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“You are surprised I’d help you with your contract?”

“No”—I glance around to check if anyone is following me. The last thing I need is to have someone listen in now—“I meant the other part.”

“Oh, you meant that I want to look at the contract before I fuck you? We can reverse the order of events, if you prefer that.”

I frown. “You are totally making fun of me now, aren’t you?”

He chuckles. “Do you want to know how I’d like to do you tonight?”

The smart thing would be to tell him to surprise me at home, but I was never known to be smart, so fuck it. “How?”

“I want you naked the moment you step through the front door. I want to bend you over the dining table with your eyes right on the painting of you. I don’t have a mirror big enough, yet, but I want to fuck you while you look at yourself.”

“A mirror…” I mutter.

“Just imagine you could see how I enter you from behind,” he continues. “The face you’d make, your pretty mouth open and gasping for air.”

I wonder what kind of expression he would make then.

“I hate you!” I huff.

“Why, are you getting hard for me already?”

“Yes, you asshole!”

“Ah, that potty mouth of yours. I expect you to put it to good use later,” Aden chuckles. “Then hurry home, and don’t let your boyfriend wait any longer.”

I glare at my phone, not sure if I want to run to Aden’s place to strangle him or run there to jump his bones. For a moment, I imagine how he would bend me over the table and fuck me. Well, jump his bones, it is. It will probably prove to be more fun than sulking.

Still, I need to find a way to pay him back. He definitely made sure to rile me up and give me that boner on purpose.

Fortunately, Ster pulls me out of my predicament by calling to ask me about the new job. It’s way past midnight already, but it’s Ster, and I am used to him calling during ungodly hours. The guy tends to get lost in his art at times. I don’t think he always notices how late it actually is, once he is done with his work and ready to interact with friends and family. The only exception is Roxana.

There was a time when I used to be annoyed by how much of an airhead he could be.

But we all have our shortcomings. Ster is always truly interested in what the people close to him are doing and how they feel, and that’s more important than being upset at being called at 1 a.m.

Besides, it’s exactly the distraction I need to forget about what Aden just promised me.

“Mateo told me everything,” Ster says instead of a hello. “I am happy for you, Noel.”

“Eh, Mateo doesn’t know I got the job. I was on my first shift to see how I’d cope,” I tell him. “Then I quit at my other two places and called Aden.”

“I knew you would get the job,” Ster says simply. “No need to verify it.”

“You are such a weirdo,” I exclaim. “Why would you think that?”

“Because you are better than you give yourself credit for,” he says. “Of course, they would want you. I bet the other bar you introduced yourself to today will want to hire you, too. You are extremely quick on the uptake, like to work at late hours, are a diligent worker, extroverted, and good at risk assessment and management,” he says. “Plus, you are a handsome guy. You are a bar owner’s wet dream.”

“Way to make that sound weird.”

“But it’s true.”

“Really?” I ask. “I never saw it like that.”

“Yeah, I know, Mateo knows too,” Ster says. “I am glad you are finally starting to see your own worth. And reclaiming your life, getting rid of that debt and all that.”

“Took me a while,” I mutter.