Page 43 of Kiss & Collide
“Really? Since you were a kid?”
“I, um, used to watch with my father.”
He grinned. “Just like me.”
Her eyes flicked up to his but she didn’t return the smile. Apparently she didn’t have the same sentimental feelings about those days.
“So what’s your family like?”
She shrugged, eyes back on her plate as she cut that green bean into increasingly tiny pieces. “You know. Family.”
“You’re doing it again, Violet. International woman of mystery. Do you have brothers and sisters?”
“Nope, it’s just me.” There was something behind those words.
“And your parents didn’t mind you running off to tour with Ian’s band?”
She stabbed a potato with more force than necessary. “The sperm donor was too busy raising his new family, and my mother was too busy obsessing over him to notice or care what I did.”
“Wow. That sounds—”
“It is what it is. Eat your fish.”
Chase hesitated, but she’d turned to her own plate, one of those delicious-looking steaks, and taken a huge bite. Family conversation over.
“We’re on the other side of the river,” Violet said, directing him toward a pedestrian bridge over the water. It was a warm summer night, and it seemed like the whole world was out walking around Paris. The pedestrian bridge was filled with people. Some were camped out playing music, or talking. Others were lining up for the perfect selfie with the river behind them. Here and there, couples kissed or cuddled, looking out at the lights on the water.
“That’s where we were this afternoon, right?” He stopped at the railing to look.
“The Île de la Cité. Yeah. And that’s the Notre-Dame.”
“I recognize it from pictures, but it’s different being here, seeing it in person.”
She leaned on the railing beside him, looking down at the river. The breeze ruffled her hair, and the lights reflecting off the water made her pale skin glow. For a second he glimpsed that younger Violet, before she’d strapped on all this armor.
“Hey, can I ask you something?”
She shrugged, eyes on the river below. “Sure.”
“Why did you hate me so much last season?”
“I didn’t hate you.”
“Uh, yeah, you did. You hated me until that night in Monaco. And for a while after that, if we’re being honest.”
Violet was silent for a minute, considering. “Do you remember two years ago in Budapest?”
“What about it?”
“Compendium Banking’s after-party. We were both there. I was talking to Caroline Hayes and you interrupted.”
He remembered the night now. It was a flashy F1 party, but he’d scored an invite from one of the Hansbach engineers. He’d gone mostly because there was free alcohol. He remembered seeing Violet on the other side of the room chatting up some girl. He’d recognized her from around the track, of course, but that night had been different. She’d been in a tight black dress and heels and she’d looked … amazing.
“Caroline’s a big sports influencer. I was pitching her, trying to get her to spend a weekend in the Lennox garage posting content. Then you sailed in and started flirting with her. You blew the whole thing.”
He shook his head, laughing. “You and I remember Budapest very differently.”
Violet turned her head to stare at him. “Did you just quoteThe Avengersto me?”
