Page 6 of Winning the Nightcap

“No way I’d ever get busted, I always use my old, wired headphones when I listen to my audiobooks in public. Extra precautions, you know? No Bluetooth issues. Plus, it only makes it hotter. Walking down the street listening to how the main character is getting railed by the six-foot-three, muscled hottie against the edge of his penthouse balcony? Just my dirty little secret on a Wednesday afternoon stroll that no one needs to know about.”

It’s true, I love that extra little kink of being in line at the coffee shop around the corner from my apartment, surrounded by unsuspecting people going about their day while the voice artists paint me the smuttiest picture of my wildest dreams.

“Speaking of dirty little secrets, would you like to share with the rest of the class what happened last week? Ellie wouldn’t spill the details, and that means it’s too good not to share.” Dee, being the queen bee of living brazenly and unapologetically, would never let me bury this story no matter how much I wish I could.

“It’s not that good,” I counter. “I just accidentally saw Dom’s friend from college last week, and I might have been missing my shirt. While covered in baby poop. And having a small breakdown. You know, normal Saturday afternoon type stuff. Okay, who wants to compare favorite characters…”

“Stop deflecting, Bec, and give us the details. How the hell did this happen?” Carissa pipes in, and I know there’s no escaping their interrogation. I sigh and recount my humiliation at the tiny hands ofbaby Luca. By the end of my story, Carissa is cackling, wiping away the tears streaming down her face, while Dee is lying flat on her back, hysterically laughing. At least Ellie has the decency to pretend to look apologetic and hide her giggling, since her baby caused this whole damn mess in the first place.

“Please tell me we’ll meet this guy, Ellie. I have so many questions for him,” Dee schemes.

“Oh god, take it easy on him, Dee,” Ellie pleads. “And you already met him. Aiden was in our wedding party, one of the groomsmen. He’s a great guy. He keeps telling Dom how bad he feels about the whole thing. Now when he comes over to hang out, he texts us three times to confirm the plans, including one text from our driveway before he’ll get out of his car. He’s scarred for life.”

“Wow, I didn’t know my shirtless form was scarring. Better call my exes and offer compensation for their trauma.” I sip my drink and I can feel my blush creep in, remembering how gorgeous Aiden looked despite the shock written on his face and how much I wanted to crawl into a hole when he saw me covered in literal shit. I didn’t stick around long enough to talk, but the guy is still hot.

So fucking hot.

“Oh please, your cleavage probably rendered the poor guy speechless. You know your curves could kill. He’s scarred because your body was covered inpoop. Not exactly a fantasy brought to life; that’s a goddamn nightmare,” Dee says.

“Yeah, well. It wasn’t a dream for me either. Who just walks into your house unannounced like that anyway?” I shout.

“You do, Bec,” Ellie shrieks with a laugh. “You always just roll into our house. The only times you don’t are when you think we might be banging. Or these days, napping, which by the way, you’re the best for that.” Ellie smiles warmly. “Though, I would recommend that you avoid stripping in public spaces in the future, especially since theseason is over. I’m sure we’ll be seeing Aiden more often.”

“I’d hardly call leggings and a sports bra stripping,” I mutter under my breath.

“What do you mean now that the season is over?” Carissa asks.

“The regular baseball season is over. The Aviators didn’t make the playoffs, so I assume Aiden and Dom will hang out more often in the off-season.” Ellie casually snacks from the table while Carissa and Dee stare at each other, confused. “You know, because Aiden is a pro baseball player. Remember, he and Dom went to school together, and after college Aiden played for the Detroit Lightning? He was traded to Columbus this past Spring. Dom was ecstatic when Aiden called to tell him he was coming home.”

“Holy shit,” Dee says, snapping her head in my direction as her short, dark brown, wavy hair skims across her shoulders as her eyes find mine. I look away, immediately gulping my drink. She fucking promised…she better keep her big mouth shut. “Oh,Aiden…I remember that fine piece of man candy now.” She sips her drink and stares at me, goading me.

Nope, not looking at her. I can avoid her stare for the rest of time if I have to. If she wants me to confess, she’ll have to wait a lifetime.

“I need to see a picture to jog my memory,” Carissa pipes in. She probably didn’t even have a chance to meet Aiden with her stupid ex clinging to her at Ellie and Dom’s wedding. Ellie pulls up her phone and shows Carissa a picture of Aiden sitting in their living room holding Luca. It’s not fair that years later he’s only become more attractive. His perfect lips show off his bright smile, his jaw is still peppered with the perfect amount of scruff, and he keeps his brown hair a little longer on top, giving him that just-out-of-bed disheveled look. “Oh wow. Maybe we need to go to a few baseball games next year.”

“That’s a great idea! I’m sure Aiden would love to have a few extra fans in the stands. You won’t have to wait that long to see him, though.He’s invited to Friendsgiving at our house next month.”

I knew I’d see Aiden around now that he lives in town. I go back and forth between dreading our next interaction and craving it. I wish I could sever this connection, or at least silence it so I could just focus on anything but the way he makes my desire flare.

I’m fairly confident my battery boyfriend is going to be busy this fall, helping to take the edge off. If there’s one thing I know, I need to avoid any one-on-one interactions with him given the way we met.

Come on, Bec. You can do this…right?

Chapter Four

Bec

The Wedding

Istill have a few hours to kill before the other girls make it to the hotel. This is what I get for volunteering to decorate for Ellie’s bachelorette party tonight. I have to admit, I killed it. I went balls to the walls, or rather, dicks to the bricks, dutifully hanging paper penises all over the suite. When you’ve known Ellie as long as I have, it’s basically required that I go overboard here.

Ellie and the rest of the girls will arrive soon, presumably loaded up with even more gaudy décor, sashes, and supplies for her single-life send-off. Until then, here I am, killing time at the hotel bar alone. At least I know in a few hours, I’ll be pleasantly tipsy and heavily tipping a hot stripper.

I sip on my Moscow mule, mindlessly skimming through my phone, when I feel someone approach. I could go the rest of my life without awkward small talk at a hotel bar, but here we are. As if he can hear my thoughts, he asks, “Sorry, do you mind if I sit here? The place is pretty packed, and I don’t see any other seats.”

I look over and warm brown eyes lock with mine. I can’t seem to remember how to find my words.Shit, this guy is hot.Tousled darkbrown hair effortlessly achieving that imperfectly perfect look. He towers over me as he stands behind the bar stool next to me. His shoulders are broad, and his stance is casual, confident. The trimmed stubble on his strong jaw gives him a gruff edge that I inexplicably want to run my fingers along.

Down, girl.

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