AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Charlie pointed to Sam. “In deference to Sam, I’ll leave Gracie out of it.”
“I appreciate that,” Sam said dryly. “And if James was here, I’m sure he’d appreciate it as well.”
Gracie Donovan was married to James now, but once upon a time she’d had a friends-with-benefits type of relationship with Charlie that everyone seemed pretty cool about. Her husband included.
“But here’s where you went wrong,” Charlie said, scrubbing his jaw as though thinking through what he wanted to say. “You picked Sophie.”
Ryder blinked at him. “That is no help.”
Griffin laughed. “I get it.”
“So do I,” Sam added.
“Well, I’m lost as shit.” Ryder’s brain hurt.
Charlie sighed. “You don’t pick women like Sophie for casual. Women like Sophie don’t reach inside you because they’re pretty and have a nice rack. They reach inside you because they are the total package.” He grinned.
Charlie clapped Ryder on the back. “I have a simple strategy for picking the women I bed. I have to be able to look into her eyes and know she’s not bullshitting me about a relationship.” He pointed at Sam. “Gracie was like that when I met her. That woman wanted nothing to do with commitment. Not sure I’d ever met a woman less interested in a relationship. That’s why she was so perfect. Hot as hell, up for anything in bed, and had no desire to talk about feelings.”
Sam rolled his eyes. “I’ll tell James you said so.”
“I’m sure he knows what your sister is like in bed.”
Sam scrubbed a hand over his face. “Why do I have to be friends with all my sister’s hookups? A brother isn’t supposed to know these things.”
“Back to the point.” Charlie held up a finger. “You have to have attraction, of course, but the insane chemistry you have with Sophie that rolls off the two of you and drives everyone crazy, I’d stay the hell away from that.”
“I tried.” He had. He slammed down the rest of his beer. “I really, really tried.”
Charlie gave him that eagle-eyed look. “You didn’t try.”
“I did.” She’d just been too addictive to ignore.
Charlie scoffed. “How long had you known her before you had your hands all over her? Less than twenty-four hours, I’d bet.”
Ryder scowled. “Obviously you’ve never experienced it or you’d understand.”
“I haven’t,” Charlie said, laughing. “If I ever ran into that kind of compulsion, I wouldn’t touch her with a ten-foot pole. I’m not an idiot.”
“How was that being an idiot?”
“Because it’s common sense. Everyone knows once you know what she tastes like, you can’t stop.”
Ryder was starting to feel a bit wobbly on his stool. “What do you have against relationships, anyway?”
“We’re not talking about me.” Charlie took a swig off the bottle. “I’ve got nothing against them. They’re just not for me. I’m not good husband material. I play to my strengths. It’s that simple.”
Ryder called bullshit, but knew Charlie well enough to know that was as much as he was going to say on that subject.
He turned to Griffin. “You have anything to add?”
He shrugged. “Maybe next time, if you don’t want to fall, pick someone a little less awesome. Did you know that last week, Sophie got Mary Beth to change her mind? And she did it so smoothly I don’t think Mary Beth even realized she’d ended up doing what Sophie wanted in the first place. Somehow she made Mary Beth think it was her idea.”
Ryder nodded. “Okay, so no commitment types, attraction but not chemistry, and dumb. Is that all?”
Sam tilted his head. “Maybe one that isn’t so daring and adventurous.”
“Pretty, low maintenance, dumb, and boring. Got it.” God, no wonder Sophie had knocked his feet out from under him. That had been his type for as long as he could remember, and the thought of eventually going back to it made him want to stab himself.
