Chapter 1 - The Pact

CHAPTER 1: THE PACT

"WHAT THE HELL are you doing here?" I pulled Ayabonga behind me into the hallway outside the wine-farm venue where the rehearsal dinner was being held.

He just stared back at me with his perfect smirk, the corners of his lips tilted up slightly. "Apparently, we're going to the same wedding. And I get to walk you down the aisle."

I glared at him, trying to figure out how I'd messed this up so badly. How had I let my one-night-stand Tinder date from last night also turn out to be my sister's future husband's best man? Especially when I'm the maid of honour?

"You didn't mention anything to me about a wedding," I pointed out.

Ayabonga raised one brow. "Sanele, we weren't exactly spending last night getting to know each other."

I crossed my arms over my chest, pissed that he was right and that that still made me feel like absolute shit.

"Plus, if I remember correctly…" he continued. "You seemed to really enjoy last night." His voice lowered then, more of a growl. "I know I did!"

My face flushed hot at the memory of bending over the bed last night while his tongue slid across my most sensitive regions. He wasn't just the first time I'd ever had a man go down on me… he was the first time I'd ever had anyone near my arse. His mouth… shit, it was skilled. I could already feel my core reheating just at the memory, tempting me to push him up against a wall here and now and let him take me right in this hallway.

Until I remembered everything that had happened this morning.

And why I hated his guts.

"That may be true about last night, but when I woke up — completely alone — to find that you'd sneaked out in the middle of the night and had unmatched me on Tinder?" I scoffed at him. "Well, that was all the reminder I needed about why I never have one-night stands."

His brows lifted and he looked… genuinely surprised. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but I cut him off.

"All I know now is that you better stay away from me for the rest of the night. Hell, the rest of the weekend. I want nothing to do with your playboy charms." I waved a finger in his face.

He grinned. "So, you think I'm charming?"

I narrowed my eyes at him, but then just walked back into the rehearsal dinner, leaving him standing in the hallway behind me.

"Sanele!" My sister, Nandi, waved me over to where she was standing with her future husband, Ruan. "Come join us! We're about to do the toast!"

I walked over to them quickly, wanting to put as much distance between myself and Ayabonga as possible. As if that was even something I could do this weekend. Hell, tomorrow he would be walking me down the aisle.

I grimaced at the thought.

"Hey, where'd you disappear to?" Ruan smiled at me as I joined them.

I glanced up at him, trying not to only stare at his missing tooth that (shocker) Ayabonga had knocked out accidentally while they were playing golf that morning. But then I decided it was too easy of a target.

"I could ask the same thing about your tooth," I teased, jutting my elbow against him in jest.

"Sanele!" Nandi cut her eyes at me, having made it clear a few times that she had no interest in focusing on her future husband's toothless grin. "He's getting it fixed."

I shrugged my shoulders. Honestly, I didn't mind the rugby-player look. Even if Ruan was a dentist.

"Ready to give a toast?" Junior, one of Ruan's groomsmen, came up behind me and handed me a glass of champagne.

"My toast is tomorrow night," I informed him, trying my best to keep my eyes on his face instead of roaming his body. The man was built like a mountain, and… it was hard not to notice. His thick arms were threatening to burst through the seams of his suit jacket, and the way his eyes were boring into me? It was thrilling.

Maybe it would be easy to forget about Ayabonga after all.

"I think they're going to make everyone say a little something tonight," he replied, then took a sip of his champagne. "Consider it a practice run for tomorrow night."

"What are you going to say?" I prodded, taking a sip from my glass as well.

He shrugged. "I'm just a lowly groomsman. I can get away with a 'here's to the bride and groom!' But you? You're the maid of honour. People are going to expect tears."

I balked at the thought. "Do you really think people are going to expect it to be that serious?"

"Well, I don't know about people, but your sister seems to think so."

I know he's right. Nandi did mention earlier that I should be preparing my speech for tomorrow with Ayabonga, because she wanted us to wow the audience. She, of course, assumed I hadn't prepared anything in advance.

OK, so she was right.

I had kind of expected to go up there and wing it, see what hit me in the moment. But, watching Nandi now, and how she beamed at every guest who came up to say hello and told them all about what was in store for the actual wedding… I was starting to wonder if I was ill-prepared.

Junior leaned in a little closer, taking my arm by my elbow and pulling me nearer to him. "If you want help practising your speech, I've been known to be a great listener."

I grinned, flicking my gaze up to meet him, purposefully looking at him under dark, thick lashes. I put on my most seductive voice when I answered him, enjoying feeling wanted after this morning's rejection.

"Oh, you think you can?" I leaned closer to his chest, inhaling the scent of his cologne. "I am very open to… feedback."

His eyes darkened as I spoke and I watched him swallow… hard.

