Page 56

Mandy swings by my office at lunch. Usually I meet her in her room for lunch, but I just can’t force myself to walk down there and socialize today.

She plops in the chair opposite me after closing my office door—which was closed when she knocked and let herself in, by the way.

“What happened after I left last night?” she demands.

“Where did you go, by the way?” I demand right back.

She laughs. “Jaxon worked me over, if you catch my drift.” I notice she doesn’t exactly answer the question. “Did you boink Woods real good?”

I sigh as I avert my gaze to the desk. “Yes.”

She shrieks. “What?”

“You heard me,” I mutter.

“Oh my God! And?” she asks, drawing out the word.

“And it was…incredible.” I shake my head, and then I close my eyes for a beat at the memory.

“So now you’re…tired?” she guesses.

“Well, yeah. I stayed up way too late, but…” I shake my head again. “I don’t know what I am.”

“Want to talk about it?”

I shrug. “He stuck his hands down my pants in the back of the Uber, I sat on his face, he stuck it in, and then he walked out. We agreed it was a one-time thing, the end.”

She nods a little knowingly. “Ah, that’s why you’re cranky today. He made you promise it was a one-time deal.”

“Nope. I made him promise. Only…” I blow out a breath at the memory. “He said he couldn’t make that promise.”

“Girl! That’s a good thing. Right?” she presses, her brows drawn together in confusion.

I shrug. “I don’t know. But it was all awkward when he left and I think we’re back to hating each other even though it was the most incredible sex of my life.”

“What happened?”

“At the end…he said he had to go, and I told him he didn’t have to explain himself because it was just once, and we both had more we wanted to say but neither of us took the chance to say it.”

She shakes her head. “Always, always, always say what you’re feeling. You can’t leave shit on the table.”

“Thanks for the tip,” I say thickly, not really feeling very thankful at all.

“Hey, don’t get cranky with me . It’s not like either of you meant the whole one-time business anyway. So let’s go back to the Gridiron tonight and try to run into them again.”

“You go ahead. You make plans with Jaxon. I think I just want to stay in tonight, to be honest.” I crinkle my nose apologetically.

She narrows her eyes at me and huffs out a sigh as she folds her arms over her chest. “Fine.”

“You don’t need me there. You already scored the guy. How are things going, by the way?” I ask.

“It’s…” She shakes her head a little. “It’s hard to put into words. I know it was like a week ago when I said we were just having fun, but it’s quickly becoming more. You know how they say you find the one when you’re not looking? I wasn’t looking. He wasn’t looking. And I’m pretty sure he’s it.” She raises her brows. “It’s strong, whatever it is. And maybe it’ll burn out, or maybe he’ll live up to the reputation these studly football players seem to have. But I’m taking it as it comes for now.”

“I’m happy for you,” I say.

“You could have it, too. You just have to be open to letting it happen.”

I flip my hand in the air. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now get out of here so I can get some work done over lunch.”

She stands and offers a grin. “Okay. But try to smile a little. And definitely spend some time today reminiscing what it was like when you sat on his face.”

I nod at the huge stack of paperwork in front of me. “Why do you think I haven’t been able to make this pile any smaller today?”

She giggles, and then she lets herself out of my office.

And just when I force myself to get focused, my phone starts to ring. I see my sister’s name on my screen, and she knows when my lunch break is, so she was clearly timing her call.

“Hey, Ness,” I answer.

“We booked our location,” she says without a greeting. She’s clearly bursting with excitement.

“And?”

“And we picked the Atlantis in the Bahamas!”

“Whoa,” I murmur, wondering what the cost of something like that is. And then I remember my parents are paying for the wedding, and since they’re not worried they’ll have to pay for two weddings anymore, they probably decided to just blow the entire budget on Vanessa. “That’s amazing! I’m so happy for you!”

“And it gets even better. Jake asked Owen to be his best man! So we’re totally going to get you two lovebirds back together in paradise. Can you even imagine how cute that story will be to tell your kids someday? Auntie Nessa played matchmaker!”

I try not to hyperventilate at her announcement, but I’m not quite sure I’m successful. I suck in a deep breath. “Babe, that’s a nice sentiment, but I don’t want to get back together with Owen.”

“Yes, you do. Don’t be silly. It’s just a fight,” she says, brushing me off.

“No, it’s not. It’s over.” I state the words firmly, but my gut tells me she’s not going to listen.

“We’ll see…” she taunts.

“No, we will not see ,” I hiss. My chest tingles as I try to get out of this mess.

“Oh, come on, Tor. It’s the perfect romantic setting for you two.”

“I’m seeing someone.” I blurt out the lie before I can stop myself, but it might just be the only way to pull her down out of her dreamy clouds and freaking listen to me.

“You’re…you’re…” she sputters.

“Seeing someone,” I repeat thickly.

“Who?” she demands.

Fuck.

“Travis Woods.” His name is out of my mouth before I can stop it.

“Travis Woods…like the football player Travis Woods?” she asks.

“Yep. That’s the one.”

She’s silent a beat. “You are not seeing some NFL player, Victoria Camille.”

I clear my throat. She’s right. We’re not seeing each other. We humped real good and then he left and now it’s over and we got it out of our systems.

Why in God’s name did I decide to say his name of all names?

“In fact I am,” I say because what the fuck else am I supposed to do but keep up the ruse?

“Prove it, then. Bring him to the Bahamas with us.”

“Oh, Ness, it’s new and I don’t think that’ll be a good idea…”

“It’s two months away,” she points out. “Won’t be so new by then anymore.”

“Yeah but I’m not ready to introduce him to the family and all that,” I say. “It’s a big ask for someone, and besides, he might have his own thing going on. He has a daughter, and—”

“Bring her, too,” she says.

“That’s a hard no,” I say.

“So you’ve met her?”

“Well, yeah,” I hedge, not admitting I’ve met the daughter because she’s my student. Vanessa doesn’t need to know that anyway.

“Sounds pretty serious to me, then,” she says. “We’ll talk later, but you know me. I won’t believe you until I see it for myself, and I’ll stick to my plan of getting you and your soulmate back together unless you actually bring a date.”

God, she’s the worst sometimes. I know she thinks she’s doing what’s best for me, and I know she loves that we could potentially double date, but Owen is not my soulmate.

I’m about to bad mouth the bastard and tell her to help me get my ball back when I stop myself. It’s not going to help, and it’s only going to add fuel to the fire. It’s only going to lead her to think I want him back when that’s about the furthest thing from the truth.

“I need to get back to work,” I mutter.

And I need to figure out how the hell I can get Travis Woods to agree to be my date to my sister’s wedding in the Bahamas.