Page 33 of Fakers with Benefits

“Oh. That’s way cuter than my bully scenario.”

“Maybe, but that’s where the cuteness ends,” Vlado said. “The three of us grew up together, and Ev’s been my best friend for as long as I can remember. But there’s never been anything between us. I’m straight, and I think of him like a brother. Same as he thinks of me.”

“Boo.” Nick undid his suit jacket and tugged on his tie.

“What are you doing?” I asked, my head still spinning from the strange turn the conversation had taken.

“Getting comfy.” He pulled off his tie and stuffed it in his pocket. “This suit slaps, but I’m not used to wearing so many clothes when I’m working.”

Vlado snickered.

“So, why did Evan do your math homework if you’re BFFs?”

The car went silent as I, and presumably, Vlado, circled back to what we’d been talking about before Nick’s tangent.

“Oh, right.” Vlado cleared his throat. “Ev was such a math nerd he wanted to do it. Said it was fun for him.”

“Math is fun?” Nick gave me a look like I suddenly couldn’t be trusted. “You’re like Kai. Super hot and broody, but secretly a nerd who nerds.”

“Kai?” I asked. A flare of something moved through my stomach. Was that jealousy?

“My friend. He works at the club with me. Remember the hottie with the tats? The one who did that insane chair routine?”

“Mmhm.”

“That’s Kai. He’s going to grad school in a few months. He’s gonna be a doctor.”

“Really?” I asked, unable to hide my surprise. “What kind of doctor?”

“A psychologist.”

“You mean he’s getting his PhD?” I asked before I could stop myself.

He shot me a glare. “A PhD is a doctorate, which would make him a doctor. What? You don’t think strippers can be smart? Knox’s girlfriend is a stripper and she’s almost done med school. Is that enough of adoctorfor you?”

“I wasn’t implying anything,” I said quickly.

“You might want to look down and check to see if your pants are on fire.”

I screwed up my face.

“Because you’re a liar liar.” He smiled sweetly.

Vlado covered his laugh with a cough.

Nick undid the top button of his shirt.

“I’m very confused,” I admitted. “This conversation has taken so many twists and turns I have no idea what we were talking about.”

“My bad.” Nick shrugged. “I had to keep all that inside while we were talking to those beige people. That’s like, four hours of behaving like an adult. I asked if we fooled everyone.”

“Right. Yes. I believe we did.”

“Phew.” He rubbed his cheeks. “I kept zoning out and daydreaming while you guys blathered on about money shit. Like, interest rates. Whoever named those was dead wrong. There’s nothinginteresting about them. I was worried people noticed I was in la-la land.”

“Is that when you kept grabbing his ass?” Vlado said, his voice light with amusement. “You seemed a little dreamy while groping him.”

Nick had indeed spent a good deal of time with his hand on my backside. The touch had been far more intimate than I normally would have shown in public, but the scandalous reactions of the other attendees had been worth it.

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