Page 97 of Mine Again
“Great. Love that journey for you.” His tone is light, but I can see the flicker of worry in his eyes as he smooths a strand into place.
“I don’t really know Sebastian.” That hit me yesterday the second he picked me up.
“Can you ever really know anyone?”
I thought I knew Luca… and he understood me better than I did myself. That makes me pause.
That couldn’t have been healthy, for me anyway. I was too codependent.
But with everything that’s happened, I know myself better now. Don’t I?
I recognize who I am. And I’ve been choosing my own path, at least within the limits of my life.
“I’m here because that’s what I want,” I whisper to myself.
“What was that, gorgeous?”
“Nothing,” I say, letting out a shaky breath.
I stare down at my empty glass, my engagement ring glinting underthe lights. That sinking sensation in my stomach churns harder.
Screw it.
I need more alcohol. It helps me forget, keeps me from falling apart.
Heart thudding, I hold out my glass wordlessly. Dario eyes the bottle in the ice bucket, then looks at me.
“You don’t need more champagne. Talk to me.” His tone is half concerned, half coaxing, like he’s ready to play therapist if he has to. “What’s the problem?”
Me. Luca not being here. Not knowing what I’m getting myself into with Sebastian.
“I thought I had a good feel for Sebastian—”
“God, Ihopeyou had a good feel of him,” Dario cuts in, giggling and fanning himself with one hand. “That man is so delicious. I’d climb him like a tree.”
I almost smile. “I haven’t slept with him yet. He probably thinks I’m a virgin.”
Dario’s eyes widen in the mirror as he unwinds another curl and fluffs it into place. “Okay. I take it you’re not?”
“No. Though I haven’t had sex in years. Five, to be precise.”
“Is that why he assumes you’re a virgin?”
“No. I told him my family is traditional. They expected me to wait until my wedding night. They might not even realize… though they’d have to suspect, right?”
Dario snorts as he shakes out another curl. “Babe. You’re gorgeous. You’re not fifteen. People have sex lives. Even in traditional families.”
“I should have told him. Do you think he’ll be mad when he finds out?”
“Why would he be mad? He doesn’t exactly give off choirboy energy. You two never talked about it?”
I shake my head. “We never talked about sex. Or exes.”
“Well,” Dario says, pinning a curl behind my ear, “it sounds like you two have a lot of fun conversations ahead. You’ve got a lifetime to catch up on that.”
I’m still shaking my head, the room tilting. “But see, that’s what Imean. I don’t really know him. Like, at all.”
I stare at my reflection, my words tumbling out faster now, champagne courage fueling me.
