Page 43 of Bad Love

His gaze meets mine in the mirror. "Not somuch.”

On our way back in, we grab adrink.

Nellie looks at me over his glass as we sit, taking in my pile of chips and chuckling. "Don’t get it in your pretty head you can get enough to buy back the brewery. You might not have lost to me lately, but you’re gonna do it in a bigway."

Fucking Nellie. We’ve been friends since college because we were in the same frat. Tonight, he’s getting on mynerves.

"No way you can sell ten large of those vibes. The sales were even worse than Ihoped."

I fold my arms. "You’ll be the one sucking it because the battlefield’schanged.”

He frowns. “Did you forget our normal rules apply?” He ticks off his fingers. “No celebrities. No phoning your mom. And last but notleast…”

“Noalligators.”

Nellie, Monty, and I chorus this atonce.

Tanner looks between us. “Thefuck?”

“One time I bet he couldn’t swim across this lake in Florida,” Nellie says with a fondgrin.

“I had to change course because of the wildlife,” I say, shuddering. “But no, I’m not bending the rules. We’re choosing a different vibe, and by the time we’re done, it'll be the best thing a woman's everexperienced."

Incredulous laughter explodes from his side of thetable.

"I'm serious,” Isay.

The laughter fades, leaving only uncomfortablesilence.

“Tell me something.” I shift forward, draining the rest of my drink because I'm not quite buzzed enough for this conversation. "If you were a woman, what would youlike?"

Nellie breaks the silence first. "Big. Obviously. Only thing better than twelve inches is twenty-four." He looks between us. “Right?”

"Nah. Length doesn't matter. It's all about girth." Tanner cups his hands todemonstrate.

Monty folds his arms. "It's neither. Women don't care about that. If you’re making a dude with a motor, then clearly what matters is thevibration."

My attention’s tugged away, landing on the poster on the wall. Janie watches us, silent andamused.

Bet she knows exactly what kind of vibe we shouldmake.

"I hope you're not relying on us for feedback," Montymutters.

"Of course not. I have a secret weapon," I reply, and Tanner leans in. "She knows what she’sdoing."

Nellie scratches his head. "Kendall? Shit." He barks out a laugh as Tanner and Monty lookon.

"You've met her?" Montyasks.

"The chick's a ballbuster. I dare you to get with that,” hetosses.

Monty winces. “Let’snot.”

“Don’t worry. She's not Hunt’stype.”

I sit upstraighter.

“I mean, she's hot in a don’t-look-at-me way, but he doesn't have a chance," Nelliesays.

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