AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yeah. But then right after Thanksgiving dinner, he and all his dude-bros go outside and talk, and then he disappears. The next thing I know, Billy White comes in and says the weather cleared enough to get me home for Thanksgiving, but I had to leave right then.”
“Okay.”
“I asked where Brick was, but he said he’d gone for a run, which was obviously a lie because who goes for a run in the dark with a full stomach when it’s freezing out?”
“Oh, shit.”
“I know.”
“So what did you do?”
“So I left! I mean, I obviously didn’t belong there. Clearly they didn’t want me there, or they wouldn’t be rushing me off.”
“Or maybe they just thought you wanted to spend Thanksgiving with your own family and were trying to get you there considering you’d already sacrificed most of your holiday for work.”
Huh. Aubrey, the voice of reason.
“Yeah, maybe.” I know I can be touchy about the class-difference thing. Did I make it all up?
No, I don’t think so. But now I’m not sure.
“So how was the sex?” Aubrey puts a suggestive purr in her voice, steering me back to the good part.
“Ah-mazing. Insane. Incredible.”
“So you got something out of it. That’s good.”
“I did…but I don’t think I should do it again.”
“Why not?”
“It feels too dangerous. I don’t want to catch feelings because I already know how these things end.”
“Wait, whoa. What does that mean?”
“I mean there’s no way I’m ever going to actually end up with a guy like Brick Blackthroat. People may dally outside their social strata, but that’s all it is. A dalliance.”
“So you’re saying because you’re not going to marry this guy, you can’t enjoy some hot sex and helicopter rides?”
Something twists beneath my ribs. I don’t want to give up any of it.
But I have to. It would only end in disaster. And I’m not the type to take risks when I know they won’t pay off.
“No more sex with the boss,” I say firmly.
“Okay,” Aubrey agrees. “I say you keep torturing him. Wear the dresses and withhold sex. He’ll go nuts.”
Somehow, that doesn’t feel right either.
I don’t want to withhold anything from Brick Blackthroat.
But that is my most dangerous thought of all.
I end the call with Aubrey and throw on a robe to pad out to the kitchen where my mom and Brayden are demolishing the Sunday crossword. I stand over their shoulders, offering answers to the remaining clues.
“Bruh, it’s no fun when you’re around,” Brayden grumbles. “Between you and Mom, it goes too fast.”
My mom, who has a PhD in literature, kicks butt at the New York Times crosswords, but Brayden and I can hold our own. I guess all of us enjoy a challenge.
