Page 29 of What If I Knew You

Okay so full transparency: I had to work hard to get where I am today. My father paid for a lot of opportunities for me and I didn’t want to let him down by accidentally knocking up a woman I wasn’t in love with. So, I just never got involved. Lame, I know, but that’s my truth.

Me

Not lame, Alan. There’s nothing wrong with being a responsible man. It’s wise and honorable. So why the sudden change of heart?

Alan

I could probably better explain in person but long story short, I’m seeing a lot of my coworkers finally settling down and realizing they have the best of both worlds. They have love and they have career. And they’re happy men. So, I kind of want that too.

Me

Okay. That’s understandable. Are you saying you’re unhappy?

Alan

Not unhappy. Just…I don’t know. Lonely? And I don’t want to date some girl and fall for her and be bad in bed. I want to be able to pleasure her and worship her and show her what she gets when she’s with me. Ugh but I don’t have a fucking clue how to do this. For all I know, I suck at it. How do you find out if you’re bad in bed if you don’t have anyone to tell you you’re bad in bed?

Alan

PS. You can laugh if you want. I know how bad this all sounds.

Me

Actually, I think it’s endearing. In my experiences, men don’t seem to care about pleasuring their partners as much as they care about getting off inside a warm vagina. Or down a throat.

Alan

I don’t want to be that kind of guy. That guy sounds like an asshole.

Layken lays my phone on the table and looks at me. “Listen, this guy sounds like he’s too good to be true so if you don’t teach him to fuck like a beast, I will. But also,” she adds practically bouncing in her seat, “I really need you to do this because I just get a good vibe from him and plus, c’est la vie, Corri.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I ask, amused.

“It means you’re living your life.” She allows me to scroll through the things she was saying to Alan while she explains, “You moved abroad to learn and work and you fell in love and that guy ended up being a douche. So here you are back in the States. You accidentally text some guy, who rather than just ignore you or tell you ‘wrong number’ and never speak to you again, has been texting you multiple times a day for several days. He comes across as a ten so far, except he has zero bedroom experience. And now you have the opportunity to literally teach him all the ways you like to be pleasured.”

“Yeah but he’s not in it for me. He says he wants to learn so he’s ready when he meets his?—”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” She waves me off. “I know what he said. But who’s to say you aren’t the love of his life?”

I chuckle at her slightly pushy albeit hopeful attitude. “You really are the hopeless romantic, aren’t you?”

She puts both hands on the table and raises her brows, her eyes filled with glee. “Does that mean yes?”

Taking a deep breath, I glance down at my phone again to see another message from Alan.

Alan

Look, I didn’t mean to say all this. I’m really sorry. You deserve a man who knows what he’s doing and treats you like gold. I totally understand if you want to think I’m a fucking douche and never speak to me again.

Steeling myself for what I’m about to do, I pick up my phone and move my thumbs over the letters forming my next text:

Me

We start tomorrow.

CHAPTER SEVEN

CORRIGAN

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