“Melody Frasier.”
“Ahhh,” her mother said. “She always could. You took the higher road in school, then came home and ground your teeth, swung your arms, and even heavily slammed things on the table.”
She laughed. “That sounds like a mild tantrum.”
“That was you. Always the mild one, just behind closed doors.”
“I don’t feel it now. She baited me and l left her speechless.”
“Good for you. What happened?”
The pride in her mother’s voice helped ease some of her guilt over her actions.
Why did she need to feel guilty? She did nothing wrong.
Nothing she said was a lie.
Nothing even that horrible.
Just because it was shocking didn’t mean it was horrible.
“She told me she heard I was dating a guest.”
“You didn’t think it was going to stay a secret for long, did you?”
She let out a loud sigh, leaned back in her chair and picked up a pen to run through her fingers. “No. I wasn’t trying anymore either.”
“As you shouldn’t. It’s insulting to what you both have for you to feel as if your time with him is shameful.”
Their time was shameful.In the bedroom.
Not in a bad way. More like in a way that had her body tingling just thinking of it.
What he made her feel. Had her doing. Even saying.
She was vanilla no more in the bedroom, but rocky road covered in peanut butter sauce with half a can of whipped cream on top.
“It’s not,” she said. “We have a great time. He’s been working more and staying busy.”
Which was a good thing because she’d been worried he’d seek her out while she was on the job.
He hadn’t. Not once. Or not since that first time. But he did text a lot.
A few times a week, she’d go to his room after work, or he’d come to her apartment and she’d cook dinner.
She was tired of eating out and spending so much time here waiting for exactly what happened with Melody.
Next week it’d be fine.
Maybe they could finally have something that resembled a normal relationship, without her second-guessing every step or feeling like she was betraying the boundaries she’d built for her image.
“He’s really creating the puzzle app?” her mother asked.
“That’s what he says. I’m glad he found something to keep him occupied. I don’t know how long it’s going to take.”
Things that Arik had to work out. She couldn’t be his event planner. She couldn’t worry he was sitting around wishing she was there with him.
She wasn’t independently wealthy.
