Page 29 of Savage Temptation
“Wow, you’re like all smart and innovative, and I dye hair.”
I cut in with, “Which is just as important.”
“No one can get me ready like you can,” Ashley adds.
“So you’re just going all mad scientist and Frankensteining a peanut?”
Ashley chuckles. “Sort of. I actually approached Lance regarding the Playground to help with the project.”
I nearly spill my drink, I’m so confused. “Huh?”
“I have teams of scientists and doctors that will be working with highly allergic individuals. Your brother is putting together a VR training video of avatars experiencing incredibly lifelike anaphylactic reactions so they can learn best practices.”
For as much of a train wreck as Ashley acts, sometimes she impresses the hell out of me.
Cindy cocks her head to the side. “So…it really is more than just glorified porn goggles?”
We burst into laughter, and Ashley sprays champagne from her nose.
“So, when do you see Atticus again?” Cindy flashes me an excited grin.
It feels good being able to contribute salacious details to our conversations.
I roll my eyes. “You ask that every day.”
Ashley smacks the back of my head. “Because,hello, we love you and we’re excited you’re finally getting banged!”
“When we got back from Bali, he had to go out of town, and now he’s working overtime to make up for the fact that he wasn’t at his own product party.”
“It’s so romantic that he went and rescued you from a foreign jail like he did,” Cindy says, beaming. “Imagine telling your grandkids about it.”
I feel like I’ve just been stabbed in my heart. “We’re only doing this for thirty days,” I remind her.
“That’s what I don’t understand.” Ashley bites her lips and gazes at me through her lashes. “You’ve loved him for as long as I’ve known you. Longer. Why put a time limit on it?”
Is that panic climbing me like ivy? Ashley and Cindy are both so well versed in relationships and navigating men that they have no idea how much I’m struggling.
Maybe it’d be good to tell them.
“Because if I don’t force it to stop, it never will, and I’ll be stuck in a not-relationship with a man who’s using me for sex. Not cruelly. But still.”
“Have you talked to him about dating?” Cindy asks.
“No, there’s no point. He’s one of the most eligible bachelors in the world. He isn’t known for getting into relationships.”
“Or maybe he’s just looking for the right woman,” Cindy counters. “He has sent you some impressive gifts.”
A part of me is sad for Cindy, because as messed up as I am about my situation, she’s messed up in a different way.
She wants her own happily ever after so badly, but she didn’t wait around for Mr. Right, like I did. Or rather, Atticus Savage. Not that we’ll ever end up together.
She goes through a cycle with men, constantly churning through them like Kleenex, never understanding why they stand her up after they’ve had sex.
Once she’s ghosted, she spirals out of control, attaching herself to another man, and the process repeats itself.
Oddly, she’s been remarkably stable the last few months, and I hope it’s because she’s deprioritized men. Not that I want her to stay single. I just think that the right man will present himself when she’s not looking.
“Didn’t you have a Chanel bag at lunch the other day?” Ashley winks.
