Unfortunately, Sigrid could not make it to dinner that night, so I ended up inviting Cedric instead. He was a bit reluctant to mingle with Arthur's kin at first, but the prospect of a wild night of sex with me convinced him to come with me. I was still getting ready in the bathroom when Dullac knocked on my door at seven o'clock sharp. Cedric let him in.

"Hi," I heard Cedric greet Arthur, "I'm Cedric, Abby's friend. Thanks for inviting me to the party, buddy!"

"I'm Arthur Dullac, nice to meet you," there was a brief pause when, I suppose, they shook hands, "and you're welcome, I'm sure my friends will be delighted to meet you, too. Is Abril ready? I was supposed to meet her at seven."

"She will be done in a minute, come in."

I could only imagine how uncomfortable Dullac must have been, standing in my tiny and messy studio with only Cedric for company. I could picture him nervously checking his watch every minute, worried that I would make us late to his friends' house. I hastily did the final touches of my eye makeup, put on some light pink lipstick, and I was ready to go, a good ten minutes after Arthur had arrived.

When I got out of the bathroom, Dullac instantly stood up to greet me, like the old-fashioned gentleman that he was. He looked very different that day: he was wearing jeans, a white tee-shirt, and a bomber jacket. It was the first time I saw him wear anything so casual, he looked almost cute. When I noticed he was also wearing white trainers, I low-key thought he had been possessed on his way back from work. Both Cedric and I looked overdressed in comparison, Ced with his button-down and blazer jacket, me with my plain black jumpsuit, which I had chosen because it was simple and dressy enough to dodge any criticism from Dullac's friends.

"You look... casual," I said. It was exhausting to never be dressed appropriately when going places with him.

He picked up the accusation in my tone and felt like he had to justify.

"Yes, it is a totally different group than yesterday. They're more 'come as you are' than my other friends."

"I need to change," I declared.

I sensed Arthur tense up at the idea of being even more late, but he did not say a word. Cedric, on the other hand...

"Oh come on, Abs! You look great, we're late already, and you heard the man: 'come as you are.' Let's go!"

I wanted to argue but both men were already headed out of my apartment. My outfit would have to do.

The drive to the house was mostly quiet, except for the comments Cedric made about Arthur's ridiculously luxurious car. The atmosphere was awkward and I was already regretting my decision to come.

The house in front of which Dullac parked the car was surprisingly modest. Well, modest for LA. Nothing like the lifeless white concrete block that I had pictured in my head. On the contrary, the house had warm-toned walls, messy bushes, and felt like someone actually lived there. Arthur rang the bell and a handsome man with a can of beer in his hand opened the door.

"Hey, Art!" The man greeted Arthur with a one-arm hug and a pat between his shoulder blades. "It's so great you could make it, we haven't seen you in a while."

"Well, you know, I've been busy with work and all."

"Sure," the cute man answered, unconvinced. He had light brown hair whose ends were bleached by the sun, an overly tanned face, and strong tan lines on his neck and biceps. He was wearing sweat shorts and a tank top. That guy was the living stereotype of a Californian surfer.

"Valentine, this is my... friend Abril, and her friend Cedric," Dullac stepped aside to introduce us. I couldn't suppress the slight chuckle that rose from my throat when I heard the man's name. Neither could Cedric.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both," Valentine said as he shook our hands. "Obviously, it's just Val," he laughed, "only my parents and this guy still use my full name."

"The pleasure is mutual, Val," my eyes met his and I could already feel that I liked him. Besides being rather attractive, although a very easy non-surprising kind of attractive, he seemed to be a fun kind of guy who didn't take life and himself too seriously; the exact opposite of Dullac's personality and precisely what I needed. I could not deal with another serving of arrogant snobs. He and Cedric seemed to hit it off almost immediately, which only strengthened my opinion that Val was a good guy. Perhaps Arthur was right and I was going to enjoy myself after all.

All three of us followed Val inside and found quite a big gathering in what appeared to be the living room. All the guests' faces lit up when they saw Arthur and none of them seemed to mind that he had brought not one, but two plus-ones.

"Art!" One of the women squealed and jumped on her feet to hug Arthur tightly. "I'm so happy to see you! I've missed you!"

If he was caught by surprise by the sudden invasion of his personal space and uncomfortable with such a tight embrace, he was manifestly happy to see this woman, who I believed to be a long-lost friend.

