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“No, it’s the best time. I’ve seen you strut your stuff through that ER, solving a dozen problems simultaneously. And I’ve never seen you wait patiently. The more balls you have in the air, the better you perform.”
“I don’t need our landlord’s balls on top of everything else right now.” Before either of them could enjoy the dirty joke, chills prickled up Eryn’s spine, remembering why they’d left the party so early. “Showing up at the fundraiser like that? She wanted me to know she’s watching, and after what she did to her real sister’s lover?”
Lexi glanced at Vann and back to Eryn, shaking her head and maybe, just maybe, relenting to a little sympathy over Eryn’s impossible love life. “Stop being my big sister and let me take care of you for once. First of all, you could use some endorphins from sex instead of running.”
Eryn snorted and flipped her sopping hair back.
“I want someone watching your back. Someone who can at least call me if something happens, and Vann is…” Lexi gritted her teeth and flicked a look at Vann, then back to Eryn. “Just look at him. He can handle himself.”
“I can handle myself.”
“I know. But it would at least be nice to have someone to call me if the fit his the shan, and that bitch comes for you when I’m not around.”
Eryn puffed her cheeks and glanced back at Vann. He did work security.
“Vann?” Lexi asked over the car.
He tipped a nod.
“Do me a solid and make sure Eryn eats dinner? She’s been so stressed at work that I’m afraid she’s going to get trapped in her bubble again.”
“Sure,” he said easily.
Eryn knocked Lexi in the arm. “I hate you.”
“Love you too.” Lexi climbed in and winked at Eryn.
As soon as the car rolled away, Vann buried his hands in his pockets and searched her expression, her posture, reading everything. Something told her he didn’t miss a thing. “I should, um, check your fridge.”
Eryn shook her head and snorted. “Don’t bother. It’s working just fine.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Lexi is trying to set us up.”
“Is that a problem? I’d say that fundraiser was barely even a friend thing.” He shrugged and watched her curiously. “I’ve been trying to decide when to ask you out on a real, one-and-only, meaningful sex date.”
Tisiphone would understand the desire for company. Something told her Tisiphone was a fan of one-nighters, although Eryn suspected they ended their nights very differently.
Just for tonight, she could feel warm again. Normothermic hadn’t described her since… that day so long ago, before Tisiphone, and fucking hell, the idea of being wrapped up in Vann, wrapping around him—his ninety-eight-point-six cock buried deep inside her and warming her from the inside out… a feverish burn hummed low in her belly, and she bit back a laugh at her horny humor. Yes, definitely, she needed a little fun.
“Okay,” she said, her lips pursing as she tamed the smile.
“Okay,” he echoed.
She didn’t move. Neither did he.
“I’ll just…”
“Come on over when you’re ready, and I’ll fix dinner?”
“Sure.”
8
The woman might be perfect. Whatever her reasons for avoiding relationships, she was dead serious that she would bail long before anything resembling commitment started.
What to cook for a… what was this, exactly?
