Page 96 of Burn

“Me?” I chirp. “Why are you dragging me into this? I fully support you coming and going as you please.”

It’s light-hearted, as chats with these two usually are. By the time Kendall reminds me again to tell them about my trip, Ollie has smoothed out her hair, applied mascara and a bit of lip gloss, and she’s smiling genuinely enough that the dimple in her cheek makes an appearance. It’s my favorite feature on her beautiful face. One that makes her look childlike and innocent.

“Oh yes, we’ve been dying to hear about the trip. Also, how are you doing with the living arrangement?” Ollie asks. “You know you can stay with either of us if it’s going terribly.”

They’d both offered to let me crash with them when I left the hospital, but somehow the idea of imposing on either of them felt more unbearable than crashing with Adrian, the guy I barely know and who might be a total lunatic.

Can I still say I barely know him when I can so vividly picture the lines of his face? The way his body moves?

My cheeks flush as I picture him. Picture him smiling at me, staring at me with heated intensity in his eyes, the length and shape of his…

“Earth to Lex,” Olivia says, snapping her fingers in front of her camera.

“Sorry,” I laugh, awkwardly tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

There’s a moment of silence where we all stare at each other before Olivia and Kendall virtually pounce, speaking too fast and simultaneously.

“Oh my god. Look at your face!”

“She’s blushing!”

“Are you picturing his dick right now?”

“Totally picturing his dick.”

“Stop! That smile!”

“That dreamy-eyed stare into space. You’re so fucked, Lex!”

I start to laugh.

They’re so ridiculous.

My cheeks are on fire. “Shut up, guys!”

“Does he have a stupid nickname for you?” Olivia asks. “Like ‘baby-doll’ or ‘little dove’ or something equally cringeworthy?”

Kendall perks up and adds, “I bet he calls her ‘kitten.’”

Baby.

He calls me baby.

They’re somewhere between planning our wedding and the birth of our first child when I interject. “Guys, enough. I’ll tell you, and maybe you can stop planning out our long-term life together.”

They both fall silent. Olivia leans forward on her desk and props her head into her hands. I tell them about the weekend. They both listen intently as I run through the shift in our dynamic. The way he leaned into the role of supportive wedding date. I tell them about Charlie’s cousin. Adrian told me how he met him during the flight home, leaving me with so many unanswered questions that I’m unsure how to ask. Every few minutes, one of the girls gasps in shock over the insane details.

“He’s a criminal?” Kendall practically yells.

I momentarily forget that Adrian left for work early this morning, and flinch. “Shhh!”

Olivia has started filing her nails and doesn’t look up when she says, “That’s kind of hot. We love a bad boy.”

“He’s not a fucking criminal, guys. It happened when he was in high school. He doesn’t even have a record.”

I’m oddly defensive.

Olivia smirks, “That’s right, baby-doll. Defend your man.”