Page 89 of Prince Charmless
Taylor cocks his head at something behind me. As I turn around, a woman at another table puts her phone down after it was conspicuously stood straight up. He’s been spotted.
“Do you want to get out of here?” Taylor asks the wall next to us.
He’s unreadable again. It’s been so long since I couldn’t read him. If I had to guess, I would think he wanted the date to end on our own time, not by some rando from the table over. Maybe, for a while there, he forgot that this isn’t his normal. And maybe I forgot too.
“Sure,” I answer. “Did you happen to notice this building also has a hotel?”
I wonder if that was intentional.
“It does?” he asks, expression receding back to vacation-Taylor. “How convenient.”
Yep. Definitely intentional.
He stands and reaches out a hand for me. I feel like a real princess taking it and standing up. Wait, no. Not princess. I shouldn’t think that.
Taylor grabs the purse I almost left in the leather booth. He’s making me forgetful.
“It’s a shame, though,” he mutters when I take it from him.
“What’s a shame?”
I close my eyes as he sweeps some hair over my shoulder.
Leaning into my exposed ear, he says, “I’ve never been able to sleep in hotels.” His voice is deep and foreboding. “We’ll have to find another activity to do.”
Please let him talk to me like this for the rest of the night.
“Like what?” I ask. “Watch a movie? Play cards? Talk about our feelings?”
He tips a hundred dollars of American money to the middle of the table like it’s nothing. “Yeah, something along those lines.”
Taylor takes my hand. I tuck into his side as he leads me through the unsuspecting restaurant goers.We’re going to have sex!I want to shout at them. They would all clap, and I would bow. The hostess would give Taylor a bouquet of condoms. But I keep my head down and my smile cool. There will be plenty of time for fanfare later.
28
Taylor
I hate dates. I hate getting to know people I don’t care about, and I hate pretending like I’m interested in whatever they have to say. It feels like work. My whole life is just one giant, never-ending date. But with Melina, it’s effortless. I take comfort in the fact that she used to despise me, knowing that our relationship can’t get any worse than it has before. I like hearing her thoughts and opinions on the world and watching how intently she listens to mine. Maybe friendships aren’t overrated.
Melina stands in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking out over New York’s skyline. “Woah,” she says. “The view is beautiful!”
I haven’t turned on the lights, so her figure is only illuminated by the city that never sleeps. I admire her curves, her angles, her face full of shadows. Yes, the viewisbeautiful.
She puts her hands on her hips and shimmies. “You really went all out for little ol’ me.”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
Maybe booking this room was a little excessive. We’re only staying one night, but if I’m going to break my no-sex rule, might as well do it in a penthouse.
Melina follows me toward what I think is the bedroom. I open the door, peek inside, and immediately slam it.
“This is an outrage.”
“What?” she asks. “Did they forget to clean it?”
How adorable.
I open the door again to let her walk into the completely normal bedroom. “I swear I asked for two,” I say. “Maybe youcould take the bed and I could take the bathtub?” Her face turns blank when I put my hands on her shoulders. She doesn’t seem amused by my joke. I don’t care. “Should I call the front desk, or do you think we can be adults about this?”
