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“Why else would I invite you so many times?”

“Because you are a big ass and big tits kinda man. I happen to have both of those,” I say, and he laughs.

“Although I won’t lie, you are damn gorgeous; I do find you fun to be around.”

“What about me is fun?” I question.

“You’re blunt, and you can take a joke. Most girls want their asses kissed, but you just want to be you without having to plaster that fake ass smile on you always do.”

“I feel called out, Alex. Goddamn,” I laugh.

“It’s okay. Your resting bitch face secret is safe with me,” Alex says with a gentle smile. The way he looks at me is fucking dangerous because it almost makes me believe life would really be this simple, but there’s always a catch. Always.

“I want to be very clear about what I am wanting out of this, Alex,” I say. “I don’t want any room for hurt feelings or bruised egos.”

“You have to see my dick before you assume it’s tiny, Nora,” he says, making me bark out a laugh. He smiles and sips his beer, proud of his joke. “Let’s hear it.”

“I need an escape for just one night,” I say. “No strings attached. No catch. Just me, you, and a condom.”

“Straight to the point, huh?” he says, still smiling. “I know. You and Liam were together for so long; I can imagine you are trying to find yourself.”

“The truth is, I have a very stressful and chaotic life,” I say. “Liam was a form of peace I didn’t deserve, and I held onto him far longer than what was fair to him. So… I can’t risk hurting someone else like that…”

“Nora,” Alex says. “I don’t know who gave you this idea that you aren’t deserving of peace, but I’d love to throat punch them.”

“Pretty sure you’d just be throat punching me,” I laugh. “I just have a lot of shit to work through before I can be the partner I want to be. I used Liam to distract myself from some pretty awful shit that happened to me and made myself believe that I could ignore it and my life would be normal. The truth is, my life was doomed to never be normal the moment my father decided that his little girl would be his next fuck.”

“Jesus Christ, Nora,” he laughs. “Your dark humor is oddly refreshing, girl.”

“You can say no, Alex,” I say. “It just means that I can’t let myself be close because you are too much like Liam.”

“Is that good?”

“It means you're too sweet for me to let myself get attached to,” I say.

“One night. No strings attached,” he says. “Anything against me trying to show you that you are worthy of so much good in this world?”

“As long as I wake up alone, and you don’t get pissy when I follow through by not calling tomorrow,” I say.

“Deal,” he says. “But not here. Last thing you need is someone interrupting.”

“Is that your way of saying you want it to be a secret?” I say.

“No, it’s my way of saying everyone in that house will hear you screaming my name unless we go to your place instead,” he says with a grin.

“Let’s get to walking then,” I say, taking a final sip of my beer before he helps me off the truck.

When we walk into my apartment, I kick off my shoes and turn to find Alex watching me. “Yes?” I ask with a smirk.

“You don’t let many people into your apartment,” Alex remarks.

“Don’t feel too special,” I laugh. “It’s only because you promised I’d be screaming your name.”

“I never said out of pleasure,” he says with a shrug. I laugh and shake my head at him as he steps closer.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I ask.

“Like what?”