#TOBELOVEDBYYOU
TRIS
xox
An over-the-top smile beams from my face, and Marley snatches the card from me.
She reads it, and her eyes rise to meet mine in confusion. “What does that mean?”
; I roll my lips.
“To be loved by you.” She frowns.
I shrug.
Her eyes widen. “You love him?”
I give her a lopsided smile.
“You told him you love him?” She gasps.
I swing my chair back to my computer. “Yes, Marley. I admit it; I’m in love with Tristan Miles.”
She falls into a seated position on my desk and stares at me for a while in disbelief.
“Well . . . holy fucking shit,” she says as she puts her hands on her hips. “I was not expecting that.”
“Me neither.”
“So . . . what?” She stares at me for a moment as she tries to process the new information. “I mean, I knew you had that week of lunch fucks.”
I smile at her analogy. “Sounds so romantic when you put it like that.”
“You know what I mean.” She smirks. “But what happened then? And more importantly, why the fuck haven’t you told me about any of this?”
“I was just waiting to see what happened, and I didn’t want to jinx it.”
“Jinx it?”
“Well, sometimes when you put something out there, it doesn’t turn out how you expect it to.”
“So . . . this is turning out?” She frowns in surprise.
“Oh, Marley,” I gush as I look at my beautiful flowers. “Tristan is just so . . .” I search for the right words. “Funny and sweet and understanding, and he sleeps on the couch at my house out of respect for my kids.”
She screws up her face in disbelief. “Tristan Miles?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Tristan Miles, the arrogant, gorgeous playboy?” she repeats, as if not believing me.
I smile with a nod. “Yep, that’s him.”
She frowns at me. “I’m so confused. I thought he was a hot player who had excellent fucking capabilities.”
I laugh out loud. “He’s all of those things, but there’s more to him.” I read my card again.