Page 14

I set the bottle down, and Preston grabs a glass for himself as I plant myself on my couch to finally relax.

“What if, for one night, we call a truce?” he suggests and drinks from his glass.

I do the same to avoid saying something snarky.

“What for?”

He shrugs and moves closer to me. “I mean, we’re stuck here. Let’s not torture ourselves with the overabundance of kindness we have toward one another.”

I laugh at that. His sarcastic delivery has always been top-notch.

“I don’t know. What if I agree and you decide you actually like me?”

He makes an overly dramatic expression of disgust. “Not going to happen.”

I stick my tongue out at him as if we were kids.

He smirks.

“Ask me again after my second glass,” I tell him.

The grin on his face spreads wider.

“Careful, Sunny, that almost sounded like you were flirting with me.”

My hand covers my heart. “I would never.”

Preston tosses his head back with a laugh and then starts cooking.

I sit back and sip my wine.

All right, so this isn’t that bad. I’m relaxed, I’m drinking my favorite wind-down beverage, and dinner is being cooked for me in my own house.

One might say I’m actually enjoying myself.

I press my lips together to keep from smiling too much.

But then my gaze drops to the magazine on the table. For a moment there, I’d forgotten about the situation I’m in. My smile fades.

“You don’t actually read those, do you?” Preston asks, startling me. He nods toward the table.

He clearly saw me looking at it.

“I do, actually.”

Preston starts placing the noodles in the pot of water. “Take it from someone who has been there more times than I care to admit: stop reading them.”

He makes it sound so easy.

“It’s hard not to. The things they say, I don’t even know how they come up with this stuff, and don’t get me started on how easy it is for them to spin words. Even I’m confused sometimes, and I own the place.”

“I get it, but all you can do is be you and trust the world to figure out that’s more than enough.”

I hold the glass to my lips, ready to take another sip to stay busy.

I think that was a compliment.

Still, I can’t just let it go the way he suggests.