Page 42 of Until I Own You

I throw him a fleeting glance, unable to hold eye contact. “Um. Well.” I grab three beers, place them on the counter beside the fridge. “I have a question for you.”

His eyebrows twist. “Okay.”

I grab a bottle opener off the counter and pop the caps of the beers off.

Nate juts his head forward. “And your question is…?”

“Give me a second, I’m trying to get the nerve to ask.” I huff.

“You’re scaring me, Seth.”

Yeah, I’m scaring myself too.

I take a swig from one of the open beer bottles. Wish it was something like whisky or tequila, the real liquid courage. “I need a favor.”

Nate shakes his head, still confused. “I mean, anything. If I can. Anything.”

I press my lips together, attempt to smile. I’ve got great friends. Great family. I’m not sure I deserve them when I’m willing to go so far to push the boundaries of my relationship with Bridget. “I need to rent out the Underground.”

Nate’s confusion breaks, and he smiles. “Oh! That’s nothing. Of course. I mean, it’d be better to talk to Sonia about that, but–”

“She’s on her honeymoon,” I interrupt.

And she’s Bridget’s best friend. Don’t want to cross the streams.

“Right, right…well, I’m sure we can make that happen for you. You want to throw a party or something?”

“No! Nothing–nothing like that,” I say with more urgency than I mean to.

Nate’s eyes widen. “Oh, okay.”

Shit, this isn’t going well. “I just…need it for myself.”

“Kinky, but respect.”

“And…” This is the big ask. “I need it in the next couple days.”

Nate’s eyebrows leap up. “You want to rent out the whole Underground in the next couple days?”

“Yep.”

He shakes his head, searching for words. “That’s not possible.”

“That’s why I’m asking you.”

“But that would require disappointing a lot of the members and I mean, a turn around like that–”

I walk closer to my friend. “I’ll pay double. Triple.”

Nate backs away. “You’re scaring me, Seth.”

Am I? Is it the crazed look in my eye? The way I’m stalking toward him like an animal who hasn’t eaten in days? Weeks?

“I’m desperate, Nate,” I say, my voice higher-pitched than usual.

“What–why do you need it?”

I shake my head. “I can’t tell you.”

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