“So how do you feel about gambling?”
I was supposed to talk now? I was having enough trouble walking due to the sudden constriction in my trousers.
“It’s entertaining enough,” I managed. Barely. “In limited doses.”
“What do you play?”
“Baccarat,” I said succinctly.
“And?”
“Baccarat.”
She frowned. “What about slots?”
“What about them?”
“Do you play those? They look really fun. I saw this Friends episode once, you know the one where Ross and Rachel ended up married—” She broke off and cocked her head. “Why are you smiling like that?”
“You’re unique.”
“That’s one way of putting it.” She propped a hand on her hip. “I bet you’ve never seen Friends, have you?”
“No. The title seemed too banal to merit interest.”
She rolled her eyes. “Your banal is the rest of the world’s must-see TV, boyo.” She tugged me with her up the street. We’d reach The Colosseum one of these days. “We’ll watch it together. I know all the good episodes and the ones to skip. I have Netflix.” She raised her brows at me as if she expected me to argue, or perhaps to make Celine-Dion-level insults.
I did neither. It had already occurred to me that this trip would end in under forty-eight hours. If I didn’t figure out a plan to ensure she’d continue seeing me once we returned home, she probably would not. As soon as we resumed our regular routines, I had a feeling she’d be back to hating my guts and voting against me in polls about which was the hottest Hamilton twin.
And yes, I’d heard of that poll, and yes, I knew she’d been the only one to vote Seth ahead of me. I’d been amused at the time. Hate and love were opposite each other across such a thin line.
Now the reality of our lives wasn’t all that funny. It would be too easy for us to fall into typical patterns and lose whatever this was.
I didn’t know yet. Didn’t have a fucking clue. But I wanted a chance to let it evolve without meddling brothers and nosy sisters-in-law and just daily life intruding.
“When?” I asked.
She pursed her lips. “You’re agreeable?”
I nodded.
“Hmm, well, we probably won’t have time this trip. You don’t mean…”
Gravely, I nodded again.
“You want to see me when we’re back home?”
“I always see you when we’re back home. Practically on a daily basis.”
“Not like that.” She waved her free hand. “I mean, this kind of seeing.” She lowered her voice and leaned in. “The kind where I put my mouth on your manly bits.”
I choked out a laugh. God, she was something. “Well, that part can always be negotiated, but we’re friends now, right?”
“I guess.”
Such enthusiasm truly warmed a man’s heart. But I sensed I needed to tread gently here before I sent my little deer fleeing into the woods. “Friends watch TV together. They eat meals together too.”
“They do.” She squealed and pointed at a plane going overhead with a message trailing behind it. “Oh my gosh, look! It’s a marriage proposal. Aww, isn’t that the sweetest thing?”