Page 143 of Rebound
“Thank you so much for picking me up,” she says in a rush. “I would’ve called ride share, but the dads saw a documentary about women being kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery and now I’m not allowed to take ride share anymore.”
She’s stunningly beautiful with thick dark hair, bright red lips, and a nose ring that glitters each time the light catches it. Her dark eyes look at me and widen in surprise.
“Shit, are you on a date? And you still stopped to pick me up?”
Roman sighs, starting the car and pulling out into traffic. “This is Lavinia. My wife.”
The woman is even more surprised to hear that. “I’m sorry, what?” She blinks at him. “The consummate bachelor Roman Maddox ismarried? I thought we were going to grow old together.”
“I don’t know why you thought that, considering the only time I hear from you is when you’re texting me murder stats, and now you asked me to pick you up like I’m your personal taxi.” Roman looks at her in the rearview mirror.
She shrugs before turning to me. “I’m Elena LaFleur, by the way. Roman’s cousin. The only family member he can stand to be around.”
“That’s not true. I also love your fathers,” Roman corrects.
“You’re the cousin texting Roman hockey injury stats,” I say.
Elena turns to me with a beatific smile. “That’s me! It’s so nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you. Though, probably not as much as you’d assume given the fact that I had no idea my only cousin had gotten married.”
“Just like I had no idea you moved back to Boston until the uncles sent out their monthly newsletter,” Roman says.
“Your family has a monthly newsletter, and you think my family is odd?” I ask.
Roman glances at me quickly. “I think your family is odd because they’re so close and I don’t know what that’s like. Mine has a newsletter because they don’t talk to each other.”
In the backseat, Elena is nodding. “It’s true, they hate each other.”
My family isn’t exactly perfect. We don’t talk to my dad’s brother and his family because my aunt hates my mom. I have a cousin, and we were close when we were kids. We still keep updates on each other’s lives, though we’re not that close. I thinkhe works in cyber security. Definitely something to do with the internet.
“I've been training most of my life. I can't blame Roman for not being a part of it,” Elena says.
“Oh, that's so cool. What were you training for?”
“I was a professional ballerina. I'm a retired old crone now,” Elena replies.
I get what she means. As an athlete, I know that we have a limited number of years that we can play before our bodies start to give out. I'm a prime example of that.
“And now you're a Pilates instructor?” I ask her.
Roman makes a noise which I think is a laugh.
“I dabble,” Elena says. “I teach Pilates, I teach ballet to littles, and I teach pole dancing to their mothers and guardians. When I'm not doing that, I also play roller derby.”
I turn around to look at her with excitement. “I've always wanted to try roller derby.”
“Is there a sport you haven't wanted to try?” Roman asks with a laugh.
I think about it. “Probably baseball. I wouldn't know what to do.”
“You should come play with us sometimes,” Elena says. “It's totally amateur so you don't need to know anything other than the rules, which we’ll teach you.”
“I’d love that, thank you!”
I sit back against my seat, smiling out the windshield. Roman squeezes my thigh and when I look up, he smiles at me. It’s small and warm, filling me with so many scary feelings I’m not sure what I’m going to do.
FORTY-FOUR
LAVINIA
