Page 59 of Secrets in Love
“Ughh, goodbye, Mum.” I threw my phone onto the bed and took a swig from my seventeen-dollar room-service beer, but it failed to remove the gross taste from my mouth. I nearly choked when the damn thing started ringing again. Presuming it would be Mum, I let it ring out. But it started again straight away. Without looking at the screen, I answered.
“Spare me the details. I donotwant to hear about your sex life.”
“Well, that’s rather disappointing. I’d like to think you, of all people, would be greatly interested.”
“Polly?”
“Hey, stranger. Miss me?”
“Honestly, Pol. No. Sorry if that sounds harsh but—” She didn’t let me finish.
“Give it time, Nate. I presume Evie’s not putting out, and I know you too well. The bluer those balls get, the more you’ll think of me and my tits.”
“Geez, you’re pretty cocky. And what makes you think Evie and I aren’t together? I could be lying next to her right now for all you know.”
“I messaged Evie yesterday, and she made no mention of you. It was like you weren’t even there. Plus, don’t forget that whole Frigid Evie thing. Rumor has it she—”
“I’m gonna stop you right there, Polly. I know what you’re playing at, and it’s not going to work. My interest in Evie is based on a lot more than sex, so you can take your shit stirring and shove it.” Laughter rattled down the phone as I hung up.
“Two hang-ups in a row. Doing well, Natey,” I mumbled as I returned to my beer. It was only four, and I had no idea if Evie would return before tomorrow. Truth be told, I had no idea if she was coming tomorrow either. We hadn’t discussed it all day. And what a day it was. Evie was opening up to me, emotionally and physically. I could feel that barbed wire she wrapped so tightly around her heart beginning to fall free.
By seven I was bored out of my mind and headed down to the hotel restaurant for dinner. The last few hours had been spent bingeing my secret shame,KeepingUpwiththeKardashians, fitting in a quick weight-lifting session in the gym, and then a shower. Room service was tempting, but the extrovert in me needed to feed off other people’s energy.
Within ten minutes of sitting at the bar, I had attracted the attention of a hot blonde in a tight white dress that I prayed to God she wouldn’t spill her pink Cosmo on. “Oh. My. God.” She sounded exactly like Janice fromFriends. Had I had the slightest interest in her, it might have bothered me. “I love your accent. Are you from England?”
“No, Australia.”
“Oh. My. God. You’re so handsome and Australian! I hit the jackpot. I love Australians. Nicole Kidman is an idol of mine. Do you know her?”
“What, like, personally?” She nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, nah. Can’t say I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Nicole. She seems lovely, though.”
“That’s a shame. What about Hugh Jackman?” She roared and imitated the claw scratch of Wolverine an inch from my nose.
“Oh, Hugh, I do know. We go way back. He’s a great mate of my dad’s. Even taught me to drive.” He didn’t. I do not—repeat—do not know Hugh Jackman. Wishing it was a Carlton Draught, my favorite Aussie beer, I took a sip and watched the thrill of my fibbing roll over my new friend.
“Really? That’s incredible. Wow. I’m so excited by that.” She dropped her drink loudly onto the bar—I suspected that drink wasn’t her first of the evening—and sat still in a yoga–slash–meditation pose. “Manifesting meeting Hugh one day,” she chanted.
Get me the fuck out of here.
Once all manifestations were complete, her attention shifted back to me. “My name is Blossom.”Of course it is.“What’s yours?”
“Anthony Albanese,” I said curtly, holding my hand out while slipping from my seat. “Lovely to meet you, Blossom, but I have an early start tomorrow and am going up to my room. Have a good night.” She grabbed my elbow and hooked her arm inside.
“Wait. I think you are super handsome, and I am super”—she leaned in—“horny.”
“Uh. Okay.”
“How about I come up to your room with you?” She bit her lip and seductively ran her index finger between her breasts. I’m ashamed to say, for the splittist of seconds, I followed that finger and considered her proposition. I was kind of horny myself, frustrated as all fuck, in truth, and scared and a little mixed up too. My eyes began to skim her incredible body. It would be so easy to lose myself in her for the next hour or two. To bury my feelings as well as my cock. Old Nate would have picked this bird up, thrown her over his shoulder, and had her naked before she could spell my name. But old Nate was dead, and he was the only thing being buried tonight.
“Sorry, Blossom. You’re really beautiful—hot, even. But I’m deeply in love with an incredible woman whom I love more and more every day we’re together. I’ve come here to New York to make her fall in love with me too, and I can’t do anything to risk that.”
“Oh, okay, then. Thanks for the life story I didn’t ask for.” She forced a smile, slid from her chair, and disappeared.
“You really have changed, haven’t you?”
“Evie?” I turned to find her behind me. Her face was flushed red, her eyes glossed over with tears. “What are you doing here?”
“Ventolin,” she replied so softly I could barely hear her over the chatter and clinking of glasses. “When I left your room, I must have picked up your inhaler by accident, and I was worried you might need it.” She looked so cute, but also kind of confused, as she held out her hand and placed the inhaler in my palm. “Did you mean what you said to that skank?”