"So… Sanele, tell me," he began, clearing his throat as he spoke. "Are you attending the wedding with a plus-one tomorrow?"

I shook my head slowly, not breaking our eye contact the entire time. "I'm free as a bird."

"This is very… interesting," he responded, then leaned in a little closer and took my champagne glass from me.

I glanced down and noticed it was already empty.

"How about I get you a refill?"

I nodded my head, letting a small smile steal across my lips. He walked away quickly, heading in the direction of the bar.

Scanning the room, I let my gaze fall upon a group of men toward the right side of the room. In the centre of the group stood Ayabonga, and he was staring right at me. I quickly glanced away, not wanting to catch his gaze. But when I let my eyes wander back, he was still standing there staring at me.

And he looked angry.

I furrowed my brow, wondering who pissed in his mielie pap this morning. He had no right to be mad at me. What I'd said to him in the hallway… it was the truth. He's the one who up and left my bed in the middle of the night without so much as a goodbye, or a way to contact him ever again.

Sure, my best friend Nadia had assured me that that is how one-night stands go, but… fuck that.

I didn't like it one bit.

As much as I loved our night together, to wake up the next morning and feel so disposable was the pits.

Ayabonga could stare at me with daggers all he wanted. I was officially unmatching him from my life.

Ayabonga

OK, so Junior is a fucking dick.

I can say that. He and I went to varsity together with Ruan, and our trio was well known to be pretty disruptive on nights out when it came to drinking and partying.

That was ten years ago, however. While both Ruan and I had grown out of that behaviour and into mature adults, Junior never had. It was one of the reasons I rarely talked to the guy anymore. That, and our differences when it came to picking up women.

Junior had a history of liquoring women up to get them to sleep with him. I had argued loud and long with him about that, because I was the exact opposite. I had a no-drunk-sex policy and it worked well for me. Consider me naive, but I like to actually remember my sexual encounters and not just have it be a blurry haze from the night before.

A vivid memory of Sanele on all fours comes back to me full force.

I tried to push it out of my mind, but she's cozied up next to Junior across the room from me and he's handing her another drink. Something about seeing the way his hand grazes up and down her back, scooting a little lower each time… it's really beginning to piss me off.

"Ayabonga?" Ruan snapped a finger in front of my face. "Are you even paying attention?"

I averted my gaze from one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen, let alone slept with, and turned to my best friend. "What?"

"We were just talking about last night's game. Thoughts?"

I shook my head. "I'm actually going to go grab a drink."

Ruan frowned but nodded. I walked off in the direction of the bar, but kept my eyes glued to the duo across the room. Junior was leaning in even closer to Sanele now and she's laughing. I've known the guy for ten years. He's not that fucking funny.

"Can I have a coke?" I asked the barman and thanked him when he handed me the glass.

I took a sip, but then I made my decision. I'm going over there.

I don't know what it was, but there was a discomfort inside of me at the idea of Junior's hands on her. It was… weird. As if those should be my hands. My everything.

What was happening to me?

Stalking across the room, I landed in front of Junior.

"Hey, buddy!" He greeted me by pulling his arm away from Sanele and extending it to me for a handshake. "I heard about your recent promotion. Big deal, Bongs. Congrats."

"You got a promotion?" Sanele echoed. "What do you do?"

She's prying and I know it. She wanted to dig beneath the shallow exterior I'd given her last night and find some semblance of who I am, some clue as to why I wasn't interested in a follow-up.

My mind was quickly changing on that front.

I turned my body to face her, squaring my shoulders. "I'm an attorney, and I was just made a partner in my firm."

Her eyes widen. "Oh, wow. That is a big deal. You should be proud."

"Thank you." I turned my attention back to Junior. "Hate to break up this new friendship, Junes, but can I steal Sanele here for a minute? We need to go over our toasts."

Junior nodded enthusiastically as if he completely understood. "Sure, man. Hey, Sanele — catch up with me later tonight."

She grinned at him and he gave her an exaggerated wink, but she doesn't respond. Instead, she handed him back the glass of champagne he'd just got for her and then followed me across the room to our table. We were seated at a small round table to the side of the bride and groom.

"Here," I said as I held out her chair for her to sit down.

She took her seat, nodding her appreciation. I joined her, sitting in the seat adjacent.

"So, have you prepared your toast yet?" she asked me.

I shook my head. "Not yet. Have you?"

She glanced down at her hands. She was fidgeting. "No, and, honestly, I'm not a fan of public speaking. I get pretty serious stage fright."

"That's OK," I assured her. "We'll figure something out. We can spend the rest of tonight brainstorming and then get something polished in the morning."

Lines appeared on her forehead as she furrowed her brow. "Do you actually think it will take that long? I was kind of hoping to knock it out quicker than that."

