Page 11 of About That Rule

“So? You always play like shit,” Nate snarked back, tossing the ball back to him.

Peter, his other friend, stole the ball and scored another point. “You both play like shit.”

Todd gave him the middle finger as he sat down on the court.

Nate and some of his friends met up weekly to play. Besides Peter and Todd, Marquis and Devon normally joined too. It was cardio and time to shoot the shit, so Nate hardly missed a game. They played in a vacant court in Hell’s Kitchen, which was close to his apartment so there wasn’t a good excuse to miss the work out.

Peter slumped down next to him. “This is the only workout I get.”

“Outside of chasing after Fiona, same for me.” Todd and his wife Lola had a baby girl last year. Whenever he could, he gabbed about it. Nate didn’t predict he’d have any of his own kids in his future, but fatherhood looked good on his friend.

“What are you fools doing this weekend?” Nate asked, sitting next to the other two on the court.

“Nothing,” Peter answered first. “You flaked on going out last weekend. Let’s do something.”

Todd stretched his legs out. “Lola and I are visiting my parents in Boston. They haven’t seen Fiona in two weeks and are acting like it’s been a year so there’s no way I can get out of it.”

“I want to have some people over on Saturday night,” Nate informed them all business-like. It was all he could muster. Ever since this damn marriage happened, it was like he was on autopilot until the annulment.

Todd laughed. “Am I so far removed from the single life that whoring around has changed from bar hopping to small house parties?”

“Fuck you,” Nate said half-heartedly so he didn’t focus on how he was no longer part of the single scene. “You remember my friend Samantha? She’s visiting and I thought a party would be fun.”

“Peter, you have to go,” Todd urged him while moving his legs in front of him for a better stretch. “I met Samantha before—when I was single, I would like to add—and she was hot. Like, hotter than any of the girls you two idiots manage to hook up with.”

Peter lifted an eyebrow. “I was planning to go either way. But why would I want to see her? If she’s visiting, I bet she’s his friend with benefits.”

“Not at all,” Todd responded before Nate could. “He always gives this big speech about how they grew up together and it’s not like that.”

Peter was another person who loved the single life, but he’d claimed many times that he’d settle down and have a family when he met the right woman. Nate had to make sure Peter was aware Samantha wasn’t the right woman for him. Technically, even if they weren’t telling anyone, she was married, so she wasn’t even a viable option.

“It’s not like that,” Nate lied, turning his gaze to Peter. “But I still don’t want you chasing after her.”

His friends both had confused looks on their faces but didn’t say anything. Conversation went back to Fiona and how she was the fastest crawler alive. It was a relief for Nate. The new topic eased the pit in his stomach. Thinking of Samantha being with someone else made him feel off.

By the time he got home, Samantha was still on his mind. They had texted here and there but hadn’t talked on the phone since she announced they were adding kissing to their to-do list.

He replayed their conversation over and over again. The easy flow of talking to each other had spiraled into something they hadn’t done before: flirting.

Since when did he flirt with Samantha?

Apparently, the answer was ever since they got hitched. And what was even more interesting, was that he liked this new version of them.

When they last talked, he’d had to get off the phone with her or he was going to cross a line. The line called initiating phone sex. He was starting to crave her, and he didn’t know what to do about it. His work schedule was normally busy, but if he didn’t have a hammer in his hand or wasn’t telling someone what to do, his mind drifted to Samantha. It was dangerous territory he was stepping in but stopping wasn’t an option.

This annulment couldn’t come soon enough.