The Arrangement
WARNING:
YOU JUST MIGHT BE
SPOILED FOR LIFE
Beneath the ad was an email address, as well as more specific instructions on what to send when making contact.
“You can’t be serious,” I finally breathed.
It was incredible. Beyond incredible, really. Almost as if they were playing some stupid joke at my expense. And yet…
“Dead serious.”
And yet somehow I knew it was one hundred-percent not a joke.
I looked at up Nathan with all new eyes now. He still looked like the tan, blond, quintessential surfer-boy turned strapping beach-god by the paddle of puberty. Only now I saw him in all different ways. Ways that made my stomach do a sexy backflip.
“You don’t expect anyone to actually reply to this,” I laughed nervously. “Do you?”
“Of course we did.”
“Did?”
“It’s been running three days and we already have four different candidates lined up to meet us.”
His statement made my breath catch in my throat. I didn’t know if it was the shock of what they were doing, or the idea that someone would actually go for it. Much less four someones.
“This is why Chase blew you off,” said Nathan. “It wasn’t that he didn’t like you. It was more that he didn’t want to hurt you, because he can’t get involved right now. Not while the three of us are pursing this.”
He pointed casually back at the screen. I looked at it again, still in complete disbelief.
“Who came up with this?” I asked.
“We all did.”
“How come?”
“Because we’re trying to pump out a full trilogy in just a few months,” said Nathan, “and that requires dedicated, heads-down writing time. Having a girlfriend interferes with all that. We’ve each had girlfriends while trying to do this before, and it didn’t work out. The girls were always jealous of our time away, or needed a lot more contact than we could give them. They weren’t happy. Blowing up our phones. In turn, we weren’t happy.” He shrugged. “Deadlines were missed. Even worse, the writing suffered.”
“So why not just take time off?” I found myself asking. “Why have girlfriends at all?”
Nathan mouth twisted into a smirk. “You know why.”
“For sex?” I laughed. “Just look at you guys.” I took the free opportunity to give Nathan’s body another once-over. It was every bit as amazing as every other time I’d ogled him. “None of you should be hurting in the casual sex department,” I chided him. “So why not just do that?”
“Because it’s not what we want,” he said honestly. “The sex part is huge of course, and nothing clears your mind better than a hot girl and an earth-shattering orgasm.” He looked down at me as if maybe he’d said too much. “But each of us agreed we’d need more. We need companionship, too. We write in shifts; three days of writing, one day off. We alternate those days too, so each of us can relax.”
I thought about Nathan’s perfect, bubble-shaped ass, glued to a chair for three straight days. Just based on his tan, I couldn’t picture it.
“On our off day, each of us wants to get out. Do stuff with someone. Get away from each other for a while, and have fun blowing off some steam. This is where a girlfriend would come in handy. Someone to laugh with, have fun with, connect with.” He smirked at the double-entendre. “Emotionally as well as physically.”
“I see.”
“We’re guys, but we’re not barbarians,” Nathan laughed. “We do more than just procreate. Believe it or not we have other, more emotional needs as well.”
“Didn’t say you didn’t,” I pointed out. “But what about…”
“The big green monster?”