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FOURTEEN

Jolie

“ B abe, what’s going on? Are you okay?” Ginger whispered as I pulled her into the restroom, taking her into the corner so it didn’t appear as if we were in line for a stall.

“I … don’t know.” I placed my back against the wall and positioned her in front of me, my hands immediately diving to my forehead, holding it as though my brain were about to fall out.

“I’ve been watching you guys—” She put her hand up, like she had to defend herself. “I swear I wasn’t trying to. I just can’t help myself. You went from talking, to touching, to practically getting it on, to bolting over to me, and then you dragged me in here.”

I used the wall to hold me up and grabbed the drink from her hand, downing it in one gulp, and I set the empty on the floor next to our feet. I wiped my lips, letting the burn of the alcohol die a little before I said, “He wants me to go home with him.”

“That’s obvious.”

“And the whole Africa thing? He wanted me to go with him, he even invited me through text.” I paused. “He showed me on his phone how he’d thought the text went through, but it never got delivered. Therefore, I never got it.”

Her eyes became big again, like when she’d spotted him here tonight. “So, this whole time you thought …”

“Yep.”

“Whoa. Doesn’t that change things?” Before I could reply, she added, “Are you going to go home with him?”

I shrugged. “I told him I needed a second. I’m … freaking out.”

She pushed my hair off my face. “Don’t freak out.”

“Of course you would say that.”

“How do you feel about everything?”

I banged the back of my head on the wall, and when that didn’t feel like enough, I did it again.

“That man mesmerizes me. It’s like he puts me in this trance, and I can’t focus on anything other than him.

And maybe when I first met him, it was because of who he was, but now that has nothing to do with it.

” My eyes closed as I admitted, “It’s the way he makes me feel.

It’s what he does to me. It’s the person I know he is. ”

“That makes him the most dangerous man alive.”

My eyelids flicked open. “You know what’s going to happen, don’t you? If I do go home with him, I’m going to get everything I want. And that means I’m going to get a taste of that peanut butter, and then the mouse trap is going to come right down on me and crush me.”

“Are you seriously calling yourself a rodent? And Beck is one of those scary rat traps found all over Boston that snaps when you touch it?”

I winced. “You get the drift.”

She put her hands on my shoulders. “I know why you’re feeling this way. It’s justified. I also know how you’ve never forgotten that man, and at any point, you would have dreamed of a scenario like this.”

I laughed. Like really laughed. “A scenario? Like this? No.” I glanced up at the ceiling. “This is a scenario from hell.”

“Just because your circumstances have changed?—”

“Ginger, you know I can’t do this. You know I shouldn’t do this. I don’t know if those two things mean the same—I can’t even think straight at the moment—but the answer is, I need to run. And I need to run fast.”

“But what if you do go with him—just for the night? It’s not going to hurt anyone per se.”

“Are you?—”

She shook me. “Jolie, you haven’t slept with anyone in two years and nine months.

If you don’t have sex with that man, things are going to close up down there”—she nodded toward my legs—“and I swear, they might never reopen again.” She let out a long breath.

“Babe, just do it and deal with the consequences later. That’s the best and only advice I’ll give you. ”

I was panting through my nose. “You’re the worst.”

“That’s why you love me.”

I thought about everything she’d said, the decision not any clearer in my mind. “If I do leave, what are you going to do? You’ll catch an Uber, yeah?”

“Please don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” She smiled. “Besides, you have my location on your phone.”

I studied her face, making sure what she said matched up to what I was seeing in her eyes, and then I took her by the hand and led her out of the restroom.

As soon as we got through the short hallway, I instantly saw Beck. He was standing at the bar, leaning into it with his hands crossed, looking at me mostly from across his shoulder so I had more of a profile view of him.

Oh God.

That man.

There was no one hotter in this world.

No one more talented.

And certainly no one more perfect.

“Jesus fucking Christ, he’s everything,” Ginger whispered from my side. “Just look at him.”

As I did, unable to take my eyes off him, his words began to repeat in my head.

“I’m going to walk you to my car right now. I’m going to take you home with me. I’m going to lick every inch of your body, and I’m going to make you come all fucking night long.”

I sighed in response.

“You don’t have to tell me what you decided. I already know.” She hugged my shoulders. “See you tomorrow, babe. Have alll the fun.”