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“Was the sex really that good?” Ambrose grinned, and Banner flicked pool water in his face. His friend swam out of range and floated up onto his back. The beer-logo swim shorts Ambrose wore looked trashy in the tastefully decorated indoor pool area. How the guy had made a mint as a shipping magnate was still a mystery. He cleaned up okay, but Banner could still see the roughness in his manners, even when he was in his suit and tie disguise.
With his dry hand, Banner hit the lock button on his phone and tossed it onto his towel before Ambrose destroyed yet another of his phones with his shenanigans.
“I was checking on Rook.”
“Sure you were. I recognize that expression.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Ambrose smirked. “You’ve got it bad.”
“Fuck off.” There was no point in denying it. He barely knew the girl¸ and he was angsting over her more than he had right to. Going into their arrangement, he’d known it wasn’t going to turn into anything long term, but after just one day together, he had the most idiotic crush on her.
Ambrose swept his arms across the water, the heavy black Roman numeral tattoos still looking as new and crisp as the Norse tats on Banner’s forearms. The shop Konstantin had picked for them all to use years ago had been a good choice.
Doing a few laps helped Banner burn off some nervous energy. When he was done, he treaded water in the deep end.
“Now, if you’d tell me what you did with her, I could give you a more informed idea about why she’s not returning your texts.” His friend paused, and his gaze sharpened. “You haven’t sent any more texts, right?”
“I’m not telling you anything, perv. And no, I haven’t.”
“Good man. You have to leave the ball in her court now, otherwise you look desperate and creepy.” Leave it to Ambrose to be a smug bastard about women, as though his own love life was healthy and thriving.
“I know that, jerkoff.”
“I don’t think you really know how this works, Banner. When was the last time you wanted a girl and she didn’t jump up and down and clap her hands? You need advice from your wingman to get through this.”
Banner sighed. “Konstantin would know what to do.”
“Well, he’s visiting his babushka, so your sorry ass is stuck with me.”
“I know he won’t be back from Russia for a while, but the next time he goes we have to make sure he gets a fucking Facebook account first. He doesn’t check his e-mail.” Banner swam to the edge of the pool and hoisted himself out. “Although, how exactly would either of you give me advice on this, anyway? It’s not like you’ve had . . .” He grabbed a towel and scrubbed the water from his hair. There was no way to finish that sentence that didn’t sound awkward and pathetic.
“It’s not like I’ve had, what? A girl blow me off? Try having your sub abandon you after six years.”
“Jeez. Do you need a tissue, Ambrose? Shae left you almost two years ago. You don’t get to play that card every time I have relationship issues.” Sometimes it seemed like Ambrose was just using Shae as an excuse to not get involved in anything serious again. Sleeping with Banner’s exes amused him, but he didn’t seem to be ready for more. “I was there for you through that, but you need to get counseling or something if you’re still messed up about it. I have more to complain about at this point. My last few relationships never even got to the point of a collar.”
Ambrose snorted. “Maybe your dick is defective.”
“Fuck you.”
“I think it’s better if we just stay friends. Your defective dick might ruin things between us.”
Banner whipped a pool noodle at him, and Ambrose ducked, laughing. What kind of millionaire trashed up their indoor oasis with pool noodles? Ambrose, that’s who.
As Ambrose got out of the pool, Banner sat in one of the rattan chairs and opened a soda.
“Kate called me Master. Twice.”
The levity drained from the room. Ambrose paused in his toweling, and his brows shot upward. “Seriously? That’s an interesting turn of events.”
“Yeah.” Banner shifted in his seat, replaying both instances in his mind. If it had been a regular situation, Kate’s reactions to him would have been very promising. Instead, she didn’t want him, and the lost opportunity had been making him grouchy for days. He’d tried fishing for information from his friend Chris, since his wife was Kate’s best friend, but he didn’t know anything. “It wasn’t something I asked her to do. It was just a knee-jerk thing for her, I think, but it’s fucking with my head.”
“You connected, obviously. The spark and the dynamic were there?”
“It was wild. If she wasn’t new and only interested in experimenting I’d be on her doorstep, trying to convince her to give me a real shot. But that’s not what we agreed to.” He leaned back in the chair, the familiar creak of the rattan annoying him today. “I didn’t mean to sleep with her, but I’m only sorry that she thought it was a mistake.”
“Either you freaked her out, or she freaked herself out later.”
