Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 86596 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 433(@200wpm)___ 346(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86596 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 433(@200wpm)___ 346(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
“Gee, thanks.”
“I mean—let’s be honest…”
She’s not wrong. Hurts to admit it, though.
“What are the chances they’ll walk away from the chance at their own suite during the Super Bowl?” Molly ponders.
“Eh, I’d say fifty percent? Jack will give me shit about it for the next twenty years of our lives, so…”
“If the worst thing that happens is him giving you a hard time, I say that’s decent odds. Better than forking over a few hundred grand. Then again, you’re technically still winning the bet.”
Correct.
Technically, I am still winning the bet.
“One date does not a relationship make.” Molly clicks her tongue.
“The rules are all very fuzzy for such large stakes.”
Resting my head on the pillow, I let my hand casually make its way toward hers, meeting it halfway in the center of the mattress. Our hands entwine as if it were the most natural thing in the world, this odd comfort we have together easing whatever worry I may have had about sharing a bed for the night.
The conversation never came up.
Molly didn’t make a fuss or ask me to sleep anywhere else.
Progress.
Plus, it felt natural kissing her on the bridge, then again on the patio when we were talking—all so very natural.
Molly also hasn’t fussed with makeup, keeping it au natural, so she had nothing to do but rinse her face to get ready for bed and smother on whatever lotions and potions she had brought along.
Easy.
Everything with Molly has been easy, and I don’t know if this is just her personality or if it’s because we mesh so well, but there’s something to be said about being friends first.
As I’m contemplating this, lost in my thoughts in the dark, the mattress moves again, and my space is invaded by her tiny body when she rolls closer toward me, arm slung across my chest.
“This bed is comfy.”
“So comfy.”
She smiles against my chest. “I can’t believe I just climbed into bed with you. This is so unlike me.”
“Is it?”
Molly’s laughter tickles at my chest. “Obviously. I told you I haven’t been with anyone in a long time. I’d be surprised if my vagina hasn’t shriveled up.”
“I think you're confusing your vagina with my dick.”
She sniffs. “You’ve probably had more action since you’ve been single than I have. Trust me.”
Yeah, probably, though none of it meant anything. Empty, emotionless sex that filled nothing but a void and never filled any of the emptiness inside me.
The same emptiness I felt even while I was in my relationship with Laura.
Everything happens for a reason, I guess. Guys get traded to teams they hadn’t wanted to be on but then go on to shine, or go on to become MVP. Players retire in their prime to become nationally recognized broadcasters, brand ambassadors, fashion icons—making more money than they did playing their sports.
At the time, I didn’t realize Laura was doing me a favor, but now that I’ve had a glimpse of healthy, flirty dating…I know she wasn’t the woman for me. Not when we were in college and not when we built our careers, and not when she left hers to stay at home.
How was I so blind?
You weren’t blind. You were busy. Huge difference.
Welp. The busy made me blind, and that’s a fact.
Molly’s fingers are now tracing over my chest. “You know, when you wear sports coats, you can barely tell you have any definition here at all. Your boobs are almost as big as mine.”
My chest rumbles. “Is that a compliment?”
“Yes.” She laughs.
“I don’t think there’s a man alive who would complain about the size of your breasts.” Another fact.
“Aw, thank you.”
Her fingers graze my shoulders, making their way down my arms, squeezing my biceps and caressing the sensitive skin.
“This is our first date,” she says. “Should we be fooling around like this?”
“Fooling around? Is that what we’re doing? I’m innocently lying here.” But by all means, continue caressing my body.
She goes to pull her hand away, but I stop it. “Is this our first date? By my calculations, it’s our fifth.”
Molly gives a tiny nod. “No, I was an escort for those first few events.”
“When you call yourself an escort like that, you make it sound so…cold.” I laugh again. “Like I needed to hire someone to date me.”
I feel her shrug, her hand still running along my arms, touching and caressing my flesh.
I shiver.
“I don’t think anyone would mistake you for a man who had to hire a date for the night. Although you do have a very Edward Lewis vibe.”
“Edward Lewis? Who’s that?”
“Um, the dude from Pretty Woman…? Guy in a suit, worth millions, who hired that hooker to go with him to some gala?”
I think this over. “That would be an amazing Halloween costume.”
She lifts her head to gaze at me in the dark. “I love Halloween. Do you?”
“Sure do. Haven’t dressed up in forever, but I used to really love it. I mentioned I was in a fraternity in college. We used to throw a rager of a party. Loads of alcohol. Loads of half nudity.”