“You’re back!” One of the brunettes beams at me. “Amazing.”
Sasha, was it? Saoirse?
Before I have time to screw up, Carrie swoops in and saves the day with a fresh round of introductions.
“Nice to see you all again.” I smile. “So, what’s up?”
Lynn waves a book under my nose excitedly. “Have you read this one?”
“Yup. All the way through to the acknowledgments, baby.”
“We were just discussing Rodney. What do you make of him?”
I pull a notebook out of my bag and start flicking through my scribblings.
“Wow. Now that’s what I call commitment.” Amanda laughs.
“I don’t do things by halves. And I’ve got a great teacher.” I look at Carrie meaningfully. “Are you proud of me?”
“So proud, Donovan.”
We stare each other down, and I look away first, my mind wandering off into pretty steamy territory before I force it back to the matter at hand.
“Okay, so let’s see.” I peer at my notes. “Rodney. Deadbeat dad,right? Plus, he got raped by his stepmom; he got bitten by his dog…” My finger traces the list. “His car caught fire; he got kidnapped by a Mexican gang and was left to die in the desert. I miss anything?”
“That’s about it.” Lynn nods. “Dark romances have maximum drama, that’s for sure.”
“He’s hit rock bottom when, by some miraculous twist of fate, he meets an ex-stripper with attitude. And while we’re on the subject—what’s her deal with kissing?”
The question isn’t entirely innocent—it stuck in my mind because I can’t shake the feeling that Carrie went out of her way to avoid kissing me when we fucked.
“Pretty Womansyndrome,” Amanda explains. “It’s a classic. You know, like—‘I’ll do anything, but not that—not the lips!’?”
“What’s the point?” I turn to Carrie.
She stares down into her cup.
Amanda shrugs. “It’s a step too far. Too intimate.”
“More intimate than actual sex?”
“It’s a matter of opinion,” Lynn says. “Personally, I don’t see the problem.”
“How ’bout you, Carrie?”
I lock eyes with her, frowning.
“I get where she’s coming from.”
I can’t take my eyes off her. The voices around me are bleeding into the background, and suddenly all I want to do is crack her open. I wish I knew what she was thinking.
Eleanor pulls me back into the moment. “Donovan?”
I look at her, confused.
“I asked how you felt about the book, overall?”
I turn back to my notebook.