"Trying to avoid me?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

Her cheeks flamed, but her chin jutted out and her nostrils flared. "If you must know, yes. That's exactly what I'd like to do."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Fine. Ignore me all you want, but just stay the hell away from Junior. I don't want to have to come rescue you again." Her eyes widen again. "Excuse me? You think you rescued me?"

I don't say anything in response, but I can't help myself from smiling at her temper.

"I was perfectly fine with Junior. In fact, we were having a lovely time before you came along. He's at least interested in getting to know me." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Sure… he's interested in getting to know you in bed," I countered. "Do you really want a guy like that?"

She whipped her head around and glared at me. "Let's see… I think after last night? No. That's not what I want."

The way she looked when she was angry — fiery and strong — is intoxicating, and I want nothing more than to keep pushing her buttons. But even more than that? I want a redo.

I realised it then and there in that moment. I was a fool for thinking she could be a one-night stand that I'd move on from and never think of again. Hell, I'd thought of her all morning even while the guys were playing golf. I'd even considered reactivating my Tinder account to find her again.

Because she was wrong. I hadn't unmatched her on Tinder. I'd deleted the entire app from my phone. After last night, I'd realised that I wanted to focus on other things besides just getting laid. After the connection I'd felt with Sanele last night, I'd even — stupidly — considered that maybe it was time for me to settle down.

That thought was still lingering, and I didn't like it.

I wasn't ready to settle down. I'd just landed the job of my dreams and wanted to focus on that. Women? They were a distraction.

Sanele, though? She might just be a welcome distraction.

"I have a solution for that," I volunteered, placing my arm across the table and leaning in closer to her.

"You have a solution for last night?" Her tone seemed confused.

"Yeah." I nodded again. "You aren't interested in a one-night stand. I think that is clear."

"Vividly clear."

I walked my fingers across the table and closer to her hand, letting my index finger swirl over her skin. "Well, let's not make it that, then."

"What do you mean?"

"You don't want a one-night stand, and frankly, I don't either. I want…" I glanced up at her. "A two-night stand."

She leans back, placing more room between us. "Excuse me?"

"We have all weekend together. We're going to be at the same events. Why not enjoy our downtime as well?"

"Ayabonga…"

"Plus, if I recall…" I continued, ignoring her protests. "You have a pretty long list, and we've barely got through any of it."

She visibly swallowed and her gaze turned down toward her hands. "You… you remember that."

I sat back against the back of my chair and held both of my hands up. "I mean, it's been like eighteen hours. That's pretty hard to forget. In fact, everything from last night is pretty hard to forget."

A blush crept up her chest and flared across her cheeks.

"I only have two conditions." I folded my hands on the table.

"You have conditions for trying to convince me to sleep with you again?" She balked at my statement, but I'm not surprised. I'm pushing boundaries now, and I can tell she's not convinced yet… but she's not saying no.

"One — no more alcohol tonight. I've seen you've already had two glasses." "I'm not even tipsy!" She laughed at this one, rolling her eyes at me. "But fine. No sloppy sex. I get it."

"And second — you stay away from Junior for the weekend. And any other male suitors. It's just you and me this weekend."

She arched one brow. "So, like… a date? You're my wedding date."

I thought about it for a second before I nod. "Yeah. Exactly like that."

"And… what exactly do I get out of this?"

I leaned in closer to her. "We check off two more things from your list. Tonight."

She cleared her throat and did her best attempt to stay poised and calm, but I can see that she's clenching her thighs together and I know she wants this every bit as much as I do.

"I have some conditions of my own."

"Fire away," I told her.

"First—" She lifted one finger up. "We know each other's last names."

Laughter bubbled out of me at such a small request. "Ayabonga Mahlangu." "Sanele Duma." She held up a second finger. "Second, we exchange phone numbers."

I lifted one brow, but then reach into my pocket and pull out my phone. I hand it to her. "Go ahead and programme yourself on in."

She took the phone from me, but looked at me as if it's some sort of trick. "Really?"

"Of course. I'd love your number."

"If that was the case, then why did you unmatch me on the app?" She glanced up at me, her eyes big and round.

"I didn't," I told her honestly. "I deleted the entire app."

"Jesus, was it that bad?"

"Last night?" I furrowed my brows. "Of course not. Hell, the opposite. It just got me thinking… that's all."

"You know that really explains nothing, right?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Your conditions didn't ask for an explanation." "Maybe I should make a third condition for that…"

I dropped my hands below the table and reached across to find her knee. No one could see my hand, but I moved slightly up her thigh and I could feel her shiver beneath me. "Sure, you could do that. Or, you could meet me in the bathroom in five minutes."

"Yebo baba," she whispered, and stood up.

I stood and walked away from the table. I could feel her eyes following me as I walked out of the room.

She's coming… in more ways than one.