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“No need to thank me, Sondra,” I say, pulling a chair out for Winter, then pushing it in once she’s sat. “I’ve alreadyfedher. Several times, actually.”
Winter’s arm snaps in my direction, landing across my chest as I sit in the chair next to her. Her pink cheeks grinning from ear to ear as she giggles.Fucking adorable.
“Jesus, you guys,” she says. “Way to not draw attention to this.”
“And what exactly is…this,” Keith asks, his eyes gleaming with amusement.
I turn my head, laying my eyes on Winter, letting her answer for once. I know we’re notdating. That would be stupid. We’re parting ways in a few days. Obviously, it’s notthatkind of relationship. But we aresomething. Something more than anything I’m used to. And I want to hear Winter say it. Whatshethinks this is.
She looks at me like she’s waiting for me to answer, tosaveher like I always do. I’ve been defining us since we met.
The floor is yours, Winter. You’ll have to brave this storm alone, baby.
I tick my eyebrows with a smile while every single eye at the table lay on her, waiting for a response.
“We’re… Well, we decided… Shit guys, I don’t know. We’re spending time together.”
Everyone erupts into laughter. Keith and the girls, minus Winter, give each other knowing looks.
“Relax Win, we’re just messing with you.”
Sondra reaches across the table and squeezes Winter’s hand. “Glad to see you happy, sis.” She releases Winter’s hand, then settles back into her seat. “Don’t piss her off again, Aleck. She’s an absolute bitch when she’s angry.”
They all laugh again, and this time, Winter joins them.
“I can’t promise anything,” I say. “Winter’s been in a perpetual state of being pissed at me since we met.”
“We know!” Keith, Dottie, and Sondra say in unison, exploding into another fit of laughter afterward.
Winter’s cheeks burn bright red, and she drops her face to her hands. I swing my arm around her chair and lean in to kiss her temple.
“Are you going to tell them you’re meeting my parents for dinner tonight?” I say into her ear, loud enough for the table to hear.
For a moment, the laughter ceases. A broad smile curling my lips, knowing Winter’s cheeks are about two-thousand degrees right now.
She lifts her face from her hands, still squeezing her eyes shut. “Dinner with the Fox’s tonight.”
The laughter continues with a couple ofawesfrom Dottie and Sondra.
Any other woman I know would hold her head high, announcing I’ve invited her to dinner with my folks. She would have posted it on every social media platform she belonged to before we even left the elevator.
Not Winter, though. For being as vibrantly ball-busting as she is, she’s awfully shy with this entire relationship thing between us. And maybe it’s because we started out as a secret. A blip that wasn’t supposed to go beyond second base. But it has.
And I don’t blame her, really. With every step we take forward, I wonder how I got here. Every inch we move forward, I tell myself, this is enough. I tried to convince myself to stop it there because we’re parting ways in mere days. And because I’m no fucking prize.
Winter deserves to be loved by someone who believes that love even exists. She needs to be worshiped and made someone’s number one priority. She shouldn’t take a backseat toanything, because Winter iseverything. She’s what futures are made of.
But I’m a selfish son of a bitch and I want her. Like I said, while we’re here, I wanteverything. And everything I’m going to take. Then we’ll say goodbye. We’ll part on good terms, respectably. Because this is mutually casual—aside from us fucking no one but each other.
I mean, we haven’t talked about that, but I’m not fucking anyone else. Realization strikes, so I pull my phone from my pocket and shoot Winter a text, not wanting to say it in front of the group. The conversation has tapered off of us, and Winter’s cheeks are finally nearing a normal hue. She could use the break.
Me: Tell the dipshit surfer you’re mine.
Winter, feeling her phone vibrate in her jean jacket pocket, pulls it out, looks at the screen, and smiles. She sets her phone on the table, removes her jacket, and curls it over the back of her seat, taking her time as she does. When she unlocks her phone and reads my text, her smile falls slightly and the sight of her bare shoulders in that dress makes my mouth dry with lust.
Then her thumbs start to move over her phone screen.
Winter: Shit. I forgot about him.