"It's good to see you too, Theodora."

She slapped him on the back of his head. Ced and I couldn't refrain our laughter. Dullac glared at us but smiled apologetically at the woman.

"Sorry. It's good to see you too, Theo."

"Much better," she said then turned to Cedric and me. "Hi, I'm Theo," she held out her hand for us to shake and her face wore a contagious smile. "Which one of you of you do I have to thank for bringing Art to my house? I have been trying to do that for ages."

So, Arthur had what seemed to be a great group of real friends but did not spend time with them? Why?

"I guess that would be me," I replied. It was true, after all. From what Theo had just said, I was positive that Arthur would have never come to this party if he didn't want to make up for the disaster of the last dinner. "I'm Abby, and this is Cedric."

She pulled me into a hug then guided me towards the seating area. Cedric and Arthur followed.

"Hey everyone, this is Abby and Cedric, Arthur's friends," she introduced us to the welcoming crowd. They all replied at the same time with some variations of "Hi". We found a space big enough for the three of us on one of the couches and I sat between the two men. Cedric's hand instinctively rested on my knee but it's Arthur's leg brushing against mine that I was the most aware of.

"Abby, may I introduce you to my friends?" Arthur proposed. "This is Augustus, Leopoldine, Nathaniel, Antonia, and Calypso," he said, pointing at each of his friends one by one. "You've already met Theodo—Theo," he quickly corrected when she glared at him, "and Val."

While every single one of Arthur's friends started mumbling and getting mad at him, Cedric and I exchanged a confused look.

What with the weird names? I could read in his eyes the echo of my thoughts.

"Damn it, Art!" Theo yelled. "Did you have to use our full names?"

"Well, those are your names, aren't they?"

Theo sighed and looked at me and Cedric.

"Now you think we're a bunch of weirdos with the poshest names you've ever heard, don't you?"

Neither of us replied, which she took as a confirmation of her worry.

"Let's start over, shall we? This is Gus, Leo, Nate, Toni, and Cali."

"It's nice to meet you all. My full name is Abril. Now we're even."

They all chuckled lightly and the slight tension Arthur had created dissipated.

This 'dinner' party ended up being more party than dinner. Theo served us drinks, whisky for me and Cedric, tonic water for Arthur; he first asked for a glass of wine but I reminded him that he was driving us home and he didn't insist. She left the bottles on the table for us to get refills whenever we wanted. What qualified as dinner was a plethora of bags of chips, peanuts, and other salty snacks. There was also a bowl full of sweets that I was trying my very best not to hog. The contrast with the dinner from the night before was striking.

Theo's other guests were very nice and outgoing, definitely my type of crowd, although I wondered why they hung out with Dullac, whose lifestyle was miles away from theirs. They all seemed to be single, or at least their other half wasn't present; except for Toni and Cali who were very obviously together. Their PDA got Ced hot and bothered and put Arthur in extreme discomfort; this was hilarious.

Nate asked us what we did for a living; when I replied I was working at Eleanart's most of the time, the ongoing conversations seemed to stop for a second and I could see that most guests were surprised.

"Eleanart's?" Asked Gus, "Isn't that—"

"Yes, it is," Arthur interrupted.

That's twice, now.

"Wait, what? What is it?" I asked, obviously curious.

Everybody remained silent and exchanged side glances, obviously uncomfortable. Then my brain clicked. I remembered my first encounter with Dullac, a few weeks earlier, when he was still just Ginger Dude for me.

"Oh, okay, I got it. Don't worry, guys, I'm aware Arthur has history with Eleanor. I figured it out the first time we've ever talked to each other, actually." I turned to talk directly to Arthur. "I've always wondered what you could see in that witch."

There were a few chuckles and Arthur froze in place, slightly blushing and manifestly ill at ease.

"Can we change the subject?" He demanded through gritted teeth.

Nate went back to the original conversation and asked Cedric what he did for a living. When Ced told him that he was a UCLA senior, Nate got super enthusiastic and they started comparing their experiences. It appeared that Nate and, in fact, the entire room but me, were UCLA alumni.

If I was happy that Cedric got along with the group, the conversations about college and the Greek life were of little interest to me. I had studied at Caltech and not UCLA for one, and college life in general was always a difficult subject for me. I decided it was time for me to withdraw myself from the situation so I asked Theo to show me where I could go for a smoke. She indicated the sliding doors which gave access to the terrace.

