“You have a lot of clothes from your ex,” Nikos commented as he took them. Honey paused, thrown off by his words because though he said it in his usual teasing, joking manner, there was also a tinge of jealousy there that was very unexpected from him because Nikos did not seem like the type to be possessive or jealous, especially over a girl he wasn’t even in a relationship with.
Before she could voice her thoughts, she heard footsteps closing in on her door. Her eyes widened, and she mouthed to Nikos to put the clothes on.
“Mommy,” Kai exclaimed as he grabbed the doorknob, and Honey panicked.
“Don’t open the door because I’m getting dressed, honey. But I’ll be out in a minute,” she said.
“Okay,” Kai said, and she only sighed with relief when she heard him walk away. Nikos put the sweatpants and shirt on,and she went to the mirror on the wall to fix her hair, which was a complete mess. As she plucked her curls, Nikos came behind, fully dressed, wrapping his arms around her waist and plopping his chin on her shoulder. He looked at her through the mirror, and she froze in her movements, lost in his gaze and surprised that he was touching her so intimately, even if they did have sex together last night.
“We should talk,” he said seriously, and for once, he was saying something she could actually agree with. Honey removed his arms from her waist and spun around, giving him her full attention.
“Last night—”
“—was really good,” Nikos said, and Honey rolled her eyes at how arrogant he sounded, which seemed to amuse Nikos. But, unfortunately, she couldn’t disagree with him on that either because it had been really good. Very good, actually.
“It was,” she admitted, and Nikos smirked, but what she said next wiped that smirk right off his face.
“But it won’t happen again.”
“But I think it should,” Nikos argued, winking at her, and Honey chuckled because if he thought this was up for negotiation, he was crazy. She had already made up her mind the moment she woke up this morning. No sly words or mischievous winks would get her to change her mind.
“And I think it shouldn’t happen again, and it won’t,” Honey said, emphasizing her last words, but Nikos did not seem deterred as he crowded her space, and her back bumped against her mirror as she tried to place distance between them.
“It won’t?” he questioned, mere inches away from her lips as his blue eyes searched into hers. She tried to act like hiscloseness wasn’t affecting her, but she was pretty sure the sound of her rapidly beating heart was giving her away. “Why is that?”
“Because…because…”
Her words were eluding her, and though she had many reasons why they shouldn’t do it again, she couldn’t think of any of them with him this close to her. So, she tried to find that reason before she found herself rolling around the sheets with him again when she heard a knock on her door.
“Hope,” her sister called, and Honey quickly sidestepped Nikos before she went over to the door and locked it. The last thing she needed was for her sister to see Nikos in her bedroom, though now that she thought about it, there was a reason she couldn’t find Nikos’s clothes.
“I’ll be out in a second,” Honey said.
“Okay,” Olivia said, and Honey didn’t like the hint of sarcasm in her sister’s tone but made no mention of it. When she heard her sister walk away, she turned her attention to Nikos, with her mind clear now that she wasn’t near him anymore.
“Let’s go out now,” Honey told him. There was no point in hiding him in her room. There was no way she would be able to sneak him out, either. She would just have to let this situation pass over smoothly so she would never have to think about it again.
Honey didn’t wait for his word and unlocked her door, taking a deep breath before she stepped out with a forced smile that instantly melted into a real one when she saw her son, who automatically raced over from the couch to hug her.
“Mommy!” Kai exclaimed as he squeezed her tight.
“Did you have a good time?” Honey asked.
“Yes! We had lots of fun! We played games until midnight, and we had pizza, and we…” Kai’s words trailed off when he noticed Nikos over her shoulder, and a bright smile appeared on his face.
“Nik!” Kai yelled before he raced over and jumped in Nikos’s arm, who immediately picked him up and swung him around. Kai giggled, and Nikos laughed too.
“Hey, kid.”
“I guess Kai wasn’t the only person who had a sleepover,” Olivia commented as she pointedly looked at the floor, and when Honey saw all of the evidence of what happened last night— their clothes, the wine and champagne bottles, and the condom wrapper— she nearly slapped her forehead for being so irresponsible. There was no point in even trying to come up with an excuse for why Nikos had been in her room when everything was so clear.
“Mom?”
“Yes, Kai?” Honey answered eagerly because she would rather not deal with Olivia’s sarcastic comments for the next hour.
“Are you dating Nikos?”
Her eyes widened, and even Nikos looked shocked. The only person in the room who seemed to find it amusing was Olivia, who laughed. Honey gave her sister a look before turning that same admonishing glare on her son.
