Bowie
Kidding. But I thought about it, and that’s saying something.
Henley
I wouldn’t blame you, Bowie. The pheromones were hoppin’ tonight. Speaking of…Rhodes, you sure are quiet.
Weston
Maybe he’s moved beyond the foreplay and getting his.
I laugh despite my pent-up frustration.
Glad to be of service.
Bowie
He speaks!
Penn
Tell us you got yours, Rhodes.
I wish.
Fuck, do I ever wish.
CHAPTER TEN
SLIPPERY SLOPE
ELLE
Now
I groanwhen the phone rings and fumble around the covers for it. My eyes squint to read the screen. It’s my mother and it’s not even eight yet. I stayed up way too late last night, amped up from the weddingand…Rhodes.
I’ve missed dancing with him and we more than made up for it last night. We danced until the very end. And I was so wired from it that I wrote three thousand words of the hottest sex scene I’ve ever written before I went to bed.
The phone in my hand buzzes again. I sigh and answer it.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Oh, did I wake you up? Sorry.”
She doesn’t sound one bit sorry.
“It’s okay. I didn’t sleep much last night. I had that wedding…”
“Yes, I heard. That's why I'm calling. Bernard called us last night so upset. He had a lot to say about seeing you and Rhodes together, looking quite the couple. Sweetheart, how is this gonna work? You’re friends, leave it at that. We’ve all seen how Rhodes goes through one woman after the other, not even bothering to date them. How's that gonna look with your dad being the pastor and you dating this playboy who’s all over TV and social media with a different woman hanging on him all the time? Not to mention his ex being in the picture, the mother of hischild. Levi is precious, you know how much I love that little boy, but he is not yours and neither is Rhodes. He’s not the man for you. You’re…”
“Mom, I’m gonna stop you right there,” I say, sitting up andwakinguprealfast.
She goes on like I haven’t said anything. “You’re thirty-one years old and dancing half-naked every week, and now you’re dating Rhodes Archer? What’s next? It’s a slippery slope and you are not heading down the right path. I’m worried about you. I know you’re not praying about this.”
If we’re talking about prayer, I think there are more important things to pray about than my dancing, or what Iwear, or whether I date Rhodes, but that’s just me. If she only knew the slippery slope I’ve already careened down as Zoey Archer. I can’t even think about how my parents would react knowing I’m a romance author.
The cheerleading has been devastating enough for them.
