I'm still too surprised to do anything but let it happen.
When the taxi honks impatiently, I practically jump out of Aiden's embrace. I can only stare at him in wide-eyed surprise.
"I thought I said no goodbye kiss?"
"I don't accept this rule," he says with a grin. He leans forward to give me another quick peck on the mouth. "Relax, Dani, this hardly means I'm planning our wedding. I just wanted to kiss you."
I narrow my eyes at him to see if he's lying, but find only charming, playful Aiden. I sigh and give him a light shove. "Fine. But the second I see the invitations come out, I'm gone."
He rolls his eyes. "Yes, fine, message received. Now get out of here before your driver takes off without you." Then he lightly swats my ass and pushes me toward the car with a grin. "Bye, troublemaker. Maybe I'll text you sometime."
That parting comment is enough to convince me that he's not making this more than it is. After the third date is usually when men start to get ideas—especially if you stress to them that youseriouslyaren't looking for a relationship—but Aiden really does seem to just want sex.
So I give him a parting wink and reply, "Maybe I'll even respond."
7
AIDEN
"So you're just… sleeping with her. Without sleeping. Or expectations."
I give Max a bemused look as I start to warm up for kickboxing class. "That's exactly what I'm saying."
He still doesn't look convinced. "That rarely works, dude. Look at what happened with me and Victoria: we said we were going to be friends after the breakup, occasionally fuck, and next thing I know I'm being tricked into coming over to her grandmother's 80th birthday so I can be introduced to everyone as her boyfriend again."
The memory of that particular night—of Max showing up at my apartment in a panic after he somehow managed to get away from that party—makes me laugh out loud.
"That was different and you know it," I chuckle. "Victoria was trying to get back together with you the second you dumped her. You were just too blind to see it. There was never any way of that 'friendship' staying casual."
Instead of acknowledging that I'm right, Max just aims a glare at me before turning to grab his boxing gloves.
Just then, I hear my phone buzz from the edge of the mat. I reach for it and let out a whistle when I see who's texting me. "Speak of the devil." I turn my phone toward my friends with a grin. "See? Booty call. You were saying?"
All I get is an eye roll in response.
Dani: Hey pretty boy. Busy later?
I quickly type out a response.
Aiden: For you? Never. What's up?
Dani: I'm bartending a paintball party this afternoon for some corporate gig. Wanna come keep me company? You can bring people from the gym if you want.
I look up from my phone and catch Max's eye. "What're you doing later? Want to go paintballing with Dani?"
He shrugs. "Sure, I'm in."
Aiden: Max and I will be there. Just shoot me the details, we’ll come over after training.
Max is staring at me with narrowed eyes when I look up from my phone again. "A paintball date? That doesn't sound like sex."
I shrug in response. "Maybe she wants me to fuck her on the field. Or maybe she wantsyouto fuck her on the field." Max shakes his head at that. "Look, all we said was we're notdating. That we wouldn't treat this as something heading toward a relationship. It's hardly a date when she invitedother peopleto come with me. She's a fun girl, she probably just wants us to keep her company so she doesn't get bored. Nothing more to it than that."
He sighs in defeat. "If you say so. I've just never seen a fuck buddy agreement where one partydidn'tcatch feelings."
I toss my phone to the edge of the mat before walking back over to the bag and getting into a ready stance. "Stop worrying so much, it'll be fine.”
Just then, the door to the heavy bag room opens and the newest member of the gym walks in. He's the massive, tattooed stranger I ran into in the locker room last week. He looks just as angry as he did that day, and every day I've seen him since. Which has been a lot, because angry boy apparently lives for the gym. I haven't trained with him yet but from the glances I shoot him during class, the guy isintense.