Where are you? I’m in New Gothenburg.
My stomach quivered. It wasn’t a long drive from my small hometown to New Gothenburg. I’d been there once to take my brother to a surgeon when he fucked up his knee playing football.
Minetto, NY.
I settled in for another long wait but got a response back fast.
Do you think you can do this for me? My husband would be really excited about it.
Tapping my phone on my knee, I worked up my courage. No guts, no glory.
You know what? If you can pay half up front, I’m all-in. Six grand.
I added my Venmo info and nearly died as I hit Send. That was a ton of money. So much money. I would be fine for a couple of months if he gave me half now. Just fine. I slowly let out a long breath. But what if he decided it was too much?
My phone dinged, and I gaped as I checked my Venmo account.What the hippity-hoppity fuck?A six followed by three zeros didn’t seem real. He must have thought I meant twelve grand total, not six….
“Holy fuck,” I whispered to myself. Another notification vibrated my phone, and I switched over to my email again.
Can I talk to you? Like, a real call?
Hell, he could talk to me anywhere he wanted. I typed in my number quickly and hit Send. In less than a minute my phone was ringing in my hand. My pulse rattled in my throat as I answered.
“Hello, this is Logan.” I winced because I sounded like I was at work, but maybe that was fine because this was business.
There was pleasant laughter on the other end of the line. “Hi, I’m Declan.”
My heart kicked into high gear because he sounded so confident. “Hi,” I managed to reply weakly, and that had him laughing again. Fuck, I’d already said that.
“You have no idea how much this means to me. To my husband and me.”
“Happy to help.” I smacked the side of my face. If I couldn’t do better than this, he might take that money back, and I’d already picked out a nice warm bed for the night in my mind, rather than sleeping in my freezing fucking car.
“You sound even better live. Totally worth it.”
I chuckled and felt awkward as my face heated.
“So, what types of things are you willing to say?” he asked, with a hint of amusement in his tone.
Those zeros sitting in my bank account powered my mouth into action. “Anything you want.” And then, immediately, I wished I could take it back, but the damage was done.
“Fucking beautiful. This is going to be great. Can you meet somewhere to talk with me in person this week? Ope. My schedule is nuts right now. I have a full day off this coming Friday.”
Holding my breath, I finally let it out. “Isn’t this a lot of trouble to go to for an anniversary present?”
Declan laughed again, and I was shocked at how warm and delighted the sound was as it sank deep into me. Heat sparked in my chest, something I hadn’t felt in a long while.
“Jake is the best husband. I’m on the road a lot. Some of the guys come home to find their stuff on the street. Someone else in their bed. I’ve never once, in the years we’ve been together, worried about that.” He sounded very… content. That was so nice, I found myself swiping at my eyes and pretending I wasn’t.
My stomach churned. Earlier, while I’d sat in the car with nothing to do, I’d seen the Instagram pics from Miranda’s night out. Her all over some other man. Him with his hands on her. I was less upset about her cheating and more upset that she wanted to hurt me with it and make it all public. What would it be like to have someone who just loved you the way this guy sounded like he did his husband? “That’s great,” I replied weakly.
Declan let out a happy hum. “Jake’s everything to me. And you help him get off when I’m not home. Hell, sometimes when Iamhome. It’s almost like you’ve had sex with my husband.” This time when he laughed there was a definite edge of heat to it.
Tingles settled in my stomach. “Oh, I… uh… geez.” I laughed.
“Anyway, will you meet up with me?”
“Yeah,” I replied. We were only on the phone long enough for him to promise to think up a spot to meet, and then he said goodbye and hung up.
