Chapter 14
I stepped into the front lobby, walking a client out after a meeting in my office.
We said our goodbyes, and as they walked out the door, they held it open for a delivery guy carrying a bouquet of roses.
It had a little bear holding a heart-shaped box of what I assumed were chocolates attached to the vase.
I rolled my eyes as I turned back down the hall while our front desk associate, Kathy, swooned over the gross display of affection.
It was Valentine’s Day. I’d never been a fan. Actually, I fucking hated this holiday, if you could even call it one.
In my humble opinion, it was nothing more than a stupid marketing ploy engineered to make everyone who was single—by choice or not—feel like shit or to put pressure on those in a relationship to shower their significant other with chocolate and flowers and expensive jewelry.
The only good thing that came out of it was the discounted candy that went on sale the day after.
And this year, it happened to fall on a Friday, which meant I wasn’t going anywhere tonight.
I had no desire to watch people on dates or see lovey-dovey couples engaging in heavy petting and PDA because they couldn’t wait until they got home to start feeling each other up.
I was fine with ordering takeout and hanging out at my apartment.
I shut the door to my office behind me and dropped into the chair behind my desk before swiveling to look out the window at the view of the water.
I thought about calling someone to see if they wanted to hang out later.
I knew Gabe was busy tonight, doing what I didn’t know.
I wasn’t even going to call Lucas because I was almost positive he had plans with Callie, considering they’d officially rekindled their romance.
I shot Chad a quick text asking what he was up to; he responded almost immediately that he had a “hot date” because, of course, he did.
I typed out a text to my sister next—yes, I would hang out with my sister on Valentine’s Day, and I wasn’t ashamed of it. Because this holiday was more like a funeral for single, hopeless romantics like her.
What are you doing tonight?
Haley
I have a date.
With who?
I don’t want to say.
Why the hell not?
Because it’s still new.
Just be careful. Please. And don’t get your hopes up. Men are dicks.
I sighed, tossing my phone onto my desk before dropping my head back with a groan. Great. Now, I had to find out everything I could about this new guy in her life. It was a necessary evil in order to carry out my big brother duties. I didn’t make the rules…except when I did.
And now I’d officially exhausted my options for people to hang out with tonight.
Things could have been different if a certain pain in my ass had taken me up on my offer a few weeks ago; I could have spent the night having sex, but no.
Instead, I was going to be alone with takeout and crappy television.
I scoffed at the memory. Morgan didn’t even allow herself a chance to think about my offer and the benefits that came with it before she shut me down.
I stood by what I said when I called it a win-win.
I wasn’t looking for a relationship of any sort.
I didn’t know Morgan’s exact stance, but I knew enough to know she was nowhere close to having any sort of commitment with anyone.
And we both had needs that we were having trouble getting met.
We wouldn’t have to worry about things turning messy or complicated because we didn’t even like each other.
And we’d already slept together more than once, so we knew what to expect.
To me, it was a no-brainer. I thought the impulsive suggestion was fucking genius. Out of the blue? Yes. A little crazy, considering our history? Also yes. But genius nonetheless.
To Morgan, it was a straight-up, simple no.
At the end of the day, I walked out of my office at the same time Grace rounded the corner from hers, carrying an enormous bouquet of red roses. She fell into step beside me as we headed to our cars. “Ugh…so gross,” I teased.
Grace smiled. “You should see the bouquet he gave me this morning before I left for work.”
“Oh, do they just get bigger as the day progresses?” I quipped.
She thought for a moment. “Come to think of it…yeah, they do.”
I huffed out a laugh. “Of course they do.”
“What about you? Have a date or anything lined up for tonight?”
“If you want to count a bottle of Moscato and my couch as a date, then sure. I have a date.”
She chuckled. “Girl, we need to get you a fuck buddy or something.”
I looked at her, forcing a small smile as we stepped outside before saying goodbye and heading our separate ways.
When I got into my car, I let out a breath as I started the engine, letting it idle to warm up and stave off the bitter chill from outside.
And as I sat there, my mind was replaying Grace’s words.
A fuck buddy.
How about a fuck enemy?
I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t been thinking about the suggestion Wesley made a few weeks ago.
He wouldn’t know because we went back to our usual ignoring each other when we saw one another, save for a few snide comments and insults here and there.
But that particular subject hadn’t been mentioned by either of us.
I never expected him to make that suggestion.
Hell, I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that we slept together at all—not once, not twice, but three times.
And then he hit me with, “What if you and I made a deal with each other?” And my first instinct was to kick him out of my apartment.
Because in what world would something like that work between us?
I’d read enough romance books and watched enough rom-coms to know that arrangements or agreements like that were typically made between friends or, at the least, acquaintances who were on decent terms. Not two people who could hardly stand to be in one another’s presence, who couldn’t speak to each other without bickering or throwing out insults in some capacity.
But the more I thought about it, the more I couldn’t help but wonder if our mutual disdain for each other could make something like that work. It’s not as though either of us would be risking anything. There was absolutely nothing at stake…except perhaps my dignity.
An hour later, after taking the ferry from Charleston to Halloran, I drove back into Bayport but didn’t go home.
Instead, I found myself standing outside of Wesley’s apartment door.
I had to do some sleuthing to find it—when we said we weren’t friends, we meant it.
