“Mandy, what are you doing?” I reach for it, instantly suspicious.
She backs away just enough to keep it out of reach, wearing that sly grin I’ve learned to fear.
But it’s too late. I catch the name at the top of the screen, and my heart drops straight into my stomach.
Kirill.
Crap!
“Mandy! What the hell are you doing?” I lunge toward her, panic rising.
She giggles as she spins away, but this time she hands it over without a fight.
It doesn’t matter. The message is already sent. A photo of me in the dress. And beneath it:
Sloane
What do you think of this dress?
I slap a hand over my mouth, groaning into my palm like that might somehow rewind the last thirty seconds.
“Are you insane? I cannot believe you just did that.”
Mandy just shrugs, completely unbothered, irises twinkling with mischief. “Oh, please. I didn’t say anything embarrassing. If anything, I did you a favor. The ball is in his court now, and, babe, you look so good he’s gonna be licking the screen.”
“I don’t want him to lick anything!”
“Except your…” Her laugh makes a blush creep up my face.
I groan louder. “Mandy?—”
“Don’tMandyme. These are the best years of our life before marriage and kids and obligations. So go get laid by the sexy Russian and have some damn fun, for fuck’s sake.”
I almost laugh. Fun isn’t really in the cards for me. My lifeisobligations. One in particular with a toothy smile and a favoritestuffed dinosaur. I don’t get to be a carefree twenty-three-year-old, not anymore.
But of course, I won’t tell her that. Not revealing my past is the only way I know how to keep Milo safe from it.
“He doesn’t care about me like that. I’m nothing more than a charity case.”
“You keep telling yourself that.” She crosses her arms. “But I know obsession when I see it.”
“Can we just go before I?—”
My phone dings.
We both freeze.
Kirill
Where are you?
“Crap, he texted back.”
“What did he say?” Mandy practically leaps over me to peer at the screen. “Oh, shit. I bet he’s gonna show up at the club.”
I frown. “No he’s not. He’s got a son. Why would he even?—”
“Sometimes you’re so oblivious it hurts.”
