Page 72 of You're The One
“Well, to start with, I had wildly unrealistic expectations.” He chuckles. “I love my dad, but he’s the last person who should be giving relationship advice. You’ll see what I mean when you meet him. After my mom, he never remarried or even really dated. Not that I saw, at least. So, I had to get…creativeabout learning what love was supposed to look like.”
That catches my attention. “Wait, is that why you started reading romance books?”
He nods, eyes skimming past mine. “Yeah. My dad gave me the birds and the bees talk, and it was… something. Pretty sure it had the opposite effect of what he was going for.”
“Do tell.”
“The first girl I kissed—Emilia. I guess you could call her my girlfriend. Sixth grade. Two glorious weeks. She gave me this book…” He trails off and groans. “I can’t believe I’m about to admit this. Don’t laugh.”
“I promise,” I say, already smiling.
He mumbles something that I don’t catch.
“You’re gonna have to repeat that.”
He straightens his spine, like if he’s going to admit it, he’s going to do it with pride. “Twilight. She made me read it, and then I kinda liked it.”
I lose it, laughing harder than I mean to, but thankfully, he joins in.
“I know, I know.” He points at me. “I better not see this online. If it leaks, I’ll know it was you. I’ve never told another soul.”
“Don’t worry,Edward. Your secret’s safe with me.”
He mutters something that sounds suspiciously like “Little she-devil.”
“So, let me get this straight.” I grin. “You learned everything you know about love from a one-hundred-and-four-year-old vampire. By that logic, shouldn’t you have been pining for your one true mate instead of sleeping with half of Chicago?”
“The press exaggerates,” he grumbles. “But yeah, I’m not claiming sainthood.”
He pauses, running a hand through his hair. “I wanted to find myBella… God, I hate that I just said that out loud. I thought I’d know when I did. But no one ever feltright. Not until—” He stops short, clears his throat. “Anyway. The point is, I’m starting to realize it doesn’t work like that. Real relationships take effort.Patience. And sometimes, they show up when you least expect them.”
He glances at me. “I didn’t really see that until this experience. Which is, yeah, kind of ironic…”
There’s a beat.
“… Didn’t expect you to be here, though.”
“Sorry to mess up your plans,” I try to joke, but something honest slips into my tone.
“You didn’t mess them up,” he says. “Just changed them.”
TWENTY-FIVE
“I’m goingto do it tonight,” Victoria declares.
“Do what?” Summer asks, speaking for all of us.
We’re spread out on the U-shaped couch, waiting for the man of the hour to arrive. There are eight of us left, but after tonight, we’ll be down to four. It’s the last cocktail party. The final rose ceremony. The last night in the mansion.
Good riddanceto them all.
“Kiss Dominic,” she says confidently. “This kissing curse is ridiculous. I’m sure he already knows who he’s keeping. We had a perfect one-on-one this week. There’s no way he’s planning to send me home.” She pauses just long enough before adding, “And I’m a great kisser.”
If anyone’s bold enough to follow through, it’s Victoria. But why couldn’t she have done this on her actual date? Why does it have to happen now—here—where she’ll probably be in plain sight of the rest of us? I really don’t want a front row seat.
The thought of watching Dom kiss her settles in my stomach like a rock. Lately, my stomach has a lot of opinions when it comes to him. It swoops, flips, and now knots with dread.
I take a sip of my champagne, hoping to drown the feeling. It doesn’t help. Maybe I should go see my doctor when we’re back in Chicago?
