Page 20 of Uncharted

“So far.”

“And you’re funny. You make me laugh.”

“I try to find humor in the everyday bullshit.”

“You’re not uptight. You can laugh at yourself. You’re intelligent. You seem like someone I could tolerate.”

“Gee, thanks,” he scoffed.

“That’s a good thing,” I offered, trying to reassure him I wasn’t putting him down. “And, it’d be a win-win for both of us.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but you mean win-win in that we’d both benefit from your proposal.”

“That’s why they call it friends with benefits.”

“What are the parameters?” His dark blue eyes were like laser beams burning a path straight past any pretense or bullshit. “Besides the just friends. Just sex. No strings.”

“No relationship. No commitment. No emotions.”

“Just sex,” he said, testing the words.

“Just sex,” I reassured him with a nod and a smile.

“Anything else I should be aware of?”

“Hmm,” I considered aloud. “Timewise, what would work for you?”

He gave me a sexy smirk. “I can make anything work.”

“Typical guy,” I laughed.

He shrugged his shoulders and said, “A gorgeous lady like you? I’d be an idiot to say no.”

I mentally analyzed my schedule. “I think Wednesdays might be best for me.”

“Hump Day? Are you serious?” Tyler’s bark of laughter rang out, and I lost it. We were hysterically laughing at the coincidence of the day I chose.

“I didn’t choose that day on purpose,” I said through my fit of giggles. “I swear.” I couldn’t stop laughing. A few heads turned our way to see what was so funny. We ignored them.

He pounded the table with his fist a few times before he regained his composure. “Okay, so let me get this straight,” he said and took a deep breath. He ran through the major points of my proposal, then asked, “What about food?”

When I slanted my head in confusion, he added, “I’m gonna need food and drinks. You know, to keep me sustained. You will too. Trust me.” He gave a self-confident wink.

“Well, I will need you at your top performance.” I agreed, then grinned. “I also don’t want to have to deal with you being hangry.”

“That goes without saying.”

After a few moments of silence, before I lost my nerve, I pushed for an answer. “So, what do you think?”

“I think it’s a wonderful idea. I think I’m a lucky guy for you to consider me.”

“But?” I felt the but coming.

“There’s something I need to tell you first. Then you can decide if you’d like to proceed or not.”

Oh crap!This was it. The ship was about to sink. I was onboard. And there were no life rafts left. I was going down with the ship. And I wasn’t even its freaking captain. I resolved myself to not be a pussy, and just bite the bullet. “Okay, Tyler. What is it you’d like to tell me?”

“Well, it’s not something I need to tell you, but show you.”

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