“And what about you? Who have you brought to Dinner Club?”
She pulls me out of my racing thoughts, my mouth waters and I can’t tell you how pleased I am that she’s asked, because it tells me she’s interested. She wants to know if she’s the only one.
“I’ve never been with anyone long term.”
“You never brought a fuck buddy to dinner night?” She laughs, taking another pull.
“You’re the only one I’ve ever brought, Mia. None of my friends ever knew anything about anyone I was fucking. Hence why they were so interested in you. Especially because I told them you’re my girlfriend.”
The flame lights up the pink flush licking up her neck, and I smile into my beer bottle.
Stay focused.
“Speaking of…I have a favor to ask.”
“Sure, then I should really start studying.”
“Let’s go to the living room and sit on the couch.”
“Okay.”
She stands up, taking her plate to the sink and rinsing it before opening the dishwasher.
“You got any Tupperware for leftovers?”
“Yeah, hang on.”
I get out the Tupperware and start filling it with the leftover lasagna as Mia fills the dishwasher and wipes down the sides. It’s awfully domestic, and my heart tugs at the thought of her here with me, clearing up after dinner every night, teasing me with her quick wit and clever comebacks.
This infatuation needs to stop, and I can’t believe I’m going to ask her what I’m going to ask her.
We make our way into the living room, and she sits on the couch, tucking her feet under her like she’s already making herself at home. The satin skirt flowing down the front of the couch.
She looks at the laptop she brought with her and winces a little. I know I’m eating into her time, especially given that she’s felt the need to follow me around after the Vincent incident. She should be focusing on herself, but again, I’m going to be selfish and ask more of her. My father springs to mind. He always expected so much from Mom, giving her nothing back. Maybe there is something I could do for Mia…I don’t know what though.
“Okay, so this is going to sound a little crazy.”
“I like where this is going.” She waggles her eyebrows, laughing.
“Right…well, hold that thought.” I take a deep breath. “With the social media posts that have been circulating about you, me and Lottie…well it’s not been good.”
“Okay…”
“Lottie is dating someone very high profile, and it’s very secret. But that person’s PR team isn’t happy that Lottie has been dragged into a love triangle social media frenzy. If theydo eventually go public, they want it to be clear that Lottie has nothing to do with me, romantically that is.”
“Is Lottie in danger? A PR team dictating their relationship seems kind of controlling.”
I sigh. “The person she’s with—it’s complicated. Lottie says he’s a good man, but his PR team is a nightmare.”
“Well, we’re already kind of pretending because of the unfortunate wedging situation with Vincent. Can’t we just carry on with that?”
“I think this is going to need a formal statement, and I was hoping to talk about it on the show tomorrow morning.”
She stiffens, her face falling into a hard frown.
“I know it’s asking a lot. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t for Lottie.”
It’s not strictly true, and I don’t know why I felt the need to say it. Maybe to convince her? It would give me the excuse to spend more time with her, like we need more reason to.
