Page 12 of For I Have Sinned

I nod. “He paid for my coffee.”

“That is so sweet!” Vince claps excitedly. “Did you get his number?”

“No, Vince, I did not get the priest’s number,” I tell him the awful news that I did not flirt with Father Alexander. “That would be the sin of all sins to my parents if I got with a priest.”

“I don’t think you’d even be able to.” Amelia chimes in. Vince and I look at her in shock, and she realizes what she just said. “That is not what I meant! Don’t they like, not have sex?”

“Ahhh, you are so right!” Vince nods in agreement. “Not having sex would suck. Besides, I don’t think he’d be able to handle you, Celine. We all know how you like to be in the bedroom.”

“True! You’d probably scare him away with your dominance.” Amelia agrees with a giggle and then sighs. “I couldn’t imagine going my whole life without having sex.”

“Amelia, I’m sure he has had sex before becoming a priest,” I say, not sure if I’m right or not, but now I’m imagining him having sex. Heat flutters in my stomach, but I wash away the sudden sensation with a sip of wine.

“Maybe,” She shrugs. “What does he look like?”

“I am not getting into this with you guys.”

“Fine,” she pulls out her phone and removes herself from the conversation. Or so I thought. “Found him!”

“What?” I ask in disbelief.

“He is listed on the church’s website.” She smirks.

“How did you know the name of the church?” I question.

“Uhm, you told us?” She reminds me. “You said he was attractive, but I think the word hot would suffice.”

“Let me see!” Vince rushes over to Amelia, ripping the phone out of her hand. “Oh my god, Celine! He is so sexy!”

“You do know you both are talking about a priest.”

“The sins I would commit for that man.” Vince bites his lip, completely ignoring me.

“Alright, alright. That’s enough with the priest talk.” I snatch Amelia’s phone away and close out of the website. “Should we finish this wine on the rooftop?”

Vince’s eyes go wide, shining with excitement. He grabs the open bottle and hurries to the door. Amelia and I laugh as we grab our glasses, along with an unopened bottle, and follow him.

I don’t care how much I drink tonight. Why would I? It’s not like I have to be up for my job. I’m going to drown my sorrows like I never have before.

Chapter 5

Celine

The past four days have been full of doing literally nothing. I would wake up in the morning, grab a coffee, and then spend the day sitting inside the apartment. I’d order takeout because I didn’t feel like going anywhere else and have binged-watched three shows.

It’s pathetic, I know.

I should have been job-hunting, but I’m hopeful I’ll get a text from Catherine about Ortega Publishing soon. I’m trying not to drive myself crazy over the fact that I haven’t heard from her. I mean, she is a newly bestselling author, of course, she has a busy schedule.

Not only should I have been job hunting, but I should also have gone outside more than just to run to the coffee shop. Whether it was for a walk or to sit out in the sun while enjoying my morning coffee, more fresh air would have done me good. But no. I decided to lock myself in my apartment and wallow in my self-pity.

Lounging on my couch the past few days had been nice, until yesterday, when my skin started to tingle with the need to do something other than wasting away my days.

After I could no longer sit still, I called Vince and asked if we could go out. Seeing as it was Saturday night, he didn’t decline. Neither did Amelia.

We stayed out late, had quite a few drinks, and I danced with a couple of guys. None came home with me, though, because I wasn’t in the right headspace to be with a man in that way. I was way too drunk and could have easily agreed to sleeping with someone, but I knew deep down it wouldn’t have been a good choice, given how much alcohol I had consumed.

I lay in bed, with a headache that is pounding against my skull like someone is trapped in there and is trying to break out. I wince when I sit up and look at the time on my phone.