He slips the paper pad onto the table and starts typing on his laptop.
His eyes fly to me from time to time.
“I’ve had enough of an eventful life. I can fill a book with it. Which I might do, in fact,” he says, focused on his writing.
“Are you serious?”
He glances at me again. A smile sprouts on his lips.
“Yeah. Why not? It’s business. Besides, I already have an audience for it.”
“You’re really serious, aren’t you?”
“Of all people, I’m surprised you ask me that. You’ve made your money cashing on people’s curiosity. Sex is just another thing that sells. I didn’t invent this,” he says, his eyes slanting down to his screen.
Silence rolls over us.
“I can help you,” I say.
His hand shoots up, his eyes coming fast to me.
“Not gonna happen. You have your business, and I want mine.”
“I understand, but there’s no point in wasting time when you can skip a few steps.”
“No, no. It’s gonna be my thing and my mistakes, no matter how long it takes. You have to trust me.”
“It’s not that,” I murmur.
He waves me off, his eyes rooting on his laptop.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he says curtly, a wall coming promptly between us.
I pull my mouth shut and sink back into the pillows.
12
SENNA
The wind blowssnow at the windows and the woods, covering them in white glitter while the fire roars in the background, consuming the logs and turning them into ashes, filling the air with the scent of earth and smoke.
Naked, we lie on the bed, facing each other. Eyes locked and our heads resting on our folded arms.
His fingers trail my face, his gaze connected to my eyes.
“How were you before?” he asks.
I give him a soft smile.
“I don’t think you would’ve liked me back then. I was different. Pure and innocent, I liked different things. I loved stories, mysteries, and magic. I believed in romantic love and finding that perfect man who makes you feel complete.”
I chuckle.
“I didn’t call them men back then. They were boys. Same thing. I couldn’t get close to them anyway. My mom was against relationships with random boys. We, the girls, attended a private school and we were confined to our quarters and closely supervised. Living at home with our parents wasn’t much different than spending time in that school. The boys our age didn’t have access to us. She never admitted to it, but she resented the idea of us mingling with people not vetted by her. She was also a proponent of celibacy until marriage.”
I go quiet, suddenly annoyed.
“So, yeah... That’s how I grew up. As beautiful as our life looked from the outside, we’d been brought up in a very strict environment. It didn’t affect my sisters that much, but it broke me. I guess there’s always that risk, but my mother didn’t care. She was betting on the fact that sooner or later, I’d get with the program. Well, I didn’t, and her attempts to make me more like my sisters fueled my resentment against her. Also, against my dad, who was quietly enabling her. The rift between us was bound to happen, but I didn’t think it would unfold like it did.”