There was a swimming pool in the backyard, which was not surprising for LA, but still appreciable. I scrunched up the legs of my jumpsuit, kicked my shoes off, and took the liberty of sitting on the pool ledge, dipping my feet in the warm water. I was rolling a cigarette when a noise behind me made me jump. It was Val, who had just opened the sliding doors and joined me on the ledge of the pool, sticking his feet in the water too.

"If you'll allow me to steal some of your tobacco, I have something that will make your cigarette break much more interesting." He winked and took out of his pocket a plastic baggie that clearly contained weed. I tossed my tobacco bag and rolling papers on his lap and he started rolling while I smoked a regular cigarette.

"I like your hair, by the way," he said before licking the sticky edge of the paper to seal the joint. "It's very cool."

"Aw thanks. Most people I know hate it or think I'm too old for this."

"Nonsense. You look hot," he said, very matter-of-factly rather than in a flirty way.

He put the spliff between his lips and lit it up with a silver lighter he had pulled out of his pocket. I heard him take a long hit of it, keep the smoke in his throat for a few more seconds than necessary, and exhale it out loudly. The familiar smell of the smoke excited my nose. He took a couple more drags and leaned back to rest his weight on his hands.

"So," he said, handing me the joint, "what's going on between you and Arthur?"

I smoked a couple of times before answering.

"Nothing. He's just my boss. Well, he was my boss, and he owed me dinner."

"How come?" Val asked.

I explained briefly what had happened the night before, at the Bishops. Val's face looked sour, yet not surprised.

"I can't believe he brought you there!" He exclaimed. "He knows those people are wretched, why does he even keep trying?"

"Oh, does it happen often?"

"Yeah! Every single woman here tonight has gone to one of these stupid dinners and tried to pass for his girlfriend at some point. I think you broke the record of who left the fastest, though."

We both laughed, although my own laugh sounded wrong. Somehow, I was disappointed not to be the only person Arthur had planned this charade with. I thought he had asked me because he believed we'd be credible, not because he had literally run out of fake girlfriends to introduce to his even faker friends.

I realized I had been hogging the joint for too long and gave it back to Val.

"What about the blond guy? Cedric, right?" He inquired.

"What about him?"

"Are you with him?"

"Nope."

"But you're sleeping together." That wasn't a question.

"We are. When we need it. Although it has mostly been when I needed it, to be fair. What we have is an improved friendship. We get the sex and the attachment to each other, without the commitment and the exclusivity of a romantic relationship. It's quite ideal, in my opinion."

"Exclusivity..." He pondered the word while smoking a bit more. The joint was almost done. He gave it back to me and gestured for me to finish it.

"How does it work? Does he not get jealous? Don't you?"

"No, because there is nothing to be jealous of. Cedric and I are friends. Period. What we do together in our free time does not change the nature of our relationship. Some friends go to the movies together; we fuck. It's as simple as that."

I stubbed out the joint on the pool tile next to me and left it there; I would throw it in the trash when I got back inside.

I took my feet out of the water and stood up, ready to go back to the party. Still sitting, Val grabbed my wrist and pulled on my arm, forcing me to bend over. My face was only a few inches from his. I knew where this was going, although I had to admit I had not seen it coming.

"Do you mind?" He asked.

I shook my head no and that's all he needed. His neck stretched out to reach my face and suddenly his lips were on mine, warm and determined. His kiss was fiery, and definitely experienced. He deftly transitioned me from my uncomfortable half-bent position to a nice seat on his lap, my legs on each side of his. His hands were on my waist, pushing me against his torso. Mine were in his lovely sun-bleached hair, pulling him closer to me and intensifying the kiss. We were both breathing raggedly, at this point.

"Okay, what was that?" I asked when I finally stopped the kiss to get my breathing back in check.

"Girl, I've wanted to do that since you showed up here with your pierced nipples showing through this sexy outfit of yours. How can you be surprised? I've hit on you the whole evening, and not subtly."

How could I be surprised, indeed? If I found the man quite interesting and attractive, I had not picked up his interest in me. I was usually quite good at noticing those things. I guess I had been too busy studying the dynamics of the group to notice.

"It seems I might be out of it tonight," I declared. "Now that you've mentioned it, would you like to see my nipple piercings?"

