CALLIE:Fine. It’s not cute. It’s horrible. Disgusting. So mean.
I roll my eyes at her sarcastic comeback.
CALLIE:Babe, can you do me a favor? Can you at least TRY to enjoy yourself?
I pull off the clothes I’ve been wearing for far too many hours and spin on every spray nozzle in my giant shower.
ME:I’ll eat because I’m polite like that.
CALLIE:Fiona wants a rundown of the menu. She also wants to hear what happens off the menu, but I told her I didn’t think you’ll be game to share that part.
ME:Tell Fiona she’s one inappropriate demand away from getting deported back to her Loch.
CALLIE:She’s cackling.
Of course she is.
CALLIE:So…what did he cook?
ME:Don’t know. I went to shower.
CALLIE:Ah, look at you dolling yourself up.
ME:Electra has left this chat.
CALLIE:I love you!
I set my phone down without answering. When I glance at my reflection in the mirror, I find that my cheeks are pink and propped up with a smile. One that dies when my screen lights up with a new message.
MALACHI:Can we talk?
MALACHI:Elle?
I leave both messages on read until I’m washed and toweled dry.
ME:What do you want to talk about? Maleficent Ines? My meeting with my bio daddy? My poor taste in boyfriends? Your even poorer taste in women?
MALACHI:Elle…
I can just hear him sigh. I’m about to call a truce and suggest breakfast at my house tomorrow, when I get a cleverer idea. One that’ll remind Cillian why he and I could never be.
ME:Come now. I’m at home.
It feels like an eternity slips by before Malachi’s reply materializes on my screen.
MALACHI:Thank you for agreeing to see me.
As though refusing to see him was ever an option. Even if he and I never end up together, we’ll always be tied by our shared past.
My plan to dress ultra-casually is replaced by a far bolder one—one designed to test whether Malachi Hadez could ever see me as more.
I feel like I’m playing with fire. Who will it end up burning, though?
Chapter 22
Cillian
I’m starting to think Electra’s not coming back.
