Page 72 of Under Your Scars

On our third day in Mykonos, my father calls me. We’re eight hours ahead, so while the sun just came up for me, it’s nearly midnight in Texas.

“Hi dad,” I answer delightfully. Christian grumbles and rolls over to cover his face with a pillow. He’s got a hangover and I poke him in the side just to hear him grumble again. I get out of bed and walk to the balcony, closing the door behind me so that Christian can sleep.

I apologize for the awkward pause, and, sounding distressed, my dad gives me his ‘stern father’ tone. “Elena, I’ve been texting you for days. Where have you been?”

I sigh. He’s probably right, I’ve barely checked my phone since we got to Greece. “I’m sorry, dad. It’s kind of a funny story but I’m actually not in the States right now. Christian and I are in Mykonos. It’s beautiful here. You should see—”

“You flew all the way to a foreign country halfway across the world without telling me?”

My eyebrows knit together and I grow irritated with his tone. “I’m a grown woman, dad. If I want to travel, I can. And I told Travis.”

“You didn’t think to tellme?”

“It’s not a big deal,” I snap. “Relax. It was a last-minute thing. It’s just a short work trip. We’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Didn’t realize you had that kind of money.” I try not to audibly huff at his tone. “You can never afford to hop on a flight to come see your mother and I, but you’re traveling across the world with your boyfriend? Is your family not good enough for you anymore?”

“Dad!” I snap loudly, turning to make sure Christian didn’t hear through the glass. “That’s unfair and you know it. Not that it’s any of your business, but Christian paid for my flight.”

“You’re my daughter, so it is my business.”

“Yes, youradultdaughter.” Before this turns into a screaming match, as these types of conversations normally go, I huff. “Look, I have to go. I’ll text you when we get back to the States.”

I hang up and stomp back into the bedroom, tossing my phone on the nightstand and then holding a pillow to my face to scream in frustration into it. Christian grumbles again and turns over, wrapping an arm around my waist and hoisting his head up to rest on my lap.

“What’s going on?”

I groan. “My father is so…impossible sometimes! He treats me like a child.”

“He’ll get over it, whatever it is,” Christian mumbles into the soft flesh of my thighs, placing a kiss to the skin there.

“You haven’t met my father,” I say back. “Elliot Young does not get over things.” I look out the window and let the pretty view of the bright blue ocean calm me down. I run my fingers through Christian’s hair, and he purrs like a cat at the touch. “Can we come back here in the summer?”

Mykonos is beautiful, but the weather in October isn’t exactly suitable for swimming and tanning.

“Absolutely. I’ll block off a week for us, maybe even a month. We can go all over Europe.”

I laugh. “I don’t think your company would appreciate you taking a month-long vacation to tote your leech across Europe.”

“It’s my company, Elena. They’ll get over it. You’ll be my wife by then anyways, so consider it our honeymoon.”

My jaw drops open. “Is that a proposal? Because I still don’t see a ring on my finger.”

Christian grumbles and grabs his phone from the nightstand. After a few seconds of scrolling, he tosses it onto my lap. I’m staring at an email thread with a photo of an absurdly massive purple diamond. When I see the eight-figure price tag for said diamond, I dramatically roll over the edge of the bed and land on the floor.

“I think I’m gonna hurl,” I say into the rug.

I feel Christian land on top of me, supporting most of his weight on his arms and legs so that he doesn’t fully crush me. “Because you’re pregnant?”

I make a noise of disgust. “No, because you’re insane.” I tease. “I’m on birth control, remember? This uterus is not open for business.”

“For now,” Christian says, kissing my cheek. He inhales the scent of my hair, still smelling of my lavender shampoo from my shower last night. “We don’t have any meetings until one. Want to go to the island, just you and me?”

I nod. “Yeah, sure.”

He flips me onto my back and kisses me, slow and deep.

“I love you.”