I’d learned that night that for Vincent, sex wasn’t quite a competition, but it was almost a sport. He never liked to leave me with the upper hand. I didn’t give him an orgasm that he didn’t reciprocate, often a few times over. Not that I was complaining; I’d never come so often and so hard in one night. Maybe not even in one lifetime.
After our shower, he’d put his dress clothes on again, grinning a little ruefully at me as he buttoned the wrinkled shirt and tucked it back into his pants.
“Are you going to catch hell from your mom?” I’d asked from where I lay on the bed, still wrapped in my bath towel, my hair damp and curling around my face.
“Nah. If I play my cards right, she won’t even think about it. She’ll assume I either got my own room last night or that I just drove back home after the party. By the time I see her tomorrow night, she’ll be onto something else.”
“Tomorrow night?” I cocked my head. “You have plans with her?”
“It’s Sunday. The restaurant’s closed, so the whole family eats together at Ma’s. Carl and Ange will be there with the baby. Ava and Liam won’t be down this week, I guess, since we saw them at the party, but they come down about twice a month. Other than that, there’ll probably be a few cousins there, and maybe some of my aunts and uncles.”
I smiled. “It sounds lovely. Having a big family has always been one of those mysterious experiences to me—something that sounds amazing but something I can’t quite imagine.”
“It’s got its high points and its low points.” He turned his wrist to fasten his watch, and I felt a renewed surge of desire for him. There was something so uniquely male about that move, the way he held his arm and the alluring expanse of skin between his cuff and wrist. It made me want to tempt him back into bed with me ...
He was speaking again, and I pulled my attention back to what he was saying. “How about you? Do you have brothers or sisters?”
I shook my head. “No, it’s just me. I’m close to my parents, but they were only children, too, so I don’t have cousins or aunts and uncles. My grandparents on my dad’s side are alive, but they live in the UK, and my mom’s parents passed away when I was little.”
“So no big family dinners for you? No holiday gatherings?” He looked faintly appalled at the idea.
“No, but we had fun, anyway. We’d either spend holidays with friends, or we’d travel. My dad’s an archeologist, so if there was a short-term dig that fell between Thanksgiving and Christmas, sometimes we’d go there. It wasn’t necessarily typical, but it was never boring.”
“Huh. Your father is like Indiana Jones?” Now Vincent sounded fascinated, and I laughed.
“Not exactly. He’s not the type of archeologist who works in ancient sites, usually—his specialty is more recent history, like within the last thousand years. He works with historical societies on excavating old houses or villages ... now and then, some native American sites, too, but those aren’t his favorites. Right now, he’s in Israel, working with a group who’s uncovered some kind of site related to the crusades.”
“Still, that’s very cool. He has an amazing job.” Picking up his tie, Vincent stuffed it into his pocket. “Well, I guess that’s it. I should probably get going so that I can make it home before traffic gets too bad.”
“Yeah.” I pushed myself to sit up, securing the top of my towel in place. “Let me call down so that they bring your car around.” I reached for my phone and hit the autodial for the building valet, spoke briefly to the man on duty and hung up.
“That’s wild.” Vincent shook his head. “I can’t imagine having to call someone every time you want to drive your car.”
“I guess you get used to it.” I lifted one shoulder. “I wouldn’t know. I don’t have a car here.”
“What?” Shock flooded his face. “How do you live without a car?”
I counted off on my fingers. “Public transportation. RideIt. Cabs.”
“Do you even know how to drive?”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course, I do. I had a car growing up in Jersey. But it seemed extraneous when I started at Penn, so it’s been tucked in my parents’ garage since I graduated from high school.”
“That’s crazy. I can’t imagine not having my car.” He sat down on the edge of the bed next to me, but the judgement I heard in his voice made me feel defensive, and I shifted a little bit away, out of his reach.
“I guess there are a lot of things you just can’t imagine about my life. That doesn’t make my choices any less valid,” I said tightly. “Different isn’t always wrong.”
“Didn’t say it was.” Vincent leaned over and tucked a curl behind my ear. “Hey. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like I was putting you down. It’s just different, like you said. How you live is your business.”
And none of mine. He didn’t say it, but I heard it nonetheless.
“True.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “I guess it’s a good thing that we’re just a hook-up, isn’t it? Can you imagine trying to make this any more than it was?”
Vincent was staring at me. “I guess. I mean, we live in totally different worlds. And pretty far apart, geography-wise, too.”
“Yup.” I swung my legs off the side of the mattress. “Well, your car’s probably waiting. If you’re not down there to get it, they’ll put it back in the garage, and you’ll have to call for it again.”
“You’re saying we don’t have time for a quickie?” His voice was teasing, but I was no longer in the mood. I was used to seeing guys off the morning after a rollicking night of sex, but somehow, today was different.
