Page 42 of Christmas in Coconut Creek

“What did I tell you, Pike?”

I shrugged and grabbed my drink out of the cardboard carrier. “Not to shave my balls with your razor?”

“Very funny,” he said sarcastically. “Yes. But no.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Want to guess what my girlfriend just called to tell me?”

I had an idea. If Tally and O were as close as I thought they were, my best friend’s girlfriend probably had exact measurements on my dick by then.

“That they’re going to the spa today?”

He made a lewd gesture with his right hand. “That you finger fucked her best friend in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.”

I coughed. “Fuck, man, you are dramatic.” There were very few people working in the cubicles along the wall, but Mateo’s voice carried. I looked around and smiled at the turning heads. “What’s the issue here?”

“Theissueis that you even know where the girls are gonna be today without me having to tell you. There’s casual hooking up, and then the type of shit you do where you’re texting good morning and running her errands.”

“It’s just a few things to make cookies,” I rationalized.

Mateo paused with his coffee halfway to his mouth. “See? This is what I’m talking about. That was a joke, and you just fucking proved it.”

“The only thing you said to me was not to get attached. If buying some flour and chocolate chips means getting attached to you, you’re just as much of a pussy as you think I am.”

“Hey, watch your mouth,” he reprimanded me. “There’s people working here.”

The truth was—yes. Obviously I was feeling somethingmorefor Ophelia, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. What she was giving me was the missing piece of all the other women I’d tried to get to know lately. An actual fucking pulse. I was being reactive to that. A beautiful, intelligent woman with a good head on her shoulders and a mutual attraction—of course I wanted to hop into bed with her.

I understood that our situation was complicated. Vanessa was the only woman I’d been with in the last ten years, and Ophelia had made it clear she was dating to settle down. But we were both stuck in a pocket of time where happenstance overran circumstance.

She wasn’t going to find a forever guy in Coconut Creek, and I wasn’t ready for anything to get serious. So why not make the most of one another while we could?

“We’re just having a little bit of fun,” I assured Mateo. “You’re the one constantly preaching to me about getting back out there. Now the minute I do you’re giving me shit about it.”

“No, Iwantthis for you, Pike. I want you to find someone.” He put a hand on my shoulder. “If she lived here, man, I would be poking holes in the condoms.”

“You’re a sick fuck.” I shook my head. Knowing him, he probably wasn’t even joking.

“Listen, if you really think you can keep it casual”—he shrugged—“then I fucking hope you prove me wrong. My girlfriend seems to think Ophelia needs the release, too.”

After the previous night, I didn’t think you could pry me away from that girl with a crowbar.

I wanted her. Plain and simple.

I wanted to feel her again, andhearher again. The way Ophelia’s entire body reacted to me was one of the sexiest things I’d ever fucking seen. And we’d barely even scratched the surface.

It could have been the years’ long dry spell, but just touching her between those thick, perfect thighs gave my dick ideas. Ideas I needed to see through before the next two-and-a-half weeks were up. I’d always been a vocal lay, but even some of the shit I was saying to her in the heat of the moment shocked me. It was like a primal flip had switched.

From the minute I stepped foot on that plane I was down for Ophelia, and I was damn near positive that she felt the way I did. It was a perfect opportunity to help each other out. As long as we didn’t let it get too far and mutually agreed to put it behind us after the new year, nobody was getting their feelings involved.

“I appreciate how much you care about me, Cap.” I smirked at him. “I think we both realize it’s gotta be casual. I promise you, if things go south, I’ll be the first to admit that you told me so.” Just then the computer behind me timed out again, making that beeping sound of agony. “You gotta be fucking kidding me.”

Mateo sighed, reaching over to turn off the monitor. “Come on, take a ride with me. You can finish this later.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Slacking off today?”

“I need your opinion on something for Tally.”

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