The driver nodded and we left him at the curb, moving inside and deeper into the casino, following the signs until we’d reached the restaurant. There was a club nearby and the persistent thump of music could be felt through the walls, through the floor, as we crossed the sleek restaurant and each took a seat at our table. The pulsing music mirrored the tension building in my limbs, the rhythmic beat of Sara Sara Sara humming beneath my skin.

I checked my mobile for the hundredth time and frowned when I saw there were no further messages. Where was she? Had Bennett found Chloe and if so, why hadn’t Sara texted yet?

I thumbed through a few of the more recent photos on my phone: the two of us curled up in my bed; a photo of her spread below me, limbs heavy with satisfaction after a good, hard f**k; a close-up of her naked br**sts; my hand on her ass as I took her from behind late at night in my office.

I realized I’d lost the thread of the conversation when Will’s voice broke into my haze, from studying a photo of Sara’s red, red lips around my cock.

“Max.” Will rapped his knuckles on the table.

I looked up, surprised to find our waiter standing at the table, and quickly turned off my screen.

“Something to drink, sir?”

“Sorry,” I murmured. “Macallan, neat.”

“Twelve, eighteen, or twenty-one years, sir?”

My eyes went wide. “Twenty-one. Brilliant.”

After jotting it down he stepped away, and I attempted to go back to my phone, only to be interrupted by Will again. “Share with the class or put that thing away. I know what you have on there, you sick bastard. No girls, remember?”

Henry nodded as he tossed a piece of bread at me from across the table. “Dudes only,” he agreed.

Will leaned forward, reminding me, “The promise of not being a third wheel with you was the only reason I let you talk me into this in the first place.”

I sighed and tucked my phone away, knowing he was right. When I looked up my eyes widened, catching the path of Bennett as he walked through the restaurant to join us.

“Well, well. Look who it is,” I said.

Henry pulled the chair out for his brother. “Feeling better?”

Bennett unbuttoned his suit jacket and took a seat. “Much,” he said, grinning.

Bennett Ryan was f**king grinning.

Our drinks arrived and I reached for mine, looking at him over the rim of my glass. “Didn’t take too long, either, did it?” I asked, feeling a satisfied thrill when his expression fell just long enough to glare at me. “Some things are better when they’re fast. Like a pharmacy.”

“Nothing like efficiency to make a man happy,” he agreed with a self-satisfied grin.

“And you’re a king among men,” I said, laughing and holding my glass up for him to toast with his water. “Get yourself a cocktail in celebration of efficient pharmacies everywhere.”

“Why do I feel like I’m only getting half this conversation?” Will asked, looking dumbly between us. His eyes narrowed. “Is something going on we don’t know about?”

I barked out a laugh. “Don’t know what you’re on about, mate. Just taking the piss.”

Henry began studying the menu but Will seemed less convinced, looking away only when Henry called his attention to a cart of flaming meat being rolled by our table.

Satisfied they were sufficiently distracted, I leaned toward Bennett. “Where’s Sara?”

“Wouldn’t you love to know?”

I narrowed my eyes at him, scowling. “Arsehole.”

“Hey, you started this,” Bennett said, reaching for my drink.

I smacked his hand away. “Me? What are you on about?”

“You know: Chloe? Here? As grateful as I am, don’t try and pretend it wasn’t you who suggested the whole lap dance thing.”

“For you.”

“For me,” he said, smirking. “Right. So I’d be distracted and you could be with Sara in that club.”

Maybe he had a point.

“You can’t tell me if Sara teased you for forty-five minutes in a strip club you wouldn’t immediately go find her and . . . fix things. Even if you were meant to be hanging out with the guys.”

I laughed. “Too right.” I leaned closer, voice low. The idea of being able to slip out of here and have Sara one more time was too delicious to pass up. “This dinner is going to take at least two hours. I could be back in twenty.”

This time when he reached for my drink, I let him take it. “She’s visiting a friend,” he whispered.