“Is there an appointment for me?” I ask when she’s still looking up at me all wide-eyed.
“Yes.” She hands me an iPad. “I’ll get you to fill in some details and then get this back to me. Ricky won’t be long.”
“Thanks.” I lean into the counter while I fill in the form. I glance at Cruz when it’s harder to fill in than I thought it would be. “What’s our address?” I ask, knowing how bad it sounds. “I’m just staying with friends while I’m visiting,” I tell the receptionist.
“Just put their address.”
“Look at that, she does still need me.” He smirks then takes the iPad from me, typing it in. Then when I try and take the thing back off him, he proceeds to fill himself in as my next of kin and self-pay,when he gets to the insurance part. “What? We will pay for your appointment.”
“Cruz, give it back,” I snip, and he hands the iPad back to me to fill in the rest. The thing is, I have to leave him as my next of kin. What’s my other option, my brother who’s in Italy? Or Sloane, I guess. But the truth is, I’m living with him, so he’s as good as anyone. When I’m done, I hand the form over to the receptionist, and we take a seat to wait.
Ricky comes into view not much after. “Margherita,” he calls.
I stand, and so does Cruz. I glare back at him. “You’re not coming in with me. Stay here.”
“I got you into this mess; let me help get you out of it.”
“What do you mean by that?”
He leans into me. “Filling you with my love juice this morning. And I plan on doing it some more when we get home. Maybe ask if you can get an extra pill just to make sure we’re covered.”
I take a step back from him, shaking my head as a laugh escapes me. I can’t help it. What is this guy on?Love juice,oh, my God. “You have done enough. I can handle the doctor alone. But maybe you still need to do that research on boundaries,” I snip before I walk off in Ricky’s direction.
“I’ll be here waiting for you, little darlin’.”
I have no doubt he will be.
Chapter 21
I Want to Break Free
AsIlieonmy bed, the song “I Want to Know What Love Is” plays in my ears while I paint my nails a pretty lavender color. Every day I’m here, it feels as though life just gets more complicated. At the clinic this afternoon, Ricky helped me out with the morning-after pill and the normal birth control pill from now on. He has also slotted me in with one of the female doctors for next week to get my STD check done again. Problem one solved. Problem two—the three men invading my head and my personal space—isn’t so easy to resolve. How on earth did I get tangled up with the three of them soquickly?
My earphones being pulled off my head breaks me from my trance, and I glare over my shoulder at whoever the perpetrator is. Asher grins back at me, all dimples and cheeky as hell. What’s he doing here?
“Hey there, little princess, did you miss me?” He places the headphones up to his ear, pulling an unimpressed face as he listens to what song is blaring through.
“No,” I snip back, rolling from my stomach to sitting, snatching my headphones back.
He smirks, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Don’t lie. I brought you snacks and dessert.” He holds up the paper bag in his hands as if to prove it.
I tilt my head, assessing him. He looks more casual tonight in black jeans and a T-shirt, his inked arms on display in a way that makes him look even more fine than he does in a suit. “Shouldn’t you be at work?”
“Got the night off, just like you.” He grins back at me in a way that tells me it’s no coincidence.
“Shouldn’t you be off chasing after girls then?” I don’t know why I say it but knowing he’s a massive player has me a little jealous, and part of me wants to see it firsthand as a deterrent. A warning to stay the hell away from him.
He sits beside me on my bed, close enough that I can feel the warmth radiating from his body. “The only girl I want to hang with is right here, and that is as strange for me as it is you.” He pulls a tub of vanilla ice cream out of the bag, followed by a bottle of whiskey. “See, I have dessert.” Then he pulls out a couple of bags of popcorn and some M&M’s. “And snacks. We’re going to watch a movie.”
I look at him, a little puzzled. I had planned on camping out in my room and avoiding the other two assholes that live here. “Are we?”I ask, my voice skeptical. I’m still kind of stuck on what he said,The only girl I want to hang with is right here, and that is as strange for me as it is you.Why is that strange, I want to ask but feel like I’ll be getting into dangerous territory if I do, so I refrain.
“That’s the plan. Jagger is cooking dinner, then it’s movie time. I will even let you pick since you’re the newest resident.”
My lips twist into a smirk. “You’re going to regret that decision. I only watch old stuff; my favorites are eighties dance films.”
“Don’t tell Jagger you said the eighties is old. That’s his era.” He laughs like he thinks it’s hilarious, but he must not be much younger than Jagger. “And I don’t really care what we watch. I’m here for the company, not the movie.”
“So fucking smooth, asshole,” Cruz snips from his place in the doorway, looking the two of us over with interest. “Next you will be offering her a foot rub or a back massage just to entice her out of her room.”
