“Our romantic relationship ended, yes.”
“But not the fake one.”
“Not the fake one,” she said, a tinge of shame in her voice. “But my trust fund is on the line, Dakota. And so is Leo’s political career. Hell, maybe his dad’s, too.”
“But how would his secret hurt his political ambitions? Hell, it might evenhelp.”
“I’ve tried telling him that, too. But Leo says he won’t be used as a political prop.”
“He’s got no such problem usingyouas a political prop, though, huh?”
She grimaced. “I never thought of it like that before.” With a shake of her head, she banished her frown. “Regardless, it’s not up to me to tell anyone. It’s up to Leo. And all I’m doing is what’s right for my future.”
“I get it,” I grumbled. “It just … wow, it really sucks.”
“Yeah, I know,” she said.
“But that’s why you’re allowed to see other people, huh?”
She nodded. “We have two rules: keep it secret, and don’t bring anyone home. Which is why Leo was pissed when he caught me with you, because I broke the second rule.”
I grumbled. I hated hearing about her arrangement with Leo. Hell, I hatedthinkingabout it. It made me feel so powerless. It made our connection feel so pointless and futile. I could only imagine how weak it made her feel in her own life. I badly needed to change the subject.
“Okay. So you can officially date and fuck other people. Yet you remained a virgin, even after you went to college? How’d that happen?”
She chuckled and blew out a gust of air. “Y’know, when I shipped off to college, I thought it’d happen right away—because that’s what happens at college, right? Everyone’s partying and hooking up every weekend! But word quickly spread about me. And the boys seemed, I dunno,afraidof me?”
“Why, because you have money?”
“I think that’s definitely a big part of it. I don’t know if they were intimidated or had crazy expectations or what—but they almost never approached me.”
“That’s fucking wild.”
“Oh, and on the rare occasion theydidapproach me, it was almost always because they don’t know who I am. As soon as they find out,poof,gone, that’s the end of that.”
“If I was some broke college kid, I wouldn’t give a damn if you were rich. Hell, I’d ask you to be my sugar mama.”
“Yeah, but you’re clearly a different breed, Dakota,” she said with a laugh. “I think there’s another reason they’re afraid of me, too.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, there’s this pernicious rumor floating around that I’m the daughter of a mafioso …” she trailed off, a wily sparkle in her eye.
“Sure, there’s a bit of danger there, because Sal isdefinitelyin the mafia. But who cares? You’resmokinghot. And let’s be real, the danger element is kinda sexy, too.”
“Oh, great. Good to know,” she said sarcastically and laughed. “Anyway, I’m only telling you what I experienced. I went into my freshman year thinking I was going to make up for lost time and hook up with a string of hot boys. But each time I brought a boy I liked back to my dorm room? As soon as things started heating up, he’d get cold feet and mumble something about how we ‘shouldn’t be doing this,’ and then run for the door.”
“No way!” I said, still refusing to believe it. “How many times did that happen?”
“Twice,” she admitted.
“I guess I can believe that happened to you twice,” I grumbled. “That’s not the biggest sample size, though.”
“No, but after it happened the second time, I felt so foolish, gross, and alienated, I didn’t want to try again. And I started to have this idea that, because I’d waited so long, Ishouldn’tjust sleep with the first cute guy that looked my way; I should at least wait until I had a connection with someone at least mildly intriguing.”
“And you never found anyone halfway intriguing, huh?”
She sighed. “I’d be lying if I said there weren’t a few guys with promise. But as soon as they found out about Leo—which they always did, as soon as they googled my name—they had questions. Questions I couldn’t possibly give any satisfying answers to. Unlike you, they didn’t press for the truth—they simply gave up. And that was the end of that.”
