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I listen to her read out part of his bio while I back into the bathroom and close the door. The last thing Leif needs to overhear is this conversation and think I’m interested in taking him up on more than just his hotel suite.
“So, he retired a few years ago from the Union League…” She drags out the last word as if she’s skimming his bio ahead to summarise it for me. “Whatever that means.”
“Whatever what means?”
“Nothing. He’s an ex-pro athlete turned banker. Aside from useless stats, I can’t see anything else. Oh…” she croons, just as I’m about to tell her that finding out about his career and what he looks like isn’t actually telling me anything I don’t already know. Aside from his past in rugby, but that isn’t surprising with how his body is built. “His brother is yummy.” A girlish giggle trills down the line. “Leif and Laiken. How quirky.”
“Unusual, right? But nice.”
“Do you know what’s nice?” My phone vibrates next to my ear. “Check this out.”
I know better than to open her message, but I do it anyway after I put the call on a low-volume speakerphone. When the photo opens up, I almost choke on my saliva.
“Bruce Banner wants his muscles back,” I mutter, my eyes almost popping out of my skull as I take in the contours of his hard body.
“Bruce who?” Of course, she has no idea who I’m referring to. When we were younger, I always had a comic in my hand while Suni had the latest celeb gossip magazine.
“The Hulk, Suni.”
“Do you think that’s what he calls his trouser python? The size of it...” I’ve never heard her marvel like this.
Suni is loud and gregarious, and her filter is close to non-existent. It’s part of what makes her so easy to talk to, and it’s also how she disarms you. However, she’s never been like this.
“If you haven’t zoomed in yet, there’s something wrong with you.”
“I’m not zooming in on his crotch,” I tell her, fully intent on closing the photo.
However, I get caught up in the enhanced green in Leif’s eyes, and from there, my stare tracks south. I trace his tattoos, taking in the red maple leaves trailing across the width of his chest, to the compass arrows over his heart, with black birds flying east into a forest of evergreens that form the legs and snout of a bear at the roots on the side of his torso. Following the elastic of the boxer shorts, I drag my focus back to his eyes. I’m trying so hard to resist the urge to look farther south.
“You know you want to,” Suni teases.
“No, I don’t. Why would I want to see what his—good Lord.” I almost bite my tongue when a cropped snapshot of Leif’s crotch suddenly appears on my screen.
“Thank you very much,” she cackles, while I zoom into the already close-up shot. “That thing is a weapon.”
“No way, he’s got to have a sock stuffed in there.”
It’s not feasible for any man to have a penis that big, and I can’t imagine it would be easy for them to use it. A sudden frisson of heat twists in my stomach.
“Well, I say you take one for the team and find out.” Suni chuckles, the lewd tone lending a gravel-like edge to her voice. “Who knows, he might be able to take your mind off this entire ordeal until you hop on the plane back home to tell me all about it.”
“I am not fucking a stranger, Sunita,” I say far too loudly, just as there’s a weak knock on the bathroom door.
Fuck. My. Life.
Why is this happening to me?
Leif probably thinks I’m unhinged already. Now he’s going to add nymphomaniac to the list. Although, according to him, you can’t live life through lists, so maybe there’s some hope there.
“He’s not a stranger anymore, Cassidy. Besides, weren’t you freaking out that there’s only one bed before?”
“Just a second!” I call at the next rap on the door before I whisper-yell at her, “I’ve known him all of seven, maybe eight hours.”
“Exactly, he’s not a stranger, and if you’re going to share a bed with him, you might as well make the most out of it… and report back. I hate to tell you this because I don’t want to put anything on you, but I’m living vicariously through you.”
“Suni, you’re an idiot.”
“Cas, live a little. Give your dad something to cheer for, wherever he is. He lost his life, but you still have yours. That would be worth more than any bucket list.”
