The Player and the Bookworm (The Legends #2) - Erin McCarthy Page 0,4

was torn between horror and wanting to laugh. If she stomped her foot next, I wasn’t going to be able to handle it. “No! Stop asking, Sydney. I’m not going to give in. I’m not your father.”

Her head tilted. “Would you like me to call you daddy?”

For a split second, I had something like regret. Then I told her firmly, “No, I would not.”

“I don’t understand. I thought single men loved to get laid.”

Aside from the fact I was staying away from women right now, she’d just told me she sucked in bed. It wasn’t the most tempting offer ever. “This conversation is over.”

For a second she just stared at me. Then she said, “I’m very disappointed in you. You were my first choice. But I guess I have to move on down the list.”

There was a list? “How many guys at this party are you going to ask to fuck you?” I asked, astonished.

“As many as it takes.”

With that, she turned and walked away.

I felt a little less special, I’m not going to lie. A list. Damn. I stared after her, then shook my head and went to the bar, where Dak and Eloise were standing. “Eloise, no offense, but your cousin is a little nuts,” I said.

“How is that not offensive?” Dak asked.

Eloise sighed. “She asked you, didn’t she? It’s not as weird as it sounds. Or maybe it is, I don’t know. But you have to understand she’s just analytical. She puts everything into the form of a school assignment.”

“Asked him what?” Dak asked.

“If I would teach her how to be a better sex partner.” I asked the bartender for a vodka. I needed it.

Dak coughed. “Damn. Okay. What did you say?”

“No, of course. Are you insane? I don’t need a complication like that in my life.”

Eloise sighed again. “Are you sure? She’s just going to keep asking players until she finds one who says yes.”

“That’s not my problem.” I glanced behind me. She was talking to Cash. “She’s barking up the wrong tree with Cash. He can’t talk about sex out loud without blushing. I doubt he’d be willing to give instructions on where to put what.”

We all watched Cash choke on his drink at something she said, thumping on his chest, head shaking no vehemently.

That made me grin. “Shot her down. Poor Cash, he looks horrified.”

“Poor Cash? Poor Sydney,” Eloise said. “That’s two strikes. That can’t feel good.”

“She can’t take nos as actual rejections,” Dak said. “It’s a blitz approach she’s taking. You can’t even see it coming, so there’s no time to actually react.”

“Exactly,” I said. “It’s not like a woman flirting, then you hook up. This was just a hit from behind.”

I accepted my drink with thanks, then watched Sydney weave her way through the crowd until she found Miles. She seemed to have sped up her approach. Maybe she regretted wasting ten minutes talking to me. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. She had actually been very entertaining, in a quirky, adorable, chatty, and slightly annoying kind of way. “What do you think? Hundred bucks says he says yes.”

“No, he won’t say yes. He’s got a little thing going on right now with one of the cheerleaders.”

“That’s just a friend-with-benefits thing. He’s free to do whatever he wants here in New York, I’m sure.” I accepted my vodka from the bartender. I took a big, bracing swallow, trying to read Miles’ body language. He looked loose, casual. He laughed at one point, but I couldn’t tell what was going on in their conversation.

Sydney was like a feisty little elf in a cocktail dress, bouncing up and down, gesturing wildly with her arms. For a split second I felt another tiny little ounce of regret. Not a lot. Just a little. You couldn’t argue she brought enthusiasm and dedication to the subject of sex. At one point, she bent over and briefly touched the back of Miles’ calf. What the fuck was that about? She didn’t seem to realize that her dress was too short to do that. We all caught a glimpse of her ass cheeks peeking out.

It was a tight ass. A nice ass.

“Oh, shit!” Eloise said. She shoved her wine at Dak and went in pursuit of her cousin, presumably to tell her to stand up.

I sipped my vodka and enjoyed the show. It was a good view, I’m not going to lie. Plus it had been nine months since I’d had sex. I was still alive enough