Page 30 of One Pucking Destiny

Bash doesn’t miss a beat. He threads his fingers through his floppy blond hair and gives me that smile of his that twists my heart. “I assure you I am. In all things.”

Logan huffs. “In all things? That’s a little cocky, even for you, Cookie.”

Bash flicks his fingers toward Logan. “Do you mind leaving us alone? I need to talk to Ari here.”

Logan narrows his eyes. “Uh, okay.” He waves. “See ya around, Ari.”

“Bye.” My smile falls as soon as Logan has turned away. “Well, that was just rude. And I thought we were clear about what we discussed upstairs. We’re going to play it cool and act like we haven’t previously met. All that?”

“I am.” His voice raises an octave, feigning innocence.

“You so are not,” I whisper hiss. “Holding my hand under the table with my mom and Beckett sitting right across from us?”

“Look, you said to act like I’ve never met you, and that’s exactly what I’m doing. If a woman such as yourself were to show up here, I would get to know her, ask questions, and flirt—that is what I would do. Now, if this woman was as drop-dead gorgeous and irresistible as you, I’d step up my game, ensuring that she begged me to be inside her—not once but many times over the course of the week.”

I press my lips together to halt the gasp fighting to escape. My head falls back. “Bash, that is completely against our agreement.”

He shakes his head. “As I just said, it’s exactly our agreement.”

“You’re not making this easy.”

“I’m not trying to.”

“You said you would be on your best behavior.”

“This is my best behavior.”

My blood boils. I literally want to kill this man. Okay, maybe that’s an incorrect use of literally. Because I don’t wish him dead. In fact, as pissed off as I am, the only thought in my head is what it would feel like for him to be inside me. I hate how well he knows me, dropping that little juicy nugget, knowing it would leave me thinking about it.

But no. He doesn’t know me. He thinks my mind will change, and I’m going to want, what? To do it like bunnies with my pregnant mom and her new husband right down the hall? No. A long-distance relationship? No.

Sebastian Calloway is fire in bed, sure. But there’s no future for us in any form. I have the next few years planned out, and they don’t include him. My body may want his. His words may elicit a feral response that’s hard to contain, but contain it, I will. In a battle of wills, I’ll come out victorious.

“This isn’t going to end how you want it to,” I warn him.

His lips pucker, and he tilts his head from side to side. “I think it will.”

“You promised you’d get to know me as a friend.”

“And I am. I desperately want to be friends, Ari.Good friends. Friends with benefits. Really great benefits.”

I sigh. “You’re an asshole.”

He tsks. “That’s no way to treat your new friend. Come on. Let’s go get a beer.”

I follow him to the cooler, and he hands me a cold glass bottle. Tilting the bottle to my lips, I chug.

“That might be the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen,” he says.

I groan. “Sebastian, you have to be careful. Don’t say stupid shit in front of anyone.”

He makes a show of looking around. “I don’t see anyone here. Look, I’m not going to say anything to you in front of the others that I wouldn’t say in front of you had we just met.”

“Somehow, that doesn’t make me feel much better.”

“I can make you feel better.” His voice is as smooth as honey.

His comment doesn’t warrant a response. Instead, I toss my empty beer bottle in the recycling bin and grab another. I’m going to need a ton of liquid courage to get through this week without losing it on Bash.

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