Page 58 of Catch and Release

“Clearly,” she said drily. “So. Relatively casual.”

“Right,” Shawn shook his head, trying to focus.

He was flying by the seat of his pants and needed to keep a clear head if he was going to have a chance of getting inside her again. Or possibly, maybe making her fall in love with him. But that was a long shot, and he knew it. He’d take whatever she would give him.

“So, you’re down to just be friends with benefits?” she reiterated.

“Yes, but I have two requests,” he said. “First, we keep this exclusive. Let’s not sleep with anyone else.”

“That doesn’t feel like a casual request.”

“Fair, but it’s an important one. I promise I won’t, like, fall in love with you.” He dropped eye contact and tried to sound lighthearted. “I’d just rather not share you. Clearly I’m the jealous type, even if we’re just fucking.”

Shawn looked back up at Willa and her eyes were squinted as she studied him.

“Fine, but you can date other people,” Willa said. “In fact, you should. So I don’t feel bad about keeping you from finding an actual girlfriend, since I know that’s what you want. That’s one of my rules.”

He tried to ignore how it stung to hear her say that, but he found himself nodding.

“Alright,” he responded.

“And the second thing?”

“We still hang out,” Shawn said. “I don’t only want to see you for booty calls. I like fishing with you. I don’t want to lose out on the friends part of this friends with benefits arrangement.”

Willa nodded.

“I agree,” she said, and he jolted with pleasant surprise. “I like hanging out with you, and you’re one of my only friends my age here. As long as we keep it to friend stuff only, that’s fine with me.”

“Friend stuff only?”

“Like, don’t show up with an accordion player and a bottle of champagne.”

Shawn chuckled. “Fair enough.”

“I have rules, too.”

“More than just making me go on dates with other people?” Shawn was anxious to hear what else she had in mind.

“Ida can’t know.”

Shawn sputtered. “You think I tell my grandmother about my sex life?”

“I think that woman is far more observant and intuitive than either of us give her credit for, and I don’t want her getting her hopes up if she finds out something is going on between us,” Willa responded. “She keeps trying to push us together. She’ll become unbearable if she finds out about our… arrangement.”

“Good point,” Shawn said. “So that means we should probably only hook up at your place.”

“And don’t tell her every time you’re hanging out with me.”

“You live next door. How am I supposed to keep it a secret every time I come over to fish off the wharf, Greene?”

“I don’t know!” Willa said vehemently. “Drive your truck down the road and park it at the Bayou, then walk to my place.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

“Whatever. We can work out the details later. But she’s going to get suspicious if we’re not careful. That woman has the nose of a bloodhound and the brains of a CIA agent.”

Shawn laughed.

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