Big boys had their condos for a reason. The reason was called privacy, a.k.a. no fathers walking in on them and no need to stuff themselves into minuscule closets.

Not that I regretted it. I would've done anything if that meant getting some alone time with Ava, but from now on, I'd rather have her at my place all to myself without interruptions.

Alan was a cool guy, but now, he wasn't just Alan. He was the dad of the girl I desperately wanted to make mine.

That was why the puzzle night thing baffled me. As Dec picked me up and drove me home from Ava's, I couldn't stop replaying the convo with Alan, wondering if I missed something.

As soon as we arrived at my apartment complex, I said goodbye to my chauffeur and took the elevator to my floor. When I entered my condo, I headed straight for the couch and plopped down on it.

There was only one person who could help me out. I took the phone out of my pocket and made a call.

"Jim," Dad said, failing to hide the surprise in his voice.

"Hey, Dad. You busy?"

Judging by the music playing in the background, Dad was at the garage.

"Not anymore," he said. The noise faded. He must've entered his office in the back. "What's up?"

"It's all good. I just need advice."

"Okay."

I decided not to waste time and get straight to the point. "I'm going out with a girl. Her father invited me to a puzzle night he has with his buddies twice a month."

There was a pause. Then, Dad asked, "Puzzle night?"

"See, I also thought that shit was weird. Glad it's not just me."

"I need details."

I sank into the soft cushions and stretched out my legs. "Yeah, so he almost caught me...you know. I hid in the closet, and the guy's smart, so I had to crawl out. He's cool. A surgeon. I've known him for a while, just didn't know the girl I was dating was his daughter."

"I see," Dad muttered. "So, he invited you to that puzzle thing right after seeing you with your pants down."

"They weren't down, for fuck's sake. Nothing happened."

A faint chuckle pushed past my father's lips. "You're a smart boy, Jim. I'd say it's a rite of passage. The guy wants to know what you're made of. But, ya know, some call it fishing, some call it hunting, some call it doing puzzles."

"So, I get a bottle of some good shit."

Dad laughed in earnest this time. "The best you can find."

***

The following evening, I spent a ridiculous amount of time in my walk-in closet. In the end, I dressed in a light blue button-down and some jeans. If I tried too hard, it would show, and I was already nervous enough.

When it was time to leave, I got the bag with whiskey and went downstairs. Dec's Toyota was idling by the curb. I fist-bumped the guy when I got into the car. A smirk didn't leave Dec's face for the entirety of the drive.

"Call me if you need me to pick you up," Dec said. "And good luck."

"Hope I won't need it," I muttered. "Thanks, Dec."

As soon as Declan drove away, I strolled to Ava's front door.

Ava was the one to open it.

I drank in the sight of her in a pair of shorts and a thin sweater that left one of her shoulders exposed.

"Hey." She smiled, leaning in for a kiss.

I pressed my lips to hers and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, hugging her to me. "Hey, baby."

"Dad's in the kitchen," Ava whispered. "My godfather's already there, too."

I kissed her again. "What are you gonna do?"

"Write." Ava put a hand on the back of my neck and caressed my skin. "And go to bed early. I'm exhausted, and it's barely eight p.m."

Too bad she wouldn't be going to bed with me. I'd rather do her than puzzles.

I adjusted her sweater so that it would cover her shoulders. "Gotta go, baby."

Ava pecked my cheek and rushed upstairs. I did my best to distract myself from the thoughts of her in her room, probably in her bed. I should be there instead of-

"Jim." Alan grinned. A tall guy I'd seen at the hospital once was next to him.

"Good evening, Sir." I held my hand out for a handshake.

"It's still Alan," Ava's father said, shaking it. "Pants or no pants. We were young once, right, Jennings?"

The other guy nodded, giving me a knowing smile. "Leo Jennings. A shrink. I'll give you my card at the end of the night in case you need my services later."

"As long as Cooper doesn't need to give him his." Both men laughed, looking at something behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and spotted another dude by the front door.

"Cooper Moore. A plastic surgeon," he said to me.

I squeezed his hand, too. "Jim O'Brien."

