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“I’ll…uh…remember that.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be on a date with Darcy right now?”

“Yeah. He, uh…bailed.”

“Again?” Sienna balks. “Do you keep scaring him off or something?”

“I dunno. I think he’s got stuff going on. He hasn’t said much. Anyway, do you need another set of hands or what?” I offer.

Sienna looks around before her gaze locks on a job.

“Oh, shit. Please don’t make me regret this.”

We all spent the rest of the night at the new salon. Bea appeared a little while later with a freshly changed Freddie in her arms, and she and Sienna took turns taking care of the little man while bossing the big ones around.

Honestly, it was the most fun I’ve had in a while. Pizzas and beer were ordered in, and we spent the evening laughing until our sides hurt. It was awesome, a reminder of everything I was missing in New York.

Sienna disappears upstairs with Calvin once we get back to their apartment building, leaving me to hang out in her apartment alone.

Usually, I don’t mind my own company, but since moving back, I’ve haven’t been enjoying the silence as much.

I shower and drag on a pair of sweats before opening my laptop, pulling up my hockey models, and finding the results from today’s games.

I’m busy inputting everything when my cell buzzes.

Absently, I reach for it, not expecting it to be anything important.

But the second I glance at the screen, my eyes widen.

I thought I’d effectively shut down our conversation earlier when I went out on a whim and asked if he was busy tonight, but apparently, he’s not done.

RoughingTheModel: Can’t sleep. What are you doing?

I stare at the screen and scan the numbers.

I can’t tell him what I’m doing.

Hardly anyone understands my obsession with numbers and my need to find patterns.

So instead, I take another risk and hope I don’t shut the conversation down like last night.

HotScore: Wishing I wasn’t in bed alone…

RoughingTheModel: I’ll ask again…what are you doing?

I bite down on my bottom lip as my wicked thoughts get the better of me.

He’s asking what I think he’s asking, right?

I close my laptop, kick it to the end of the bed, and lie back. After adjusting my sweats so they’re riding dangerously low and shifting my dick so it’s visible behind the fabric, I tense my abs and take a photo of my torso and the empty side of the bed for evidence.

HotScore: Thinking about the fun we could have been having tonight…

HotScore: You?

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COOPER