Page 112 of Seven Year Itch
Insecurity niggles at my gut, and I hear myself reply, “I don’t know. I guess. Probably ten?”
Her eyes move away from mine quickly as she reaches for the conditioner and does that one herself. “Works for me.”
“Does it?” I ask, a sour mood overwhelming me.
“Yeah. Why wouldn’t it?” She lifts her chin, and her eyes search mine for a long, awkward moment, like she’s waiting for me to say something.
Normally, I don’t hold back with this woman, and I’m pretty sure she doesn’t hold back with me. It’s why we fight just as muchas we fuck. Everything is always on the table. But something is stopping me from telling her I don’t want to go tonight. And it will be a cold day in hell before I let her go back to that place on her own.
So I guess we’re doing this. We’re going back to the sex club, and we’re going to check that final box on her list.
And I’m going to try not to lose my fucking mind while we’re there.
Chapter 37
Phone a Friend
Dakota
I didn’t have to open the store today. I just needed to get out of my house with Calder. I didn’t want to cuddle him in my bed or make breakfast. I didn’t want to notice how good he looked standing in my living room or have him watch me do my hair and makeup or bring me up a cup of coffee.
The shower was bad enough. Doing anything more domestic would freak me out because I am in way over my head, and the fact that we’re headed back to the sex club tonight has me freaking the fuck out.
I park outside of my store and open my phone, needing to talk this out with someone before I explode. I can’t discuss it with Cozy or Trista because they would both encourage me to be open with Calder and tell him how I’m feeling. That’s how it worked out with their Fletcher men.
But Max and Wyatt are so different from Calder. Max was married once before, so obviously open to love, and Wyatt was ready for a family so much that he was willing to hire a surrogate. They both clearly have different end goals in life than Calder—the perpetual, self-proclaimed playboy.
I need to confide in someone who doesn’t know both parties and who is unequivocally Team Dakota.
“Hey, girl, hey!” Tatianna’s voice peals into the phone. “Good morning to you.”
“I’m having tons of casual sex with Calder Fletcher and we’re checking kinky experiences off a PowerPoint presentation that he put together after I asked him to be my sex club wingman andhe told me I wasn’t ready for it and tonight we’re supposed to go back to the sex club for the first time after weeks of mind-blowing, incredible sex with him and I am freaking the fuck out.”
I exhale heavily and hear nothing on the other line. “Tot? Tot, are you there?” I pull my phone away and see the call is still connected so I put it back to my ear. “Tatianna?”
“Tatianna has passed away, and you are now speaking to her celestial spirit.”
I groan and scrub my hand over my face. “Be fucking for real, please.”
“I am!” she squeals. “I just poured creamer into my coffee, and you come at me with that? Of course I died and went to heaven. What the hell is going on up in those mountains?”
“A lot of sex. Like a lot a lot. Like I’m insatiable, Tot. I hardly recognize myself anymore. I used to think good sex was only for smutty romance novels. It’s not. It exists out there for real.”
“Don’t tell me that,” she tuts, and I hear her set her coffee down. “I cannot believe that these fictional men can be real. I’m delulu enough without that sick fantasy.”
“I know, it’s upsetting to me too.”
She releases a long sigh that I feel in my bones. “So what is the problem, exactly?”
I shake my head, my chin trembling instantly as I let reality settle in. “I don’t want to be done with Calder.”
She pauses for a moment, and her tone is serious and sincere when she asks, “Has he given you any indication he doesn’t want to be done either?”
“Not really, not fully.”
She harrumphs into the line, and my chest tightens with anxiety. “I don’t think you’re going to like what I’m about to say, but Dakota... when a man tells you what he is, believe him.”
I close my eyes and feel the burn of two hot tears sliding down my face. “I know.”
