace.
So content.
So…in love.
And for the first time in my life, the curiosity of what that would be like—to have someone mean that much to me—suddenly crossed my mind.
I blamed the alcohol.
I shook my head and glanced back at Morgan, noticing her watching them as well before they disappeared around the corner of the block ahead of us. “I almost want to hate them for how good they are together,” she mused.
I couldn’t help but throw out another jab, if only to make myself feel better for the disgusting foreign thoughts I was suddenly having. “Really shines a spotlight on all of your personal shortcomings, doesn’t it?”
Morgan looked up at me with the usual glare she gave me when I annoyed her. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
I huffed out a laugh and began ticking off a list on my fingers. “You expect too much. You’re high maintenance—”
“See, that’s one of the biggest problems with men these days,” she interrupted. “They confuse a woman having standards with being high maintenance.”
I piggybacked off her statement. “Well, maybe that’s a sign that your standards are way too fucking high.”
“Obviously not that high,” she interrupted again as she gestured to me.
I smirked. “It’s cute of you to try and act like I’m not the best you’ve ever had.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You’re so damn arrogant.”
“You can admit I’m a weakness for you, Princess. It’s okay.”
“Don’t think too highly of yourself. Just because I crave what your company can do for me every now and then doesn’t mean you’re my weakness.
You’re not even close. And don’t think I wouldn’t be able to have this same kind of arrangement with another guy, either.
There’s plenty of men out there with commitment issues who would love to have a no strings attached fuck buddy. ”
I scoffed, more at the idea of her having the same deal we did with someone else. “I don’t have commitment issues. I just don’t want commitment. There’s a difference.”
“Well, some people want more for themselves when it comes to relationships, unlike you, who’s made being a career bachelor your entire personality.”
“We could always make a playful wager.”
Her brow arched. “Like what?”
“That I could find someone to be serious with before you.”
“Please,” she huffed out through a laugh. “It’s comical of you to try and act like you wouldn’t drop to the floor and curl up in a fetal position at the mere thought of being exclusive with someone.”
“You won’t say yes because you know you would lose.”
“I’m not worried I would lose because I doubt there’s someone out there with the amount of free time in her day that you would need for her to stroke your precious ego.”
I turned, walking backward in front of her. “We could always make a little pact out of it instead…” I watched as she furrowed her brow in question. “Let’s say if in…five years…neither of us has someone to settle down with, we settle down with each other.”
A bark of laughter exploded out of Morgan. “That’s the dumbest fucking thing I have ever heard.”
“Why? You already know the sex is good.” I smirked. “And we already act like an old married couple who constantly fight and only talk to and spend time with each other when we have to or want something, so nothing would change there. It’s perfect, really.”
God, how much did I have to drink to be suggesting something like this, even as a joke?
But I held my ground, refusing to back out of what was arguably the stupidest thing I’d ever proposed simply because my drunk self didn’t want to admit how stupid it actually was.
I extended my hand, my smirk still in place as I arched my brow in a challenge, not once taking my eyes off her.
Suddenly, Morgan’s hand unexpectedly shot out and gripped mine. “Deal.”
My eyes widened in surprise. I never thought she’d actually do it. But instead of admitting that and letting her off the hook for the world’s dumbest, drunken pact—one that held absolutely no merit—a low, mischievous chuckle escaped me. “Buckle up, Princess.”
She didn’t know it yet, but I was about to ruin her dating life.