“We’ll be landing in about thirty minutes, monsieur.” The steward smiled and removed two empty coffee cups.
Next to me, Liam was playing Wordle on his phone. He turned the screen and showed me his score—a three.
“Not bad,” I said dryly. “For a guy.”
“Oh?” He raised a brow. “What did you get then?”
I flashed him my phone—same score. “Sorry,” I said. “Technically, that makes me the winner.”
“How do you workthatout?”
“Your Oxford and private school handicap,” I said. “We underprivileged normies get extra credit for showing up. Surely you remember that?”
He laughed and pressed his face into my neck, kissing the skin just above my collarbone. “I’ll give you some extra credit whenever you like,” he said quietly, the tone so low and dark it made my nipples instantly wake up.
“For God’s sake, you two,” Ben said. “I didn’t consent to seeing this side of his personality. Can you save the sickly sweet nothings for when you’re alone?”
“Fuck yes,” said Dex. “At least wait until British airspace to be nauseating.”
Liam laughed, his hand squeezing my leg a little tighter.
“Wow, what a week,” said Ben.
“And Andrea survived French high society,” Dex said. “That’s basically a transferable skill now, right?”
Liam dropped an arm across my shoulders. “That was never going to be a problem.”
“I’d hardly say shesurvived,” said Bonnie, lifting her head as if she’d just noticed we were having a conversation.
Oh God, here we go again…
“Anyone who can decimate Toby Davenport the way Andrea did is well beyond survival level,” she added. “At a table full of people, no less.”
Not what I was expecting…
“She clocked him in seconds,” she said, turning to me. “Didn’t you, Andrea?”
“I—I don’t know.”
“Yes, you did,” she said. “I saw you.”
“Davenport’s an arse,” said Ben. “Always has been. You didn’t miss a beat, Andrea. I have to say, it was beautifully done.”
“Of course,” Bonnie said. “She’s an artist. She notices the details.”
“Andrea’s an artist?” Dex’s mouth fell open.
“Jesus, mate, keep up,” said Ben.
“She has a rare kind of attention. Sebastian’s words.” Bonnie flipped open a mirror and smoothed on her lipstick. “If that wassurviving, then she’s Genghis Khan.”
Wow. Was that… a compliment?
I just wished I’d pushed Toby away from me before Liam had shown up last night though.
I’m sure it’s been difficult for Liam, processing what he did… the little lies we tell ourselves, so we can have what we want…
Toby was pond scum, but his words had got under my skin.
