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When he pulled it away from his lips and extended it to me, I shook my head.

“Oh, no thanks. I don’t know how to inhale.”

He ashed it in a tray sitting on the arm of his chair and cut his eyes at me.

When he took another hit, I sat there watching him, forgetting time existed.

I didn’t mind quiet when it came to Rome, but the wine had me feeling greedy.

“Do you wanna play a game with me?”

“What game?” It wasn’t a no and I smiled setting down my now empty wine bottle.

“I don’t know. Twenty-one questions or truth or dare.”

“You can just ask me your questions, G. You ain’t gotta call it a game.”

I gulped. “But don’t you want to ask me questions back?”

Rome shook his head, his eyes on the ground near my bare feet. “Not really. You talk enough for me not to have any questions for a while.”

I wanted to be offended, but laughter spilled out of me. Sitting up straighter, I shifted my body toward him.

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Black or purple.”

“Like your car,” I murmured.

“Was that a question?”

Eyes narrowed, I pursed my lips. “You know it wasn’t.”

Romeo smirked, but remained quiet, pulling out his lighter to relight his joint.

“Are you happy?” I wanted to know, jumping off the deep end.

“Depends on your definition of happiness.”

“What’syourdefinition?”

“Having everything I need and all the people I care about being happy and healthy.”

“Is that true for you right now?”

He stared at me, unblinking, for a full minute before looking away. “For the most part, yes.”

“Can you tell me a secret?” Did a man like Romeo Wilde have secrets? He was straightforward to a fault. But maybe there was something he kept tucked away just for him. My pulse spiked at the possibility of being the one he shared a secret with. My knee bounced while I awaited his answer, my fingers tapping idly against the arm of my chair.

“I have plenty of secrets, Goldy. But the only one on my mind right now is how much you drive me fucking crazy.”

My fingers froze. My knee stopped jumping and I looked over at him with my mouth slightly agape.

Rome didn’t flinch as our eyes met. In fact, he looked more relaxed now than he had a second ago.

I couldn’t break my gaze away from his and fell into the magnetic pull of his lingering stare.

Again, the wine had me loose in the lips because my follow up came too easily. I didn’t know who the woman borrowing my voice was but she said, “So do something about it.”