I shrugged. “Make it a rule then,” I offered.

“What?”

“A rule. No fucking anyone unless it’s each other.”

Her eyes bugged.

“And no masturbating either,” I added, raising my beer and using it to gesture. “Since we both know when you do it you’re thinkin’ about me, and if you’re that fuckin’ horny, you need to rub one out or you’ll fuckin’ explode, you can come to me, Legs, beg, and I’ll put that fire out for you.”

Her mouth dropped open.

“This is not at all how I thought this evening would play out,” Syd whispered off to the side. “Are you as shocked as I am?”

“Wild, don’t,” Dash mumbled. “Doesn’t involve us. Just eat.”

I briefly glanced at Dash and Syd, saw Dash with his head down, eating, eyes focused on his plate, and Syd with her attention focused solely on me and not the plate in front of her. Then I turned back to Tori, crossed my arms over my chest while keeping hold of my beer, and asked, “What do you say, babe? You in?”

Tori regained her steely composure and questioned with a sharp voice, “Do you really think you can beat me on this? Go without masturbating and sex, with anyone, and keep yourself away from me?”

“Didn’t say that was part of it,” I replied. “You’ll be seeing a lot of me, Legs, ’cause I know what seeing me does to you, and if I’m gonna win, I’m using every advantage I got. But yeah, babe, that aside, I know I can beat you. Told you before. I don’t lose.” I leaned forward and finished with emphasis, “Ever.”

“Well, you’ll be losing on this,” she hissed, leaning forward to deliver her own emphasis. “That’s for damn sure.” Then Tori turned her head, gave Syd a sweet look, and declared, “Thanks for the invite, but I’m no longer hungry. Call me later.”

“Okay,” Syd replied, lifting her hand in a wave. “Thanks for the pie.”

“No problem. See ya, Brian.”

“Later,” he said around his bite.

Tori’s face was wiped clean of that sweet look when she glanced back at me, only to deliver a glare before spinning around and stalking out of the room.

The front door slammed shut behind her.

Dash continued eating. Syd mumbled something about being happy with her plan and the way it turned out.

And I stood there, smiling because I could already taste that victory on my fucking tongue.

Game on, Legs.

Chapter Three

TORI

“Trust me. It makes no sense for him to bet something like that. He wasn’t serious,” I said into the phone, plopping down on the couch with my bowl of food.

I’d left Syd and Brian’s house over an hour ago and was just now sitting down with something to eat, wanting the casserole Syd made but not wanting it bad enough to put up with Jamie’s company, which led to me lying about not being hungry and meant I had to come home and make a meal I hadn’t intended on making. And just as I was finishing putting my serving into a bowl, my phone rang.

Syd was done eating and was dying to talk to me about what all went down tonight, not bothering with casual banter and instead cutting right to the chase.

Typically, I wouldn’t be in the mood to discuss Jamie, ever, but since I was sure everything that went down was all one big joke, I was humoring her.

In fact, I wasn’t just sure. I was positive.

There was no way Jamie McCade had seriously roped me into a sex competition.

Propping my feet up on the coffee table, I muted the TV, then held the phone between my ear and my shoulder as I twirled some noodles on my fork.

“He sounded pretty serious to me,” Syd argued. “And I honestly don’t think he’s ever lost at anything. I believe him when he says that. I think you need to prepare yourself.”

“He was joking, hon. And why are we even talking about that loser? Who cares?”

“He knows your weaknesses.”

“Excuse me?” I asked around a mouthful of pasta. “What weaknesses?”

I hadn’t told Syd about the kiss Jamie had forced on me before I gently nudged him with my car, so she couldn’t know how my traitorous body reacted to that.

She wasn’t going to know about it either. Nobody was. I was taking that to the grave.

But I refused to be in denial with myself. It wasn’t healthy and there was no point. Because my body reacted and I felt that reaction for hours afterward, there was no disputing it; I had a weakness when it came to that beautiful loser.

His stupid, obnoxious, fuck-me perfect mouth.

“Well, for one, you don’t hate what he looks like,” she suggested. “He could use that to his advantage and start testing the ‘no shirt, no service’ policy at Whitecaps.”

I rolled my eyes and swallowed. “He has no idea I find him attractive,” I countered, twirling more noodles.

“I’m pretty sure he thinks everyone finds him attractive. Even people who have never seen him.”

My hand stilled. I really couldn’t argue that. “Fine. Next,” I prompted.

“Then there’s the dahlias,” she reminded me.

I breathed in deep through my nose and released it slowly.

Unbelievable. Out of all the flowers that jerk could’ve brought me, he somehow managed to pick my favorite.

“Dumb luck. What about them?”

“You displayed them in your kitchen after letting Jamie think you didn’t want them, meaning you really did want them.”

“Yeah, but he doesn’t know that,” I said, letting my fork hover in the air. “He saw me toss them in the trash and I didn’t fish them out until after he paid his tab and left. And I didn’t keep them because he gave them to me. I kept them because they were beautiful and the vase was classy as shit.”

And expensive. It was now the nicest vase I owned.

She sighed. “Still. That was very sweet of him. Just like what he did to Wes’s car. He didn’t need to do that, and he did. That was for you, Tori.”

My heart seized, causing my body to jerk and tense up. I shoveled pasta into my mouth. Nope. I was not admitting to that, nor was I going to think about it. No way.

“Next,” I encouraged, chewing and swallowing my bite.

Syd chuckled. “Um, I don’t think I need to offer up any more examples. Those are pretty concrete,” she said, her voice light with triumph. “He knows you find him attractive, he’s capable of laying on the sweet and giving you something besides his arrogance, and he’s seen what it takes to break through and reach your soft. Knowing Jamie, he’ll be aiming for it again now that he knows you got one.”

“My soft?” I questioned, brow furrowed.

“Your heart, Tori.”

Oh, please. My girl was living in lover’s land and was apparently drinking the Kool-Aid if she thought Jamie ever hit me that deep.

“This is ridiculous,” I murmured.

“It’s not. And I think you’re underestimating him.”

“He was joking, Syd. No way would Jamie make a bet he’s guaranteed to lose.”

“It’s not a guarantee.”

“Yes, it is,” I stressed.