Page 10 of Can We Try?

I smile at Forrest, making a mental note to offer to watch the girls for him soon. “Yeah, I have plans.”

“Tomorrow night then?” she asks, just not getting it.

I hear one of the guys groan and mumble something under their breath from where they’re standing behind me, but I can’t make out what they’re saying. “Look, Sandra.”

“It’s Sasha.” She’s still smiling at me as if I’m going to take her up on her offer.

“Sasha. Right. I’m not interested.” I blurt the words because this girl can’t take the subtle hints I’ve been giving her.

“Are you married?”

“No.”

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

“No.” She opens her mouth to, I’m sure, grill me even further, but I hold up my hand to stop her. “Thank you for coming in. Be safe getting home.” With that, I turn on my heel and stalk toward the break room, removing myself from the situation.

I know it won’t be long and the guys, and maybe even Lyra, will be on my heels wanting to know what’s up. What’s up is that I had the best sex of my life with their wives’ friend, with my friend, and we promised it was a onetime thing.

I stalk toward the refrigerator, and I pull open the door. I grab a bottle of water, twisting off the cap and drinking the entire thing. The guys walk in as I’m tossing the empty bottle into the recycling bin.

They form a small circle around me, and I’m leaning back against the counter. “What?” I ask. I know what they want, but fuck me, I don’t want to talk about it. I can’t talk about it. I made a promise to Maggie, and I intend to keep it.

Roman crosses his arms over his chest. “What’s up, Lach?”

“Just grabbing something to drink.” My tone is clipped, and I take a deep breath and slowly exhale. I can’t take this… frustration or whatever this is out on them.

“We can see that,” Legend says.

“That back there.” Forrest points over his shoulder. “That wasn’t you.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” The lie tastes bitter on my tongue.

“You’ve got more game than what we just saw out there,” Maddox explains.

Running my hands over my face, I take a few seconds before dropping them and giving them as much as I can. “I’m over it,” I tell them. “I’m over meaningless.”

“You got someone in mind?” Roman asks.

I huff out a laugh. “No, but I’ve watched the four of you, and let’s just say, I can see the appeal. That girl, she didn’t want me. She wanted the bad boy tattoo artist she sees when she looks at me. She wanted one of the owners of one of the top tattoo shops in Tennessee. She didn’t see Lachlan. Not in here.” I tap my hand over my chest.

“Makes sense,” Legend says.

“So, we need to find you a wife,” Forrest adds.

“We should ask our wives to help,” Maddox agrees.

“No. No. No. I don’t need help. I’m just… in a funk, I guess.”

“How long has it been?” Legend asks.

I don’t need to ask him what he means. “Over a year,” I confess. All four of them whistle. “Yeah,” I agree. It’s a little white lie because it’s been less than two months, but that night was different. It wasn’t meaningless, not to me. So yeah, it’s been well over a year since my last meaningless hookup. From how my head won’t forget about my night with Maggie, it’s shaping up to be a hell of a lot longer than that.

“I don’t miss it,” Maddox tells me. “Not for one second do I miss random hookups.”

“Agreed,” the other three sound off at the same time.

“It’s so much better,” Legend chimes in. “You get to know her, and she you, and everything is just better.”

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