Dessert was chocolate mousse, and I was pretty sure I had an orgasm on the first taste.
It was that good.
“You know, if I don’t get in where I want to go? Screw it, I’ll take a year off and travel. There has to be some perks to having a trust fund.”
Someperks? “You’d really just take a year and go?”
“You wouldn’t?”
“Not really an option for me,” I reminded him. “Whether I go to school or not, I have to have a job. Rent doesn’t pay itself.”
“You could do it if you went with me,” he suggested. “Hell, I’d have asked you to go before we went on a date. I like doing things with you, Frankie. You’re tough and smart and see things so differently. You always have.”
Offering him a spoonful of the mousse, I didn’t miss the way his eyes heated or how he leaned toward me. The warmth rolling off him was like being seated next to a fire. “Thank you for the offer, but… I don’t want to be dependent on anyone.”
“Not even for a vacation? I mean, think about it. Spring break, you and me, we could go anywhere. You have a passport? If you don’t, you just need to get one, and we can really go anywhere.”
“I’m serious, Archie.”
“So am I,” he countered. “Look, I’ve been a lot of places. Yeah, I get it that I’m privileged, and I’ve had opportunities other people don’t. But I’ve never done one of these trips with someone I wanted to go with before. Not since Nana passed. She and Pops used to take me on trips with them when I was little, and they were always fun. They took me for a camel ride when I was seven.”
My mouth widened. To be honest, Archie never talked about his grandparents. Not really. He’d mentioned them once or twice, but no stories. “That sounds amazing.”
“Oh, it was horrible and funny and that beast spit like you wouldn’t believe.”
I laughed. “Really?”
“Yeah, really. But we did it. Nana laughed so hard, kind of like you are right now. Then she wiped me off and said we were still going to take the ride. It was worth it. Got to see a sunset in the desert. Spectacular, if I think about it now, but I was too young to appreciate it, even if it was pretty cool.”
I took a bite of the mousse, the smooth and creamy flavor melting on my tongue. It was almost as sweet as his expression.
“Taking you would be amazing for me, so think about it? For me? Maybe think of some places you’d like to see?”
“Archie, we have to concentrate on college.”
“You’re so damn practical, you make my soul hurt. When do you get to be a wild and crazy teenager?”
“Well, I rode on Ian’s motorcycle the other day, and I walked out of my bathroom naked to kiss you. I think I can make the argument that I’m being pretty crazy right now.”
Not to mention dating four wonderful guys.
Four.
Oh, the idea made my head swim every time I focused on it.
“Want to get a little crazier?” He eyed me.
“Crazy how?”
“Well, walk around the lake is out, but I have a hot tub, and you don’t have to wear a suit.”
Oh.
Damn.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Tick. Tick. Tick