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“Are you always like this?” He looks up at the clouds, and I can’t help but steal a glance.
“Like what? Myself?” I’m not sure what he’s talking about. He shouldn’t be here.
He nods. “Authenticity—that’s what it is.”
I make a face at him. “You must hang out with fake people.”
“I do. And most are kissing my ass.”
“One thing you won’t have to ever worry about from me.” I wait for him to say something. “I won’t worship you like all the other normies.”
He smirks. “It’s preferred.”
I sigh, wanting to return to Christian and Anastasia. I’m still at the beginning, where she sits down to give him the famous interview that starts it all.
He chuckles, and the sound grabs my attention. It’s …carefree.
“You know how to laugh?” I ask.
“Yes, and I’ve got other tricks up my sleeve too.”
“Wow,” I say, pretending to be impressed as the pages of my book flutter in the breeze.
He turns to me. “I’m not one to believe in serendipitous events, but this one presented itself, so here I am.” He breathes in deeply. “I want to apologize about yesterday. I hope you can forgive my behavior.”
I shake my head, blinking at him in disbelief. “No.”
“No?” His brows crease.
“I’m sure it’s a word you’re not used to hearing, but it’s a complete sentence,Mr. Calloway.”
“Easton.”
“You had me fired. And in the twenty-nine years I’ve been alive, I haveneverbeen terminated fromanything, especially not for theft. Idesperatelyneeded that job, but you wouldn’t know what that’s like.” I slide my book and water bottle inside my bag and stand.
I grab the corner of my blanket and wrap it around my fist before pulling it from under his ass. After I throw it over my arm, I turn to him.
“I hope you have the day you deserve,Easton,” I say, as I did yesterday.
I grew up with two older brothers on a ranch and can hold my own. And right now, I have nothing to lose. This man is no one to me.
As I walk away from him, I shake my head, and laughter echoes from behind me. He’s laughing at me, and that onlyenrages me more. Being around Easton is too intense, and it sets me on fire. I twist my hair into a messy bun as I strut away.
Seconds later, I hear him say, “Alexis.”
I turn to say something to him, but he’s closer than I thought, and I crash into him again. I slam into his chest, and he carefully steadies me, and I’m frozen in time with him. I’m having déjà vu.
“Can you stop running into me?” I ask, meeting his eyes.
“Alexis, let me make it up to you.” His voice is velvety. “All of it.”
This is a dangerous game. One I don’t want to play. Right now, the chessboard is full of pieces, and there have been no casualties of war. We’re on neutral ground, and we can both go about our lives like we never met.
“Learn to call me Lexi, or don’t say my name. I won’t answer to anything else.”
“Lexi.” His tone is an entire octave lower, almost a growl. He licks his perfect lips. On the bottom one, there’s a slight crease, a kissable one. “Please allow me to make it up to you,” he says.
Being this close to him is dizzying, nearly rocking me off my axis.