Pulling out my phone, I ignore all the messages I have received and open my chat with Lavinia. A notification pops up at the top from a woman whose name is vaguely familiar. I don’t even read her invitation before I ignore it.
My past is littered with one-off sexual encounters, which is how I preferred my relationships until Lavinia walked back into my life two years ago. Since then, it’s been a love story between me and my hand.
Even when she was engaged to Josh and fucking about to marry him, I couldn’t be with anyone else. Any time I tried, the only thing I saw was green eyes and red hair, soft smiles and a confident gaze.
I don’t think she’s even realized that I wasn’t invited to her wedding.
Roman
Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, Vin.
Across the room, Lavinia reaches for her phone in her pocket and reads my message. Her eyes shoot up to mine quickly before dropping down.
Lavinia
I think I crossed that line by being civil to the team.
I smirk.
Roman
You don’t need them when you have me.
Lavinia
Gosh, Roman. I don’t think there’s enough room here for you and your ego.
I laugh out loud and cover it with a cough. When I look at Lavinia, she has a small smile on her face.
Roman
What is your brother going to say when he finds out you’re texting me?
Lavinia
What my brother doesn’t know won’t affect him.
Roman
Lavinia Callahan, is the good girl thing an act?
Lavinia
Guess you’ll have to find out for yourself.
As the team walks past me, Lavinia’s eyes meet mine momentarily, a challenge shining in them. Alright, if that’s how she wants to play it, I’m game.
SIX
LAVINIA
This is not a big deal. It’s really, really not.
So, what if I have a crush? Crushes don’t mean anything. Senior year of college, I had a crush on a barista because he would always create a foam heart on my drinks. I imagined us having a tremulous relationship because he was an artist who needed to feel the pain and I wanted to succeed in the world of hockey.
We would have been on again and off again for years before I realized that being with him was too painful and he would chase me down in the rain and tell me nothing is more important than me.
See? Totally normal. Having a crush is no big deal.
