Page 51 of About That Night

But she needs me to not be a selfish asshole. “It’s possible to be friends with a woman. That’s what you always said about Rachel. She was one of your best friends.”

“I was wrong,” Conway says flatly with a shrug. “Casual friends, sure. But hanging out all the time and it not getting messy? I don’t know, man. It seems impossible.”

“I can be her friend without it getting messy.”

“Just a refresher on friendship. You don’t feed your friends oysters. I have never once fed Buck Walker anything, and I never will, and we’ve been friends since kindergarten.”

That makes me wince. He’s not wrong. When Chastity’s tongue made contact with my finger, I had felt like anything but her friend. But I’m nothing if not good at deflecting. “It helps that I’ve already seen her naked.”

That makes Conway laugh out loud. “How do you figure that?”

“I’m not trying to get her naked. I already have.” That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. Even if I lie in bed every night, picturing running my tongue down over all those glorious curves until I reach her pussy and she gives that little gasp of pure delight…I shift a sauté pan to the sink and turn the water on it. “It’s all good.”

“You’re such a liar.”

“Maybe,” I agree easily. “But I can’t be selfish. Chastity wants some guy in a button up shirt who has a stable job.”

“How do you know that?”

“She asked me to help her date. I’ve seen who she’s swiping on in her dating app.”

“You’ve seen her dating app?”

“Yes.” And it’s giving me all kinds of jealousy, but that’s for me to deal with. “She likes guys who are twenty-five, working office jobs, with no facial hair or tattoos.”

“Guess you could shave. You’re fucked on the rest, though.”

That makes me laugh. “And replace my entire wardrobe with sweaters and khakis. Still wouldn’t change anything, though.”

I reach behind me and pull the whiskey down from its place over the fridge. I need to feel the burn going down my throat.

“Never took you for a quitter.”

That pisses me off. “Again, it’s not about me. It’s about Chastity. I’m being selfless here, motherfucker.”

“Okay, okay. Just let me leave you with this thought. Think about how you’re going to feel if Chastity winds up walking down the aisle with some other guy.”

Like I want to burn down the world.

“I’ll send her a wedding gift,” I say, right before I knock back a finger of whiskey. I shake my head a little at the burn.

Conway shakes his head. “Okay, then, big brother.” He picks up the bottle and reaches for his own glass. “Guess it’s you and me living the single life forever.”

“Works for me.” It’s going to have to. Conviction is my project. Not working on being with a woman who deserves a man who is all-in, ready for marriage and being a stepdaddy.

Not that I couldn’t be ready. I could be ready. I am ready.

Damn it. This is all fucking messing with my head.

“She’s not going to want to hang out with you anymore once she starts dating some other dude,” Conway says as he pours his own whiskey.

I yank the bottle away from him. “I thought you were dropping this topic. And why can’t I still be friends with her after she finds some guy if what me and her have is platonic?”

Conway snorts. “Oh, right, that will fly. Here’s my friend, Hank, who I’ve fucked. You stay home with my son and babysit, sweetheart, while I go hang out with him. No man on the planet will be down with that.”

He’s right, of course. I wouldn’t be okay with that.

“I hate that you’re right, but you are right. But what the hell am I going to do about it? My whole life I’ve been impulsive and careless, just doing whatever the hell feels right in the moment. It’s time to grow out of that shit, you know? I’m trying to do the right thing, so don’t try to talk me out of it.”

---