The Rules of Dating My Best Friend's Sister(74)

Lost in thought about how I could’ve handled things better, I was a few sips into my wine when Holden opened his window. He climbed out and took a seat at the edge closest to where I sat.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hi.”

He looked down, shaking his head. “I’m sorry about how I acted this morning.”

“I’m sorry, too. I swear to God, Holden, lying to Warren had nothing to do with you. I wasn’t trying to hide you. I just didn’t want to hurt him. And if I’m honest, I’m a little ashamed about my lack of self-control. I jumped you the minute I got back to New York after breaking things off with my fiancé. I didn’t stop to think that not having my emotions sorted out could hurt other people.” I sniffled back tears. “I just acted on impulse.”

Holden reached through the bars of our fire escapes and cupped my cheek. “Don’t cry, sweetheart.” He smiled. “Your lack of self-control is the best thing to happen to me in a very long time.”

I covered his hand on my cheek with my own. “I hope you can accept my apology.”

“Only if you can accept mine. I get that you need some time, and I shouldn’t have tried to force you to put a label on whatever is going on between us. You were upfront about what you wanted from the beginning. Let’s just have some fun.”

My shoulders relaxed for the first time today. “Really? Do you mean that?”

“I do.” He held up a finger. “In fact, I bought you a little apology gift aimed at just that—having fun. I’ll be right back.”

Holden climbed into his apartment and came out a minute later carrying a red box with a big white bow tied around it. He slipped it through the bars of our adjoining fire escapes with a smile.

“This will make us both forget our little disagreement this morning.”

The box was unmarked. I shook it. “Is it liquor? Because I think the glass of wine I’m drinking is more than enough after my evening with Billie last night.”

“Open it and find out.”

“Okay!” I felt like a kid on Christmas morning as I ripped the bow open and pulled the lid off the box. The inside was lined with velvet and contained two items, one of which I recognized. I smiled and covered my mouth.

“Oh my God. You bought me a vibrator?”

“It’s from your list. I believe it was number six: playing with toys together. By the way, I didn’t realize all we have to do is write down what we want and our wishes come true. Santa’s definitely going to be getting an eyeful from me this year...”

I laughed. “You’re so crazy. But what’s this other thing?”

“We each got a toy. That one is for me.” He dug his cell from his pocket and held it up. “It syncs up with a phone. I’ve already connected mine. We insert that part inside of you, and I can make it vibrate, pulse, or rumble from anywhere in the world.”

My eyes widened. “Rumble?”

He grinned. “You want to go try it, don’t you?”

I covered my smile with my hand.

“I’ll take that smile as a yes,” he said. “Now go get naked. I want you spread-eagled on the bed before I get next door so we can consummate my apology.”





CHAPTER 20


Lala



It was amazing how much more exciting weekends were now that I knew I’d be spending them with Holden. The end of the work week couldn’t come fast enough.

Friday night after I got home, I took a long shower before going over to his apartment. As the water poured down on me, I felt on top of the world, growing more excited by the minute about our weekend plans, even if I had no clue what they were.

All refreshed and ready for whatever the night would bring—hopefully amazing sex—I went next door to Holden’s place.

When he opened the door, he looked amazingly hot in his gray beanie and a plain burgundy tee. My nipples hardened at the mere sight of him. But my horny haze was interrupted when I looked into his eyes and sensed that something wasn’t right.

“What’s going on, Holden? You look kind of down,” I said.

He sighed. “Yeah, we need to talk. Something’s come up.”

Oh no. My stomach sank as a number of worst-case scenarios flooded my mind. Are we done? “Okay…” I gulped.

“So…our manager called a little bit ago to let me know she booked us a bunch of new gigs.”

I blinked. “That’s good, right?”

He frowned. “They’re all out on the west coast, Lala.”

It took a few seconds to set in. He didn’t say west side. He said west coast. He’s leaving? “Oh…” A feeling of dread filled me. “Did you know this was a possibility?”

He nodded. “I knew she was working on getting us booked out there at some point, but she’d made it seem like it wasn’t going to happen for a while. Now she’s telling us she’s lined up several stops from Oregon all the way down through southern California. Apparently, she met a booking manager out there who made it all come together.”

I took a deep breath. “When is this all happening?”

Holden’s jaw flexed. “We’re supposed to fly out there sometime next week.”

What? “Wow. Next week.” I rubbed my nauseous stomach. “How long will you be gone?”