Page 3 of Meet Cute the Virgin

“Yes.” I want to go on vacation to see my best friend, Teddy. I don’t say that out loud because it’s none of his controlling-ass business.

I already have the plans set. I’m only waiting for my opening. That’s what my father taught me. Always be prepared before you jump.

I need to check Tristan’s calendar again. He normally travels often, but he’s been doing it less and less lately. I need him to go on a business trip. How I used to hate when he’d go on those and I was left here.

“Where?”

“Not with you.” I fight a smile when I see the tic in his jaw.

I don’t feel bad about giving him a hard time. Not with how things have been over the last several months. If you ask me, we’re here because of his doing, not mine. He’s the one that got all crazy and paranoid for no reason at all. I went from living a pretty independent life with my dad’s busy work schedule to being locked up in this penthouse.

“Then you’re not going.” He grabs his suit jacket off the back of his chair.

“You know I’m an adult, right?”

“Maybe in age.”

“Don’t be a dick.”

“Are you finished?” he asks coldly.

“With you, yeah, I am.” Okay, that came out meaner than I meant, but it’s hard to be nice any longer. Maybe I am a bratbecause my subconscious wants to push him away. It’s safer that way.

“Lily.” Tristan places his hand flat on the kitchen island between us. In a way that only happens with Tristan, the air around us changes. “You need to be very careful,” he warns.

“Or what?”

“You don’t want to know.”

I roll my eyes, trying to break the seriousness, but it doesn’t work. I know Tristan has something lingering underneath all that control coldness.

“Will you kick me out?”

He pauses for a long moment, and I know he’s weighing what to say next. “You’re not going anywhere, Lily. You need to come to terms with that.” He steps back, and I know he’s leaving now. He says it with such a finality that I partly believe him.

“Wait, like ever?” I shouldn’t engage in this. It doesn’t matter. I am getting out. He believes I’m stuck and that everything is under his control.

It doesn’t matter that I’m an adult. It never did. He was in full control after my father died. There was nowhere else for me to go. All of the money and assets were placed into a trust—not that we were ever crazy rich, but my dad did well for himself.

“We can discuss this later.”

“You always say that!” I shout. He pushes everything off.

“You’re the one who hasn’t been speaking.”

“Whatever,” I mutter, pushing my plate away.

I jump down from the high-top chair. I did my part today. Whenever Tristan is home, he wants to have breakfast together and often dinner too if he’s not working late or has an event.

“Lily,” he says my name gently.

“Don’t.” I don’t want to hear any more. It doesn’t matter. We’ve done this dance for a while now. “I have a busy day of doing nothing.”

“That’s not true, and if there is something you would really like to do, let me or?—”

“Sasha,” I gasp as I say her name while holding a hand over my heart dramatically.

I can’t stand Sasha. She’s his personal assistant. Thinks she knows him better than anyone. Maybe she does, but the way she flaunts it gets under my skin. I really shouldn’t give a crap, but I do. I have this stupid urge to stomp my feet like a child and tell her he’s mine. It’s ridiculous, but it still lingers in my mind, nonetheless.