Hollis claps my shoulder. “Good for you, man.”

I flip round, weave by means of the finely dressed crowds to the corridor and faucet out a reply when my consideration snags on a person with completely gelled black hair, a straight nostril, and a ticking jaw. I catch his profile, however his again is to me as he talks to a lady with field braids and leopard-print glasses on the finish of the hall. “What the hell form of impartial agency picks my fucking ex-girlfriend?”

I clench my fists, stopping just a few ft away.

“An impartial one,” the girl repeats in a heat, husky voice, holding her personal in opposition to a bully and a thief.

“It’s important to disqualify her, Zora,” Steven seethes.

With a peaceful demeanor, she says, “There’s nothing within the guidelines saying former girlfriends of the location’s editor can’t enter.”

This man. I’m not stunned. However there’s no manner I’m going to let him harm her ever once more. We stayed near Briar throughout the cocktail hour, however my senses have been on excessive alert as he glad-handed with advertisers. Now he’s exhibiting his true colours. A jack-in-the-box about to spring, Steven steps nearer to Zora, lifts a finger.

Not on my watch.

I clear my throat. “Apart from, you in all probability don’t wish to make a scene right here on the occasion. Or let all of your advertisers know that you simply stole her concept for the competition within the first place,” I say pleasantly, laying on the British attraction.

He wheels round and bites out, “Who the hell are you?”

One in all her nice boyfriends. However I don’t inform him that. He’ll discover out quickly sufficient. I don’t even know if Briar has the receipts to show the concept was hers. However I don’t care. Typically on the ice, it’s a must to pretend out the opponent, make them assume you’ve gotten the puck when another person does.

“A good friend. But additionally an observer. And I can solely think about how horrible it’d look if everybody right here knew you needed to disqualify her after you stole her concept. That’d look just a little bit dangerous,” I say it sympathetically, however with zero sympathy.

His eyes flip to slits. Zora appears to combat off a smile.

Steven breathes hearth earlier than it dies on an indignant, muttered, “Positive.” He turns and walks the opposite manner.

“This must be enjoyable,” she says when he’s gone.

“I can’t wait,” I say, and after I hit ship on the textual content to my shrink, I return to the ballroom.

When it’s Briar’s flip to obtain the prize, Zora calls her onstage, wanting just a little like she has an ace up her sleeve. “Congratulations for an enlightening piece on what makes a fantastic boyfriend. The ten-thousand-dollar prize goes to Briar Delaney.” She slips a rolled-up sheet of paper from her sleeve. Nicely, I suppose she did have one thing in her shirt. “And I’d like to ask her to learn it to the gang.”

Briar walks to the stage, wanting proud, wanting deserving.

She takes the rostrum and surveys the gang, her eyes discovering us rapidly. Then, she reads.

69

TOP TEN LIST

Cracking the Case of the Lacking O—A Information for the Nice Boyfriend

By Simply A Woman

I used to pretend it.

Orgasms, that’s. I used to be a gold medalist in curling my toes, grabbing the sheets, and shouting sure, sure, sure.

Something to make the person I used to be with really feel like he’d gotten the job accomplished.

Something to cover the reality—I couldn’t get there with another person.

I believed there was one thing flawed with me. Perhaps I wasn’t making an attempt laborious sufficient. Perhaps I wasn’t enjoyable. Perhaps I wasn’t ok.

Then, I met a man who listened to me. Like, actually listened. Who might inform that I wasn’t fairly there. That I wasn’t really within the second. And he challenged me, then requested me to indicate him what felt good.

I used to be reluctant at first. Saying sure to his supply to show him made me susceptible. However I did it anyway.

Supply: www.seynovel.com