Page 96 of Rather: The Therapist

My lips curved into a smile.

“If you’re going to fuck that man’s brother, don’t feel bad about it, Rather. Seriously. I saw the look in your eyes each time you mentioned him. I saw the longing. The yearning. This was inevitable. It was going to happen whether you wanted it to or not. Whether it was his brother or not.”

She was right. Even if Kofi hadn’t burst my bubble at that coffee shop, before things between us got serious, I would’ve tried my damndest to get back to the suite. Back to Priest, at least once.

“I know.”

“Keep your head high and your standards higher, Rather. What’s done is done. At least you’re fucking with two men that will make sure you’re straight regardless, so you’re in a situation you can’t lose –that’s my type of party.”

“Yes, I know!” I nodded, because it was indeed her type of party.

“So, tell me about PS102.”

“He’s a dream, Roulette.”

I buried my head in the pillow, again. But, not for long. I needed to get everything off my chest and there was no one I wanted to talk to more about all the things I’d been thinking, feeling, and experiencing since I’d been back in the States.

“How’d you find out who he was?”

“I didn’t. He noticed me by my birthmark. He waited a full week, trying to convince himself it wasn’t me he’d been waiting for. Until one night when we were alone in the hallway, he called out to me.”

“Called out to you?”

“Yes. He called me Rose.”

“Shut up!”

“Roulette, I wanted to disappear. I wanted to melt. I wanted to drop to my knees and suck his dick right in that hallway. I wanted to teleport to the suite. Mentally, I did. His father came into the hallway and I couldn’t move. I didn’t move. Not until–”

“He gave you permission.”

“Yes! Not until he told me I could.”

“Oh, you’re down bad, Miss Girl.”

“I knoooooow! And, now, two months seems unfair. Where has a month gone already?”

“It hasn’t gone, completely.”

“Might as well. Only a few days away.”

“Tell me more. Tell me about the last month.”

“Nine days of it were spent away from him. It was a very hard, very grueling nine days. Seven of which I was bleeding. The other two consisted of recovery.”

“Ugh, God handed women His ass to kiss. Menstrual. Babies. Boobs. Asses. Pussies. Ovaries. Like, what the fuck was happening? Why’d we need all of that?”

“Please let me know when you find out.”

“Back to PS102,” she urged.

“He wired thirty thousand dollars to my account.”

“That’s it?” Her shriek was incredibly humorous. “That’s allowance, Rather. Chemistry sends that to our accounts monthly for simply existing. Are you losing your mind?”

“I only asked for twenty-two.”

“My God, you’re losing it. Truly,” she chuckled.

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