Page 57 of Love Without Demands

Curly rubbed a hand over his bald head. “I’m always Revenge Guy. Don’t get me wrong. Being that guy is a helluva lot of fun, but she wants him for a good time, not for a long time.”

I took it all in, fascinated, as I sipped my beer.

“There was this one woman though… I wanted more. And it could have gone somewhere if I’d just fucking waited,” Curly said, stroking his fingers over his square jaw. “She’s the one that got away. She married Friend Guy.”

“Wait, there’s another guy?”

Jayden chuckled. “Yep. And some women also go through the Wild Guy stage.”

“This is getting confusing. I feel like I need to take notes. What’s the deal with Wild Guy?”

Kai twirled his beer glass on the table. “There are several scenarios with that one. Maybe she’s been with only her man since high school. Or maybe she’s been in an oppressive relationship and when she finally breaks free, she wants to sow her wild oats.”

“She starts thinking how she’s never been with a man who rides motorcycles or has a dick piercing. Or she’s never had a threesome,” Mav added. “Whatever. She just desires the adventure she’s never been allowed to have. That’s when she finds a guy like Jayden.” He bobbed his head toward the man across the table, who grinned like the cat that ate the canary.

“I have a bike and a piercing. I make an excellent Wild Guy,” he said, his white teeth a sharp contrast against his dark skin. “I’m down for it because I’m not looking for anything serious, and no woman wants to marry Wild Guy.”

I thought of my own piercing and decided I definitely didn’t want to be Wild Guy. Or Rebound Guy. Or who-the-fuck-ever those other temporary ones were.

“If I’m serious about her, who do I want to be?”

Curly looked across the table. “Mav, you wanna take this one?”

Maverick downed the rest of his soda and signaled for another before pointing a thick finger at me. “Based on personal experience, you definitely want to be Friend Guy.” I lifted my eyebrows as he continued. “My wife, Pam, was married before. We were acquaintances, kinda hanging out in the same circles. I never liked the way her husband treated her. Just his tone of voice when he spoke to her rubbed me the wrong fucking way.”

“Understandable,” I said, thinking of how Dwight had railroaded Lehra into getting what he wanted. Or what his mother wanted.

“So she finally wised up and divorced his ass. I’d had a low-key crush on her for years, but she was married so I couldn’t do anything about it, you know?”

I nodded, knowing all too well. “How did you two end up together?”

“I became her friend, a shoulder to cry on. I didn’t plan it or anything. It just happened. I was fighting my own demons, and we bonded over some stuff.” He closed his eyes and grimaced. “I watched as she went through Rebound Guy and Revenge Guy. It was so fucking hard because I was harboring these secret feelings for her. She even had a Wild Guy at one point, but she broke it off after one date because he smoked.”

Mav let out a soft chuckle. “This went on for about a year. I could see the changes in her. I watched her heal before my very eyes. And the entire time, I was there, supporting her through everything.”

“A year?” I practically yelled before slugging back the rest of my beer. Fuck, I didn’t want to wait a year.

Mav smiled patiently. “Trust me, Pam was worth the wait. She finally saw that what she wanted had been right in front of her the whole time. We’ve never looked back.”

“Those two are like a friends-to-lovers romance book come to life,” Chris said with a grin. “And yes, I read romance books. Fuck off.”

I laughed and held up both hands. “No judgment here, dude. I started one of my sister’s books while I was babysitting and my niece was napping. It was so good, I asked her if I could take it home to finish.”

“I have a couple friends-to-lovers books that might interest you. I’ll text you the titles and authors.”

“Okay, if the Hallmark boys are done talking, let’s move on,” Curly said gruffly.

As I was headed home an hour later, I sat in the back of a cab and thought about what the guys had said. Had I already fucked up any chance I had with Lehra that night in the hot tub?

Knowing that her previous sex life had been less than stellar, watching her come apart on top of me had been the most satisfying thing I’d ever seen. She needed to know she deserved to have her needs taken care of and that I was the man who could get the job done.

But when I’d walked her back to her room and she stumbled a little, I realized how tipsy she was, and the guilt crept in.Did I take advantage of her?Because that wasn’t me at all.

So I’d kissed her on the cheek and returned to my room with an enormous erection that proved to be quite persistent. Nothing I thought of could make the damn thing go away. I was still frustrated the next morning and told Artie to go downstairs to breakfast without me. Once he was out of the room, I’d stepped into the shower and taken care of business with my fist.

It hadn’t taken long. All I had to do was picture Lehra riding me in the hot tub, her head thrown back and the tips of her long,blonde hair dragging the churning water as she found her sweet release.

Goddammit, now I’m getting hard again just thinking about it.

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