Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 98909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Sinner is probably already on his way here. It’s a quarter to nine.
Annika pushes her chair back from the table. “I don’t know, Keaton. I don’t think I can do this.”
“It’s just a wish, babe. And watch that wax—it’s about to drip onto your ganache frosting.”
She leans over and blows out the candle quickly. Then she sits back and sighs. “Keaton, is there really a guy on his way over here?”
I nod. “Why would I lie about that?”
Annika bites her lower lip. Then she throws me a curveball. “I think you should tell him not to come.”
“Wait, what?” My fork hovers over my own slice of cake.
“I…” She visibly gulps. “I don’t want to go through with it.”
“Annika!” I set down my fork with a clatter. “This was your idea. We can’t just text him to say never mind.”
“Sure we can!” she squeaks, popping out of her chair and crossing the room to look out the window.
It’s dark out there, so she can’t really see much. When she turns to face me, I don’t miss the misery swimming in her eyes.
“I was wrong,” she moans, and her cheeks are slowly reddening, either from embarrassment or anger. The former, I suspect. “This isn’t me. I thought I could be someone else for a night, and God knows our sex life needs a shakeup. But I can’t get naked with a stranger. I can’t.”
“But…” I take a deep breath and realize that my heart is pounding. There’s no way I can just bail on Sinner now. “This was supposed to be an adventure. You’re just nervous, like that time we took that scuba class. That turned out fine.”
“No.” She shakes her head vehemently. “This is so not the same thing. I was trying to be fun and daring. And I was trying to give you some hints that we needed a mojo makeover.”
“A... mojo makeover?” I’m so confused right now. “Is that a spa treatment?”
“No!” she shrieks. “I mean sex, Keaton. We’re in a rut. I thought I would suggest a threesome, and you’d realize we needed to put some more effort into the bedroom. You could have just bought sexy handcuffs and edible massage oil.”
It’s suddenly very important that I make her understand. “You asked me for this,” I say tightly. “And I delivered.”
“I can’t, Keaton. I’m sorry.”
“You’re just having cold feet because he’s a faceless stranger,” I try. “Let’s just meet him and then decide.”
Once again, she sounds miserable. “What will that accomplish? I’ll just have to embarrass myself to someone in person. This way he’ll never know which of us chickened out.”
And that’s exactly the problem. I consider Sinner a friend. And if I bail right now, he won’t understand that it wasn’t me who pulled the ripcord.
I don’t know why that bothers me so much. But it really does.
“You’re making me look like an asshole here,” I mumble. I take my fork and plunge it into my untouched slice of cake. And then I take a big bite. The chocolate flavor explodes on my tongue, but it doesn’t erase the flash of resentment that I’m experiencing.
I can’t even look at Annika right now. If she’d never asked for a threesome, I wouldn’t be in this position at all. I wouldn’t have chatted with Sinner. And I wouldn’t have wanted so badly to meet him.
“Keaton,” she says in a low voice. “People probably bail on these hookups all the time. He has to know that.”
“I’m sure he does. But they don’t get bailed on by me.”
I push the chocolate cake away. The force of my emotions is confusing to me. Annika is well within her rights to say no to a sexual encounter that she doesn’t want. Only an asshole would get mad at his girlfriend for expressing her discomfort, for choosing to back out. But I am mad. I’m mad because—fuck. No. Anger isn’t what I’m feeling, I realize in dismay. That tightness in my throat, the shakiness of my pulse.
It’s disappointment.
That’s the real problem, right? I wanted this so much. She has no idea. Hell, I had no idea.
“Please, baby,” she begs. “I’m so sorry. I know this is awkward. I guess I just didn’t picture us actually going through with it.”
Another rush of disbelief hits my veins. “I always keep my promises. Why would you think we wouldn’t go through with it?”
“I’m sorry!” she hisses, her eyes glistening. “But you have to message him right now. He could show up at any moment. Or I could do it.” She crosses the room to retrieve my phone off the bedside table.
Shit.
She unlocks the screen and scrolls through my apps. “What does it look like? I’ll tell him I’m the one who bailed—”
There’s a knock on the door. Three raps.
Our eyes meet from across the room. “Can I let him in?” I whisper.