Page 14 of Winning the Nightcap

Truthfully, work is great. I love what I do, and I feel fulfilled every day I get to work with dogs. I’m not sure I even know how to put into words what’s bothering me, but I don’t need to. Dee sees right through my facade.

“Come on, we both know you love your job. I’ve seen you when work is stressing you out and this isn’t that. Let me guess…guy trouble? Did you swipe right and now you’re fielding unsolicited dick pics from some asshole? Give me his name, I’ll give him hell. Oh, or did you run into that pro-ball hottie and take off your shirt again? Please say yes,” Dee says as she helps me rack the equipment, and we head to the leg press machine.

“God no, don’t remind me.” I adjust the weight settings and start my reps. “But I did run into him again. Fully clothed this time, hallelujah. He joined one of my training classes this week with his adorable lab puppy.”

“Stop it.” Dee laughs and holds the side of the machine while she throws her head back. “Oh my god,he’s in your class? That’s amazing. You should totally ask him out. Teacher-student romance? Yes, Ms. Miller. Tell me, is there still lingering chemistry?” she asks with a little shimmy and a gleam in her eye. Fucking ridiculous. I love her.

“What? No. He’s a nice guy, but he’s not interested in me like that.” I finish my set and Dee sets up for hers. She might be short, but damn, Dee can push a lot of weight around.

She eyes me skeptically before asking, “How do you know? Did youask him out?”

Dee’s the only one who knows how Aiden and I met, and I swore her to secrecy years ago. I still feel bad for not telling Ellie, Carissa, and Dom, too, since Aiden is one of his best friends, but I didn’t want to pull any focus away from the wedding festivities at the time and now it just seems stupid to bring up since it really wasn’t a big deal.

“Not a chance, come on, Dee. He’s a professional baseball player and I’m a dog trainer. In what world does that ever work? Don’t get me wrong, he’s unfairly attractive, but we agreed to be friends. It’s better this way. I’m not trying to be a random hookup for someone who could date anyone he wants. Besides, I’ll have to see him at all of Ellie and Dom’s big moments. I don’t want it to be any weirder than it already is.”

“Hey.” Dee stops, giving me her full attention. “Who the fuck are you and what have you done with Bec? Because my Bec doesn’t self-deprecate. Don’t say you’re a dog trainer, like that’s not fucking awesome. You’re a badass professional who helps countless dogs and families. Plus, you’ve got an ass so tight, you can play quarters off it. You really need to put that on your dating profile.”

Okay, I let Dee drunkenly play quarters off my buttoncein college and she’ll never let me live it down. Her aim was surprisingly accurate, I’ll give her that.

“Anyone, professional athlete or not, would be fucking lucky if you looked their way,” she continues. “You’re a ten, Bec. Inside and out. Now, be nice to my friend…or I’ll kick your ass.” She continues her set, glaring at me.

I don’t know what I did to deserve my friends, but I’m grateful for them more than they could ever know. “Thanks. I think I needed to hear that. I’m not sure why I feel so insecure lately. I think Aiden got in my head.”Wouldn’t be the first time.

“We both know why you’re feeling that way, babe. Your relationshipwith Josh might have been fucked, but you can’t project that onto Aiden, or anyone else you might be interested in.”

“I don’t know. I just feel like I’m not the same person I was when I first met him. I don’t even know how to be that person anymore.”

“Who says you need to go backward? You live, you learn, you grow. The best of Bec is yet to come,” Dee says as she pushes through another set. Jesus, she’s as strong as her personality.

“The best of Bec lately is just me embarrassing myself in front of Mister Fine. And despite how horrified and humiliated I felt seeing him at Ellie’s, he was really nice about the whole thing, which almost makes it worse. If he wanted to try something more, I would consider it, but we talked about it last weekend, and he just wants to be friends. Clean slate. It’s better this way, though. You know me, relationships aren’t really my thing anymore. Besides, I’ve got a few new matches online that look promising enough to keep me busy without tying me down. That’s what I want right now, I swear. Nothing more.”

A pang of longing steals my breath when I picture that night for a moment. Meeting Aiden, his hands on my hips, my hands in his hair, and his lips on mine. I know I’m lying to myself. I don’t want to be friends, but distance between me and Aiden Price is the safer option.

“Bec, anyone who could meet you and think you weren’t worth a shot is an idiot. If he’s too stuck up to realize you’re a damn catch, then he’s not worth another thought. Fuck that hotshot and his giant man muscles.”

I appreciate the sentiment, but with the way Aiden somehow keeps sneaking into my thoughts, it’s easier said than done. I sigh. “Enough of my drama, why don’t we skip the stairs and hit up next door for some mimosas instead? You could help me look through my matches? I could use a date.”

Dee practically leaps out of the machine. “Yes, fuck, yes. Let’s get out of this hellhole.”

The thought of going on a date makes my stomach clench with hesitation and nerves, but I need to do something to get over these borderline obsessive thoughts centering around Aiden and one meaningless weekend. There are plenty of other great guys in this city, anyway.

Chapter Nine

Bec

Ilied; this city is full of douchebaggery to the highest degree. I’m a heartbeat away from faking an “emergency” text to get me out of this horrific date. I can’t believe I’m wasting my Friday night on this guy.

“And then my boss goes, Doug, you can’t just walk out of the meeting. I looked her up and down and reminded her, I’m the CEO’s nephew, and he signs her paychecks. I don’t have to do anything.Psssh, her face, I wish you could have seen it. She was practically purple; she was so pissed.”

What…the actual…fuck?

This is the last time I swipe right for anyone whose career is listed asfinancein their profile. I should have known after how things worked out—or didn’t work out—with Josh to just avoid the entire financial-man species.

Doug is hot, arrogant, and repulsive. Sounds a little contradictory? Well shit, I have eyes. I can’t deny he’s gorgeous, but if he opens his mouth one more time, I may vomit all over the table.

He’s been talking about work for fifteen minutes straight and how he acts like an entitled prick, shitting all over his coworkers. All this afterhe asked me to take a picture of him for his online content because he looks “too hot to ignore.” Not a picture of the two of us. A picture of him, alone, giving me a smoldering look and then several of him looking off into the distance all moody, like I was the fucking paparazzi catching him candidly for his fans. Yes, he called his social media followers his fans.

Okay, maybe I should have faked that text already.

---