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She makes a silly face and waggles her fingers in a wave as they turn to leave. I watch them walk away, dazed and confused by the revelation that just unfolded in front of me.

I don’t know what to make of that entire situation. Do her friends know? Shit, does my sister know? I start to chase that runaway train of thought until I hear a dull splat.

I look behind me, at the hood of my car, and palm my forehead. You have to be fucking kidding me. Letting out a long sigh, I reach into the bucket of soapy water and grab the sponge.

This day has already been screwed up enough. After I got home from The Hatch last night, I barely slept. I laid in bed all night and most of this morning thinking about the taste of her lips and how she felt riding my thigh. I was just starting to accept that it wasn’t a horny dream of mine and it actually happened. Then I started to consider what it might have meant—that I might still be into her more than I knew—until Sisi showed up, followed by Josie and Grace.

I still can’t believe that Josie is Black Sheep Bunni.

My Bunny is Black Sheep Bunni—the only girl that’s ever seriously caught my attention since, well, her. Those tattoos, that body… it’s always been Josie. I really don’t know how I missed all this—this new realization and that I’ve subconsciously been hiding my prosthetic from Josie—or what either of those things say about me.

Apparently, I’ll have time to reflect on that while I wash the fresh bird shit off the hood of my car, because fate just wants to keep dropping crap into my life.

CHAPTER 18

JOSIE

Custom Request

“Oh my god,” Grace says, propping her feet up on the ottoman in Sisi’s apartment. She grabs her glass of wine from the end table and takes a long sip, finishing the glass. “That hike was great, and drinks at The Hatch was a good call, but I’m so ready to kick back and relax.”

“Yeah, Silver Peak’s no joke. It’s a serious hike,” I say, sinking back into the couch, smoothing out the front of my denim miniskirt. Hiking was fun, and so was happy hour, but unlike her, I’m restless.

I thought a four-hour hike would be enough to burn off the nervous, horny energy that’s been building over the last two days. And I definitely thought winding down the night with the girls at Sisi’s place would give me a chance to finally relax.

Unfortunately, I was wrong.

Kissing Sly the other night was a mistake—one I’m still trying to convince myself was well intentioned—but the outcome hasn’t changed.

My body that I’m normally so in tune with—one that I’m used to listening to—is responding the same way it did when I was a teenager. Back then, Sly was lanky, awkward, and shy, but I was obsessed with him. In those days, I thought he was hot and had abs.

After seeing him shirtless this morning, I’m reminded that teenage Josie didn’t understand what real abs looked like, because that’s exactly what Sly has now—the body and the abs of a man.

Even after a couple of drinks at the bar and a glass of wine here, I can’t focus. Not when I’m remembering how he was only a foot away from me—shirtless and showing off that chest, complete with that trail of dark hair I wanted to dig my claws into. And then there was the print of his cock in those sweats—the icing on the cake that is Sylvester Sterling.

Normally, passing through a random small town, I’d listen to my body and take what I want. Except I can’t let that happen because this isn’t some random small town, and these people aren’t strangers. Kissing him was bad enough. I don’t know what my emotional state would be if I were to do more with him. I’ve enjoyed reconnecting with his sister and Maribel, and I don’t want to jeopardize that.

“Anyone need a refill?” Sisi asks, emerging from her kitchen with another bottle of wine in one hand and a box of leftover pizza in the other. As if right on cue, reminding me of why I need to distance myself from her brother.

Grace extends an arm and holds her wine glass high. “You read my mind.”

Sisi tops off her glass and looks at me. “You need another one?”

I let out a contemplative hum and consider her question. All this pent-up energy has me feeling like my skin is crawling with an itch I desperately need to scratch. Unfortunately, I don’t think wine and leftover pizza are going to cut it. This need of mine is going to take something a little more… stimulating.

My phone buzzes on the coffee table as I consider my options. When I see a reminder from OnlyVans that I still have a pending custom video request, my lips curl into a smile because I think I just found the solution to my problem.

Even if Sisi and the Sterlings won’t let me pay for my room, I know the bill for the parts alone for my van’s repair is going to be steep. Custom content and video requests normally pay well, and this one is no exception. Blowing off some steam and getting a nice payday sounds like a win-win right now.

“Actually, I think I’m going to call it night and get to bed.”

“Boo!” Grace says, tossing her head back with an exaggerated groan.

Sisi, on the other hand, seems to accept me calling it an early night. “Just means more wine and pizza for us.”

Grace tilts her head and looks up at the ceiling in thought, nodding when she realizes our friend has a point. “Fair enough.”

I peel myself off the couch and give them each a hug before heading out of Sisi’s apartment, through the lobby, and to the motel’s parking lot.