His eyes lit up and he nodded his head yes so fast I feared he might get whiplash. I pulled my arms out of the sleeves and scrunched down the top part of my jumpsuit, revealing my bare chest to Val's avid eyes.

He pounced on my left breast and did what most of my partners did when faced with my nipples: he took my piercing between his teeth and rolled it back and forth with his tongue. The subtle mixture of pain and pleasure from this motion ignited a fire in my lower belly. When his teeth tightened even more on my nipple, an appreciative moan escaped through my lips. It made him chuckle.

He put my right boob through the same bittersweet torture. His hands traveled south, his fingers digging into my butt cheeks as he was pulling my body against his.

Much too early for my taste, his mouth left my breasts and he rested his forehead on my naked skin in an apologetic way, almost bowing.

"We need to stop this right now," he sighed.

"Why?"

"Why?" He repeated and I could hear the smile in his voice. He looked up to meet my eyes. "Because I cannot have sex with you tonight and I'm afraid I won't be able to stop if we go too far."

This was suddenly taking a turn I wasn't too happy about.

"Again, why? Who says we can't have sex right here, right now?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," he shook his head in disapproval. "It's not that I don't want to, trust me I do, but I can't do that to my friends. It would be rude of me, of us, to just disappear from the party and go fuck. We've already been missing for too long, they'll ask questions."

I leaned in to kiss him. He did not refuse my kiss but I could tell he was just being polite, he was not budging from his decision.

"Is there anything I can do to change your mind?" I asked against his lips.

He shook his head no and leaned back, breaking the kiss.

"I'm sorry. Truly. I will take a rain check, though."

"Ugh!" I groaned in frustration, conceding. "Okay, give me your phone."

He dug into his shorts pocket and handed me his phone. I typed my number in it and gave it back to him.

"Call me," I said, "but do it soon, I don't like to wait."

Val assured me he would and put the top of my jumpsuit back on my chest, making sure he got a handful of my boobs while doing so. He helped me off his lap and back to my feet, before standing up himself. As I was reaching to put my shoes on, he smacked my ass and let his hand linger.

"Man, if you don't want me to jump you right now, you better keep your hands off me!" I warned him.

He laughed, by no means threatened by my warning, but removed his hand anyway.

We went back to the living room together, and it looked like nobody suspected that something fishy had been going on. In fact, they were all still very much absorbed by their conversation about how awesome life was at UCLA.

I took my seat back between Arthur and Cedric and poured myself another drink.

"Where did you go to college, Abby?" Leo asked me, finally cutting short the everlasting conversation about UCLA.

"Not everyone goes to college, Leo," Arthur barked at her.

I turned to him, furious about what he was implying.

"I'm sorry, are you suggesting that I didn't go to college?" I asked menacingly.

I heard a few hisses and chuckles from the rest of the guests.

"No, I just—" he started to speak then changed his mind mid-sentence. "Never mind, I apologize, that was very rude of me. Where did you go to college, then?"

"I went to Caltech," I declared, with an ounce of pride.

The room went silent, just like it usually did when I revealed that I, a part-time saleswoman in a clothes store, had attended one of the best universities in the US. Cedric took my hand and squeezed it hard. He knew that it was a sensitive subject.

"Then why on Earth are you working at that horrible store?" Arthur exclaimed, visibly too shocked at my life choices to keep his countenance.

"Personal reasons," I avoided the question.

Cedric squeezed my hand even tighter.

Theo saved us all by bringing up another conversation topic and I quietly thanked her for that when her eyes met mine. Cedric removed his hand and tucked it beneath his legs. I kept mine on his thigh and mindlessly stroked it with my fingers.

The rest of the party went pretty well. Everyone was getting along, the alcohol bottles seemed to be bottomless, and the multiple burning looks from Val were making me feel like a teenager hiding her sins from her parents. It must have been around two in the morning when the atmosphere started to shift towards something much quieter. This was our cue to leave.

Cedric and I said goodbye to the whole room, thanking everyone for their hospitality, while Arthur gave Theo a hug and promised her to come back soon. I gave Val a final look full of meaning and expectations before leaving the house.

Once in the car, Arthur asked me if I had fun at that party. I replied that I did and it seemed to make him happy.

"So, I'm driving you both back to Abril's place, correct?"

"Actually," Cedric spoke as I was replying "yes", "could you drop me off at my house? It's on Greek row, it shouldn't be too big of a detour for you."

"Certainly," Dullac agreed.

