“Hello?” I answer, relieved. Talking to her always puts me in a better mood.
“Hey. Just wanted to check in and see how your first week went.”
“Amazing. My input is valued, which is really great, and my supervisor is amazing.”
“Awe-some,” she sings. “Meet any cute guys?”
I instantly think of Mr. Stone. My face heated when he caught me staring at him, so I smiled and quickly looked forward. It could be my overactive imagination, but I felt his eyes on me, similar to the way the unknown man in my dreams caresses my body without actually touching me. I didn’t look back to confirm, too chicken to get caught ogling him again.
“N-not really,” I stutter.
“Are you lying to me, Pepper Bryant?” Mia asks cheekily.
Telling white lies to her is impossible.
“I think Dominic Stone is kind of handsome.” I downplay that he’s super attractive to me.
“He’s like fifty!” she screeches. “Old enough to be your father, and he has those hideous scars.”
“He’s not that old.”
“So, are you planning on losing your virginity to a grandpa?”
“No. I find him attractive, that’s all. Anyway, he wouldn’t be interested in me, and I’m only having sex after marriage.”
“Oh my God.”
“Don’t use the Lord’s name in vain.”
“Enough. You’re getting laid when you get here. I have a new neighbor who looks like Henry Cavill and he’s single. You won’t hesitate to drop those drawers when you meet him, honey.”
“You’re wiggling your eyebrows, aren’t you?” I deadpan.
She snorts in laughter. “Yep. You know me too well.”
“I’m not having a one-night stand.”
“You’re going to be here for a week, so it doesn’t have to be just one night. It can be several.”
There’s a knock at the door.
“I have to go. Lester’s here,” I say on a sigh.
“Wait. What? I thought you were going to tell your dad to shove it.”
“I was—”
“But you chickened out,” Mia says in disappointment.
“Unfortunately.”
“Do what makesyouhappy. You only have one life. If you want to fuck, fuck. You want to get drunk, bottoms up. Hell, if you want to run down Hollywood Boulevard in your birthday suit, do it.”
I laugh. “I’m pretty sure that last one would land me in jail.”
“And? Live a little. It’ll be a hell of a story to tell your grandkids.”
“I promise I’ll stand up to him soon.”
