AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You guys are so dumb. His name is Michael.”
They cleared their throats. “Mr. Fuck-Me-Hard,” they corrected me in unison.
“Please.” Lauren held up her hand. “You must play by the rules, Siena.”
“That’s right,” Audrey said. “When we assign a code name to a guy, said guy must be referred to as his code name.”
“Fine,” I grumbled. “Okay, so Michael, aka Mr. Fuck-Me-Hard . . .” They all burst into fits of giggles again. “Fuck you guys.” I laughed, throwing a pillow at them.
I told them how we met at the winery, which made them laugh even more hysterically, at my expense, of course. Then about our flirtation and the sexual tension that seemed to emanate from both of us. How his deep throaty laugh made my toes curl. How his perfect smile and sexy smirk made me want to slap him and kiss him all in the same instant. How Grams interrupted us when we almost kissed, and how I had thought she had saved me in that moment from making a huge fool of myself. “And after that, he tricked me into going for a run with him this morning.”
“Ooh,” Jenny hummed.
“Yeah. Part of me didn’t want to go because I’m still annoyed with him over this whole hotel thing. But . . . it was actually good. A little weird, though. I thought he’d try to put a move on me again. But he didn’t. He was just, I don’t know.Normal.”
“Ugh. Stoo-pid,” Audrey dragged out the word.
I laughed. “I know, right? I was expecting him to try to dazzle me with his smile and good looks, and I had prepared exactly how to deny him. But he acted like any regular guy. Like a friend, for fuck’s sake.”
“Hmm,” Lauren wondered. “Sounds like he’s playing your game.”
“I’m not playing any game,” I insisted, indignantly.
“You’re totally playing hard to get.”
“Am not.”
“Don’t get defensive. You gotta play the game. At least a little.” She shrugged and swiped her finger through the raspberry puree on my plate. “It seems like he’s into you. Maybe he’s just reading your vibes, ya know?”
“Yeah, you need to be a little more open. Unless you want to turn him off,” Jenny said.
This was something to consider. Maybe I was putting off a bitchy vibe without being aware. I didn’t want to come across as a complete and total bitch, even though I had every right to feel the way I did. I was hesitant and entirely against him building a typical E Hotel, but like Michael had said, it wasn’t him making the decisions.
My mind drifted to our run. His perfect smile made my insides melt. And beneath the morning sun, his luminous skin made me want to grab him and kiss him.
Get it together, Moretti. Your head’s in the clouds. He’s the enemy, remember? Keep him at bay.
But,I argued with myself,I should keep my enemies closer,reiterating the last half of the well-known adage.
Hmm, my wayward thoughts disputed,how much closer?
“So,” Audrey said, breaking into my rambling thoughts, “what are you going to do about him?”
“Nothing yet.”
“Why not?”
“Right now, he’s the enemy.”
“He’s not your enemy,” Lauren chided.
“Okay. Enemy might not be the best word. But I have to be careful. I need to protect my grandparents. I can’t let Michael, or his father, screw them over. Like, what if he does something sketchy, and I’m not around to defend them?”
“Hey, we’re family,” Jenny said, touching my knee. “I will look out for them.”
“Me too,” Audrey said.
“Me, three,” Lauren agreed.
