Page 88 of Playboy For Hire

So I did. I told him everything, leaving no stone unturned, no scrap of my dignity unshredded.

“I just feel like an idiot,” I said when I finished. “I should have known better. Ididknow better. But I let myself get hurt anyway.”

“I’m really sorry, Quinn. That sucks.”

I looked at Jae suspiciously. “You’re being weirdly understanding. I don’t like it. Please tell me you told me so, so that we can right the balance of the world.”

He laughed. “I won’t say that. But I will suggest that maybe you’re better off without him. I mean, could you really be in a long-term relationship with someone who has his job?”

“I was willing to give it a shot,” I said. “I thought we had something. But I guess I was wrong.”

“I have an idea,” Jae said, standing up. “Let’s go out and find some other guys to flirt with to help you get over him.”

“That’s literally the last thing on earth I want to do.”

“Yeah, but it’ll help anyway. And lucky for you, you’ve got me to force you out of your comfort zone.”

“Or you could go by yourself, and leave me to merge into the couch and grow a nice little layer of moss.”

“That is exactly why you need to get out of here. Now stand up and get your shoes. No more excuses.”

Which is how I found myself standing outside of Bart’s Basement, my mouth feeling fuzzy and my socks mismatched because Jae wouldn’t give me enough time to get ready before pushing me out the door.

“Trivia night?” I looked at him doubtfully.

“Yeah. It’ll give that big brain of yours something to think about that isn’t how sad you are.”

“I’m terrible at trivia. It’ll just make me more sad.”

“But it’ll be a different sad, and that’s important. Come on, it’ll be fun.”

He tugged me to the front door. I followed him inside, my senses assaulted by the smell of burgers, beer, and too many people crammed into a small space.

“I don’t think there are any open seats,” I told Jae.

“We’re not giving up that easy,” he said. “Let’s go check in the back.”

He began to work his way through the crowd, and I had no choice but to wiggle my way after him. People were clustered around the bar two-deep, and every table we passed was filled. Jae rounded a corner. I followed, then stopped dead.

There was a table right in front of us, filled with a group of twenty-somethings who all looked like they’d just gotten off work. At the end closest to us sat Ryder—and he was kissing a woman.

The sight hit me like a horse kick to the chest. I gasped, but the sound was swallowed up by the crowd. I shook my head, closed my eyes, and opened them again. Ryder was still there. He wasn’t kissing the woman any longer, but he was reaching across the table, holding her hand.

“Fuck. I have to go.”

I said it more to myself than to Jae, and turned to walk back the way we’d come.

“Hey, where are you going? Hey, Quinn, wait.”

I looked at Jae to tell him to be quiet, but it was too late. Ryder had heard my name, and his eyes locked onto mine.

I turned and began walking away again, quicker this time.

“Quinn, wait.” This time it was Ryder who said it. I ignored him and kept pressing through the crowd, but I didn’t make it far before he caught up with me.

“What are you doing here?” he asked when he reached me.

I didn’t want to talk to him. Didn’t even want to see him. Not now that I was going to carry the image of Ryder kissing that woman for the rest of my life.

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