Big Dick Energy - Cindi Madsen Page 0,18

I’d met had been obsessed with snuggling in bed. It wasn’t for me. I liked my space and already slept too warm. Not that I was the type of guy who kicked a woman out of bed the instant after the deed was done, but I’d never wanted to intertwine my life with someone’s to the point I couldn’t easily be extricated.

Mom had told me that I’d never win if I didn’t play the dating game, but I’d seen enough relationships from the sidelines to know they mostly meant power struggles and losing. Like my buddy. We’d made plans to meet up at Paddy’s last Friday weeks ago. He’d had to clear them with his fiancée beforehand, only to have to cancel on one of her whims.

Izzie passed me a napkin and then placed her own over her lap. “So,” she asked as she shoveled a bite of lasagna in her mouth, “how was your first day at the new office?”

Naturally, my mind didn’t go to my meeting with Doug, the tour of the office and talk of hitting the golf course, or the nice cubicle set up they’d given me with plenty of room for drawing up blueprints. It went to the blonde who glared and repeatedly clicked and unclicked her pen against the side of her head, cheek, or jawbone while she was thinking. “Fine. Pretty much the same old same.”

Save Penelope Jones, who’d disliked me before I’d even opened my mouth. And that was whether we were talking at the bar or this morning in the conference room.

“I want to work in a big skyrise building when I grow up. Well, if the popstar thing doesn’t work out.”

Heaven help me.

Then again, at least Izzie would have me to look out for her. The first contract I’d signed had been a mess that left me holding the short end of the stick, but I’d been too eager to make some real money after a lifetime of barely scraping by. Dad’s meager high school teacher and coach salary left us on the poor end, especially in L.A. I’d worked odd jobs as I could to help, although he’d insisted I play the field. Not with women, per se, but for every sport that was offered. I’d never considered myself scrawny until I’d played high school football and sat bench most of the season. Soccer was where I shined, and not just because Dad was the coach.

Although yeah, having him teach me to play from the time I could walk definitely factored into it being my sport of choice. It’d always been the foundation of our relationship, so I’d chosen to wait tables and tend at a sports bar. That way I could catch the games and be prepared to pick apart and analyze the games and discuss what they should’ve done.

I drank my water, washing down my last bite of my food. “Hey, before you ever sign anything—and I mean anything—you bring it to me so I can read it first.”

“Yeah, okay,” Izzie said. “We don’t really go on field trips anymore, though.”

“I meant legally binding documents. More after you graduate high school.”

“Seems forever away.”

“It’ll be here before you know it,” I said, and then I frowned at my own words. I didn’t expect it to happen at thirty-one, but it was official. I was old now. Extra weird, since I was only a year younger than my stepdad—not that I’d ever ever refer to Kyle as that.

“Is your boss a he or a she? Or are they non-binary?”

The question surprised me enough that I inhaled the lettuce leaf with the mango chardonnay vinaigrette. While I’d rather drink the dressing than the ever-popular white wine served at most business functions, I refused to let it lead to my demise. No way would I let “choked on salad” be listed as my cause of death. I swigged my water, recovered my voice, and said, “His name is Doug Bishop.”

“Oh.” So much disappointment packed into one bitty world, and Izzie’s expression matched. The other thing I’d learned during our few days of cohabitation was that asking the whys behind her constant stream of questions was unnecessary; she’d tell me. “Did you know sixty percent of women would earn more if they were paid the same as men? I was hoping you’d work at a more progressive company.”

One day hardly qualified me to judge BJB Architecture Firm, although now that Izzie had called my attention to it, I’d never worked with another