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“Bit of an overreaction, don’t you think?” Lane chuckles.

“Nah, she fucking ruined me, man. I’m as celibate as you are now.”

Lane rolls his eyes and scoffs at me. “I’m not going to be celibate forever, dick. I’m just not sleeping around like I used to.”

“This is too much to process,” Josh says, rubbing his head. “I’m going to turn in. Let’s just hope we don’t lose our shortstop over this.”

“Yeah,” I breathe. “That’s what I’m hoping, too.”

twenty-three

Rory

“Lovebug!”

Lane holds his arms open as soon as Sage and I walk through the door, and she immediately runs to him. “Dada!”

“I missed you, baby girl,” he says, wrapping her up in his arms as she lays her head on his shoulder.

“She was so excited for you to get back,” I say, setting down the bag of Sage’s things. “She missed you.”

“I missed her, too. It was nice to hang out with the guys, though.” Lane sets Sage down on the ground, and she runs to the living room, immediately going for her tub of blocks. He turns to look at me now, a mischievous smirk on his face. “Turns out Cole’s got some loose lips when he drinks.”

I immediately heat up and bring my hands up to cover my face. “No, no, no. Please tell me he didn’t.”

“Oh, he did.”

“How did that come up?” I ask, keeping my hands in place to cover my embarrassment.

“Crazy sex stories,” Lane chuckles. “Josh made Cole tell us one of his. Apparently, cornfields don’t count as a crazy place, so heonly had one other experience that would fit—fucking his Field Manager’s daughter.”

“Lane!” I chastise. “Your daughter is in the other room.” He throws his head back and laughs while I groan. “I don’t know why I thought he wouldn’t tell you guys.”

“To be fair, he was very drunk.”

“Absolutely shitfaced is what he told me,” I laugh.

“We all were,” he laughs. “Rory, that man is wrapped around your finger. I don’t know why you thought you’d get it out of your system. You clearly like him, too.”

“I know,” I sigh. “I’ve liked him since I met him. But we’ve spent so much more time together this year. It got to the point where I can’t ignore it.”

“So you slept with him.”

“Why am I talking about my sex life with my damn boss?”

Lane scoffs. “We’re friends, Ror. This isn’t your typical boss-employee relationship.” His face turns softer now. “I can tell you that Cole isn’t going to forget. He asked us where the nearest monastery is, for fuck’s sake.”

I throw my head back and howl with laughter. “So he’s never having sex again?”

“Not if it isn’t with you.”

The words hit me like a freight train.

Cole doesn’t just want me; I’m theonlyone he wants.

And he wants me so much that he’ll live a life of celibacy if he can’t have me.

Why is that a turn-on?

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