"What?" I barked, shocked that Ced was bailing on me. "You were supposed to stay over, tonight."

"Yeah, I've changed my mind. I'd rather go home."

Arthur turned on the ignition of his car and started driving our drunken asses to Cedric's frat house. I was fuming about the sudden change of plans and did not say a word during the whole trip.

Cedric got out of the car as soon as Arthur pulled over in front of his house. I asked him to wait for me while I ran after my friend to get an explanation.

"Wait, Ced!" I called him as he was climbing the few stairs that lead to the front door. He waited for me once he reached the porch. "What the hell was that about?" I demanded, furious, once I caught up with him. "What happened to our plan to spend the night at my place? Do you want to meet at yours instead?"

He laughed a joyless laugh and looked at me very seriously.

"I'm not having sex with you tonight, Abs," he declared.

Wow, this sentence is definitely a theme, tonight!

"Why not?" I asked, getting angrier every second. "I seem to recall we made quite explicit plans about what we were going to do to each other after the party. Now you're bailing on me? Why didn't you tell me, instead of dropping this on me in the car?"

He sighed, clearly exasperated. What the hell could he be exasperated about?

"The worst part in all this is that you genuinely have no idea what I could be upset about."

"Of course, I have no idea! You know me well enough to know that I don't usually beat around the bush."

"I will not be your plan B, Abs," he explained, although I still wasn't sure what he meant.

"What do you mean?"

"For fuck's sake, Abby! Are you really going to deny what happened between you and Val? You guys might have been discreet enough to fool the others, but I know you very well. You clearly fooled around with this guy and I am not going there after him."

Oh that.

"Seriously, Ced? We've fucked each other and other people at the same time since we met, why play the jealousy card now?"

"Jealousy?" He snorted. "This has nothing to do with jealousy, Abs, this is about respect. You said that we would have the most awesome sex after this party. I didn't even ask for it, I would have been happy to come with you anyway, since it sounded like you really needed a friend there. You brought up sex and yet you went and fucked someone else? No, sorry Abs but no way, I'm not picking up somebody else's leftovers. I still have some self-respect."

"Oh, come on! We didn't even fuck! We just... made out. It was completely PG."

Cedric groaned in frustration.

"Not the point, Abby."

"So what, now?" I asked, slightly hysterical at this point. "I'll have to make sure no-one has touched me in at least twenty-four hours each time I want to have sex with you?"

My friend sighed, resigned and annoyed.

"Goodnight, Abby. Say thanks to your man for me," he said, pointing at the car. "I had a good time, considering everything."

"He's not my man," I replied instinctively although I realized I was missing the point.

"Sure. Whatever you say," he said curtly before disappearing behind the front door of his frat house.

I was in shock when I made my way back to Arthur's car and got back inside. I didn't say a word, and neither did he. He drove me back home in silence while I wondered what had just happened with Cedric. We had been sleeping together for more two years and a half, it was clear for both of us that we were free to see other people. In fact, Cedric had had a few girlfriends during this period, and each time I had gracefully accepted to remove the sex from our relationship out of respect for these girls. He never heard me complain about it! What was so different about that night for him to flip out on me like that? And now I was left excruciatingly horny, with my ego severely bruised from the two rejections I had had to face in one night.

I didn't realize when we arrived at my place. Arthur's words shook me out of my mental interrogation back to the present time. "Are you okay?" He asked as he stopped the engine.

"I'm fine," I answered abruptly.

"You don't look fine," he insisted.

"Fine, I'm not fine."

This conversation was top-notch quality.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He offered.

Oh Arthur, you do not want to hear the details of my complex relationship with Cedric. The mere mention of friends with benefits would make you faint. I answered mentally.

The offer was sweet, though.

"Shall we go upstairs and grab a drink, first?" I heard myself answer out loud.

He took a minute to reply, just as doubtful as I was about how good that idea could be.

"Sure," he simply replied before taking his key out of the ignition and exiting the vehicle.

Once in my apartment, I invited him to sit on the couch and offered him a drink. He asked for a Coke. I poured myself a gin and tonic.

"You know," he said as I was handing him his Coke, "if you're going to deny me any alcoholic drink, it would be nice of you to abstain as well."

"You should know by now that I am not nice," I retorted.

He let out a humorless laugh and drank a sip of his soda. I sat down next to him.

"How are you feeling?" He inquired.

