Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 78511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
She shakes her head. “I’m not waking up at the crack of dawn for a manicure. We can stay in bed and do it ourselves while watching a sappy romance movie.”
Walking back to the dining hall, we take a seat at a table while we wait for our food. I stare at Abbie so I won’t look at Misha.
“Is there something on my face?” she asks.
“No. I’m trying hard not to stare at Misha.”
She lets out a chuckle. “You look constipated.”
Laughter bursts over my lips.
Abbie rests her chin on her palm and lets out a sigh. “I wish I could wave a magic wand so you can have your man.”
“Me too.” I pick up a napkin and start to fold it into different shapes. “Have you ever thought of running away?”
“No,” Abbie answers honestly. “I love you too much, and besides, my parents will find me before I cross the border.”
“True,” I mutter.
“There’s our food!” Abbie’s up from her chair before I can move a muscle. “My hero.” She takes the paper bag from the server and gives him a dazzling smile. “Thank you.”
The poor man’s so stunned by Abbie’s beautiful smile it looks like he forgets how to function.
I get up, and when we walk out of the dining hall and toward the side door, I say, “Every time you smile like that near a man, it looks like he falls instantly in love. Careful you don’t give the wrong person the wrong idea.”
“I’m just flirting a little.”
I make a disgusted face. “The server is old enough to be your grandpa!”
“Age is just–”
“A number,” I complete her sentence. “You do you, girl, but that’s a hard no for me.”
“Everyone who’s not Misha is a hard no for you,” she teases me.
Walking out into the cool night air, lights twinkle across the grounds.
“It’s so beautiful here,” Abbie sighs. “When I get my own place, I want my garden to look like this.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty,” I agree.
When we reach the path leading to the waterfall, Abbie bumps her shoulder against mine. “Sooo…are you going to tell me how it was?”
The corner of my mouth lifts. “It was everything I dreamed about and more.”
“Ooooh!” She holds her hand up for a high-five, and when I slap hers, she says, “Tell me everything.”
We’re close, but we’ve never discussed our sex lives, or non-existence of it, with each other.
I go with something safe to share. “Misha told me he loves me.”
“I heard that when I was eavesdropping in the bedroom. Give me the juicy bits. Did it hurt?”
I let out a burst of laughter. “It’s still freaking hurting.”
We reach the waterfall, and sitting down on the cobbled stones, Abbie places the paper bag between us. She pulls the containers out, and opening one, she helps herself to a buffalo wing.
“If you’re still hurting, I’m going to assume Misha is packing.”
Frowning, I ask, “Didn’t it hurt when you lost your virginity?”
She shrugs. “No. Honestly, I wasn’t sure he was in.”
“Oh, my God,” I shriek with laughter. “Do I know him?”
“No. I lost it on vacation to Bali. He was a bartender.”
I scrunch my nose. “I wish yours would grow back so you can lose it to someone better.”
Abbie wags her eyebrows. “Like Nikolai Vetrov.”
I check the containers, and finding my ribs, I take a bite of one. “You really have the hots for him, don’t you?”
Abbie nods. “Yeah, but he doesn’t think of me that way.”
“How do you know?”
She shrugs. “It’s clear I annoy him during every class, and he’s always snapping at me like I’m some punk kid.”
“Maybe it’s the age gap. Not everyone is into that kind of thing,” I say, trying to make her feel better.
“Yeah. Still sucks, though.”
“What about one of Misha’s friends?” I ask to take her mind off Nikolai.
Abbie gives me a have-you-lost-your-mind look. “Alek is batshit crazy.” She takes a bite of her garlic bread, and after swallowing, she continues, “Armani is hot as fuck, but he’s too serious for me.”
Changing the subject, she asks, “How do you feel about going out?”
“Tonight?” I gasp, so not in the mood to get dressed up. “It’s already past nine.”
“Not tonight.” She laughs at my shocked reaction. “Next week? Maybe the week after.” She shrugs. “I need a change of scenery. But our parents can’t find out, or we’ll have an army of guards.”
“How about shopping next Saturday? During the day, we should be fine in Geneva. No one will expect us to leave St. Monarch’s grounds. Right?”
Abbie’s face lights up. “Yes! No changing your mind.”
“As long as you don’t drag me to a nightclub, I’ll go anywhere,” I joke.
She breaks a piece of garlic bread off and throws it at me. “Hey, you met Misha because I dragged you to that nightclub.”
“Yeah, I did.”
She raises her eyebrows at me. “Thank you, Abbie.”