After Amber and I finished our own pasta, we joined Milo on the couch, one of us on each side of him.

He was watching some bizarre animated show with a bunch of singing little girls.

“What is this show?” I asked.

“It’s called Kuu Kuu Harajuku. It’s a kids’ show. But he loves it.”

“What’s the gist?”

“Well, see those girls? They’re called Harajuku Girls because they live in Harajuku.”

“Fascinating.” I looked at him and chuckled. “Why do you think he likes it?”

“I suspect he appreciates the mayhem. These girls are musicians, and something is always getting in the way of their gigs. He sometimes laughs when they get into trouble. I think he likes their voices and the chaos. Either that, or maybe he just likes all the flashing colors.”

“It is pretty trippy, reminds me of something I would’ve watched after smoking a bone down in my basement in high school.”

“Yeah. You were a bad influence, Channing.”

I flashed a mischievous grin. “Some things never change.”

She intentionally made sure her eyes were glued to the cartoon after I’d said that.

I took the time to admire her legs that she’d spread out atop the coffee table. They were so smooth and toned. I didn’t even think she had to shave because she had this thin layer of blonde hair covering them. I wanted to rub my hand along her skin to see what that peach fuzz felt like. Visions of those legs wrapped around my back floated through my head. Her perfect little toes were painted blood red. I wasn’t normally a foot man, but Amber’s toes looked good enough to eat. My mouth watered.

Fuck. If she ended up saying no to me, I might never get her out of my system. My eyes continued to devour Amber’s legs.

Suddenly, I felt a whack.

And then he laughed.

Milo had smacked me upside the head.

I had no clue whether he was pissed that I was staring at Amber or what, but he’d definitely knocked me out of my trance.***That night, it was well past midnight when I’d decided to use the bathroom before bed. Amber was already asleep—or so I thought. She ended up knocking right into me as she was leaving the bathroom while I was entering.

“Are you okay?” My hands were on her shoulders. It was rare that I ever touched her.

Her breathing quickened. My dick immediately responded based on her reaction to me.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She looked up at me in the darkness. “I’ve been thinking about what you and I discussed at The Peabody.”

My heartbeat sped up a little as I reluctantly slid my hands off of her. “Yeah?”

“I’m still mad at you.”

“Amb—”

“Hear me out,” she insisted.

“Alright.”

“I’m mad…but I’m so glad it was you who showed up and not him. You were right. I would’ve regretted it. Thank you for intercepting what would have been a bad move on my part. Thank you for looking out for me.”

“I’m relieved you feel that way.”

“Like you said, there have to be some ground rules if we’re gonna do this.”

My heart really started to accelerate now. Was she taking me up on my offer? My cock twitched. I had to keep my dick in check, especially since it was a dishonest motherfucker. It had been lying to me this entire time just to get what it wanted, trying to convince me that this situation was going to be simple when I knew damn well it wasn’t.

“I agree that we have to have rules,” I said. “Tell me yours.”

“I need to see proof that you don’t have any diseases, something from the doctor.”

“That’s already been taken care of. That’s not a problem at all.”

“I don’t want you sleeping with anyone else while we’re doing this.”

“That’s a given. What else?”

“You have to wear a condom.”

Moving in closer to her, I said, “I’ll wear two if you want.”

“That’s not necessary.”

My dick was officially getting hard. “Okay. Tell me more.”

“We don’t utter a single word of this to anyone. It’s not just Rory I’m worried about. But I would never want like…say…your mother to know, either.”

That made me laugh. “Why would I tell my mother?”

“I don’t know.” She smiled. “Just don’t.”

“Done. No one will know. Come on, give me more rules.” I wanted everything out on the table so she didn’t have any second thoughts later or want to back out.

“I think that’s all I’ve got, actually. I feel like there should be more, but I can’t think of any at the moment.”

“How about I help?” I said. “I’ve got a few.”

“Okay…”

“I alluded to this before, but a main rule is that we meet on Saturdays only. And we don’t take it home with us. We don’t talk about it during the week. I think that’s gonna be important. As much as we may be tempted, sex happens only in our hotel room on Saturdays, and any talk of what we’re doing stays there as well. That way, this arrangement won’t interfere with our day-to-day lives.”