Page 76 of Deal Takers

“Speaking of pussy…” He looks around and smiles when he spots something. “Now that you’ve fixed your problem, my best friend duty is done. The hot bartender has been eye-fucking me for the past few hours. I’m going to go see what time she gets off work so she can get off on my dick after. I’ll close out the tab while I’m up there.”

I wave him off. “Go for it, bud. I’m gonna get an Uber.”

The app says my driver is right down the road, so I pull on my coat and head outside. I look at the time as I wait and calculate the number of hours before Rainey gets off work. I have just enough time to get a good nap in. I smile when I think about all the naked fun we’re going to have after she listens to my voicemail.

CHAPTER 46

Rainey

Ugh, what a night. We were at full capacity, so every nurse on staff had three laboring ladies a piece. All three of mine gave birth during my twelve-hour shift, so I had to stay an extra hour just to catch up on my charts. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Doctors get all the glory, but nurses are the ones that do most of the work. I grab my purse and head down to the parking garage, fantasizing about crawling into bed and crashing for at least ten hours. I remember my phone battery was low when I clocked in, so I pull it out of my purse to charge it during the drive home. I was so busy I never got a chance to pull it out during my shift, let alone plug it into a charger.

I frown when I see two voicemails from Brody, timestamped early this morning. That damn man’s persistence makes avoiding him really difficult. The irony is that I don’t evenwantto avoid him. But I don’t want to dig into the heavy conversationhe’s been trying to have either. You probably think I’m a bitch for doing this to him—he certainly hasn’t done anything to deserve it—but self-preservation has a funny way of controlling your actions. Things with Brody got super intense, super-fast, so I’m trying to deal with that. And after the other night, it just got that much worse. As strange as it sounds, considering all the butt stuff that occurred, Brody and I made love that night. It’s too much.He’stoo much.

When I proposed this arrangement, I thought I was getting a really hot Peter Pan with a big dick. I truly didn’t think I’d have any trouble keeping feelings out of it. In retrospect, I should’ve seen this coming. The truth of the matter is there’s a certain type of man I’ve always gravitated toward. And Brodyisthat type: Charming, intelligent, playful, sex-on-a-stick. One thing I learned, though, is with those types of men, it never takes too long before their eyes and their dicks, start to wander. I’ve been cheated on inevery single relationshipI’ve ever been in. I actually went out with Adam because he was the exact opposite of my normal guy and look how well that turned out. As you can probably imagine, my past has made me cautious…and maybe a bit jaded.

I didn’t want anything serious with Brody. It was supposed to be fun for a while and that’s it. Who knew he could be so thoughtful, and attentive, and…perfect. I’ve seen glimpses of Brody’s serious side before, but I always assumed they were few and far in between. I have to keep reminding myself that all relationships are good in the beginning. That he’s just like the others, and if I give him my heart, he’ll stomp all over it once the newness wears off.

I take a deep breath and press play on the first message. I smile when he begins to ramble—clearly, he was a bit intoxicated.Oh, boy, this is going to be interesting. My smilequickly falls when he gets to the point and tells me helovesme—that he doesn’t want anyone other than me.Goddamn him!I can’t believe he dropped the L-bomb over a drunken voicemail!

The first message runs so long, he gets cut off mid-sentence, but he picks up right where he left off with the second. I’m fucking terrified when he tells me he wants me to have his babies. I get downright furious when he admits we’ve been exposed. Who in the hell does he think he is? He can’t just leave me a fucking voicemail saying all this shit!

Fuck! Why did he have to do this? Why couldn’t he be happy with what we had? Why did he have to force the issue?

Why did he have to ruin this?

I don’t even think. I just drive until I’m pulling into the underground parking to Brody’s building. I have so many emotions running through me as I stomp up to his apartment, I don’t even knowwhatI came here to say. I wipe my tears away and pound on his door until I can hear him shuffling around inside.

He looks like death warmed over as he opens the door, but my hoo-ha still wants some action.Down, you horny bitch!

“Hey.” He clears the gruffness from his voice. “What are you doing here so early?”

I force my way through the door. He closes it behind me and looks at me expectantly. I don’t even know where to start.

“You’re an asshole!” Okaaay, I guess that’s one way.

He blinks a few times. “Huh?”

“Why did you have to fuck everything up, Brody?” I push his chest to emphasize my point. “Why couldn’t youleave it alone?”

He holds one hand up and pinches the bridge of his nose with the other. “Just hold on a second, will you? I’m still trying to wake up. I had a lot to drink last night. It’s going to take me a sec to figure out why you’re acting like such a crazy pants right now.”

“Crazy?!I’m not crazy!You’rethe one who’s crazy!”

“Says every crazy person ever,” he mutters.

I start pacing around his foyer. “Why’d you do it, Brody? Why’d you say those things to me?”

It takes him a minute, but I can see the moment his hangover fog clears.

“Ah…I see you got my voicemails.”

“Oh, I got ’em, all right!”

He rubs a hand over his hair before lifting his chin and looking me straight in the eye. “What do you want me to say here, Rainey?”

“Oh, I think you’ve said enough. Don’t you?”

“I’m not going to apologize for it, if that’s what you’re looking for.”

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