“No?”
He shook his head. “Nope. Undating ends with a sniff, not a kiss.”
I giggled. “What kind of a sniff?”
“Ah, I’m glad you asked. Let me demonstrate.” He leaned in and buried his face in my hair, brushing his nose slowly up my neck as he inhaled until he got to my ear. Then he let out a warm breath with a groan. “God, you smell so fucking good.”
Every hair on my body stood at attention. I was about five seconds away from breaking the undating no-kissing rule already…until a voice blinked me out of my stupor.
“Get a room,” Deek grumbled. “Some of us have to get to work.”
I pulled back like someone had splashed a bucket of cold water over my head. “Oh, sorry.”
Deek chuckled. “Let me through, and I’ll open up instead of watching you two. Besides, hetero voyeurism isn’t my thing.”
Colby chuckled. “I gotta get going before Brayden kicks my ass, anyway.” He looked to me. “Undate tomorrow night?”
“Okay.” I smiled.
“I’ll call you later once I figure out the details.”
I waved as he went down to the building’s residential entrance. Deek had his key out already, so he stepped in front of me and unlocked the door. “So I guess my air-conditioning trick worked?”
“I knew you did that!” We walked inside. “You’re such a jerk. Colby thinks I did it so I’d have an excuse to see him.”
Deek grinned. “You’re welcome, sweetheart. I’m glad everything worked out and you guys are going to give dating a shot.”
I shook my head. “Oh, we’re not dating. We’re doing something he calls undating—kind of spending time with each other without the pressures of dating. But we’re not going to see other people while we do that.”
Deek bent his head back in laughter.
“What’s so funny?”
“The fact that you’re dating this dude and don’t even know it.”
CHAPTER 12
Colby
On Saturday night, I picked up Billie from the shop after work for our undate. I hadn’t told her what our plans were, but we wouldn’t have to go far because it was right upstairs.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
I tickled her side. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“I would.” She tickled me back.
“Why? You worried I’m tricking you into a date? Far from it.”
Billie poked me with her finger. “Considering you seem to be taking me back to your apartment, I am suspicious. Is Saylor at your parents’ or something?” She snapped her fingers. “Wait, is this another laundry night?”
I chuckled. “Not going to my apartment. Although, considering the mountain of clothes I have back there, another laundry night can certainly be arranged.”
“Where else could we be going?”
“You’ll find out.”
“Is it a rooftop picnic?” she asked.
“Wouldn’t that be like a date?”
“Yup. Just testing you.” She winked.
“What we’re doing is far from a rooftop picnic, my dear.”
Excitement filled her eyes. “Well, now I’m intrigued.”
I feared she might be sorely disappointed. We continued down the hall and into the elevator. I pressed the number-two button for the second floor. She leaned against the wall as the elevator rose. I stood just inches away and leaned in to take a whiff of her delicious scent, momentarily feeling like I didn’t want to share her tonight. But instead of getting her all to myself, I was about to throw her to the wolves.
The doors opened, and she followed me down the hall. When we got to Owen’s place, I knocked.
Brayden answered the door. “Hey, dude.” His mouth curved into a smile as he got a look at Billie. He hadn’t met her yet. “Who’s this?”
“This is Billie. She owns the tattoo shop downstairs. She’s joining us tonight.” I placed my hand at the small of her back. “Billie, this is Brayden—amigo number three, the one I believe you haven’t met yet.”
“Nice to meet you, Brayden.” She held out her hand.
He took it and flashed a shit-eating grin. “Likewise.”
The smell of cigar hit me as we entered the apartment. Smoke billowed in the air, and the table was all set up with cards and poker chips. I didn’t love cigars like the other guys did, but I always had one anyway if they were all smoking around me.
I spoke into Billie’s ear. “Welcome to our quarterly poker night. Tonight you’re one of the guys. Undatelike enough for you?”
She nodded. “I love poker. This is the perfect undate.”
“You play?”
“I have played, yeah.” She jabbed me in the chest with her index finger. “You scared now?”
“Excited is more like it.” I turned to Owen. “Owen, you know Billie…”
He nodded. “Good to see you.”
I noticed his eyes briefly drop to her chest. That made me want to strangle him, though I couldn’t blame him for sneaking a peek. Billie had once again decided to torment me with a corset, this time the infamous royal blue one Holden had snapped photos of when she was out with that guy. She was definitely trying to kill me, and now she was making me want to kill my friend.