to the side. “You don’t snuggle. You don’t do sleepovers either. You also fuck everything that walks.”
“I checked on her ink, and we watched a movie and fell asleep.”
“While cuddling,” Lily adds.
I snarl. “Well, since we weren’t fucking, I dozed off.”
“Uh-huh,” Gigi mutters, laughing and elbowing Lily. “He dozed off from boredom. Is that what he’s saying?”
“Yep,” Lily says with a small giggle.
I wave my hand at them and stalk toward my workstation. “You two can fuck off.”
“He cleaned her tattoo and brought her Chinese, too,” Lily tells Gigi.
“Did she tell you everything?” I ask, not bothering to look at them.
“No. I didn’t know if you did anything more, but you confirmed it. She was cagey with her answer, which was odd.”
“She was cagey?”
“Yeah.” Lily shrugs. “Figured I’d get the rest out of her later since it’s literally her job to get the goods on you.”
“Right. I forgot,” I mutter, honestly forgetting that nothing that was happening between us was real.
It felt real.
Every moment I had been with her felt natural and not like we were acting a part as practice for the big event with another person.
Being with Arlo is easy, and I hate her for it—and Lily too.
“Did you want to kiss her?” Gigi asks as she plops down in the chair nearest me.
“Fuck yeah. I’m not blind. She’s gorgeous.”
“She isn’t your usual type,” Gigi tells me. “But there were definitely some sparks when you brought her to Mammoth’s shop to get her car.”
“There were not, and I have no type, cousin.”
She taps her chin, studying me. “If any woman is ready, willing, and able, along with having a very open vagina policy, you are game to hit that shit.”
I cover my eyes with my hand, shaking my head, hating her and Lily right now. “Not with Arlo.”
“And yet, you still went to her house,” Gigi says. “You’re smitten with her. Just admit it and save yourself some grief.”
“It’s fake, Gigi. I’m a pet project, and that’s it, babe. Let’s be real. A classy chick like Arlo isn’t going to be interested in a guy like me.”
“A guy like you?” she asks, jerking her head back, her eyebrows drawn down. “What the fuck does that mean?”
“She’s like the best of the best, and I’m…”
“A playboy?” she asks.
“That’s one way to describe me.”
“You’re a single guy who’s living his life. There’s no shame in that. Hell, Pike had a colorful past, and Jesus, look at Jett. We all have pasts, and they don’t define the person we are or who we will be in the future.”
“I don’t know,” I mutter.
“Do you truly like Arlo?” Lily asks me, coming to sit with us. “Like like her, like her?”
“I think so, babe. I don’t know how I feel. Maybe my head’s just foggy because I haven’t fucked another chick and it’s messing with my mind.”
“Then go fuck someone else and see how you feel afterward,” Gigi tells me like it’s no big deal.
“Technically, it’s against the agreement, but I’ve never seen you so grouchy and bent out of shape. Maybe you should. We can keep it our little secret,” Lily says, touching my shoulder.
“I like that idea,” Gigi agrees. “Go out tonight and see how you feel after. It may give you a new perspective on things.”
“Wait. I have a better idea,” Lily announces, her eyes widening before she claps her hands. “We’ll meet you at the bar and bring Arlo. You do your thing, and we’ll do ours. You’ll figure out if she really has some pull over you, and we can see if she feels the same. She was a little weird on the phone earlier and had me wondering. So this will be perfect.”
I stare up at her, confused as fuck. “You want me to hit on other women with Arlo watching? Do you even know how fucked up that is?”
Lily paces in front of me. “Just flirt with some girls, be your usual self. I want her to see how you work a room.”
“Dumbest shit I’ve ever heard,” I grumble.
Gigi twirls around in her seat and comes to a dead stop, her boots slamming against the tile. “Have you ever seen one of the women you’ve slept with at a bar and still left with someone else?”
“Well, duh. There are only so many bars and women in this town.”
She lifts her hands. “Point proven. Arlo shouldn’t be any different from the others. You’re not dating, and hell, you haven’t even kissed her. It shouldn’t be a big