Gorgeous model, sulky sub, and my very ex-boyfriend. Over a year back, he’d moved to LA for his career, and soon after, accidentally sent me a video of him on his knees sucking dick. Turned out he’d gotten together with some rich old man in Los Angeles.
If it had hurt a little less, I might have congratulated him. Rich old daddy was definitely a step up from broke-ass student. I’d killed things off with Miles—by text, since that seemed the path of least resistance—but every so often when he came back in town for a photo shoot, he tried to hook up with me again. Guy couldn’t seem to take a no, and even when I blocked him, he still got in with a new number, always acting like nothing at all had happened.
I couldn’t pick up my phone because my hands were still all covered in sex, but I could read the text before the screen went dark again. Even though it was another new number, I knew it was Miles. Entitled and oblivious, demanding to know when we could catch up for a play session.
I was so disgusted that I didn’t even notice Tyler coming out of the bathroom. “Am I really so terrible to look at?” he asked with a grin.
“What? No.” I schooled my face, shaking off the thought of Miles. “Just my fuckboy ex trying to hook up with me again.”
“Oh.” The way Tyler said it was almost-casual as he rubbed off his damp chest with the towel. “You want me to clear out so you can—”
“Hell, no.” I wasn’t missing out on my second-favorite activity with Tyler Blakely, Amazing Sub: cuddling and aftercare. In fact, some days I thought it might even be my first-favorite activity to do with him. So I quickly disabused him of any crazy notions. “He’s an ex for a reason, and he’s not on the radar,” I told Tyler firmly. “I never want to see his stupid face again. You know, if could get out of the city completely while he’s here over New Year’s, I would. Now get that sore, sexy ass over here so we can cuddle.”
He laughed. “Yeah, maybe wash those sticky fingers first?”
He had a point. I took the world’s fastest shower and then I dived back into bed with him, pulling him into my chest, nuzzling into the back of his shoulder.
“I know what you mean about never wanting to see exes again,” he said, which meant he’d been ruminating on our conversation. He was thinking about his own ex, a guy he still mentioned from time to time, which made me wonder if Tyler was really over him.
“I mean, I’m totally over Shane,” he said, “but I’m dreading having to tell all my LA friends. You know? I kind of gave my buddy Jon the impression that we were still together, and when he sent the formal invite for his wedding, Shane was right there as my plus-one.” He gave a big sigh, and I cuddled him closer, rubbing tenderly over his bruised nipples the way I knew he liked.
“I don’t get it,” I said. “If this Jon is your friend, he’d sympathize. Right?”
“Yeah, but…” Another sigh. “I guess at first, I was just too sensitive about it. Really didn’t feel like talking it through. And now it’s so close to the wedding, I don’t want Jon worrying about me. It’s his big day, and I know him—he’ll focus in on me the whole time if he thinks I’m heartbroken.”
“Are you? Heartbroken?” I hoped he couldn’t hear my heart, getting faster and faster the longer he stayed quiet.
“I’m tired of looking,” Tyler said at last. “Jon getting married just kind of rubs it in. Plus everyone back home seems to have spent this year finding the loves of their lives. The last thing I need is a whole group of my LA friends trying to cheer me up over New Year’s.”
“God, how dare they.” My response drew a chuckle from him, at least.
“And when they’re not trying to cheer me up, they’ll be trying to set me up. I just know it. You know what I should do? I should find some guy to stand in and pretend to be Shane for the week, just to save me from the embarrassment,” he chuckled. “That’s kind of what Jon did himself, you know? He and Cooper faked being together, right at the start, to get Cooper’s mom off his back.”
I laughed with him, but when it died out, I was left thinking something crazy. I was still on a high from the sex—it was always so amazing with him—and I felt so comfortable with Tyler there in my arms, so protective of him. So it came out of me without much thought.
“You know what? You should do it. Invite someone to be Fake Shane for a few days, just to get you through the wedding.”
Tyler snorted. “Sure. Great idea. Who the hell would agree to something like that?”
“I would.”
Chapter 2
Tyler
I turned over in Damon's arms and stared at him, ready to laugh again when he confirmed it was just a joke.
But it wasn’t just a joke, apparently, because he sat there with a questioning face, that sexy, bedroom-eyes stare serious instead of jokey.
“What?” I squeaked at last. “What did you—”
“I’ll do it. I’ll be Fake Shane.”
He wasn’t laughing, so I laughed, an awkward snicker. “Oh, my God, are you serious?”
“Why not?” He warmed to his theme. “I want out of the city while my ex is prowling around. He’s one more text away from officially stalking me, and I don’t want to give him the chance to conveniently ‘run into me’ while he’s in New York. And you don’t want all the commiserations and pitying looks your friends are going to dole out on you in the middle of a huge celebration of love and devotion. So—I rock up with you, play Shane for a few days, get you through.”
“And…you get out of reach of your creepy ex while he’s here over New Year,” I finished. “But Damon, I can’t ask you to do that. It was just a—a crazy idea, a joke.”
