Page 43 of Submitting to Them

“Thanks,” I say.

“Wait a second,” one of his friends says, “is that Cinderella with you?”

Ella smiles and waves.“Yeah.”

“I love your work, too,” the first guy says.

She beams.“Thank you.”

“Are y’all together?”another friend asks.

Ella stiffens, but she doesn’t let go of my hand.

“Okay, we don’t need to talk about personal stuff,” I say.

“They’re holding hands,” someone else points out.“Cinderella, are you and Bastian a couple?”

Ella’s mouth opens and closes—she obviously isn’t sure how to respond to the question or their observations about us.I’m used to this kind of shit and usually have rote responses that I can throw out without thinking about it, and usually without offending anyone.But to Ella, it’s all new.

“Nice talking to you all,” I say, and hurry Ella along.As soon as we’re out of their earshot, I lean toward her and say, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, of course,” she says.“I mean, people were already wondering, because of that first video at the karaoke bar.I’m just as aware of their stares as you are.”

I brush a kiss on her cheek.“I didn’t think you’d noticed.”

“I’m getting very good at ignoring them,” she says with a smile.

“You’re not bothered by it, though?”I ask.

“Not if you aren’t.Why—are you suddenly embarrassed to be seen with me?”

“Fuck no,” I say.“I’m happy whenever I’m with you.And when it comes to Kingston being with us, too…how do you feel about that aspect of our relationship being public?Because that’s going to be a whole other minefield.”

“It doesn’t bother me,” she says, her brown eyes earnest.“I don’t care about anyone else’s judgments.Just the peopleIlove.”

I can’t help myself—I stop walking, cradle her face in my hands, and lean down to kiss her mouth.“You’re so fucking wonderful, you know that?”

“Maybe you should tell me again,” she says with a wink.

“I’ll tell you every hour, every minute, if that’s what you want.”

She wraps her arms around me.“I just want you.”

“I’m yours, princess.”

As we start walking again, I notice someone has their phone out, and they look like they might’ve taken a photo or video of Ella and me.Great.It was too much to hope people might not take photos of us like we’re animals in a zoo.Ella sees the woman with the phone out, too, and she frowns.

There’s only so much I can do to protect her.Never go out in public?Not really an option.Although my inner caveman loves the idea of holing up with her somewhere and never letting her out of my sight.

Might make for some fun role-playing later…but it’s not practical nor realistic.

She’s quiet all the way back to my building, and thoughtful in the elevator on the way up to my apartment.Schrödinger greets us at the door, whoring himself for ear scratches before spinning around and walking off with his tail pointed straight up like a middle finger.

I fix us something to eat and we listen to a Rodrigo y Gabriela album while we dine.When we’re done, we put on a movie and Schrödinger makes himself comfortable in Ella’s lap.

Ella appears to only be half-watching the film, so I ask, “Is everything okay?Are you bothered by the amateur paparazzo?”

She looks startled.“No, I wasn’t even thinking about that guy.”