“That’s veryGreaseof you. Don’t tell me you also stayed out till ten o’clock.”
Laughing, Ethan flipped Grey off his lap and onto her back, pinning her underneath him. She giggled and fidgeted a little, but didn’t fight him.
“So that’s what I get for trusting you with my most intimate, personal memories. I see how it is.”
She looked up at him innocently. “What doIget?”
He dipped his head down to kiss her, sliding his tongue past her lips, which yielded to him instantly. She sighed a little in the back of her throat, and tangled her hands in his hair, pulling him closer, deeper. That tiny noise was enough to drive him crazy. He slipped his hands inside her robe, running his hands over her satin skin.
Something pulled at the back of his mind, and he lifted his head again. Grey whimpered a little in protest.
“We’re not done yet. You said it was a two-part question.”
Grey threw her head back and half laughed, half groaned in frustration. She scooted out from under him and propped herself up against the headboard. He rested his head in her lap, her fingers automatically moving to caress his hair, her nails tracing gentle circles on his scalp.
“What’s part two?” he prodded, trying not to let himself get distracted by the pleasurable tingles her fingers were sending down his spine.
She looked down at him, her mouth twisted. “What do you think?” she asked softly.
He closed his eyes.
“Worst memory.”
She didn’t respond for a moment, just kept at him with those hypnotizing circles.
“We don’t have to. We can just leave it.”
He shook his head.
“No. I want to. But…you go first.”
She sighed. He kept his eyes closed.
“Probably finding out about my…about Callum. It wasn’t just the cheating. It was thateveryoneknew before I did. Then the tabloids picked it up…the whole thing was so humiliating.”
He reached up and squeezed her thigh in sympathy.
“How long were you together?”
“Four years.”
“What a fucking asshole. And everything was fine before then? Blissfully in love? Birds appearing every time he was near?” He kept his tone light, trying to mask how curious he was to hear the answer.
She hesitated. When she spoke again, her voice was dreamy and contemplative. “I don’t know. I thought so at the time. The betrayal was worse than the heartbreak, honestly. Looking back, I don’t think either of us was ever that emotionally invested in it. Working together…it was just so convenient. It felt like the kind of relationship I wassupposedto want to be in, the kind of person I wassupposedto want to be with. But we never really talked about anything important. Sometimes he would say these things out of nowhere where I’d be like…what?Whoareyou? Do we evenknow each other at all? But I always just…ignored it. I think we were both happier keeping things surface level.”
“Like what kind of things would he say?”
“Oh, I don’t know. There were a few offhand comments here and there that made me think that hemightpossibly be…” She paused before lowering her voice. He could tell she was trying not to laugh. “…a flat earther.”
Ethan burst out laughing. “You dated a guy who thought the Earth was flat, for four years?”
“Forfour years. I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking. We were even talking about getting engaged for half of it. I should’ve known it was never going to happen if we needed to spend that much time discussing it.”
“You dodged a bullet, though. Nora and I got engaged after a month. We probably could’ve used a little more talking first.”
She laughed, his head vibrating on her lap.
“Would you ever do it again? Get married, I mean.” She paused. “You know. Just in case she asks. For the article.”
