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“I’m serious! All of my buddies had the same pussy-hungry attitude I used to—hell, a few work for Elite Escorts, so they’re getting plenty, but I’m bored, man. Seriously. The only thing that interests me is something real, you know? Like you and Ash have. Guy, girl, I don’t really care either way.”
“Elite Escorts?”
“You know…escorts.”
“Prostitution?” I asked for clarity—not that I would judge a person for how they earned a living.
“Lots of them get paid to use their dicks, but sometimes it’s just to be eye candy for events and that sort of shit. Why? Do you think it’s wrong?”
I snorted. “As long as someone works hard to pay their bills, what do I care?”
“Hard.” Colton let out a chuckle, and I rolled my eyes.
“You’re adventurous. Why don’t you switch over to looking for relationships instead of hookups on Missing Link? See what you can find. There are thousands of profiles of people hoping for something real, just like you.”
“You guys have any luck yet?”
I considered Skylar, my thoughts torn.
In some ways, Colton reminded me of her—impulsive, chatty, unable to focus on more than instant gratification…and I loved the guy.
So what was it about Skylar that thickened my walls and made me twice as stubborn as normal?
“That’s some long-assed silence, Rhett. Daydreaming about someone?”
“I wouldn’t call it daydreaming,” I muttered.
“Hmm. Sounds like someone has your panties all twisted up.”
I scowled, the sense of instability inside me a feeling that turned my thoughts dark. “Skylar falls terribly short of being the type of woman who could make me lose my head like Ash has done.”
“Ooo!” He laughed evilly, and I could imagine him rubbing his hands together. “A woman has gotten under your skin—she’s threatening the wall of granite you think you are.”
“Fuck off,” I muttered.
“She makes you feel, doesn’t she?”
“She doesn’t stop talking. And smiling. Her mind flits from one thing to the next like a hummingbird—she can’t focus worth a shit, and it drives me nuts. She’s always laughing with Ash, touching him like she can’t keep her hands off his body.”
“Some—one’s jea—lous,” he sang the words, deepening my frown.
I didn’t deny his assumption because the term sounded appropriate for the feelings I had toward Skylar.
“What’s she look like?” Colton asked.
“Gorgeous. Pale skin, auburn hair, and she has these big green eyes that are so damn expressive…” My thought trailed off as I recalled the way she’d looked at me when I’d been buried balls deep in her body.
Colton’s chuckle pulled me back to the present. “Someone has it bad.”
My scowl slammed into place once more. “I do not.”
“She makes you feel alllll the damn feels, am I right? That’s what you can’t stand. Go ahead and deny it, Rhett Stirling, Mr. I-Hate-Vulnerability Asshole.”
“This doesn’t sound like you venting,” I muttered since I couldn’t deny the truth he spoke.
It wasn’t Skylar’s sunshiny nature that rubbed me the wrong way. A part of me secretly enjoyed the sense of life she’d brought inside the walls of our home.
Most of the time, at least. Earlier? Well, the silence I’d sought out in my office had been golden.