Page 65 of Broken Headboards

“No, he smells great and he has amazing breath,” I reply back.

“Well did you have food in your teeth?” she asks again.

Jesus.

“No I didn’t have food in my teeth,” I say to her.

“Did you fart in front of him?” Tess continues with her inane questions that are probably coming from the second drink that she’s downing. “Guys don’t like it when you fart in front of them.”

“Fuck, Tess, I didn’t fart in front of him,” I say, pounding my drink. I’m not sure I’m supposed to pound cosmos. The bartender seems to have my next drink already for me because it just materializes. “I don’t know if Taylor wants to fuck me because he seems to like me just as a friend.”

There’s silence from Tess at that admission.

“Why do you say that?” she finally asks.

I shrug. “We went out last night,” I start and Tess settles back in her chair. “Except I went to meet him an hour earlier than we had said. I was hoping I’d catch him as he was getting ready and we’d…you know.”

“Fuck,” Tess adds.

“Yeah,” I agree. “But he just didn’t seem to be too interested.”

Tess ponders this for a long moment.

“Tell me exactly what he said,” she says finally.

I take a deep breath, and another drink as I recollect the words Taylor said to me.

“He said, ‘You look fucking gorgeous’,” I tell her. She widens her eyes.

“That sounds like he wants to do you, babe,” she says to me. “What did you tell him?”

“Well I may have said something like, ‘You look fucking sweaty’,” I say and Tess grimaces. “What? He was back from the gym and I was saying that so you know, maybe I could lick it up or something.”

“Well, what did he say after that?” she asks me.

“I think he asked me if I wanted to join him…” I say, whimpering at this admission.

Tess snorts and coughs.

“And that’s not an invitation?” she asks incredulously. “What did you say?”

I pause for a long moment and realize what I said.

“I think I said I was hungry,” I say sheepishly. Tess is staring daggers at me. “What? I was starving, babe!”

Tess finishes her drink. Wow. That was fast. I knew she had a lot of stress to work off but I don’t think I’ve ever seen her drink so fast. It must be Austin. He’s riled her up so much because he’s like made for her—a perfect match for her. And she’s never had a match that was so equal for her in her life as far as I can tell.

“Ash,” Tess says very seriously. “You need to call him. And tell him to come over to your place and fuck you.”

Yeah. I can’t do that.

Not ‘Mr. CEO’ of the largest investment bank in the world. The guy hangs out with models and actresses on the regular. I’m just a lawyer.

“If he wanted to, Tess, he would do more,” I tell her. “Look at Colt and Serena. Or Malcolm and Sonia. Or even Daphne and Dominic,” I say to her.

Tess nods. But she’s not convinced.

“If he really wanted me, he’d make more of an effort to get me,” I tell her.