How was I feeling? Horny, for sure, and frustrated. Upset about the fight I had just had with Cedric. And confused about whatever the situation I was in was.

"I'm okay. I had a silly fight with Cedric, that's all. He'll come around."

"What did you two fight about?"

"You don't want to know."

He raised an eyebrow at me, clearly curious. When he realized I wouldn't budge, though, he changed the subject.

"How old are you, Abril?"

"I'm twenty-five."

I could almost hear the pop his lips made when they fell open, the surprise readable on his face.

"Oh Lord," he sighed, "you are so young."

"Shut up! How old are you?"

He hesitated.

"I'm thirty."

"Oh," it was my turn to have the expression of my shock escape my lips.

The big old three-oh. No wonder I didn't understand the man, we were in such different places in life.

"Wait," I realized Arthur's age was linked to someone else's. "How old is your dad?"

Dullac's eyes bulged with horror and shock.

"Why on Earth would you bring up my father?" He squeaked.

"Just answer the question," I insisted.

"He's forty-seven."

He waited as I did the math in my head.

"You figured it out, yet?" He snickered. "My mother got pregnant with me in high school, my parents were both seventeen when I was born."

That was interesting. Dullac Senior wasn't the type of man I would have imagined sticking around with his high school girlfriend when she got knocked up. I totally pegged him for the kind of guy who would have bailed without notice. I was impressed.

"That's... wonderful," I said, failing to find a better adjective.

"Sure," Arthur snorted. "It would have made a great 16 and Pregnant episode."

I slapped him on the shoulder.

"Don't say that. It is wonderful. Do you know how many teenage boyfriends abandon their girlfriend as soon as they get pregnant? What your father did is rare, and I applaud him for that."

"Abril, this is the story of an undesired teen pregnancy. At best, my parents were reckless when they conceived me, at worst, they were severely stupid and lacking basic sex education."

I could see him blush when he mentioned sex. Cute.

"Well, you turned up all right, didn't you? I still admire your dad for staying."

"Can we please talk about something other than my father?" He begged.

So, Arthur had daddy issues, huh? Interesting.

"All right," I dropped the subject. "What do you want to talk about, then?"

"Why don't you tell me why you quit college?"

Of course, he wanted to know that. This story was off limits, though. Only Sigrid and Cedric knew about it. And my parents.

"Abril," he said in a sigh when I wasn't answering. "Why did you invite me to come upstairs if you're not going to talk to me?"

I was asking myself the same question. What the hell was I doing? I was drunk and horny, and I honestly could only find one reason why I would have invited a man over.

"You know why," I replied.

He looked confused.

"No, I don't."

I groaned, exasperated. Why did he have to be so slow to get the message?

I took his hand in both of mine. Surprisingly, he did not flinch, which I took as an encouragement. I turned his hand over so his palm was facing up and I started massaging it. I focused my attention on the fleshy part of his palm, at the base of his thumb, where I knew he carried a lot of tension from typing on a computer all day. He had long and thin fingers, and his skin was very pale. I took care of his digits one by one, pressing on them with my thumbs.

He didn't take his hand back, so I went further. I moved the massage up to his wrist, then to his forearm. I applied pressure in the crease of his elbow, on that acupuncture point which worked miracles on tired arms. I heard him sigh quietly in appreciation.

When I worked my way up to his biceps, however, he tensed up and jerked away from me.

"What are you doing?" He asked, almost outraged.

I did not reply but looked at him from below my eyelashes, in what I knew was my sexy stare. He was not impressed.

"I'm going to go," he declared and stood up.

"Why?"

"Because we clearly want different things out of this night."

"What do you think I want?"

"Sex."

He blushed and looked away. I did not correct him.

"And what do you want?" I asked.

"I—I'm not sure. Getting to know you, I guess. I had a good time tonight, and I wanted it to last a bit longer."

"I had a good time, too."

Until I got rejected by both Val and Cedric.

"And the night doesn't have to stop here," I said suggestively in an ultimate attempt.

"I said no," he replied abruptly.

I groaned. That was the third rejection in a few hours. A record.

Arthur picked up his jacket and walked to my door. I didn't bother to walk him out.

"Goodnight, Abril."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A/N: Happy Monday everyone! Mondays suck but posting a chapter after a long day at work makes it a tiny bit more enjoyable 😁

Next chapter on Wednesday. As always, please vote and comment.

Love,
Charlie.