Chapter 5
Setting Ground Rules
Logan
After taking an extremely long way back to make sure we hadn’t been followed, we finally pulled up to my beachside home, having sat in silence the whole drive.
“I need to take Mazy inside. Do you want to join me or would you rather just wait here?” I asked while unbuckling the dog’s leash from the clip in the back seat.
“I think I’m going to stay here,” Ari softly responded, looking completely shell-shocked.
“That’s what I figured.”
It didn’t take me long to get my pup inside and fill the food bowl with her dinner. After waiting a couple of seconds to make sure Mazy was good, I went to rejoin Ari.
Hopping in, I grabbed her hand. “I am so sorry I yelled at you. I really didn’t mean to.”
“It’s fine.” Her gentle gaze met mine as I relaxed my shoulders.
“Tonight was interesting,” I commented with a sigh.
Ari nodded. “That’s a word for it.”
“So should we set up some ground rules for this whole friends-with-benefits thing or what?” I asked, turning more toward her.
“Like not showing up unannounced from now on?” she baited with a coy grin.
“I deserved that, and I think that is a fair rule from this point forward.”
She crossed her legs in the seat. “What about seeing other people?”
The thought of Ari with anyone else made my stomach flip, but I didn’t want her to know that. “If there are no strings or titles, I feel like we can’t put that parameter in place.”
She nodded sharply. “All right. What about promising each other that if the opportunity arises, we are safe about it? We can’t sleep with other people without protection. I don’t want to catch something from a groupie.”
“I can promise that and one-up you with a rule of no groupies whatsoever. To put it mildly, they skeeve me out, and I don’t want to catch anything either.”
“What if we’re out at a bar and someone hits on you—do you go home with her or leave with me?”
Her question completely took me by surprise. “Leave with you. If I’m with you, I am not hunting for a new prospect,” I stated quickly without having to think twice about my response.
“Okay, so when we’re together, we’re together. Any other rules that come to mind?”
I tapped my forefinger to my lips while contemplating. “In the event that one of us has an obligation that calls for a date, if we don’t have someone else to bring, we go together unless a prior engagement prevents the other from attending.”
She shrugged. “I don’t see why that wouldn’t be reasonable.”
“Perfect. I have a charity ball to attend next weekend for the Welcome Home Angel organization. You’ll need a gown.”She walked right into that one.
Her deep amber eyes grew ten times. “You totally tricked me into that.”
Cocking my head to the side, I offered a tightlipped smile. “Do you have a gown?”
“No,” she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. “I do not have a gown. What if I have plans next Friday night?”
“Well, that is perfectly fine since the ball is Saturday. We’ll go shopping for a dress tomorrow.”
“You’re sneaky.”
