“What? No.” Her smile widens, revealing all her teeth, and I swear there’s a glimmer in her eye. An honest-to-God glimmer. Her entire face lights up and I find myself captivated, unable to look away. “It was so freaking cute. Can you imagine being so in love after forty years of marriage?”
“No, I really can’t.” I tear my gaze from her and straighten my laptop so the edge runs parallel to the table. How the hell did we get on this topic? “You lost me at public declarations of love.”
Scarlett rolls her eyes and tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear. All the swoony love talk must’ve shaken it loose. “Let me get this straight. You hate Valentine’s Dayandyou don’t believe in love?”
“I just think romantic partnerships should be more like business partnerships with shared goals and mutual responsibility.”
“Well, that sounds dull and uninspiring.”
I shrug. “If more people thought the way I do and decided with their heads instead of their hearts, there would be a lot less heartache in this world.”
Hell, if I’d figured it out sooner, maybe I could’ve avoided being dragged in the tabloids by my ex. Talk about learning the hard way. I was a besotted fool for love once, and like everything else precious in my life, that too was ripped away.
So, yeah. Falling in love is definitely not a mistake I’ll be repeating.
Chapter Nine
Scarlett
“Is it me or did barre classes get harder?” I collapse on the bench in front of the studio, muscles quivering, and pull my sweatshirt on over my head.
“It’s definitely you.” Sofia grins and drops down beside me looking like an athleisurewear model. Her dark hair is pulled back in a sleek ponytail, not a hair out of place, and as far as I can tell, she didn’t even break a sweat. “I feel great.”
I shoot her the side-eye, but it’s impossible to suppress a smile of my own. “Rub it in, why don’t you.”
“That’s what you get for taking a month off.”
“I had to study for finals.” My calf spasms and I groan. “My muscle aches have muscle aches. How is that even possible?”
“On your feet, chica.” She nudges me with her shoulder. “You need to walk it out.”
“The only place I’m walking is the smoothie bar.” Just the thought of a strawberry acai blend has my mouth watering.
“Works for me.” She pops to her feet and offers me a hand, but just as I reach for it, my phone rings.
I pull it from my pocket and freeze when I see Mama’s picture staring back at me. I’ve been dodging her calls for days, too drained from work and school to face a critique of my every life choice. So naturally she’s upped the ante with a video call.
Fuckballs.
“You’d better answer.” Sofia flashes me a sympathetic smile and drops back down on the bench. “At least now we’ll have a reason to chase our smoothies with tequila shots.”
“Don’t tempt me.” I comb my fingers through my hair, attempting to smooth the flyaway strands, and swipe accept. “Hey, Mama.”
“There’s my girl.” She flashes a ruby-red smile, because while it’s eight p.m. and I look like hot garbage, she’s rocking a fresh coat of lipstick. “I’m so glad I finally caught you.”
Translation:I figured you were going to send me to voicemail again.
Which, in retrospect, is exactly what I should have done because…boundaries.
“Sorry. Things have been a little hectic this week with work and school.”
Nice job, Scar. It only took you two point five seconds to start issuing apologies.
I mentally curse myself for falling back on old habits.
“Are you tellin’ me you’re too busy to return your mama’s calls?”
And…cue the guilt trip.
