Page 32 of Date and Switch

“Bryce.” Her voice took on a sing songy tone that displayed both concern and disagreement. “She cheated on you. How are you the failure?”

“The end result of our relationship, sure. But we both are pretty ambitious people. She’s on a partner path. I’m taking Ellis Enterprises international.”

She tried to push herself from my lap, but I couldn’t let her go. Having her this close, feeling her silken skin against mine, it felt right. I wanted more of it.

I could sense her assessing gaze on me. Like those moments just after a cloud has been covering the sun, before its full strength is on you again. That was what Sera’s attention felt like.

“Bryce Edward Ellis.” My name felt like a verb when spoken from her mouth with such a rapid inflection. “I know this is kind of a shit day, so I’ll give you a few moments of reflection and re-examining your relationship. I won’t let you second guess every aspect of your personality because of things said in anger in the final gasping seconds of your relationship. You’re smart as hell, you get an A plus for banter, you treat everyone with respect regardless of who they are—not that people don’t deserve respect but, you know because of the money thing like sometimes people like you don’t.”

“The money thing?”

I couldn’t decide if her grimace or the flush in her face was cuter.

“Don’t make me say it Bryce.”

“Say what? That I’m successful and therefore have the financial means to do nice things?”

“Oh come on, you’re rich. Your parents are rich, your grandparents were probably rich. Hell, there was probably an Ellis on the Mayflower that built the first hotel ever on U.S. soil.”

“Ever heard of Ellis Island?” I asked, trying valiantly to keep a straight face.

“Come on, seriously?”

She tilted her head, clearly trying to read my features to figure out if I was serious.

“It’s not a very common name, is it? How many Ellises do you know?”

“Get the fuck out. Bryce Edward Ellis, blue-blood and apparently lord of the fiefdom known as the York of New.”

She took a sip of an imaginary cup of tea while attempting to look down at me. Given she was shorter than me it wasn’t successful. Her scurrilous little scowl though thickened my cock.

I pretended to look on the lip of the hot tub, pat around for my cell phone, and dramatically search around our general area, trying to goad her into asking me what I was looking for.

“Your cell phone is upstairs on the bathroom sink.”

“Oh darn, I really need it. Do you have yours?” I asked.

“No, you think I’m soft in the head? Why would I bring my phone near boiling water. What do you need a phone for anyway?’

“Because. I need to look something up.”

She twisted her lips into a scowl, raising her eyebrow with the most assessing gaze.

“Now? Look I believe you. Earl Ellis Prince of the Universe.”

“I need to find a word, in the dictionary.”

“Aww, was fiefdom too large a word for you? It’s old English. It’s from feudal times.”

“I know what a fiefdom is. I want to see if I can find your picture.”

“My picture? Why on earth would you need to look up my picture? Plus the internet here is shit you know that.”

“Because I’m a hundred percent certain I’d find you under gullible in the dictionary.”

All of the expression in her face: the slight confusion, the delight in her eyes while we volleyed back and forth, it was as if someone had come in with some glass cleaner and wiped it all away with a single swipe.

“Ellis,” she groaned, flopping off my lap and into the center of the hot tub. “That was the dumbest game of Who’s on First I’ve ever borne witness to.”

---