Cooper laughed. "Oh, I know. You've charmed half of my nurses."

Wrong thing to say. Bad move, Coop.

"I didn't -"

"Relax." Alan winked at me. "Let's do that puzzle."

I gripped the bag tighter and followed Ava's father to the basement. The guy's man cave was there. My mind teleported me to one of those movies where dudes sat at a table in a dimly lit room and played poker or Russian roulette, and someone would end up dead. Boom, ouch, puff, gone. For fuck's sake. I didn't want to be the dead guy.

I swept my gaze over the den with a comfy brown couch and shelves full of puzzles. Some were framed and displayed on the walls. So far, so good. Nothing shady. No sharp objects, no guns. No cries of Cute Little Thing's suitors coming from hidden torture cameras behind the shelf.

"Gentlemen," said Alan. "We're doing the Eiffel Tower today."

Cooper cracked his knuckles. "Let's go."

Alan looked at me and pointed at the table. "Jim. Be my guest."

I sat sandwiched between Cooper and Leo, facing Alan, who made himself comfortable in a chair across from us.

We would be assembling the puzzle, after all. Nobody commented on the bag with booze I brought and put on the floor, and five minutes later, every dude in the room was focused on searching for the bits and pieces of the iron giant.

"How's it going with Ava?"

Leo's sudden question made me drop the piece I was holding.

I swallowed.

Hard.

"Awesome. She's..."

Fuck, Jim. Fuckity fucking fuck.

"Alan's little girl," Leo said with a shit-eating grin. "His baby."

"Exactly," I said, clutching another tiny piece I'd picked up in my sweaty hand. "Alan's baby."

Mine, too. My cute little thing. The culprit of my sleepless nights and blue balls.

Alan coughed into his fist.

Cooper steepled his hands together and put them under his chin. "We love Ava. We've known her since she was a couple months old. Such a good, innocent girl."

"Smart," Leo butted in.

Cooper nodded. "Brilliant."

The shrink leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms behind his head. "And although they say dicks can't really break, they so can. Right, Coop?"

"Accurate, accurate." Coop adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose and reached for the piece lying next to my sweaty, trembling hand. "But you have nothing to worry about, boy. We know you're gonna treat her right, so it's all good. Nobody's gonna suffer. No bodily harm will be done. Unless..."

Alan shook with laughter. The two guys joined him, looking at me and cackling harder and harder until they finally stopped.

"Jim, don't listen to those fools." Alan wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt and reached across the table to squeeze my shoulder. "Let's count the pieces."

Count the pieces? The fuck? There must've been at least two thousand. That's what the box said, anyway.

"We're a hundred pieces in," said Ava's dad. "Leo, do the honors."

A bottle of Jack appeared on the table. Alan got up and went to get a charcuterie board from another table in the room I hadn't even noticed.

"I have something," I said, thanking the gods I could speak.

I pulled the bottle of whiskey out of the bag and put it on the table. The trio rewarded me with appreciative nods and pats on my back.

I needed a drink. Maybe two. Maybe ten.

***

The tower was done, and so was I. The iron giant swayed.

Why the fuck did it sway if it wasn't even windy?

"You okay?" Alan studied my face with his daddy doctor's stare.

Doctor Father's stare. Doctor Father? No, it was Doctor House.

"Yeah," I said.

The dudes got up from their thrones and made their way to the stairs.

Fuck, the stairs. Too high. Where was Dec when I needed his Toyota? I could use a ride.

"You're staying in the guest bedroom. No objections." I heard doctor House's voice. "I'll give you some clothes. Come on."

I made a step. One more. A small one. A big one. If the mountain didn't move, Jim would climb it.

Something soft was in my hand. I looked at the T-shirt.

"Good night, Jim."

Alan squeezed my shoulder and went away.

I glanced around. There was a bed. It was a bedroom. The bedroom was good. Safe. There was a bathroom, too.

I undressed, put on doc's clothes, and brushed my teeth. Then, I got in bed. Like the good boy I was, I thought about puzzles.

Ha! The fuck I did.

I thought about sex and the Cute Little Thing.

