Me:Princess? I almost threw up in my mouth.
Harley:Ok, I’ll just stick to calling you Herring. Goodnight, Herring.
Me: Better. Goodnight, Wingrove.
***
"How’s the new place treating you?" mom asks as she puts five plates down around the dining table.
"It’s going way better than I expected," I say, avoiding all eye contact as I place cutlery around the table, keeping the reasonwhyto myself.
She can read me like a book and I don’t exactly want to tell her that I’m spending all of my free time at Harley’s apartment.
"And you’re still exercising?" she asks and I nod.
It isn’t completely a lie. Iamdoing alotof cardio. But the cardio I’m doing isn’t the kind you discuss with your mother while setting the table.
Or at all.
Harley and I have kept, whatever this is, under wraps. Until we know for sure, anyway.
If it were up to him, everyone would know about us. But it’s me who wants to keep things a secret for now and he respects that. Not because I’m ashamed or embarrassed. It’s the opposite, actually.
I’m just sick of having everyone involved in my business, and I don’t want anyone or anything to ruin what we have.
"I’m happy for you, honey. You look really healthy. You have this..." she pauses to smile and touch my hand. "Glow about you. You’re beginning to look more like your old self. The happiness is back in your eyes," she says before heading into the kitchen to check on the food in the oven.
I know she means well; I do. But the words are like a knife to the gut and a warm, fuzzy hug around my heart. Knowing that I’d lost myself so badly that it became visible to everyone in my life, apart from me.
But I know I’m getting that girl back with each day that passes.
"Thanks. Olive and Lizzie have been keeping me on a super balanced diet, so it must be that," I lie again, partly. Because my sisters have been holding me accountable, but my mood and 'glow'lately has nothing to do with the food I’m consuming, and more about the man who consumes me.
"Speaking of your sisters, they’ll be here soon. Go freshen up." She ushers me out of the kitchen, and if I wasn’t on such a high, I would tell her off for being bossy.
My phone vibrates in my pocket and I smile when I see his name light up on my screen.
"Hey," I say, blushing as I dry my hands on the hand towel in the bathroom next door to my old bedroom.
"Hi, sexy. What are you wearing?" he jokes, knowing it’ll make me uncomfortable with my parents in ear shot.
"Stop it," I hiss, while nibbling the side of my cheek, smiling like a love sick teenager.
"What are you doing after dinner?" he asks as I head back down the stairs.
"You, I hope." Giggling to myself, I don’t know when I became this sex-crazed maniac, but I don’t think Harley has any complaints. He’s all I think about, and I know the feeling is mutual. He never fails to tell me when I’m on his mind.
My sex life used to be very vanilla. Get the job done and go to sleep. I would be lucky if it happened twice a month. Orgasms for me weren’t even an option. I had to sort myself out in the shower.
But now, I can’t count on both hands the amount he’s given me in such a short amount of time, and still, he’s all that I crave.
"Okay, let me rephrase that." He chuckles. "I want to take you out on a proper date tonight. How do you feel about ice cream?" he asks, and I say yes without a second thought. He could take me fishing and make me put the bait on myself, and I would still sayyes.
"Text me when you get home and I’ll come and get you."
When he hangs up, I bring my phone to my chest and steady my breathing before emerging back into the kitchen.
"Why are you blushing?" Lizzie asks without so much as a‘hello’,and I instinctively touch my cheeks to cover them, feeling the warmth of them under my fingertips.
