Ivy shakes her head. “It’s not my kind of thing.”
“We can change it,” I say, reaching for the remote.
“No,” she calls out. “It’s fine. I don’t mind.”
I pause for a moment before leaning back, leaving the remote on the coffee table. “Don’t ask me to explain what’s going on because I have no idea myself.”
Ivy laughs a little at this, and I celebrate the small success. “I think they make these series complicated on purpose.”
“Agreed. I always wonder if it was actually like this, you know?”
“No way. This is completely glamorised,” she says. “And they’re always such horny people, yet I doubt they’ve washed out their mouths or bathed for weeks.”
I cringe internally at the thought. “You’re so right.”
“To think they never had to use dating apps because there is always someone lined up for them,” Ivy says with a subtle smile. “Like I’m sure most single people in the twenty-first century have used dating apps.”
My shoulders raise once. “I’ve never used them.”
Ivy’s mouth falls open as she turns to me in shock. “You’ve never had to use them? Like… ever?”
The corner of my lip quirks. “Never needed to.”
Ivy’s eyes narrow in my direction again, but there is a ghost of a smile on her mouth. “So damn cocky,” she comments, but her words are gentle.
“I think the key word here is confident.”
“Yeah… trust me, I’ve seen the confidence.”
I smirk at her. “And you liked it.”
Ivy’s cheeks turn beetroot red. This is the only time I’ve managed to bring up our night together without her running away or shoving me back into my place. “I must have had concussion or something.”
“Yeah, right.” I laugh. “If that’s what you want to call it.”
She rolls her eyes and hides her face.
We watch the rest of the episode in comfortable silence.
“Thanks for earlier,” she says when the credits start to roll. “I was a total mess.”
“No, Ivy, you’re human.”
She presses her lips into a thin line. “I needed to hear that.”
“If you want someone to talk to, I am here. Just putting the offer out there.”
Ivy’s chest quivers. “Thanks.”
For a few moments we just stare at each other, and regardless of the fact she was crying her eyes out thirty minutes ago, she still looks so fucking beautiful it hurts.
Then she sucks in a breath and turns her attention back to the TV, moving away from me this time. “What’s going on then? I’m secretly invested now.”
I reach for the remote with a grin. “I’ll start it from the beginning.”
CHAPTER 19
IVY THOMPSON
