“You’re my ho.” I interlock my fingers with hers as she leans over and kisses me.
“You’re so damn romantic.”
“I try.” I smile before I take a sip of my coffee.
“Oh, I owe you an ass kicking for that picture.” She narrows her eyes at me. “Drew almost saw it, idiot!”
“Shit. I’ll allow you to spank me if you want,” I quip.
She glares at me. “He’s onto us. Like for real onto us. He asked me if I had seen a girl around the house due to the way you’re acting. So get your shit together, King!”
“What, seriously?” Now I’m confused. Drew has never cared about my sexcapades.
“Yeah, he mentioned you were acting the same way you did when you were dating some chick, the one you joked about marrying.”
My body stiffens, and I swallow hard. She notices my reluctance and turns and looks at me, waiting for me to explain.
“Viola, that was a long time ago, when we first got the house. I was never going to marry anyone. I was nineteen and horny, and she was a cheater. That’s ridiculous.” And the truth.
“Good to know the only thing that’s changed is your age.” She smirks.
I offer a shrug.
“Anyway, he’s going all Sherlock Holmes on us. He said he would find out who it was, and you know how he gets. I’m hoping Mia derails him.”
Mia. Funny how she keeps popping up in conversations.
“Not good.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, a bolt of lightning strikes out. Viola jumps, nearly spilling her coffee on herself, which causes me to laugh. Without warning, rain pelts from the sky like speeding bullets, and it hurts like hell. We stand, leaving our coffees behind, and Viola runs across the grass with everyone else.
“I hate the fucking rain,” she yells, ignoring the children around, trying to cover her body with her jacket.
It hurts to move quickly, so instead of jogging with her, I walk, taking my time. I’m already wet, so I might as well be soaked. By the time I climb inside, she’s shivering even though the heater is blowing on high. Water is dripping from the tips of her hair, and when she looks over at me, it takes everything I have to hold back laughter. She really is a rain hater.
“What a day to wear white.” A sly smile slides across my lips because her shirt is like tissue paper, sticking to her skin.
Viola smiles and opens the middle console. She pulls out an envelope with a red wax seal stamped on the back. It’s been opened already. Before saying another word, Viola glances down at it, holding it a little too tightly. I’m not sure what’s going on until she hands it to me. I open the envelope and pull out the letter addressed to her in a fancy writing. The words seem to leak off the page as I read because I realize what this means. Viola isleaving,and it crushes me. I glance up at her and can tell she’s upset. She covers her face to hide the tears.
“Whoa. No need for that.” I open my arms, and she falls into them. After a moment, she pulls away, and I grab her shoulders.
“Viola. This is a huge deal. Please tell me you’re going.”
She looks up at me, her eyes finally meeting mine, and I can see a small glimmer of relief. “You’re okay with this?”
“Trust me when I say I want to be selfish, but you cannot pass this up. Union International? They choose five people a year for their internship program. This is an opportunity of a lifetime, and if you don’t go, I’ll withhold sex from you for the rest of your life.”
She snorts. “As if you could handle that. But what aboutus?”
I take her hand in mine. “We’ll make it work, princess. And you thought I was bad now? I’m going to be a greedy bastard with you until you leave. So dry up those tears. I know you’re going to miss the D, but it’s only six months. And we can video chat.” I wiggle my eyebrows at her. “Plus, I’ll fly up to visit once a month.”
She finally cracks a smile. “But what if I’m offered a position at the end of my six-month term? That’s usually what happens, you know.”
Somehow, I didn’t think about that one, but it doesn’t matter. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Promise me, princess. Promise me you won’t worry about us, and you’ll take that internship. It’s the Harvard of all opportunities.”
I hand the letter back to her, and she returns it to the envelope.
“I promise.”
“Good.”
