Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 103102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
“And you want that?” he asks. “To see us together for the company?”
“Of course,” I say. “But I like you together, too.” Mostly. No. All the way. He’s good for her. And she’s been happy with him, as happy as I’ve ever seen her.
“Is she sleeping with other guys?”
“I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “Maybe. Wasn’t that your agreement?”
“Yes.” He swallows hard.
“She’s a very sexual person.”
“I know.”
“And you two haven’t—?”
“She told you that?”
“She tells me a lot,” I say. “Not details.” She offers, sometimes, but I decline. “Is there a reason?”
“Why we haven’t had sex?”
I nod.
“Of course.”
I know what Lexi says. But what’s his story? “A good reason?”
“A great reason.”
Okay. I try to hold his gaze, but it’s too much. It’s strange, talking about my sister and her boyfriend this way.
He takes a deep breath and lets out a steady exhale. Slowly, he works up to his confession, as if he’s a witness about to implicate a co-conspirator. “I’m too good.”
“What?”
“I’m too good in bed,” he says. “It’s ruined all my relationships.”
“Your skill ruined your relationships?”
“Yes.” He stands and paces the length of the table. “I meet women. And they think I’m a sort of sweet, dorky guy. Because—” He motions to his polo shirt and his boat shoes.
“Even here?”
“Everywhere.”
“Women expect something different with me,” he says. “Someone less—”
“Horny?”
He chuckles. “You are a straight shooter. She was right.”
“What is it exactly?”
“The size. The skill. The imagination. Everything.”
Holy shit, he is Lexi’s perfect man. “You haven’t told Lexi this?”
“Only that I wanted to wait because my ex…all my exes. It’s always the same thing. They have one taste and it’s all they want to do. We don’t eat, we don’t sleep, we don’t go to movies or museums or meet my parents. We fuck. All day, all night, until the flush of a new relationship wears off, and they’re too chaffed to keep it up.”
“You’re that good?”
“See. Six months ago, I would have said, I’ll show you, baby, and that would be it. We’d be horizontal in twenty minutes. Or vertical. I can do a lot vertical.”
Uh…
“But I’m not that guy anymore. I want love. Someone who loves me for my heart, not my dick.”
“And you don’t have that now?” I ask.
“Do I?”
My head spins. This is…ridiculous and completely right for Lexi. “Lexi cares about you. And she needs D. Her words. That’s what I know.” I know more, too. “And this waiting, I think it’s been good for her, too. Because she’s usually more love ‘em and leave ‘em. And she’s actually had time to get to know you.”
He nods, like see, it’s working.
“But she’s waited long enough.”
“I should find her right now? Take her back to my place?”
“That’s what I would do.”
He nods, turning over the words. “Is it really that simple? We have sex and she asks me to play her fake fiancé and we’re happily ever after?”
“Maybe. If you two both agree to that.” If they have sex, she’ll probably lose interest in River. Assuming he’s even still interested in her. Since this is all an experiment. Not a normal thing. “Probably. But…can I give you some advice?”
He nods.
“Don’t ask her what happened,” I say. “During this break. If there was someone else, it doesn’t matter. It’s not personal. It’s just Lexi trying to meet her needs.”
He nods, taking in the information. “There is one other concern.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah… What if it’s not good?”
It’s a rare man who acknowledges that possibility.
“What if we’re too nervous? I… I’ve never waited six months before.”
That is a lot of pressure. “That’s what round two is for.”
He nods. “I should take her somewhere for the weekend. That way we have time for rounds two and three and four.”
Yeah. That’s…exactly right. Jake might just be the man to tame my sister. “Perfect.”
“Or should I back off?” he asks. “Give her the time she needs to think about things? We agreed on two weeks. It hasn’t even been two days.”
Right. He shouldn’t come on too strong. Or maybe if he’s coming on too strong because he wants her to come, that’s fine. “How about I feel her out?”
“How so?”
“Mention the idea. Say you asked me what I thought. Text her.”
He nods okay.
I pull out my cell, check my messages (nothing urgent: nothing from River, which I try not to care about), and text Lexi.
Deanna: Hey! Jake just asked me about you. He wants to take you away for the weekend. But he doesn’t want to get in the way of your “thinking time.”
I don’t expect her to text back right away—she is with a friend—but she does.
Lexi: A surprise trip? Where?
Deanna: I’m thinking hiking and then a campsite. Peeing outside turns you on, right?
Lexi: Not funny.
Deanna: Don’t worry. I warned him to bring extra TP. Men always underestimate how much women need.
Lexi: OMG Dee! I would kill you.