Page 11 of F Buddy

“Dude, like fuck, just no. Seriously, who did you sleep with last night? There is no way it was Scarlett.”

I just held my silence and arched an eyebrow at him. What the fuck was that supposed to mean? I was offended. It took him a while, but when I wasn’t forthcoming with more names, his jaw dropped and his eyes went wide.

“No fucking way,” he whispered. “Tell me you’re joking?”

I smirked. “Why would I do that when it’s the truth? If you were paying attention at all, you’d know I left the party with her last night.”

“Well, shit,” he muttered, still looking shocked. “Scarlett having a one night stand just doesn’t seem likely. Her going with you seems even less likely.”

I rolled my eyes again and pointed my beer bottle at him. “First of all, rude. It’s not like there’s anything wrong with me that she would refuse to sleep with me. She wanted someone, and I was there, so fuck off.” Then I smirked again. “And just so you know, it was the best night I’ve had. Definitely in a long while, and I’m hoping there’ll be a repeat sometime soon.”

The shock was finally draining out of him, and he relaxed into the other end of the couch cradling his bottle. He drank a little more as something like amusement crossed his face. I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering what he thought was funny now. He read my look, and chuckled to himself, shaking his head slightly.

“Why does that sound a lot like you’ve been pussy whipped?” he joked. “You don’t say a lot about the women you sleep with.”

“Oh, but that’s not true,” I complained. “I do because you keep asking. And I sing their praises just to piss you off and make you jealous, Chad. You must have realized that by now.”

“Well, yes, I do. But you’ve never sounded like this about anyone, at least not in a long time, and we both know how that ended last time.”

I frowned a little, wondering what was different about how I spoke about Scarlett. I didn’t think there was anything there, but if there was… I also knew what he was referring to. It had been years ago, but I might as well have still been a teenager, barely hitting twenty when I thought about having a relationship for the first time. Of course, it crashed and burned in a few months, and I went back to my usual not long after.

No strings attached sex was so uncomplicated. Usually, I didn’t even meet my hookups more than a few times, and it was rare that I contacted any of them after a month, sometimes a couple of weeks, if at all.

But Scarlett was different. She was in my circle of friends, and though we’d never spent quite so much time together alone, I’d wanted her from the moment I saw her. Now that I’d had a taste…

“Well, when you say it like that…” I murmured.

I couldn’t imagine her being up for casual again and was surprised when she’d been so willing to consider it the last time we spoke. Usually, I knew better: to keep my hookups away from my friendships, but Scarlett had been my friend first. I’d wanted her since I’d met her so I couldn’t hold myself back. I got lucky, I managed to talk her out of any feelings of awkwardness, but there was no way to know how she’d react after today.

I’ll just have to give her time, and if she doesn’t contact me first, I’ll call her. Decision made, I looked back at Chad, who was eyeing me expectantly. “Maybe I am…” I shrugged. “I mean, I would take her to bed again if it’s something she wants. Besides, we had a bit of a talk.”

He took the bait, apparently, leaning forward with a curious expression on his face.

“Talk about what?”

I grinned. “We’re gonna get married.”

His jaw dropped a second time, eyes growing wide, and this time I laughed at him.

It was expected. Me, the playboy, and talks of marriage in the same sentence were foreign unless it was someone else asking me to their wedding. I’d never thought of getting married, even that one time I was serious about a relationship with a woman.

Unlike most of the guys around me, I wasn’t thinking about finding the perfect woman, settling down to married life. I knew there were people like that, but I wasn’t one of them, and I understood it even if they didn’t. I didn’t keep in touch with a lot of my hookups because I grew bored and distracted pretty quickly. Scarlett accused me of leaving broken hearts in my wake, but the truth was if I tried to date, I most definitely would. I believed in fidelity, but that necessitated commitment, and that I did not believe in.

Even Chad was one of those guys. He might have hooked up with someone at the wedding, but he was more likely to get their number and a follow-up date, because he was looking for a girlfriend, not a booty call.

“Okay, now you are yanking my chain!” He was still gaping at me, but now he narrowed his eyes like he thought I was playing a trick on him. “She did not say that! Scarlett of all people? To you?”

“What, you don’t think it’s possible?”

“Not really,” he said blankly. “And before you smack me for it, let’s consider the facts. Scarlett is hot. She’s smart, she has a steady career. For some reason she can't keep a relationship too long, but you know she’s after the happily ever after, and that’s what you just so happen to hate.”

“I just said we were getting married,” I reminded him. “We talked about it seriously.” Okay, that was a bit of a lie. It was more like a joke between us. And besides, we had a lot of fun last night.”

“No fucking way would she marry you just because you slept together once,” he scoffed.

I conceded the point. Scarlett didn’t seem like the kind of woman to let herself be swayed by her desires. I wasn’t sure what her criteria were for the perfect man, but I was pretty sure she had one, just like I did for the perfect hookup.

“Who’s to say it’ll only be once,” I retorted. I was hoping it wouldn’t be. “And it’s more like marriage on condition. If things don’t pan out for her, and things don’t pan out for me, in one year, we’ll get hitched.”