Page 16 of A Tangled Web

“We’ll allow the contribution. Let’s go over your mistakes for the audience playing at home.” Jace held up his hand and began to count on his callused fingers. “You became her friend. You agreed to be roommates. You held her hair that time she got sick in the bar parking lot. You cook every meal and do things for her without her having to ask...”

Nick laughed at that last one, and Liam pinched the bridge of his nose. “I move to conclude this meeting because Jace has no idea what he’s talking about. Have you ever had a girlfriend? I’m talking long-term, monogamous girlfriend, not a fuck buddy.”

“Nope.” Nick answered for him. “I’ve known him for ten years and the only woman who made it to the six-month mark was our cleaning lady. He fired her because she was becoming too emotionally attached.”

“She was stealing my underwear, man. I can’t help it if women are obsessed with me.”

“Not all women.” Nick’s low response made Jace scowl.

Liam had to laugh. “Okay, the underwear thing I’ll give you. But for future reference, people do things for people they care about all the time. And not only to get something in return, like clean underwear or a quickie. They do it because it makes them happy. Because they want the other person to feel good. Safe.”

“Sometimes people can feel too safe.”

Liam glared at Stax. “You should listen to Nick. You don’t know anything about this.”

“He’s right,” Nick said sharply. “Emotions make things complicated. You wouldn’t understand.”

Stax’s expression hardened slightly. “I understand more than you know, Nicholas. And desire is never that complicated.”

He’d had a plan to uncomplicate things, damn it. Never mind that Dani was screwing with it by never reacting the way he expected her to. She’d told him her news. He’d been hoping she wouldn’t want to. He knew it sounded perverse, but if she’d hesitated for a few more days, he could have taken it as a sign that she didn’t want to leave him any more than he wanted to leave her.

She’d flipped the script on him and now he wasn’t sure what his next step should be. The locking her in his bedroom idea was all he had, and even he knew he had to do better than that.

“Are we done now? Is the man meeting over?” he asked the table at large.

“That depends.” Jace hesitated. “Are you really happy with this current arrangement? That even tourists passing through town can see that you carry a torch for your roommate, while she’s still living in blissful ignorance?”

“You know I’m not.”

“Then what do you plan to do about it?” He eyeballed the men around him. “Any ideas?”

“Tell her the truth about how you feel and see what happens?”

Jace made a buzzing sound in Nick’s direction. “Wrong answer. You’re as bad as Liam. What about getting drunk with her and accidentally coming back from the bathroom with your dick out? That’s a classic.”

Nick and Liam both grabbed a handful of mixed nuts and tossed them at Jace’s head. “What?”

“I have a thought.” Stax pointedly ignored Nick’s glare.

Liam waved him on, curious in spite of his darkening mood. “Lay it on me. No one else is holding back, why should you?”

“Jace is right…in a way. You’ve painted yourself into a corner Nick has called the friendzone, and you’re worried you’ll lose her completely if you make the wrong move. But you also know that if you don’t do something drastic, she may never be able, or more importantly, willing to risk seeing you as more.”

“I think I like where this is going.” Jace leaned his arms on the table. “Define drastic.”

Stax was watching Liam intently. Too intently. “You have to shake the foundation. Change her perspective. Give her something she’s afraid to admit she wants. Something she doesn’t expect and you would never imagine under ordinary circumstances.”

What the hell did that mean? “That was clear as a fortune cookie.”

Jace snorted. “I couldn’t decipher it either. What does she want that Liam hasn’t already thought of and provided? A pony?” He snapped his fingers. “Pony play?”

Liam punched Jace’s arm and he winced. “Hey, I tried, but it looks like you’re screwed, or never getting screwed, so we might as well finish the game and collect our winnings.”

“We could always hand you all our money now and be done with it,” Nick threw out. “Maybe have a second helping of ribs.”

Jace threw him a warning look. “That’s quitter talk.”

Liam’s head was spinning as the next hand was dealt.

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