Page 168 of So This Is War
“Ahh, I see. So it’s not your typical nature to play around with assistants and make them do crazy things?”
“No,” he says emphatically. “Christ, I didn’t even want an assistant. I was fine with how I was handling things on my own. And it’s not like I’m a big-ticket player like Taters, or Hornsby, or even OC now. I’ve skirted under the spotlight and done my own thing. But I didn’t have a choice with your dad.”
I draw a circle on his chest and say, “I can still see the look of shock on your face when I walked through the door of my dad’s office. It took everything in me not to laugh.”
“Yeah, it was a mixture of shock and relief since I’d been looking for you for God knows how long. I even had the hotel give me video of us that night at the bar to help me find you. Looks like my private investigator was a fucking moron, given the girl I was looking for was stealing my bologna this whole time.”
I chuckle. “Yeah, he didn’t look all too well.”
“That night at the bar.” He wets his lips. “I knew the moment I started talking to you that you’d make a lasting impression. I was planning on one night, but after five minutes with you, I was prepared to ask for your number.”
“Are you just saying that?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “No, Wylie. I wouldn’t just say something like that.”
I smile down at him and run my finger over his nipple, which makes him bite down on his lip. “There was this one picture I found of you with your shirt off in the locker room. Your hair was wet, and you were looking off, a scowl in your brow. It was one of the sexiest pictures I’d ever seen. I can’t tell you the number of times I got off to it.”
His brow rises. “Really?”
I nod. “Yup. I had a big crush, Levi.”
“Had . . . or have?”
I smirk. “Have.”
“Good.” He cups my ass and says, “And whose idea was it to torture me with not wearing a goddamn bra?”
“That was a combination of me and Sandie. She’s my best friend. She’s been along for this entire ride, and I, uh, I kind of told her about us. I hope that’s okay.”
“That’s fine,” he says as his finger drags along my crack, sparking an ember of heat inside me. So I drag my fingers down to his stomach where I play with the divots of his abs. “You needto be able to have that open relationship. So she helped you make me weep at night?”
“You wept?”
“Wylie,” he says, looking dead serious. “You’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever met. You check all the goddamn boxes, every single one of them. And you were walking around my apartment in a threadbare shirt with no bra. Yes, I fucking wept myself to sleep.”
I laugh and pat his stomach. “You poor man. And yes, she aided in making you weep. It wasn’t until after we found the email, though.”
“What email?” he asks, looking confused.
“It was in the Vermont book,” I say. “It was the first email I’m assuming my dad sent you because they were the first tasks you made me do.”
“Oh shit,” he says. “Fuck, that’s right. You showed up when I was reading over the email I’d printed, and I just stuck it in the closest thing I could find. So from that email, you knew what was going on and decided to torture me?”
I nod. “Yup. Wanted to teach you a lesson and my father one as well. Then there was one night, after I walked in on you and Patty Ford. . .”
“A great but torturous night,” he says while running his hand over my ass. “I got to see you come for the first time, and it was so fucking perfect, but I didn’t get to be the one who did it.”
“Yeah, that was quite the night.” I smile softly, remembering it. “Well, after that, my dad called me, and we got in a fight. That made me change my perspective. I decided to stop messing around with you and instead focus on the job and my art. But then something in you switched.”
He slowly nods. “Yeah, uh, I was actually chatting with some of the girls and asking for their advice. They suggested that youknew about the deal I had with your dad, so I turned the tables on you.”
“They seem smart. Who are they?”
“Ollie, Penny, Blakely, and Winnie. So Silas’s, Eli’s, Halsey’s, and Pacey’s girls. I went to them because, frankly, my teammates are idiots when it comes to relationships. I figured they were the better option. I’ll admit, we had some ups and downs, but they were helpful. I haven’t told them about this yet. They’ll freak out.”
“Really?” I ask. “Tell them.”
“Right now?” he asks.
