“It’s hard being Cash,” I say.
He snakes his arm around me and pulls me closer. I watch as his eyes roam my face.
“What’s wrong, Ingrid?”
What’s wrong? I want to move in with him. I want him to go to film school. I want things to be easier than they are right now.
“Nothing,” I lie.
He misses nothing. “You can tell me.”
I exhale. “I just was thinking about how… nice it would be to go to New York.”
I wait for him to freak out, but he nods slowly.
“Yeah?”
“It’s just,” I start as I shift to face him. “I could do online classes and get a job at some cool little art studio or a busy coffee shop. You could go to school. We could live in a city together where no one knows us. I just… it sounds nice.”
Wilder tilts his head to the side. “You’d do online classes?”
“I would,” I answer as I reach for my cup of coffee.
“Tempting,” he says with a low whistle. “But I still don’t have the money to go.”
My shoulders roll forward, defeated. “I know.”
“If I can figure out a way,” he says as he inhales sharply. “We’ll go.”
I sit up straighter. “Really?”
He gnaws on his lower lip. “I don’t want to promise something I can’t afford.”
“Bah humbug,” I groan.
He kisses the side of my face. “If I can’t come up with the money, we’ll figure something out.”
My hand slides along his black shorts, heading straight for Defcon One territory.
“Does that mean we can let our wager go?” I ask him as my fingers trace the outline of his dick.
He glances around, making sure no one is paying us any attention.
“I think we’re at a stalemate,” he says, low and rough.
“I’m not giving in,” I warn him. “I want to live with you.”
“Why?”
My face involuntarily whips back. “Why what?”
“Why do you want to live with me?” he asks, as if it’s the most reasonable question in the world.
Why? So many reasons. I want to go to bed with him every night and wake up beside him every morning. I want to start a life with him that isn’t wrapped up in Cash or Isla or Jason and Jill.
I want him all to myself, as selfish as that sounds.
My hand leaves his shorts, and I cup his warm cheek in my hand.
