Page 77 of It's Always Been You
She pulls the thermos back towards her and takes a sip before grabbing the licorice and tearing the box open. “There’s something I’ve been thinking about since last night that I wanted to tell you first before I tell anyone else.”
Her voice is so uncharacteristically serious that I sit up straighter. “You can tell me anything.”
She takes a deep breath and blows it out. “I think I want to try dancing again. Not like I did—I’m too old for that. But being in the studio last night made me realize that I stayed away for too long. Even if it’s just me in my living room, which, let’s be honest, it probably will be, I want to give it a try.”
I know what it cost her to tell me this, and my mind immediately starts racing. First of all, if she’s dancing in anyone’s living room, it’ll be mine because I already think of it as ours anyway. I just have to get her to think of it like that, too, and not as just a place she’s staying while her house is a disaster. But that’s a problem for another day. An idea starts to percolate in my brain, and the more I think about it, the more I like it. I make a mental note to make some calls tomorrow.
“Rory, I want whatever you want. If you want to start dancing again, I think that’s exactly what you should do. I know this isa big step and I’m proud of you for taking it. Even if you never tell anyone else but me, I’ll be your loudest cheer squad. Your number one hype guy, if you will.”
She laughs, and the tension in her shoulders seems to fall away. “So, enough about me. What’s your plan now that you sold one company you’re only kind of consulting for, and all you have to do is dial into some board meetings for the other? You spent so much of your life creating the phones and then releasing new versions every eighteen months. It must be weird to be so far removed from it now.”
I smirk at her. “You sure know a lot about my company for someone who doesn’t even have a Redwood.”
Molly waves that away. “It didn’t come in pink. Why would I get a phone that didn’t come in pink?”
I know that’s not the real reason, but it gives me the opening I’ve been waiting for. “Speaking of a pink phone…” I reach back into the basket for the last thing. I pull out the phone box and hand it to her. She studies it and looks back up at me, a confused expression on her face.
“Did you finally release a pink phone? I didn’t realize a new version came out. I can’t believe you caved to the masses who have been demanding one all these years. It’s super weird, by the way. Your phone comes in literally every color in the known universe, but not pink.”
“It’s not a new version. Or, not exactly. It’s more of a one-of-a-kind situation.”
She’s brilliant, so I know she’ll put it together. I see the minute she does. She narrows her eyes at me and furrows her brow, and it takes every ounce of restraint I have not to laugh at her disgruntled expression.
“Gabriel Sullivan. Are you telling me that for ten years, when the entire world was begging for a pink Redwood phone, you didn’t give the people what they wanted because of me?”
My grin spreads because the irritation in her tone is giving me life. “That’s exactly what I’m telling you, Rory. Pink is your signature color. No one gets to have a phone in your signature color unless it’s you.”
“You billionaire tech people are a weird breed,” she mutters, and I laugh so hard it takes me a minute to get ahold of myself. But she’s not finished yet.
“So, you’ve just had this pink phone sitting around waiting for me in case we got back together one day?”
I scoff. “Don’t be ridiculous. Like I would give you a phone with outdated technology. It’s like you don’t even know me. I had it made last week and sent to the hotel. It’s actually the newest model that hasn’t been released yet, so it’s one of a kind of more ways than one.”
“Okay, I just have one more question.” Molly grabs an Oreo and eats the whole thing at once, as if she has to fortify herself for whatever she’s about to ask me.
“Ask away, baby.”
“Now that you finally gave me the pink phone, are you releasing pink phones for everyone?”
This time I do tug her closer to me and lift her, leaning back against the tree and settling her on my lap so she’s straddling me.
“Literally never ever. I meant what I said. No one gets to have a pink phone unless it’s you. A one-of-a-kind phone for a one-of-a-kind girl.”
Molly’s eyes go soft, and I reach up, cupping her face and stroking my thumb along her cheekbone.
“There’s no one else like you, Rory. You are brilliant, funny, creative, and the most beautiful girl on the planet. You’ve been lighting up my world since the day I met you.”
Molly leans forward so we’re chest to chest, resting her forehead against mine. “Can you put that in writing so I can tattoo it on my body?”
I laugh, but suddenly, she sits straight up. “Oh, my god, the tattoo. I can’t believe I forgot.”
“Uh, what?” I think I know, but I’m going to play dumb until she tells me.
“Last night, after…” she trails off, and I grin wickedly.
“After I sucked my cum and yours right out of you and licked you clean until you came for the fifth time?”
She snorts out a laugh. “Yeah. After that. I was too tired to mention it, but I thought I saw a tattoo on your thigh. Then, this morning, I kept trying to get a look at it, and you kept distracting me. We were literally naked in the shower, and you managed to hide it from me. What’s that all about? Do you have, like, another woman’s name tattooed on your leg or something? It’s fine if you do. There’s always laser tattoo removal.”
