Chapter 23

Xander

Cami was laughing, which was a good start. I was about to say more when she shocked the hell out of me with her next words.

“Bentley thinks we should try a friends-with-benefits relationship to work through the attraction between us.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. What was I supposed to say? On the one hand, I wanted more than friends-with-benefits. On the other hand, it was a start, and I liked any arrangement that allowed me to get naked with Cami.

“I’ve shocked you into silence,” Cami said with a nervous laugh. “I never thought that would happen.”

Reluctantly, I removed my arm from her shoulders, not because I wanted to so much as because it seemed like the right thing to do under the circumstances.

“I didn’t expect you to say that,” I admitted. “So, you talked to Bentley about the kiss?”

“She’s my best friend,” was her response. “I’m sure you talked to at least one member of the band.”

“I didn’t,” I replied. “Of course, I don’t mind that you talked to Bentley. I wanted to talk to my friends about the kiss, but I was worried it would make you uncomfortable.”

“Why do you have to be such a nice guy?”

A sharp bark of laughter escaped my lips. “Do you want me to be an asshole?”

“It would make this a lot easier,” she replied. “It would be easier to decide what I want to do.”

“Would it now?” I asked with a grin.

“Yes. If you were a jerk, I could sleep with you and get this whole thing out of my system. Instead, I have to worry about hurting you and damaging our friendship.”

“Listen, babe, I know you’re worried about hurting me, but you don’t need to be,” I assured her. “I like you, but it’s not as if I’m in love with you. My heart won’t get broken if we don’t end up together. I think you’re hot as hell, and I’m dying to strip you naked and do some things that would get me slapped for mentioning them.”

“What kind of things?” she asked in a breathy voice.

I practically groaned. Her question had my dick stirring in my pants. “Are you telling me you want to explore this friends-with-benefits option?”

“No,” she replied quickly before letting out a sigh and admitting, “Yes, I want to explore that option, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea.”

“Maybe we should talk about this after you’ve had more time to think,” I suggested. “We can keep up our fake relationship, and you can let me know when you want to find out what I’ll do once I strip you naked.”

It was Cami’s turn to groan. “That’s not playing fair.”

I smirked. “I don’t have any intention of playing fair. You should know that up front. I plan to play dirty, very dirty.”

Cami’s tongue darted out to wet her lower lip. “You seem to be playing dirty now.”

“I’m done playing dirty for now,” I assured her. “Your friendship means a lot to me, so I’m not going to make things awkward by pressuring you to make any decisions. Do you want to watch a movie? The pizza should be here any minute.”

“I should probably head home,” she replied. “I’m not saying that because of our conversation. I’m exhausted. It’s been a rough couple of days. I also need to go out to check on a hospitalized patient tomorrow morning before my appointments.”

“No pizza?” I asked.

“It’s tempting, but since we’re skipping tonight’s cooking lesson, I think I’ll just go home and eat my leftover Thai food,” she replied.

“All right,” I agreed. “What’s your schedule like for the next few days?”

“I’ll be busy all day tomorrow,” she replied. “My schedule is spread out, so I’ll be in the office from eleven until nearly nine. I’ll look at my schedule, and we can figure out times we’re both free. How does that sound?”

“Sounds good,” I told her. “I’ll text you my schedule tomorrow morning. I have practice, one day of recording, and an interview this week.”

She nodded, and I walked her to the door. After I closed the door, I grinned. It had definitely been an interesting evening.