Chapter 16 #2
Ryan: Hey, Baddie. Hope you’re having a good day. I’m traveling to the game right now and won’t be back until late tonight.
My heart hammers as I hit send. We’ve had sex twice and I am wrapped around her finger.
Colton leans over to me and says, “Tell her, bro. Tell her you want that ass.”
“Fuck off,” I snark as Colton laughs jokingly.
He says, “I’m just kidding, man. Create that anticipation though. Tell her you need to know what she wants, what she likes. Ask for advice. That shit’s easier over text.”
“Seriously, Colt,” I warn, even though he has a valid point. He leans back as I look down at my phone. I wonder how I could get this going. Build anticipation for our next visit.
A little time passes. Addie hasn’t texted me back. I turn to Colton and whisper, “Okay. Colton, you’re not the best advice giver, but you got me thinking. So, she said that we needed to stop sleeping together, but I got her to agree to one more time––”
“You thirsty, mother fucker,” Colton laughs.
I smile. “Hey, you have no idea.”
No one has any idea how desperate I am for her. I’m a fucking starving for her. At this point, I’m willing to take stupid advice because my dumbass has gotten nowhere with Baddie. I can’t let myself get in the way of this. I need her…badly.
Chase and Andrew laugh, capturing the attention from the other guys on the team. I try to shut them down before my dad turns around to ask why everyone’s laughing but me.
Andrew whispers around the seat, “The dirty talk during sex will help, but you need something that doesn’t require sex?”
“Yeah,” I nod. Finally, someone with their head on straight.
Colton adds in, “Ask her to list all her fantasies.”
“Okay.” Damn it . I shake my head. “I’m not doing that. Chase?”
Chase shrugs. “Take her out to dinner. A real date.”
I shake my head. “I can’t trick her into that.”
“You just ask you fucking freak,” Colton chimes in with a laugh.
“Bro, she’s my best friend. She’s going to see straight through that and run.”
“Oh, she’s a runner?” Chase asks.
“She’s a runner, she’s a track star,” Colton laughs.
I ignore him and nod. “A track star, yeah.”
Andrew asks, “Why can’t you be upfront with her? Why is she a runner? Did she get her heartbroken before?”
I shake my head slowly, knowing exactly what it is. “No. It’s complicated.”
Chase’s lips pull to the side. “But you know what it is.”
I nod. “I do. If I’m honest with her, it’s going to freak her out. Just like last night. I was honest that I don’t want to date anyone. I even told her that I like what we have going, and it didn’t go well.”
Colton says, “It sounds like you need to stay focused on the sex.”
Andrew shakes his head and laughs.
Chase says, “And I think you need to be honest.”
I look to Andrew for his advice.
He looks deep in thought as he says, “Fuck it. Do both.”
“Both?” I scoff. “How?”
Colton snaps his fingers at me. “Make it romantic, make love to her, talk dirty, and then tell her how you feel.”
I glance around the bus. “That’s the most sensible shit you’ve said this entire time.”
“Hey,” Colton smirks. “We’re not all like Ryan Wilder, man. You have it all.”
I shake my head. “I don’t.” Now I’m nodding. “I don’t have all my shit together. I fucked up. And if she finds out, she’s not going to talk to me anymore.”
Colton stops smiling. “What did you do, man? Stuff her ex in your trunk?” “Christ, no.”
Chase and Andrew watch me, waiting for what I’m about to reveal.
I sigh like the dumbass I am. “I bribed her landlord into putting me on her lease, so that I could pay the extra $400 rent increase because I need her at my games instead of at another job. But she’s keeping the damn job and not coming to my games anymore.”
“What?” Chase asks, disappointed.
“You did what?” Andrew asks. “And her not coming to your games is a problem?”
Chase shakes his head in disappointment. “This is getting worse by the minute.”
Colton doesn’t seem to think it’s bad.
I nod at Andrew. “It’s a big problem. She’s come to every one of my games since college. I need her there.”
“Is that why you let those fuckers win the last game?” Colton asks.
I laugh, running a hand through my hair. “She wasn’t there. She’s my good luck charm.”
“So, get her fired.”
Chase says, “Colt, that’s the worse fucking advice ever. But you’ve got yourself in a hole here now, Wilder.”
I nod. “I know.”
Andrew says, “Tell her to move in with you.”
“I already did that. She fucking refused.”
Chase says, “You need to get yourself off of that lease.”
Andrew adds, “She’s a tough one.”
I agree. “That’s why I needed this intervention.”
Colton has a smirk on his face. He’s looking at me like he’s ready to give it to me.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I ask him.
He laughs. “I got a better idea for you. Instead of asking her to list all of her fantasies, why don’t you make a list and send it to her.”
“You’re only ever thinking about the sex, man.” I scoff. Fucking hell, Colton.
Andrew adds, “Yeah, get yourself off that lease because that’s fucked up. Now shit’s really going to blow up in your face, so undo it. And I agree with Colton. Send her a list and use this time for a practice-run relationship.”
I can’t believe Andrew and Colton are agreeing on something for once.
I press my lips together and open my arms. “What do I have to lose?”
I glance at Chase for moral support. He shrugs at me. “You’re already hooking up with her. This could buy you more time, and then––”
Colton jumps in, “You romance the shit out of her, man. You tell her how you feel. Just leave her little snippets at every hookup. If you think about it, you already have. This last time you told her that you don’t want to date anyone.”
Andrew says, “Get your name off her lease, brother. I can’t believe you would do something like that.”
I shrug. “I’m just trying to help her out.”
Chase says, “It’s going to piss her off.”
Andrew says, “You sound fucking desperate, man. You’ve got it bad, huh?”
“Shit,” I mutter.
“You probably should’ve come to us for that one too.”
I shake my head. Fuck. “Okay, one thing at a time. Is the list a good idea?”
“Yeah,” Andrew says. “Maybe it’ll show her what to expect.”
“Yeah, women need that reassurance. A list might not be a bad idea,” Chase adds. I feel like they’re all fucking with me.
But I cave in, desperate. “I can send her a stupid fucking list and see what she says.”
“And?” Chase says, waiting for my head to screw on straight.
“And I need to get myself off of her lease.”
“Bingo,” Andrew says.