When my long-term boyfriend proposes an open relationship-not marriage-I'm blindsided.
I've never wanted anyone but him. But when he frames it as a way to fix what we never quite figured out in bed, I'm terrified that saying no will cost me the only relationship I've ever known. So I agree to his rules: Hall passes on Fridays only. Freedom to explore. Freedom to experiment. Freedom to finally get it right.
In theory.
In reality? I'm a complete disaster at casual sex.
Between awkward dates, humiliating rejections, and spectacular failures, every Friday night ends the same way-licking my wounds in front of the same bartender.
Jack Carson.
Tattooed. Former musician. A bar owner with kind eyes and a quiet steadiness that makes me feel safe even when I'm unraveling. He never laughs at me. Never judges. Instead, he makes sure I get home safely, slips me advice I didn't know I needed, and slowly becomes the one constant in my increasingly chaotic Fridays.
Until the line between bartender, friend, and temptation starts to blur.
Falling for Jack was never part of the deal. Neither was realizing that maybe what I've been chasing isn't better sex but the kind of love that doesn't need rules or hall passes.
Now I have to decide: do I keep pretending this arrangement is freedom… or admit I don't want a hall pass anymore. I want it all.
Just not with the man I started with.
Necessary Temptations is a series of steamy standalone romances exploring consensual rule-breaking and the fear of leaving a long-term relationship that no longer fits.
Each story leans into emotional awakening, complicated choices, and the quiet realization that sometimes the bravest thing you can do is choose yourself and the love that finally fulfills you.
