“Don’t fucking say huzzah. It’s bad enough when Breaker does it,” Huxley says. He then turns to me and continues, “I don’t have time to fuck around with you growing a pair to tell us what you did wrong. I’m taking Lottie out tonight, and I don’t need you two messing it up. So just fucking tell us so we can tell you how you’re an idiot and then help you find a solution.”
“Fine,” I groan. “We got drunk last night, she went to my bed to sleep, I cuddled with her and somehow ended up with my hand up her shirt and touched her tits. She moaned and grabbed my dick. We dry-humped, and then afterward, she freaked out and left in the middle of the night. We spoke for a brief second this morning through text, and she has yet to respond to me.”
“You fucking idiot,” Huxley says.
JP pinches his nose. “We told you not to do anything, and you deliberately disobeyed us. How do you think that makes us feel?”
“This isn’t about you, JP,” I say.
“You’re right, you’re right.” JP looks me in the eyes. “You’re an idiot.”
“Well aware.” I slouch in my chair and press my fingers to my forehead. “What the hell am I supposed to do now?”
“How about not dry-hump your best friend?” Huxley says and leans back in his chair as well. “Let me ask you this. In the moment, did she love it?”
“Yes,” I answer. “She was so into it, asking for more. But afterward, she freaked herself out.”
“Probably because you’re the only person she has in her life, and she’s afraid she just messed that up,” JP says with some helpful insight. I know, I’m shocked too.
“Fuck, you’re so stupid,” Huxley says. “We told you not to do anything other than be a friend.”
“Yeah . . . well, easier said than done, okay?” I drag my hand over my face. “It was impossible not to touch her. Especially after she took off her bra, and she smelled so fucking good, and I just . . . fuck, I want her.”
“Ever heard of patience?” JP asks. “Because if you exercised patience, you wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“Wow, thanks for pointing out the obvious.”
“Hey.” JP holds up his hands. “Don’t get mad at me. I’m not the one who messed up. You are.”
“Yeah, but you’re not being helpful.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Did we miss the part when you asked us for help?”
I grind my teeth together and then say through clenched teeth. “Help.”
JP turns to Huxley. “He wants our help.”
“Yeah, I heard him. Not sure we can help him, though,” Huxley says, grating on my nerves as well.
“Because we offered him help yesterday, and he didn’t take it,” JP continues. “And isn’t that the worst, when someone specifically asks you for advice and then they don’t take it, especially when it’s solid advice?”
“It is.” Huxley runs his finger over his chin. “Not sure he deserves more advice.”
“Jesus Christ,” I mutter before standing. I’m over this. I’m happy about being able to get back to work, but I’m not going to sit through this torture.
As I head toward the door to the conference room, Huxley calls out, “Fuck her.”
“What?” I ask as I glance over my shoulder.
He turns his chair and looks me dead in the eyes. “Fuck her. Make it impossible for her to say no. You’ve already made the move, so live with that. You can’t go back to being just friends, so show her exactly why she wouldn’t want to be just friends. Fuck her. Fuck her hard. Fuck her good.”
JP peeks his head over Huxley’s shoulder and says, “Trust me, if he can get Lottie to fall for him, then listen to his advice.” JP grips Huxley’s shoulder. “He’s right. You have the friendship down. Now show her why she can’t resist you.”
“She said it was weird because it was me.”
“Then I suggest you introduce her to that side of you just like you introduced her to the sensitive, best friend side. You know how to fuck, so prove it.”
I pull on the back of my neck as I say, “You think that will work?”
“Only one way to find out,” JP says. “But for the love of God, use protection.”
“Wow, thanks for that,” I say as I open the door to the conference room and head to the elevator to leave.
I hate to admit it, but they might be right. Lia is comfortable being my friend because that’s how she knows me. But boyfriend? Being intimate? She’s not comfortable with that side of me just yet, so I might as well introduce her and make her comfortable.
Breaker: Are you home?
Breaker: You can either answer, or I can walk in on you doing whatever the hell it is you’re doing in your apartment. Either way, I’m seeing you tonight.
Lia: I’m taking a walk. Be home in ten.
Breaker: I’ll be waiting for you.
I lean back on her couch, wearing nothing but a pair of athletic shorts—got to show her the goods even if she didn’t ask for them—and I listen as she unlocks her door. Not sure she’s expecting to see me on her couch, but either way, I’m not fucking moving.
I gave Huxley’s advice some thought, and I agree with him completely, but I don’t want to fuck her right away. That would be far too aggressive. I need to ease her into it, which is exactly what I plan on doing.
Her front door opens and she walks in, headphones on her head, a light sheen of sweat coating her skin from the ninety-degree weather outside. She’s wearing a pair of pink athletic shorts and a Smurfs T-shirt that I’m pretty sure is from her youth. When she glances up, she stutters back from the shock of seeing me and presses her hand to her chest.
“Jesus, Breaker.” She removes her headphones and sets her phone down on the kitchen counter. “You could have told me you were in here.”
“I said I’d be waiting for you.”
“Well, I didn’t think in my place.”
I walk over to her. “How was the walk?”
Her eyes fall to my chest but quickly rise to my face. “It was fine.”
I cross my arms and lean against the wall. “What did you think about?”
Her eyes scan me again before she moves toward her bathroom. “Nothing in particular.”
“Oh, I see.” I follow. “So you didn’t think about the way I sucked on your tits last night?”
She stumbles into the bathroom door before looking over her shoulder. “Oh my God, Breaker.”
“What?” I smile. “It happened, might as well talk about it.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
She steps into the bathroom and goes to shut the door when I stop her. “Why not? Was it so good that reminiscing will only make you hot again?”
Her eyes grow angry, and it takes everything in me not to burst out in laughter. “No. I don’t want to talk about it because it was awkward. I don’t know how to be around you now, so bringing that up only makes it worse.”
“Interesting. I thought bringing it up makes it better.”
“It doesn’t.” She shuts the door and turns on the shower.
After a few seconds, I knock on the door and say, “Need help in there?”
“Go away, Breaker.”
I chuckle and move over to her bedroom, where I sprawl across her bed and place my hands behind my head. I wait there for a few minutes, and when I hear the shower turn off, I prepare myself. It might be awkward for her, but I’m going to make it way less awkward.
The bathroom door opens, and she walks into the bedroom wearing nothing but a towel around her torso. Her hair isn’t wet, but little droplets careen down her chest.