Page 63 of Rebound
How the fuck can anyone say she’s boring and predictable when the most fun I have is when I’m talking to her?
“I’m not explaining myself clearly,” I say. “I have a very good reason for suggesting we stay married.”
Lavinia exchanges a skeptical look with Jules. It’s similar to the look I gave myself this morning when thinking this was a good idea.
“You woke up this morning and chose chaos, huh?” Lavinia asks.
“I choose chaos every morning. It’s where I thrive. Just hear me out?”
Lavinia pushes back her hair. “This is absolutely insane, Roman. You don’t even believe in marriage and now you’re telling me you want us to stay married?”
There’s a lot I want to say, but I can’t with Jules standing two feet away. No one wants to leave Lavinia alone with me, and I can’t imagine why.
To be fair, Jules is a lot less threatening than Drew, and she’s just standing there, drinking her coffee and listening to our conversation, watching me suspiciously.
“Can we please talk alone?” I ask.
Lavinia sighs, and nods, handing the paper bag to Jules, who looks down at it in surprise.
“Wait, Vin, you can’t be serious,” Jules says. “This is the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard, and I read romance novels about women having sex with literal monsters and doors!”
Lavinia giggles and pats Jules on the shoulder. “Let me hear him out, okay? We won’t go far.”
With a roll of her eyes, Jules shakes her head. Lavinia motions for me to follow her and I take one step away but then turn back.
“Wait, doors, really?”
Jules smiles sweetly. “Oh, you sweet summer child. You don’t know the absolutely titillating smut that’s out there.”
Oh…kay. I guess I need to expand my reading when I don’t have more pressing matters to attend to.
“Do you also read about doors?” I ask Lavinia. She’s laughing at my confusion and horror.
“Nah, inanimate objects aren’t really my things.”
“But monsters are?”
She tilts her head back and forth. “Are they really monsters if their green flags are greener than some human people?”
Right, okay. My wife reads about monsters railing human women. My thoughts snag on that word again. Wife. I have to do everything in my power not to grin like an idiot. That’ll never convince Lavinia to stay married.
We're under better lighting now and I can see a flush across her cheeks. Her hair is a half wet, half dry mess of curls, and she’s chewing on the inside of her lip.
“I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that we’re married,” she mumbles.
“You might as well get used to it, Mrs. Maddox,” I tease.
Her eyes narrow at me. “If I didn’t know better, I think you’re having a little too much fun with all this. Did you drag me to the altar?”
“What makes you think you didn’t get me drunk and drag me to the altar?”
“Never been an Elvis fan.” Lavinia’s lips wrap around the straw, and she takes a slow sip of her coffee. “Maybe Vegas wasn’t ready for us.”
“I’m sure Vegas has seen worse,” I say with a laugh. There’s the cutest dip between her brows and I think she’s trying to glare at me, but her eyes are only half open. Reaching into my back pocket, I remove my sunglasses and hand them over to her.
She takes them, reluctantly putting them on. “At least you’re considerate, for a mistake husband. I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that I did something so unoriginal as gettingmarried in Vegas. While I’m not exactly setting trends out there, I did think myself better than this.”
With a heavy sigh, she sits down at one of the slot machines. I sit down beside her, scooting in closer. Even under the scent of cigarettes and whatever cloying cleaner the hotel uses, I can smell Lavinia. Her fresh scent is like a balm over the chaos in my mind.
