Page 53 of The Rules of Dating

“Where are we going?” she asked.

I tickled her side. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“I would.” She tickled me back.

“Why? You worried I’m tricking you into a date? Far from it.”

Billie poked me with her finger. “Considering you seem to be taking me back to your apartment, I am suspicious. Is Saylor at your parents’ or something?” She snapped her fingers. “Wait, is this another laundry night?”

I chuckled. “Not going to my apartment. Although, considering the mountain of clothes I have back there, another laundry night can certainly be arranged.”

“Where else could we be going?”

“You’ll find out.”

“Is it a rooftop picnic?” she asked.

“Wouldn’t that be like a date?”

“Yup. Just testing you.” She winked.

“What we’re doing is far from a rooftop picnic, my dear.”

Excitement filled her eyes. “Well, now I’m intrigued.”

I feared she might be sorely disappointed. We continued down the hall and into the elevator. I pressed the number-two button for the second floor. She leaned against the wall as the elevator rose. I stood just inches away and leaned in to take a whiff of her delicious scent, momentarily feeling like I didn’t want to share her tonight. But instead of getting her all to myself, I was about to throw her to the wolves.

The doors opened, and she followed me down the hall. When we got to Owen’s place, I knocked.

Brayden answered the door. “Hey, dude.” His mouth curved into a smile as he got a look at Billie. He hadn’t met her yet. “Who’s this?”

“This is Billie. She owns the tattoo shop downstairs. She’s joining us tonight.” I placed my hand at the small of her back. “Billie, this is Brayden—amigo number three, the one I believe you haven’t met yet.”

“Nice to meet you, Brayden.” She held out her hand.

He took it and flashed a shit-eating grin. “Likewise.”

The smell of cigar hit me as we entered the apartment. Smoke billowed in the air, and the table was all set up with cards and poker chips. I didn’t love cigars like the other guys did, but I always had one anyway if they were all smoking around me.

I spoke into Billie’s ear. “Welcome to our quarterly poker night. Tonight you’re one of the guys. Undatelike enough for you?”

She nodded. “I love poker. This is the perfect undate.”

“You play?”

“I have played, yeah.” She jabbed me in the chest with her index finger. “You scared now?”

“Excited is more like it.” I turned to Owen. “Owen, you know Billie…”

He nodded. “Good to see you.”

I noticed his eyes briefly drop to her chest. That made me want to strangle him, though I couldn’t blame him for sneaking a peek. Billie had once again decided to torment me with a corset, this time the infamous royal blue one Holden had snapped photos of when she was out with that guy. She was definitely trying to kill me, and now she was making me want to kill my friend.

In typical Owen fashion, he was still dressed in his work clothes, a crisp, collared shirt rolled up at the sleeves and black dress pants—even on Saturday. We rotated hosting the poker night, and usually Owen was the last one to show up, even if it was at his apartment, since he’s constantly working late. I was surprised to see him on time tonight. If you looked up workaholic in the dictionary, I was pretty sure you’d see a picture of Owen.

Billie took a seat next to Brayden, and I sat next to Owen across from them. She helped herself to a cigar, and Brayden reached out with a match to light it.

“We have a cigar girl in the house. I like her already,” he said.