Page 67 of The Player + The Pact = I Do

It took them awhile, but Leo and his friends are spread out on the sofa, watching and roasting each other and catching up. It’s cute, even if they are fully grown men. Even billionaires need to blow off steam and be silly from time to time.

“This happens every Monday, huh?” I ask Efa, who’s just come back from the bathroom.

“Every Monday no matter what.” She hops up onto a barstool and starts helping herself to the charcuterie board. “It’s a real priority for Bennett. He won’t miss it unless there’s an emergency.”

“It’s nice, right?” I say. “That they prioritize each other.”

“They pretend it’s about the sport.” Efa laughs.

“It’s not about the sport,” I say. “I’ve been here five minutes and Iknow that.”

“They trust each other. And they’re so successful, finding people to fully trust can be hard.”

“Finding people you can fully trust can be really hard no matter how successful you are.”

Efa sighs like I’ve pressed a button that brought back a memory. “That’s very true.”

“So congratulations on your engagement,” I say. “I hear it happened fast.”

“Really fast,” Efa says. “I never expected to be engaged so young, but… He says I have an old soul and he’s an immature asshole at times, so we meet somewhere in the middle.”

“A match made in heaven.”

She nods. “What about you? You and Leo seem…” I tense, wondering what she’s going to say next. “Like you’re having a lot of sex.”

My eyes widen and I’m not quite sure what to say. “What do two people having a lot of sex seem like?”

She laughs. “Like you and Leo. So is it a casual thing or…?”

There’s clearly no point in denying it. “Did Leo tell Bennett?”

“No, I can just tell by the way you are with each other. You seem connected. Like more than a fake-engaged couple. Do you like him? What’s the deal?”

The deal is Ifeelconnected to him.

“I don’t know if we have a deal, to be honest.”

“You’ve not talked about it?”

I shake my head. How would that conversation go?“Hey, you’re great in bed, wanna make this fake engagement into a real one and see how it goes?”

“He’s not my usual type.” I pause. “No, maybe he is my usual type. I’m not sure. I haven’t really analyzed the situation.”

“Really?” she asks, taking a corn chip. “Then let’s start.”

Efa is a stranger. I get that she knows Leo and everything, but she doesn’t know me. I can’t go around analyzing my feelings with someone I just met. I don’t even know if I have feelings to analyze.

Well, that’s not true. I’m pretty sure I do have feelings to analyze, I’m just not sure I want to think about them.

“When did the sex start?” she asks, just as Bennett comes up behind her and adds a few more things to his plate.

“Jules, please ignore Efa if she’s being too intrusive. Don’t worry about being rude, just tell her to mind her own business.”

She playfully thwacks him on the arm and he chuckles before going back to the game.

“Were you together when you were his assistant?”

“God, no,” I reply reflexively. “I kinda hated him when I worked for him.”

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