Page 97 of The Toy Maker

“Yeah, it was, um…” I struggled to find the right word.

“Shitty?” Ethan offered.

I exhaled. “Yeah.” He nodded like he understood exactly how deep the hurt ran. But he didn’t. Because the worst part of tonight wasn’t Jason hooking up with someone else.

It was that hewanted me to see it.He had set out to hurt me, and that was what stung the most.

“So, what do you want?” My voice came out sharper than I intended, but I didn’t apologize. I was in no mood for polite chit-chat.

He hesitated for a moment. “Can I come in?”

I frowned before taking a swig of the whiskey, letting the burn settle in my chest. “No. I’m drinking, and I make bad decisions when I’m drunk.”

Ethan chuckled and glanced at the dingy floor. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to keep you company here then.” He shrugged.

Then, to my surprise, he sat down right outside my apartment like he had nowhere better to be. I fought back a smile.

“Care to join me?” he asked, patting the spot next to him.

I weighed my options:

A) Get smashed alone and sob myself to sleep.

B) Drink with a freakishly hot man who actually cares if I self-destruct.

It wasn’t really much of a choice.

I sank down beside him, stretching my legs out. The air was cool against my skin, but the whiskey was already doing its job, warming me from the inside out.

Ethan reached for the bottle, and I reluctantly handed it over. He took a slow sip before tilting his head. “Wanna play a game?” he asked.

I lifted a shoulder. “Sure.”

“It’s called never have I ever,” he explained. “What you do is say?—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know how it works.” I smirked. “You start.”

Ethan hummed, eyes narrowing in thought before his lips curled up into a grin.

“Never have I ever orgasmed in front of a crowd.”

“That’s targeting,” I complained.

He shoved the whiskey back into my hands. “Drink up.”

Muttering a curse under my breath, I took a big sip. The stairs creaked above him, but I assumed it was just one of my nosy neighbors listening in to my suddenly eventful life.

“My turn,” I said, giving him a sidelong look. “Never have I ever been a millionaire before thirty.” I figured that if he could target, then so could I.

Ethan huffed, “Worth a million or have a million in the bank?”

The fact he had to ask that told me all I needed to know. “Drink.”

He did and the game went on, back and forth, the whiskey disappearing faster than I realized.

By the time we were down to half a bottle, my head was propped up against the door frame as I waited for Ethan to complete his latest turn.

“I got it,” he slurred slightly. “Never have I ever fallen in love with my boss.”