Page 76 of Whiskey Neat

Oh great. Now I’m going to imagine Indy pulling me over his lap and spanking me. “I’m not into daddies.”

“Good thing. Your ass would be red and sore all the time.”

I laugh. “Truth.”

“I didn’t need anything,” he says after a few beats. “I guess I was just checking in and making sure you’re okay after what happened this morning. Like, for real. You can let your guard down with me.”

Can I? I rub my forehead. “I promise I’m good. Jack didn’t do anything but piss me off.”

“He’s so fucking lucky I know how to keep my cool now. Back in the day, I would’ve pounded his face in.”

“I’m glad it didn’t come to that. He isn’t worth it.”

“No, I guess not. Besides, you can clearly take care of yourself.”

I chuckle. “Yeah, well, I took some self-defense classes since I’m not the biggest guy. Men always thought they could manhandle me just because I’m petite. I got sick of it.”

“Smart and very impressive.”

“Thanks, Indy.”

Silence lingers between us, unspoken energy flowing through the phone lines. I’m dying to know what he’s thinking, so I summon the nerve to ask.

“Did you want to say something else?”

Indy huffs a laugh. “Uh, yeah, I guess I did.”

“Okay.”

“At the risk of embarrassing myself, I think I wanted you to know that I can’t stop thinking about you.”

My stomach does a somersault while my chest flutters. “That’s not embarrassing. It’s… sweet.”

“Mm hmm. Any chance I’m not alone?”

I close my eyes for a second to compose myself so I don’t blurt out all the weird things in my head. He admitted something, so I should too. It’s only fair.

“You’re not. Promise.”

He blows out a breath. “Cool. Enjoy dinner with your folks, huh?”

“Thanks. What are you doing tonight?”

“Setting up a makeshift kitchenette in the basement so we can have coffee and some basics in the morning while the crew is working upstairs.”

“It must be hard living in that kind of environment.”

“Eh, I’ve had worse apartments.”

We both laugh at that.

“Same.”

“See you tomorrow, sweet thing.”

“Bye, Indy.”

After ending the call, I flop back on the mattress, even more fucked up than I was. Why does he have to be sweet too? Why can’t he just be a dick with an amazing dick? This would be so much easier if I didn’t like him as a person.

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