Page 62 of Kiss & Collide
Mira took a sip of her wine. “The last few races, you guys have definitely been making some moves. Rabia knows what she’s doing.”
“She does. If we can put together the money, she could design a truly competitive car next season.”
“Chase looks good, too. With a decent car, he could really make a splash.”
That was true, too. And it was the point of all of this, she reminded herself. The magazine spreads, the dates with Madison, it was all to rake in more sponsorship money. More money would pay for that better car Rabia was designing.
“He’s a good driver,” Violet said levelly, taking a sip of her wine.
Mira eyed her over the rim of her glass. “We’re still in the cone. What about you two? Is that still a thing?”
“We’re not athing,” Violet protested. “We just sleep together. When we feel like it.”
Which was becoming nearly every night when they were in the same place. Most troubling of all, most of the time, heactuallyspent the night—sleeping and everything. How hadthatbecome a habit they’d fallen into? Sometimes she woke up in the morning and he wascuddlingher.
Mira shook her head. “It seems messy to me. Isn’t he dating that actor? Madison whatever?”
“Mitchell. And I told you, not really. I set that up.”
Mira looked at her curiously. “I don’t know how you do that, send him off to date some other woman. Even if he was just faking it, it would kill me to see Will like that.”
“This is different. Chase isn’t my boyfriend. It’s just …” What? What were they? Friends with benefits? Were they actually friends? Colleagues who slept together? That felt wrong, too. “It’s fine,” she finally said, firmly. “Totally under control.”
Mira smirked knowingly. “Whatever you say.”
“It is,” she insisted.
“I believe you.”
“Hey, what did I miss?” Will slid into the chair beside Mira’s and leaned in to kiss Mira’s cheek. Will was the one guy who disproved Violet’s theory that you could never reform a manwhore. Because Will had once been the king of them, and now he was utterly devoted to Mira. Honestly, it was revolting how besotted he was with her.
“Violet’s just explaining that she isn’t actuallydatingChase Navarro,” Mira said innocently.
“What happened to bloody maraschino cherry?” Violet protested.
Mira shrugged, completely without shame. “That only applies to racing. Personal stuff is fair game.”
Will held up his hands. “Sorry, she tells me everything.”
“Good to know.” She shot a half-hearted glare at Mira, but honestly she didn’t care if Will knew. He probably understood the situation better than Mira ever would, since he’d been the king of meaningless hookups back before he’d met Mira.
“Speaking of personal stuff …” Will looked at Mira, raising his eyebrow. “Did you tell her yet?”
“I was waiting for you,” Mira said back, reaching for his hand.
“Tell me what?”
Mira pulled her left hand from her lap, and it was only now that Violet realized she’d been hiding it all this time. And it was obvious why.
The diamond on her third finger, flashing in the candlelight, was impossible to miss.
“We’re engaged!” Mira said, her whole face lit up with joy. Will was smiling at her with the softest, dopiest expression on his handsome face. Honestly, the two of them …
“Oh.” Violet scrambled to formulate the right response. “Congratulations! That’s amazing!” She was happy for them. Of course she was. And really, it was no surprise they were taking this step. They were quite obviously in love with each other.
It was only that Violet had long ago convinced herself that true love was a myth. She hadn’t believed anyone could really love you until they died. She’d felt that way once, and she’d believed with every molecule of her being that Ian had felt that way about her, too. He’d told her he did. The great love of his life, he’d called her. His muse, his reason for existing. But obviously it was all a load of bollocks. True love, that kind of love, was just a fantasy people got high on. Because if it really did exist, what did it mean that Ian had thrown hers away?
But it seemed to exist for some people. Mira and Will had found it together. If Violet hadn’t managed it … well, she’d picked the wrong guy, the wrong guy had picked her. Or maybe it was justher.
