Page 78 of When Annika Met Thom

“Rebound Rhea? Is she the one who had ferrets?”

Tessa nodded. “And the one who trashed his heart by going back to her former boyfriend right about the time that Thom had finally fallen for her.” She shook her head. “My baby brother has the worst luck when it comes to romance.”

“Maybe he’s just too nice.”

Tessa laughed. “Don’t let him hear you say that.” She fixed Annika with a bright look. “I don’t want to be rude, but Thom said that you were Leo’s fiancée but that he had bailed on you when you came to stay.”

“Pretty much.”

“My only point here is that you might not have plans today. I promised Thom that I’d walk Cerberus, but maybe you’d like to come along. We could do some sightseeing after that, if you want company.”

“That would be great but I don’t want to take up your day.”

Tessa waved off her objection. “You know what they say. When you live somewhere, you never do the tourist things. It’s true. I’d be glad to check them out with you.”

“That would be great.”

Annika told herself not to hope that Tessa might confide more about Thom or even Rebound Rhea, even though she was curious.

She wouldn’t ask, but she’d listen if Tessa talked.

That seemed like the perfect compromise.

Nine

Annika came home for dinner, not really surprised that Thom wasn’t there. She’d walked until her feet were sore, but had a great day with Tessa. Thom’s sister was good company, liked to laugh and knew a lot about the city and its history. She’d even managed to get them into a tour of a closed subway station, so Annika could see beneath the city. She’d also given Annika some nutrition tips for Percival.

She’d also given Annika things to think about, like Rebound Rhea.

There was a story she’d like to know.

But Annika had kept her promise to Thom and not asked any questions. She might be dying of curiosity, but she’d stick to the terms of their deal.

She’d picked up a pizza on the way home and a bottle of wine, and tucked into both when she realized she was alone at the apartment.

Wanting to know about Rebound Rhea was a problem. It suggested that Thom had been right, and as much as Annika wanted to undermine his assumptions about women and their expectations, she wasn’t managing to do it.

Sex with Thom left her wanting more—which was fair enough, as it had pretty much blown her mind—but not just more sex. Annika wanted the intimacy he dreaded. She was imagining options and possibilities in more than the physical sense. She had to wonder how much more awesome it might be with an emotional commitment.

Was she thinking about kismet and happily-ever-after?

Annika had to admit that in a corner of her heart, she was.

Why was she thinking about the future at all? Was she so uptight that she couldn’t just have fun and leave it at that?

No, she wasn’t uptight. She wasn’t particularly conservative either.

Just living in the moment, though, was new. She liked to solve things and fix issues. She liked to have a plan—and by definition, living in the moment meant having no plan.

Maybe it was time to learn a new skill.

Besides, she didn’t want to move from one ill-fated long-term relationship directly into another. This was supposed to be an introduction to several months of sexual decadence, of catching up on what she’d lost, on filling in the gaps in her knowledge. It was her first taste of a feast she’d barely known existed.

But she already couldn’t imagine being with anyone other than Thom.

Maybe that was a lack of imagination on her part.

Maybe Thom was just awesome. Annika liked how reluctantly he smiled, as if it had to be earned. She liked that he didn’t care how long it took to drive her wild. She liked that he remembered every little touch that she responded to, then returned to it, refining his moves so that he could send her to the moon. He was certainly attentive to detail. She liked that he watched her so intently, how his eyes glowed, how he became more taut and more hot as he got closer to his own release. She liked that she could kiss him or dig her nails into him or demand more and he just gave her what she wanted.

---