We didn’t even have each other’s phone numbers.
So, while I knew where his apartment complex was, only because it was the sister to mine, I had no idea what apartment was his.
And I couldn’t exactly reach out to our mutual friends to ask.
So, I pulled up Instagram and searched for Wesley’s page, scrolling through more photos than I cared to until I found one of him with the front of his apartment door behind him, the gold numbers on it glinting from the flash.
And here I was now, looking at the door of apartment 504.
I took a breath and let it out slowly before raising my hand to knock.
I could hear murmuring, and then I panicked, thinking of something my impetuous decision-making made me forget.
Today was Valentine’s Day. There was every possibility he had someone else inside with him right now.
I cursed under my breath for not thinking of it before and was about to bolt down the hall when the door swung open.
I looked up at Wesley, holding a container of Chinese food and staring back at me with a gathered brow. “What are you doing here?”
“I, uh…” Fuck. “Are you busy right now?”
His eyes grew more suspicious. “No…why?”
I felt a little relieved, knowing I hadn’t interrupted anything. “I came to talk to you…about the deal you suggested a few weeks ago.”
A slow, triumphant smirk curled on his lips. “Just couldn’t stay away, could ya?” I tensed my jaw with a roll of my eyes, and he chuckled. “Come on in.”
I tentatively stepped into his apartment and glanced around the familiar space—familiar only because the layout was the same as mine.
It looked like a cliché bachelor pad with dark colors, sleek black furniture, and a massive flat-screen TV.
And it was so…clean. There wasn’t a goddamn thing out of place or a speck of dust to be seen.
“So…the deal…” Right to the point; I guess I could appreciate that.
I turned to look at him, and if the stupid grin on his face was any indication, he was enjoying the fact that I sought him out over this far too much.
“I can only assume you came here to tell me you’re in because I don’t see you dropping by for any other reason.
Come to think of it, how did you know which apartment was mine? ”
“I have my ways,” I answered. “Tell me why you think this would even work in our favor.”
He set the Chinese container down and held up his hand to tick off his fingers. “Sex when we want and need it, so no more slumps. No worrying about attachment or feelings and messy complications because, well, it’s us. Sex when we want and need it—”
“You already said that.”
“Well, I said it again because it’s the single most important part of my argument.”
I stared at him for a moment before releasing a breath. “We would have to set some ground rules.”
His grin broadened. “Okay. Hit me.”
I sighed. “First…it’s just sex. Nothing more.”
“Duh,” he scoffed.
“We always use protection. If we don’t have any, we’re shit out of luck.”
“That’s a given. The world is not ready for another one of me.”
“We’re not at each other’s beck and call. And we’re not in any way exclusive. We can see other people, and the other can’t get weird or jealous about it.”
“I already told you, Princess, I don’t get jealous. So that’s easy.”
I ignored that stupid nickname. “But if we sleep with someone else, we have to tell the other. Because, personally, I’ll need at least three to five business days before you’re allowed to stick anything in me after being in someone else.”
He snorted. “Fair enough.”
“And we can’t tell anyone. Not Gabe, Lucas, Callie…no one. We act the same as we always have.”
“Like we hate each other?” he jested in mock surprise.
“Precisely. Because we still do.”
“Right,” he said with a nod. “We just have the added element of hate fucking.”
I shrugged. “Call it what you want. I just don’t need anyone knowing how abhorrently desperate I’ve become to have slept with you.”
“Using ‘abhorrently’ and ‘you’ together in the same sentence while referring to me is highly offensive and the biggest stretch. But I know it’s only because you’re bitter about how good my dick is, so I forgive you. Don’t worry. It’ll be our little secret.”
“God, can you be any more fucking arrogant?”
He smirked. “You don’t know the half of it, Princess.”
“Seriously, stop calling me that,” I snapped.
He laughed. “Why would I do that when I know how much it pisses you off?”
“We don’t even like each other. Us having sex a few times doesn’t warrant cutesy nicknames.”
“Cutesy?” he scoffed, truly looking offended. “Don’t get it twisted, Princess. There’s nothing cute about it. I’m not calling you that affectionately. It’s purely in a condescending manner.”
“Because that makes it better?”
“Yeah.” He shrugged with a chuckle. “It does. So, get used to it.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re already making me regret this.”
“No, I’m not. If that was the case, you’d already be gone,” he countered with a cocky grin, and I couldn’t even deny his words because he was right. “Any more rules for me?”
“I think I covered the basics. If I think of any more, I’ll let you know.”
“Okay. And I have one of my own.”
“Just one?”
“Just one.”
“Shoot.”
He smirked. “You can’t fall in love with me.”
“Please,” I scoffed. “Using ‘you’ and ‘fall in love with me’ in the same sentence while referring to me is highly offensive and the biggest stretch,” I said, mocking him.
Wesley snorted. “Touché, Princess.” He took a step toward me and held out his hand. “So…do we have a deal, then?”
I met his green-eyed gaze. I couldn’t believe I was doing this…but I took his offered hand and shook it. “Deal.”
His grin turned wolfish. “So, does it start right now, or…?”
I held his stare. “Yeah. Right now.”
“Good.”
He barely got that one word out before his lips crashed against mine, and in the next moment, he led me down the hall to his bedroom, kicking the door shut behind us.