Page 17 of The Christmas Mistake

But, then again, I have to admit that Nicholas was pretty good that night. Pretty great, in fact. He was tender, but dominant, in the bedroom. If it weren’t for his arrogant personality and the fact that he is a giant dickface, I would say that I even had a pretty satisfying time. Probably the best lay I’ve ever had.

But it was still Nicholas Carter. That cocky son-of-a-bitch.

I shake my head and quickly order another Negroni. I want to erase all memories of that finance bro and enjoy my night with my friend.

Evie watches me as I gulp down my new drink with gusto.

“Well,” she says. “How about we forget about boring old Nicholas and find ourselves some class-A dick to sit on.”

“Evie…”

“Oh. Don’t look now but there are some guys on the other side of the bar giving us the eye,” she whispers. “Perfect timing. How about we give them a little wave? They might be exactly the dick we’re looking for.”

I quickly reach for my Negroni. Before I can even look at these guys I’m gonna need another drink.

6

NICHOLAS

“So, are you fucking anyone at the moment?” my friend asks me.

I nearly spit out my beer at how fucking out-of-field that question is.

“Aidan…”

He raises his hands. “Yeah, yeah. I know. You’re a private guy, Nicholas. But you can tell me if you’re balls-deep inside a gal.”

“How could I be balls-deep inside a woman when I’m wasting my Friday night sitting here drinking beers with you?”

“Very funny,” Aidan says, grinning. “But, come on. You can certainly tell me.”

“Nope.”

“Please, Nicholas. Throw me a juicy bone. I never hear about your love life.”

“Don’t call it that…”

“You can trust me. You can tell me.”

“Oh, I definitely know you’re all ears, Aidan,” I reply. “I’ll be sure to come to you if there’s anything to say.”

He leans towards me. “Well, until then, do you want to hear about my latest love life escapades?”

I roll my eyes and settle back into the couch. “Not really, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me regardless.”

“I took a girl to the German Christmas Markets. You know the ones just outside of town?”

“Hang on, I thought literally a minute ago that you were going to ask out Chastity Wilde?”

Aidan shrugs as if it’s no big deal. “Let’s just say a guy can have multiple fishing rods in the ocean at any one time, right?”

“Jesus Christ. You’re unbelievable.”

“So, I took this girl to the German Christmas Markets…”

“And, let me guess, you fingered her behind a shed?”

Aidan looks at me in mock indignation. “Don’t be so rude, Nicholas.”