“Randolina!” Wysdom snaps her fingers. “That’s it!”
“What the hell?” I frown at her.
“Randolina!” Wysdom shouts again. “Yourshipname.”
“Oh, here we go,” Celia sips her wine.
Flint grins at his wife and rubs his hands together. “This will be fun.”
“Ship name?” Carolina frowns at Wysdom.
“Yeah. Like Brangelina or Bennifer,” Faylor says out of the corner of her mouth like she’s giving Carolina the password into a speakeasy.
“Don’t forget Flelia!” Wysdom adds.
“Flelia?”
“Flint plus Celia,” Flint offers to Carolina. “Hence,Flelia.”
Wysdom claps. “I knew you’d get on board with it! I told you, right? Much better than Clint!”
“So, you’re shipping Rand and Carolina into Randolina,” Faylor smirks. “The alternatives are pretty gross: Rolina or Cand.”
“You can also try their last names,” Faith offers. “Saber plus Kestrel. Sestrel? Kaber?”
Wysdom considers the names. “Kaber is good, but it doesn’t have the flair behind it that Randolina does.”
“Plus, isn’t a caber something that Scottish guys throw?” Denise raises an eyebrow.
“Yes,” Dixon nods. “They’re like telephone poles. Scots toss them end over end in a show of manliness.”
Kate must have enjoyed his grunting like a neanderthal because she leans in and squeezes Dixon’s biceps.
As I am still standing in the middle of this asinine conversation, I lean over Faylor to whisper to Carolina. “We can get separate rooms. That way, you don’t have to go by yourself.”
I can see the wheels turning in her head. Those Tardis-blue eyes consider what I’m offering. If it were up to me, we’d only need one room. But I just saw her at Flint’s wedding. She had a boyfriend then. Even if they broke up the next day, that was still too soon to be jumping into a relationship with the woman. I needed to give her some time to realize we might have fun together.
Then again, I’ve been Rebound Rand before. I knew the expectations (not much) and how to navigate the emotional turmoil (plenty) of a woman who recently broke up with a boyfriend.
Carolina hasn’t shut me down, but I can see she’s thinking about it. I need to do something to make her forget about going back to Washington right now. “How about this? I take you to lunch on Tuesday, just the two of us, and we can talk about the reunion.”
She shifts side-to-side in her seat, then looks me in the eye. “It’s a date.”
Fireworks go off in my head. Dick dances a jig. And my heart nearly beats out of my chest.
It’s a date.
Quadruple fuck.
Chapter 13
Hardwood floor - 1
Carolina - 0
“You’re fucked,” he says, pushing me down to the floor. “You’re so fucked, and you don’t even know it.”
I want to push him off of me, but my hands won’t work. My legs won’t work. I feel frozen in ice.
