"You are. Next thing you know, you'll be defending him. Making excuses. Forgetting all the shit he's put you through."
"I won't forget." My voice hardens. "Two years of comments about my clothes, my jobs, my 'place' at Thornhill. Getting me bumped from that TA position. Making sure I'm excluded from study groups. He's been systematically cruel, and one ice skating date doesn't change that."
"But?" Lennox prompts gently.
"But nothing. Four more dates, two more weeks, then this is over."
They exchange a look I don't like.
"What?"
"Nothing," Ivy says too quickly. "It's just... you're already thinking about him differently. I can see it."
"I'm not."
"You called him Sebastian. Not Thornhill. Not 'the asshole.' Sebastian."
Did I? I replay the conversation in my head. She's right. When did I start using his first name?
"It doesn't matter." I finish my wine in one long swallow. "This is a transaction. Nothing more."
"A transaction where you hold hands and smile at each other," Lennox points out.
"For the camera."
"Right. For the camera." But she doesn't sound convinced.
My phone buzzes. I check it reflexively.
Sebastian:Thank you for today. For teaching me. I know you didn't have to.
My stomach does something complicated.
"Who is it?" Ivy cranes her neck to see.
I lock my phone. "No one. What's the second date supposed to be?"
"Nice deflection." But Ivy lets it go. "What's on the package list?"
I pull up the contract on my phone. "Cooking class. There's one this Saturday afternoon that's part of the Valentine's events. Couples' baking."
"Couples' baking?" Lennox grins. "That's either going to be adorable or a disaster."
"Definitely a disaster. He probably doesn't know how to boil water."
"And you're going to teach him?" Ivy suggests.
"I'm going to survive it. There's a difference."
But even as I say it, I'm thinking about his text.Thank you for teaching me. I know you didn't have to.
He's never thanked me for anything. Never acknowledged that I've done him a kindness.
It's destabilizing.
"I should go," I say, standing. "Early shift tomorrow."
"Isla." Ivy catches my hand. "Just... be careful, okay? I know you're tough. I know you can handle yourself. But guys like Sebastian Thornhill? They're dangerous because they make you think they're different. That you're special. And then?—"
