Page 26 of Hire A Cuddler

I shrug my shoulders. “She knows the deal. I explained the contract to her.”

“Fuck.” Dom groans. “Really? You drew up a fuckin’ contract? You really don’t know anything about women, do you?”

“King!” Gabe exclaims. “Are you ever going to learn?”

I hold my hands up because I had hoped my brothers were going to be able to help me, but I should have known they were going to bust my balls over this. Maybe if Ledger was here, he would be on my side. He’s even more strategic and less emotional than me. He would get it. He’s retiring from the military soon, and I’m ready for him to come home. I’ve missed him.

Hell, even Holden would try to help. But these two are too busy telling me all the things I’ve done wrong instead of trying to give me any kind of tips on the matter. “Look, guys, you don’t know her. She had a rough upbringing, and she’s fine with this.”

But even as I say the words, I wonder if I’mtelling the truth. It sounds ridiculous saying it out loud, even to me. Wanting to change the subject, I pick up the empty beer bottles to take to the trash. “Forget it, guys. You’ll meet her soon; I’ll make sure of it.”

“But—” Dom starts, but I interrupt him. “Forget it. I know I fucked up, and I’ll figure out how to make it right.”

I walk out of the living room and drop the bottles into the trash, and when I walk back in, Dom continues like I never left. He leans forward. “Well, the first thing you need to do is rip up the fuckin’ contract.”

“I had the contract written up so she’d know I would always take care of her when it ended.”

Gabe smacks his hand to his head. “When it ended? You’re not even married and you’re planning for it to end?”

I sit up a little taller and try to keep my voice void of emotion. “Yeah, well, love doesn’t last. We all know that.”

They both just stare at me, not knowing what to say. I know it sounds shitty, but I’ve had a lifetime of sad endings, and I’m just trying to keep it real. Finally, the guys are speechless. I don’t think they can argue with me on this.

“Let’s change the subject. What do you guys know about the guy Chrissy’s out with?”

Our foster sister is the youngest of all of us. We have all looked out for her through the years, and we’re all pretty protective of her.

Gabe hits his hand on the table. “What the fuck? Chrissy’s out on a date? I don’t know anything about that.”

Dominic shrugs. “I don’t know. She won’t tell me anything about him.”

It’s my turn to roll my eyes at them. “Well, no shit. Why would she tell you two anything? The last date she was on, you two crashed it and sat right behind them at the movies.”

Gabriel gets up. “I don’t like it. I’m going to check on her.”

Before either Dom and I can say anything, Gabe is out the door. Dom looks at me. “What’s that about?”

I start cleaning up the pizza boxes. “You know how he is about Chrissy. They’ve always been close.”

Dom looks at the door Gabe just walked out of and then at me. “What are you going to do? About your future wife, I mean?”

“I’m going to convince her to say yes… There’s no other option, Dom.”

He stands up and crosses his arms over his chest. “I don’t know, man. I know you don’t know much about it, but the way you talk about her… the way you look when you talk about her… I think there’s more to it than some kind of contract, fake marriage kind of bullshit you seem to claim it is.”

I’m not going to argue with him because maybe, just maybe, he’s right.

15

HAVEN

I’ma nervous wreck by the time I walk into his office a few days later.

I’ve thought about it, and I’ve done the thing where you write all the pros and cons, and I even told myself that I’m going to tell him no. That was the plan. But as I walk into his office building, doubt creeps in.

There are so many things that scare me, but one of the biggest things is that I’ll never feel the way I feel when I’m with King.

And that right there is enough for me to say yes to his crazy idea.

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