Page 71 of The Pucking Wrong Man

Her cheeks flushed and she leaned forward, gripping the edge of the table as she locked eyes with me.

“I can’t think of a single reason why I’d ask that. You having better things to do than stalk me at a diner seems like a no-brainer.”

I huffed out an exasperated breath. She was just not going to give in, was she?

Reaching out, I grabbed her hand, slightly mollified when she didn’t immediately yank it away.

“I missed you,” I told her, meaning every word like they were carved into my heart. “How are you? I’ve been worried about you.”

The look on her face told me she didn’t believe me, but I couldn’t imagine caring, or worrying, or stressing about someone more than I did about Anastasia Lennox.

I waited for her to tell me something...anything. I could see the conflict of emotions in her eyes, the inner struggle she was experiencing. She wanted to tell me. I knew she did.

But something was holding her back.

Anastasia frowned, and this time she did yank her hand away. I allowed it, vowing to myself that one of these days she’d want to touch me every second. “Goodbye, Camden,” she murmured, a finality to her voice that felt like a knife in my gut.

I watched as she walked away.

Goodbye.

We’d see about goodbye.

It was definitely more like a...see you later.

I pulled out my phone and made a separate chat for Ari...he seemed the most up for the lunacy I was about to request.

Me: I need a favor.

Ari: Oh this will be good.

Me: Why will this be good?

Ari: Proceed.

Me: How magnanimous of you.

Ari: Better hurry. Blake is giving me the look.

I panicked. I knew what happened when Blake gave him the look…and it seemed to happen a lot. It also seemed to result in Lincoln having to intervene when Ari’s special...dick decoration malfunctioned.

Me: Fuck. Don’t look at her. I need you to catch some dogs for me.

Ari: ...

Ari: I’m unclear where you’re going with this. Is dogs a euphemism for something...

Me: Okay, I think I understand “…” in this context.

Ari: Congratulations. I’m still waiting.

Fuck, why did I always sound like an idiot in these conversations.

Me: Dog is not a euphemism. I literally need you to catch some dogs.

Ari: Is there more? Whose “dogs”? Where are these “dogs”?

Me: Why do you keep putting quotations around dogs?

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