Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 130414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
“You never asked for any of this, Dallas. I’m well aware. Every man in your life has failed you, including me.”
An epiphany slammed into me. My mind voyaged to his childhood room, sailing through the photos. The stubs. The love. Romeo Costa wasn’t born a heartless beast. Once upon a time, he’d loved. Until Morgan.
Eventually, Romeo pulled away from our embrace. I peered past the French windows into the inky darkness. It must have been past midnight.
He palmed my cheek. “Forget anal play. There’s still plenty we can do.”
I nodded. “I know that. I do. I’m just upset because …” I reminded myself of my goal while Romeo still straddled the tattered seam between this concerned man and the beast I knew so well. “I’m sad because I’ll never know what it feels like to be taken in the traditional sense of the word.” I purred, tacking on my most innocent expression. “You’ve done this before, haven’t you? Gone … all the way?” Now I was just taking advantage of him.
“You know the answer to that question.”
I sniffled. “Yeah, I do.”
He paused. “Even if I wanted to show you, I don’t have a condom here.”
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t.”
“True, I don’t. I’ll never experience sex, since you’ll never give it to me. Of course, I’m sad. I’m allowed to be.”
He tore himself off the bed and paced the room. Guilt—so thick and tangible—radiated from him. So, he did have a conscience.
My eyes ping-ponged, tracking his movement when he finally stopped in front of the mattress. “Get dressed.”
I didn’t argue, wading deep in wanting-to-screw-Romeo-up waters. My suitcase fed me white cotton panties and a lavender satin top. I was about to wiggle into matching pants when Romeo interrupted. “That’s enough. Go back to the bed.”
I scratched my temple. “Didn’t you just tell me to—”
“Before I change my fucking mind, Shortbread.”
Whoa. “Only because you’re asking so nicely.” I ambled to the bed, falling onto it.
He stared at me. “Go to sleep.”
“What?”
“Go. To. Sleep,” he bit out, slower and louder.
“I heard you the first time, but—”
“I’ll be back.” He collected his wallet and left. Just left. Without an explanation. Whatever happened to “before I change my mind”? Maybe he’d changed it after all.
Deciding that today was eventful enough, I did, in fact, descend into the sweet arms of slumber. In my dreams, I drowned in books. Ink-scented hardcovers. With words and universes and creatures far and foreign.
In my dreams, there was no beast disguised as a husband.
Most importantly—no heartbreak disguised as marriage.
Chapter Thirty
Ollie vB: Did she break you yet?
Romeo Costa: Consider me unbreakable.
Zach Sun: Consider me appalled by the fact that you sound like a Sia song these days.
Romeo Costa: @ZachSun, since when do you use cultural references that have nothing to do with fine art?
Ollie vB: His parents sent him on a date with an influencer last week.
Romeo Costa: How many of your brain cells survived?
Zach Sun: Nearly all of them. I used concealed noise-canceling earbuds and smiled and nodded at two-minute intervals.
Romeo Costa: Sounds promising. When’s the wedding announcement?
Ollie vB: @RomeoCosta, you want to tell me you really didn’t taste that sweet, tight pussy yet?
Romeo Costa: I am going to cut your tongue off with a butter knife next time I see you.
Ollie vB: Why a butter knife? It’d only make things unnecessarily long and messy.
Romeo Costa: Exactly.
Ollie vB: @ZachSun, notice how he didn’t say yes or no when I asked him about sampling his bride. What do you think?
Zach Sun: Zigzagging over the edge.
Zach Sun: Drunk.
Zach Sun: And legless.
Ollie vB: His fall will be spectacular.
Romeo Costa: Temptation is resistible, believe it or not.
Ollie vB: That might apply to a cake. Not a woman who looks like your wife.
Ollie vB: Is her sister still in high school?
Romeo Costa: It’s been ten hours since you’ve last asked, so yes.
Ollie vB: Time drags when you’re waiting.
Zach Sun: Tell that to your prison guard when you get locked up for statutory rape.
Chapter Thirty-One
Romeo
I tramped up and down Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, chewing seven pieces of gum, almost ripping my hair off my scalp. Why the fuck had I taunted Shortbread with that toothbrush? The stubborn little nymph almost went along with it, too. It was a dare on my end. One that exploded in my face in spectacular fashion. She’d managed to make me curse. And cuddle.
Sure, I could waltz right into a pharmacy and demand a pack of condoms. Double-wrap. Then finish the pack and top it off with another. Then another. And when one of the hundred or so—inevitable the next time Dallas wiggled her ass in the air, welcoming me to park inside her pussy—condoms broke, TLC could add us to the cast of 19 Kids and Counting. Hard pass.
The pill and IUD had their disadvantages. First off, I couldn’t tell her what to do with her body. Second, I’d never trust her to take the pills or keep the IUD in. She obviously wanted children. And finally, the snip. Vasectomies only had a 99.9% success rate. Knowing my luck, I’d be in that point-one percent. After all, I was in that percent in every other aspect—intelligence, looks, tax bracket, and so forth.