1. Leave home
2. Do something crazy
3. Explore food here and EAT
4. Explore places here and PRAY
5. Explore men and LOVE
6. Find peace
“Care to elaborate on number five?” he grumbled and tilted his head, staring at me with those emerald eyes of his.
“No.” I straightened my back.
“It’s not safe to go dating people you don’t know in a place you’re not comfortable in. Your brothers would—”
“I’m an adult, Dante.” I snatched my book from him and spun around to put it back in my bag. “My brothers sleep with women all the time.”
“Your brothers can take care of themselves.”
“As can I.”
He growled at my statement and used the notebook to point my way. “ThisEat Pray Lovestuff is only you looking for trouble.”
“You have to take risks to know your limits and yourself. I know you know that. You were in the army. Did you not take risks there?”
His strong jaw worked up and down, up and down. “You don’t want my life.”
“I want a better one than I have. I’ve done nothing but wallow in what everyone expects of me so far.”
“That’s a good life,” he bellowed. “We expected great things.”
I shook my head. No one understood. “Well, lower your expectations.”
He pulled at his neck and stared at the ceiling. “Just remember not to get on your knees and eat, pray, and love with the wrong man.”
“Did you just… I’m not dignifying that with a response, Dante. I’m going to get dressed.” With that, I hurried to my luggage and grabbed my swimsuit and a sundress.
I took seven breaths in the bathroom before I threw on some strawberry lip gloss and changed into a summer dress.
I could be around him and still find my way here. I simply had to get a handle on myself.
He’d said I was an adult, and I knew that was true. Still, I felt like a damn child sometimes. What way was right, what way was wrong? Did anyone in the world even know?
I spritzed on some body spray and came back to the room to find him lounging still.
“What is your plan for the day?” I asked, hoping he would be leaving me to my own devices.
“I have to work, but if you’re going down to the beach or—”
“I think I need to decompress here today.” I planned to get lost in a book or three. It was my only way to calm down. “And I need to call my family today or tomorrow.”
“Well, Izzy wants you to make it clear this is all her fault.”
My eyes widened. “Is she going to ever call me?”
“You know her phone time is limited.”