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I scoffed. “I don’t want to date her.”

My gut went all squirmy. I really needed to get those allergy tests done.

“Fine,” Laki said flatly. “Wait ’til the event’s over and see if she’s interested in a casual thing.”

I blinked at the dark street outside. “What? Wait… to see if she wants to have sex again? As in… wait?”

For sex? Who waited for sex? I could understand waiting if I wanted an actual thing with her. Like a… relationship or whatever. But I definitely didn’t. I was pretty sure we’d want to kill each other by the end of our first date.

The concept of waiting months just to have sex with someone again… That seemed a little sketchy, if you asked me.

“When’s the event?” Laki asked.

I scrubbed a hand over my face. “Uh… September.”

“Okay so, like, six months. Can you wait six months?”

Could I? I wrinkled my nose. Could I be around Anita for the next six months and not think about what we’d done? How she’d looked spread out on my desk? The sounds she’d made while coming?

“This is bullshit,” I exploded. “If we both want to have sex with each other, how the fuck can some random third person decide we’re not allowed to?”

“Not a random person,” Laki said calmly. “Her boss. And it’s obviously important to her to respect her boss’s rules. So you have to respect that too.”

“I do,” I said, flustered. “I didn’t try and convince her otherwise. I agreed. I wasn’t a pushy creep or anything.”

“That’s good.”

“I’m just saying,” I snapped. “It’s stupid.”

Laki sighed. “Look, she’s only your event planner for the next six months. Then after that there’s no contract, no professional relationship. Just… maybe subtly let her know that you’re actually interested in her and leave it at that. See how she responds. And once the event’s over, go from there.”

“Let her know?” I spluttered. “What, email her to say that I wouldn’t say no to more sex but no pressure? I’d look pathetic, dude.”

Laki snorted. “You of all people know how to craft a carefully worded email that gets your point across without being explicit. Just keep it professional, but let her know you’re not a total dog who had sex with her once and now doesn’t give a shit.”

“That sounds complicated.”

“It’s really not. Just be nice but respectful, and maintain the professional boundary she’s put in place.”

“Be nice?” I made a face. “I’m always nice, dude. I’m charming as fuck.”

“Uh huh,” they deadpanned.

“Fuck you, asswipe. I’m the nicest fucking one out of all of us.”

“Clearly.” There was a rustle as they shifted in their seat. “Feel better now?”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “Not really.”

“We’ve made progress, dude. You’ve admitted you’re attracted to her. You’re going to respect her boundaries but let her know the… encounter between you two didn’t mean nothing. Then you’re going to wait.”

I fidgeted, my hand getting a little sweaty around my phone. “I probably won’t even want to have sex with her in six months.”

“Well, then nothing will happen and you’ll both move on.”

“Yeah.” I looked back out the window and took a deep breath. Against all the odds, I did feel better. Laki had weird powers. “Okay. I can do that.”

I could wait. I’d be the fucking best at waiting.