Page 30 of Whiskey Sour
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Cassius
“Cassy! Wake up!”
I bolt upright, my hand automatically going for the baseball bat I keep hanging by the side of the bed. Not completely alert, I fumble to stand, but Skylar’s there to push me back down onto the bed.
“Skylar!” I shout as I whip my head around wildly. “Where? Who?—?”
“Oh, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he says, a pink flush on his cheeks as he nibbles on his bottom lip. “I just wanted to talk to you about something.”
My chest sags with relief. Rubbing my closed fists against my eyes, I sigh. “What is it, sunshine?” I peek open an eye to see that it’s four in the morning. “Why are you still awake?”
“I couldn’t go to bed,” he rushes out, and it’s just then that I notice he’s fully dressed. “I have a plan.”
I raise an eyebrow at that and pat the spot beside me. “What kind of plan?”
“I’m going to build the perfect boyfriend!”
“You’re going to…” I blink at him. “Have you been drinking?”
He gasps and slaps a hand over his heart. Shifting to the spot beside me, he grabs both my shoulders so he can shake me. “No, Cass! This is a brilliant idea! Just think about it!”
I am thinking about it, and maybe it’s because I’m still half-asleep, but it isn’t adding up. “You’re going to have to explain yourself a bit better.”
He groans with impatience and reaches toward the end of the bed for a bedazzled pink notebook he brought with him. When he opens up the first page, there it is:
How to Build a Perfect Boyfriend: Skylar’s Guide to Not Fucking It Up Again.
“Okay…” I say slowly, taking the notebook from him so I can look through the pages. “There’s nothing on here.”
He nods excitedly. “I know. That’s why I need your help. If I ever want to…”
His eyes start watering as he trails off. I frown and throw my arm over his shoulder so I can drag him to my side. Kissing the top of his head, I rub the top of his arm. “What’s all this about?”
“I’m still thinking about what happened at Elton’s the other day.”
My arm tightens around him as my breath hitches. “Yeah?”
I wait for it. The moment I’ve always known would come. Skylar hasn’t mentioned our mutually given orgasms since it happened, but maybe it’s time. He could have needed to process his thoughts and digest the reality of what we did. He could?—
“When they were making fun of me, it hurt.”
Another crack fractures my heart. I try to push away my disappointment for his sake and smile. “They weren’t making fun of you.”
“It sure felt like it.” He huffs with a pout. “I’m tired of this, Cassy. I want to build this list, because I’m tired of settling for losers. When the next one comes around, if he doesn’t meet all my perfect boyfriend requirements, I’m out.”
“And how am I supposed to help with this?”
“Duh, you help me build the list.” He giggles, snatching the notebook from my hand. “We’re going to find all the right things a boyfriend should do and add it here. Apparently, my judgement when it comes to guys can’t be trusted.”
I bite down hard on my bottom lip. This sounds like a terrible idea. Not the list, since that’s actually pretty smart, but my help is something that might just break me. Aiding Skylar in findingMr. Rightmight just be my last straw.
When Knox so brutally knocked some sense into me earlier today, I was hellbent on telling Skylar my feelings for him. I was going to see it through, but when I went to knock on his door after I got home from work, I chickened out. Now, there’s this. Another way for my hardened heart to just completely get fucked before shattering. I’ve always said I’d do anything for Skylar, but maybe I’ve found my limit. Maybe?—
Then it hits me.
This is theperfectidea.
