Page 30 of Love, Hate, Love

He laughed. “Sometimes you make things a little too easy.”

Easy for him, maybe. I was being put through slow mental torture.

“I’m having an issue getting my brain off her. Can you not be an asshole for five minutes and tell me if you’ve ever had this issue and what you did?”

There was a pause, as if he were truly thinking it over. “Nope. I’ve never had this issue.”

“Never?” I said.

“I’m good-looking, rich, and have charm for days. Someone starts to get under my skin, I fuck them like we we’re circus freaks for hours, days if needed, and exorcise them from my psyche before it can get out of hand. After that, I can move on and avoid any problems.”

“What the hell doIdo? I need an actual solution,” I said.

“I don’t see a way around this. There’s only one way.” He paused for a second before stating, “I hate to tell you this, but you’re going to have to fuck her.”

Why? Why had I called him? I’d known what I was going to get.

“That is not the correct answer. I’m not sure why I tell you things. I should know by now you’ll tell me to go with the most morally bankrupt choice available.”

“What’s so bad about fucking her? Don’t tell me you’re turning into a prude. It’s not like you’ve ever been a saint in that area.”

“Even if there weren’t a list of reasons why that was bad, I signed alegal documentthat I wasn’t romantically involved with her, nor would I be. Not only would I be breaking my word, I’d be violating a court order if I slept with her.” I wasn’t going to tell him how I’d double-checked the paperwork again today, just to make sure there wasn’t some wiggle room.

“You’re acting like it’s a problem, but I know that yourrelationshipgot this situation arranged in the first place. That judge won’t do shit to you but slap you on the back.”

He spoke like a person whose life always magically worked out. Even when we were kids, and I was working myself to death to keep the ranch, he’d walked away without a qualm to go work in tech. It had worked out well for him, like everything seemed to. Of course he didn’t worry about what he said on an open phone line. The universe seemed to continuously protect him from fallout.

“That’s not true,” I said, not so sure I’d be included in his protection umbrella. I wasn’t surprised that he’d figured out the connection with the judge, but did he have to call it out on the phone? I was going to have to slap him upside the head next time he was here and warn him to watch his mouth.

“Uh huh. Sure it’s not.”

“That wouldn’t work anyway. One, she’s got a boyfriend. Two, she hates me, so sleeping with her isn’t a possibility.”Hatemight be a strong word, and yet it seemed to fit.

“One, who cares if she’s got a boyfriend? Two, she only hates you because you hated her first, and for a stupid fucking reason if you ask me.”

“She spoke out of turn and made me lose my loan. Not that it matters anymore. She hates me now, and she’s not as fickle with her feelings as the hookers you bang.” I’d met enough that they’d started to look like a carbon copies of each other.

“You dug in, didn’t you? You couldn’t just make the best of the situation. You had to be stubborn and make her know where you two stood.” He was talking like someone who’d just laid down a full house.

“It’s called setting boundaries, not that you’d know anything about that.”

“Okay, well, how are all those boundaries working out for you now?”

“Like shit.” There was no point in denying it at this point.

“So how bad did you piss her off since she’s been there?”

I could hear him smiling at my misery on the other end of the phone. I should probably lie, but I was too desperate to care.

“Bad enough that fucking her isn’t an option and I need to get her out of my head. Do you have anyrealsuggestions?”

“You can’t just fuck someone else?” he said, speaking like a man who had never been on the brink of getting pulled into the abyss.

“No. I seem to have no interest.” I didn’t bother telling him I’d already tried.

“Then you’re going to have to fix things up and fuck her. It’s the only way.”

“What if that makes it worse?” For some reason, I was scared shitless that a one-time fuck might end up being not a one-time deal. I was beginning to fear this was a terminal sort of situation that wasn’t going to heal.

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