Thing, thing...sin. Cute Little Sin.

She was my cute little sin, and tonight Jim O'Brien would go to hell. He would take the highway there. Or the hallway. Same shit.

I sat up and shook my head to gain some...clarity. Then, I got up and made a tiny step forward. Ten steps. Eleven.

I opened the door to my heaven and let myself in, closing it behind me and locking it-no more closets. No sir. Nah-huh.

Ava was sleeping. God, she was beautiful. And I absolutely needed her to wake up.

I padded to her bed, swaying like the damn tower. What the fuck, man?

I lay by her side under her comforter and pressed a kiss below her ear. That was the spot.

Ava stirred and turned around. I brought her to my chest. Her beautiful eyes opened. They were still sleepy and unfocused.

Her mouth formed an "o." I covered it with my palm. "Quiet, baby."

"Jimmy? What are you doing here?" she asked when I removed my hand from her lips.

"Sinning. Cause you're my cute little sin."

Ava narrowed her eyes at me. "Wait. Are you drunk? Oh my God, did my father get you drunk?"

"We did it, Beautiful. Two thousand pieces and the shit sways."

Ava let out the cutest of snorts. "As long as it only sways and doesn't twitch or throb..."

"The fuck it doesn't. Everything twitches and throbs, baby. I want you to kiss it better."

Ava stared at me.

Damn. I was her first man.

Woohoo. Take that, motherfuckers.

"Kiss it better, huh?" she asked.

I gave her neck a soft bite. "Fuck yeah. I've been dreaming of your lips wrapped around Jim Junior since we met. Those lips, baby. They should be illegal. Illegal for real. Your legs too. And your tits. Do you know why I haven't kissed them yet?"

Ava shook her head.

"Cause I don't trust myself. I can't allow myself to undress you completely because then I don't know if I'd be able to just look."

"Poor baby," Ava whispered, caressing my cheek. "What else have you been dreaming of?"

I closed my eyes. I didn't want to, but her touch felt too good. "Making you mine. Mine for real. Our bodies together. Showing you how it can be. Cause you know we're special, right?"

Ava's hand moved to my neck. I shivered.

"Yeah. We're...we're two pieces of a puzzle. We just fit. Beautifully. And I thought about it before. How we might seem different, but it's a lie. We're so similar it's scary. Our souls fit, and so will our bodies."

Ava laughed softly. "Wow."

"I know. Wow. I saw you, and it was wow. I kissed you, and it was wow. I think when I fuck you, it will be..."

Ava snuggled into me. "Wow?"

"More than wow. Is there a word that is wower than wow?"

"The writer in me says I have to ask Thesaurus."

"The poet in me says I need to put my virility into your tight, hot little furnace soon."

"Your throbbing virility. Your sword of desire."

"I forgot something. The little furnace has to be lubricated."

"Is this your dirty talk, Jimmy?"

I opened my eyes. Ava's eyes twinkled.

"No. Just stating facts. I need to make sure you're ready. Cause holy mother of fucks; I'm your first man. You get the significance of it? It's huge."

"Like Jim Junior?"

I nodded. "He's a big guy. Or so I think. Do you need the inches? If you have a ruler-"

Ava laughed. Hard. The mattress shook beneath her. I moved my hand to her bum and squeezed it. "Don't laugh at your man's dick, Beautiful."

"I'm awful." Ava laughed again. "Sorry, Mr. Junior."

"You're forgiven. But if you laugh at him again, I will spank you. And tie you up."

"Only that?"

My gaze tried to zero in on Ava's. "No to spanking. Yes, to tying you up. We can also play in a different way, but our first time first."

"Good idea."

Ava hooked an arm around my neck and made me lie on her chest. I pressed a kiss to one of her cotton-covered boobs. Then one more. Then, my fingers moved under her shorts. Down, down, down, straight to the wet heaven. To the forbidden fruit...forbidden spot.

Her first everything. Holy shit.

"Jimmy..." Ava arched her back.

"Baby."

"You're... God, it's-"

I covered her mouth with mine.

Be loud, my love.

Be mine.

Cause I'd never been anyone's but yours.