The Bacelor: Make A Sex Deal

And we’d be done.

That still didn’t solve the problem I had right now, which was my ass on this couch with a raging fucking hard-on in my pants.

Sure, there were plenty of women I could call, chicks who had more than enough experience to do whatever I wanted.

But something had become extremely apparent tonight.

Something I didn’t want to even admit to myself.

Not a single one of those women-or any I’d ever been with-could compare to Oaklyn Rose.

“To twin time,” my sister said in her seat across from me at the round table positioned in the corner of the bar. She aligned our glasses and tapped them together before she took a sip of her wine. “Man, I’ve needed this. It has felt like the longest week ever.”

I adjusted my ass on the small barstool and swallowed the vodka in my mouth. “You’re not kidding. Shit is out of control with Hooked. HR has already reassigned a bunch of team members to join us. Not to mention, the weight of our current caseload and how much time those clients need from us in addition to the Hooked dudes. The past two nights, I haven’t left the office before midnight.”

“And this is why we love Fridays, amiright?”

Even though I’d only taken a sip, I connected eyes with our waiter and pointed at my glass, letting him know I was already ready for a refill.

I then turned to Hannah and said, “Except Declan mentioned something about going in this Sunday. Do me a favor; work your magic and make sure that doesn’t happen.”

She laughed. “I don’t have that much power.”

“But you do.” I swished the tumbler around, mixing the splash of dirty with the vodka. “That man doesn’t fold to anyone but you.”

“All right, I’ll see what I can accomplish, but I make no promises. It’s all about timing with him, so I’ll have to plan this one out.”

“I know when the perfect time would be, but please don’t make me tell you.” I made a gagging face. “The last thing I want to think about is you and my boss together.”

She squeezed my arm that rested on the table, giggling. “I’m on it.”

I glanced around the bar, looking for the guys, surprised as hell that I didn’t see one of them. “You know, Jenner, Dominick, and Ford were trying hard to get in on tonight. They wanted to come. Bad.”

“And you wouldn’t let them?”

I shook my head. “You said you wanted it to be twin time.”

“Oh boy.”

“What?” My brow furrowed as I stared at her, trying to figure out what was on her mind. “Should I have let them come?”

She dragged her nail across the top of the table, like she was picking something off. “No, it’s not that. It’s …” She paused to look at her watch. “It doesn’t matter. Anyway, tell me all the things. I feel like I have no idea what’s going on in your life right now.”

“You see me multiple times a day. We text constantly. What the hell are you talking about?”ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“Girls. Who’s the newest one in the picture?”

I guzzled half my booze, hoping the waiter didn’t take too long with my refill. “You already know the answer to that, Hannah.”

“Then, who was making you smile the other day when I popped into your office?”

I leaned my arms on the table. “The other day, the other day,” I repeated, acting dumbfounded even though I knew exactly what she was referring to. “I think it was probably Jenner, sending me some fucking meme that made me laugh.”

“Hmm.” She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“Why do you feel the need to play PI with me? Meddling away, like usual, when there’s nothing to investigate.”

She flipped her hair off her shoulder. “First off, our cousins are all taken, so I can’t get up in their business and play matchmaker. But you have to admit, I did a wicked job with Ford. I literally set him up with Sydney. I mean, I mostly did despite the fact that she’d already slept with him, which is a minor, unimportant detail.”

I dipped the straw into the clear liquid, like I was fishing. “Don’t tell me your next conquest is me.”

She gripped my forearm. “I don’t want you to be single forever.”

“Why? My sex life and who I date-if you can even call it that-shouldn’t be a thought in your mind.”

“But it is.” Her other hand gripped the stem of her wine. “I want nieces and nephews and a sister-in-law who’s going to become my new bestie.”

“Must I remind you that we’re twenty-five years old? Kids aren’t on my radar; they shouldn’t be on yours either.” I drained the rest of my vodka. “Besides, you already have a bestie. Her name is Oaklyn.”

“True.” She nodded, smiling. “But I have room in my life for another one, just like, despite Macon being your best friend, you still have room for Declan, and he’s become more than just your mentor.”

Out of all the cousins, Jenner and I had always been the closest, and when things had become more serious between him and Jo, it’d happened to be one hell of a coincidence that I knew her cousin Macon and was good friends with him. He was just a few years older than me, and we’d played soccer together. Macon had two older brothers, Cooper and Brady, but they had graduated before I got to high school. Now that Jenner and Jo were engaged, the two families merged for most holidays, and we spent a lot of time with the Spades. I liked them all, but the dude I had the most in common with was Macon, for sure.

I groaned, “Declan’s a serious pain in my fucking ass-that’s what he’s become to me.”