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To every girl who was ever made to feel less-than for her choices. You are magic. Burn the patriarchy.
“She was a beautiful dreamer. The kind of girl who kept her head in the clouds, loved above the stars, and left regret beneath the earth she walked on.” —Robert M. Drake
Oh god. Would Child Protective Services intervene for a twenty-six-year-old?
By the time I got home, Mama and Marty were no longer reenacting Fifty Shades of Grey Hair in the living room.
Rhyland Coltridge being my brother’s best friend. A man-whore. A cocky bastard who knew he was God’s best creation to date. A debauched, selfish piece of work clad in a Prada suit. Too bad that piece of work was a masterpiece.
Okay. Tough crowd. I had done something to cause her to hate me, but that was fucking eons ago. What was with the elephant memory? I couldn’t remember what I’d had for breakfast this morning. Oh, wait. Yes, I do. The blond from my hot yoga class.
She stared me square in the eye, calm if a little flushed. “I mean, the relationship will be fake, but the orgasms had better be real. If I have to put up with you, I want to at least have a little fun. We’re both grown-ups. I haven’t had any action in a while. You’re deplorable but undeniably hot. And I mean, you can’t be that bad in bed, with all the experience you’ve amassed…”
“Uh…yes, honey,” Dylan said distractedly. I’d wager she’d let Gravity cook meth in there, she was so eager to get back to the conversation.
“You just saved Gravity from sure death.” “I imagined she was a squirrel,” I quipped. “Seriously. My la vida is a little too loca to throw kids in the mix. No way.”
You will not blow our cover and won’t tell anyone about that time a balloon got stuck in my braces in eighth grade and everybody thought it was a condom.” She gave me a frustrated look. “Rhyland, it was a condom.” “It was a beige-colored balloon, Dylan.” It was a condom. I’d
Our tongues touched, electricity zinging between them, and my eyes rolled over in their sockets, fluttering shut as fireworks exploded against my eyelids.
I snorted. “I’ve met actual cereal boxes more decisive than you. Pick a lane, my guy.” “Dylan.” He turned to me sternly. “Can we have some privacy?”
carte blanche.
“Because I’ve spent half my fucking lifetime studying every curve and measurement of your body.”
@DylanCasablancas2000! just followed you on Instagram. @DylanCasablancas2000! commented: hello 911? I’d like to report a murder. @DylanCasablancas2000! commented: OF MY OVARIES. @DylanCasablancas2000! commented: you my butt when you get home 2nite @DylanCasablancas2000! posted a new picture.
The most beautiful girl in the world. Wild but soft. Brave but lost. Imperfect but whole. “Oh, look,” she said, our eyes locking through my reflection in the window. “It’s my wallet.”
nodded. “Wild dreams, huh?” “The wildest.”
As soon as Rhyland and I entered the elevator, he gave me a playful shove, crowding me against the wall. He boxed me in with his hands on the railing behind me, one hand coming up from the banister. He used his finger to tilt my chin up to meet his gaze. “Hello, smart mouth.” “Hello, assh—” He drowned the rest of my words with a hard, luscious kiss. There
“Go nuts, Cosmos,” Rhyland urged in the background. “Ask for your wildest dream.”
“I have to, Rhy. It’s become too risky. Too high-stakes. You made me fall, but you will not make me shatter. I have to do this. For me. For my daughter. I have to get away.” “I love you, and you’re turning your back on me, just like them,” he said quietly.
“Mama, I think I’m in love with Rhyland,” I said miserably. “Oh, cara, I know. You’ve been in love with him since you were six.” “No, I haven’t.” I flashed her a scowl. She gave me a private smile. “Okay.”
“Yes. You two will be just fine. Il dolore aiuta a crescere.” “Hmm?” “Sorrow helps one grow,” she explained. “Those things you suffered through weren’t in vain. They gave you perspective. They gave you strength. The thing I’ve come to learn about having a partner you love is this.” Mom stroked my cheek compassionately. “It’s not always going to be easy, but it’s always going to be worth it.”
The woman of my wildest dreams.
