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“I need a mimosa,” she declares.
I rub my eye, likely worsening my own smudged mascara. “Same.”
We shower quickly in a futile effort to find our will to live—it barely works. Lenix borrows some sweats and I shove into another pair before we shuffle out the door.
We slink through the shadows like vampires, making our way to the waterfront, hoping maybe the sea breeze will help our crippling hangovers. We find a cute bistro with a patio facing the water, sit down, and finally order what will hopefully help alleviate our throbbing headaches.
While Lenix takes a sip of her mimosa, she looks at me with a smirk. She raises her perfectly tweezed brow, waiting for me to speak. To annoy her further, I play dumb,
“What?” I stare down at my own drink, playing with the strawberry stuck on the rim of my glass. I then reach for the basket of fries between us, grabbing a handful and stuffing them into my mouth.
Lenix sighs dramatically. “Don’t even, Sunny! Go on. You can’t avoid the subject forever. Spill.”
“I mean, there’s nothing to tell. Nothing really happened,” I evade.
“Please,” she scoffs, theatrically rolling her eyes at me. “You can’t tell me nothing happened when you had a glazedplease fuck melook on your face when Connor and I walked in,” she smirks. “I should know, I’ve put that look on your face before.” I kick her shin under the table. “Hey, that hurt you bitch!” she whines, rubbing her leg while still grinning her Cheshire Cat smile.
“We didn’t even kiss…” I trail off. Would we have kissed if Connor hadn’t come in when he did? It certainly felt like it. “Honestly, I’m kind of relieved nothing actually happened. Like, what the fuck was I thinking? The guy’s low-key psycho.”
“And probably fucks like one to,” Lenix adds, raising an eyebrow suggestively.
“That’s the point, isn’t it? He’s already acting all possessive and we haven’t even kissed. What would happen if we end up hooking up?”
I’m playing with fire. Lenix may be cracking jokes but she knows it, too. Byzantine isn’t the type who seems to havecasualanywhere in his vocabulary. But then, something tells me I wouldn’t want casual with him, either. I would want to lose myself in him and never be found again. I’d want to sear my soul to his and go beyond what I’ve ever experienced with anyone before.
And that terrifies me.
I mean, I don’t even know the guy. The things I do know about Byzantine don’t really spell out citizen of the year. But then he looks at me and my soul flares like a supernova in my chest. Nothing about him makes sense, except that I should fear him. But I don’t. Instead, my skin heats with the thought of his body against mine. Hard and wanting, the taste of his sweat on my tongue, his fingers finding a home deep inside of me.
“Sunny, are you even listening?” Lenix waves her hand in front of my face and I snap out of my daydream. “Oh my god…were you thinking dirty little things you perv!” She laughs as I bury my face in my hands, my cheeks burning. Lenix stands up from the table and holds out her hand. “Come on, let’s go for a swim. It’ll make you feel better. You don’t need to make any decisions right now. Especially when you’re in the throes of the boozy blues.”
I sigh and take her hand. She’s right, there’s nothing I can do about it now.
A few hours later, after a swim in the ocean and one more mimosa, I feel a bit better. Lenix left to get ready for a date, leaving me solo.
I’m browsing the aisles in a bookstore when my phone buzzes in my bag. I fish it out, and see a text from an unknown number.
It doesn’t take a genius to know who it’s from.
Unknown: How’s your hangover?
I roll my eyes, thinking up a quick answer.
Me: I’m sorry, who is this?
Unknown: You know exactly who this is.
Me: As your employee, this is considered harassment, I could sue.
The ellipses appear, disappear, then reappear again. I can’t help but grin.
Unknown: Fair. Should I be punished?
I swallow hard, my phone buzzing again before I can come up with an answer.
Unknown: What if I get on my knees for you? Would you like that?
Oh fuck.
