I checked my watch to confirm the date. Just about four months. I was impressed Riley lasted that long with Patrick. He spent his first months on the job filing bluelines, waiting on permits, and picking up the scraps Patrick threw his way, and it had been a ticking time bomb.
I turned my gaze to Riley. “What did you do now?”
Riley blew out a breath as he collected his things. “I missed a few beams on a couple of designs. Screwed up a few cost estimates. Lost some progress tables. Forgot to run ratios on a couple others. Strayed from some parameters.”
“As in, the parameters that would determine whether the building would withstand its own weight?”
“Yeah,” Riley nodded, hipshot and hands fisted. “Those.”
“What the fuck, Riley?”
“Maybe you could save me some time and tell me what you want me doing instead of telling me how much of a fucking moron I am?”
“Yeah. My office. I’ll be there in ten. And Riley? Zip your pants. And get rid of that bracelet.”
I pocketed the rubber ‘Save the TaTas’ wristband Riley tossed to the table. Once his footsteps on the stairs faded away, I swiped my phone’s screen and read the new messages from Lauren.
08:06 Lauren:why am I not surprised you responded with some elaborate theory?
08:07 Lauren:and am I reading this correctly– you’d like me sucking multiple cocks?
08:07 Lauren:I signed up for drinks, not an orgy.
08:17 Lauren:but no, I really need to pack.
I wanted to respect the rules: raw, dirty sex, and sometimes partying with her friends or hanging out, and all of it on her highly random terms.
Easy, stingless sex—just the way I liked it.
But more than that, I wanted to demolish those rules.
Chapter Thirteen
LAUREN
Iburrowed intomy red wool coat, the wind howling between the narrow streets and sending a chill through my bones as I rounded the corner to Matthew’s office. An early winter was setting in but the threats of frost did nothing to dampen my spirits. My fellowship program signed off on acquiring the abandoned button mill, pending environmental and other standard safety inspections. My start-up facilities financing was approved and I only needed Matthew’s sister—the CFO, not the volcano doctor—to write up an offer on the property.
As far as today was concerned, I had it all under control.
Everything except Matthew.
Waking up beside him for the third day in a row was a startling reminder that I couldn’t do this. It was irrelevant whether I liked Matthew, and it only made it worse that I did. His sense of humor, intense vibe, nerdy quirks, bottomless blue eyes—I liked it all. But my ladybits were not in charge. I didn’t have fuck buddies, and I couldn’t carve any time or space for Matthew, not when everything else was barely held together with bubblegum and duct tape.
And he was a nice guy. He deserved a fuck buddy who could commit to regular, freak-out-free sex.
The kindest option for everyone was letting it fizzle out.
I pressed the buzzer at the Walsh Associates building and announced my appointment, and promptly heard the lock click open. Unwrapping my scarf and smoothing my hair in the office vestibule, a blur descended the stairs and pushed me against the door. My faux-combat training instincts kicked in, and my elbow pressed into his windpipe and my heel connected with his foot.
And then a hand wrapped around my wrist, and I noticed the TAG Heuer watch and its cobalt face. I knew that watch. I’d looked at that watch at the party, when the needy ache between my legs was too overwhelming and I wanted to be done with mindless chatting.
“Oh shit, it’s you, I’m sorry!” I stepped back, my hands flying to my mouth.
I suppose attacking Matthew was one way of ending our little arrangement.
Matthew bent at the waist and coughed, his eyes flashing in my direction. “It’s nice to see you too,” he rasped. “What just happened?”
I rubbed his back as he coughed again. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize it was you. You caught me off guard.”
