9
Drake, as promised, picks me up at three in the afternoon in a hired limo. Not saying much to each other, he takes my luggage and hands it the driver. I mumble my thanks to the cheery looking chauffer.
Why is Drake in a bad mood anyway? Am I not the one he humiliated at the event? Aren’t I the one who got the tongue attack from his crazy ex-fiancée? I know he’s finished with her, but I’m still a little baffled as to why a man like Drake would want to date a woman like Shannon Mallory in the first place. Sure, she’s pretty to look at, but surely there’s more to a relationship than just wild sex? Well, if the man in question is Drake, I’m sure IQ isn’t necessary. He just loves his women to be good to look at from what I noticed and heard.
I suppose that says a lot about him, doesn’t it? How disappointing.
Since we’re travelling, I have donned a pair of comfortable black leggings and a black shirt with my Tory Burch flats. I loaded up my E-reader earlier to make sure that I’ll have all the books that I need to catch up on ready and waiting, but I’m not too sure if I will have enough time to read once we get there, since we’re going to check out the Blasphemous film-shooting. I am super excited to see and meet the men of the movie. I am a mega fan when it comes to Bass Cole. Though I don’t mention this to Drake, he might think that I’m unprofessional if he finds out that I am a diehard fan of one of the actors in the film that they’re backing.
We are in the first-class cabin and somewhere above the Atlantic Ocean when he finally starts a conversation with me. “What happened with that first boyfriend of yours, Aaron, was it?”
I gasp. What the f*ck!?
Drake sees my shocked expression and offers an explanation. “Your mom… she told me after I kept nagging her for a while.”
I put down my e-reader and eye him cautiously. “Why are you so interested about my past?”
Drake nonchalantly shakes his head before he responds, “I wanted to know if you had moved on. I was curious, I guess.”
Right, of course, since I blurted it out that I loved him that night in Mexico; he had probably wanted to make sure that I wasn’t in love with him anymore.
“Aaron was great. You know first love and what not. We were together for two years and decided it wasn’t working out anymore. So, we amicably parted ways. I still talk to him from time to time.” I pick up my e-reader again and continue to read my book. After a few minutes, he speaks up again.
“Funny, I thought I was your first love.” Drake toys with his whiskey before he takes a sip.
“Huh? That is funny.” F*ck, don’t embarrass me, Drake! Drop the f*cking subject already. Let it slide, please.
“Why did you tell me I was, then?” Drake picks up his whiskey, drains it and places the cup back on the tray, his eyes stay glued on the glass before him.
“I don’t want to go back there, Drake.” I meant it, too. That night is best forgotten. I can’t bring it up with him. Especially, since I have no means to escape the conversation in the damn airplane… then it occurs to me that maybe this was his plan after all…
Clear gray eyes clash with mine. Somehow, there is sadness in them. “What if I want to go back there and dig it up? We have to talk about it, Lil.”
I know, but not right now, we aren’t. “Later, when I am ready to do so, let’s leave it at that for now.”
“As you wish, Little One.”
“Lil?” Drake asks next to me.
The entire cabin is quiet and everyone is fast asleep. I was about to join in their peaceful slumber, but the annoying man next to me keeps me up.
“Yes, Drake?” I ask, exasperated.
“When you think of being married to someone, who comes to your mind?”
Is he fishing for some information? That will never happen. As if I will dish out to him.
“No one, really. Marriage is not something I dwell on.” Well, not anymore, I don’t.
“My parents think I shouldn’t marry anyone that isn’t you. Do you think they’re right?” Drake keeps pressing the stupid subject.
Kill me now, please. “Your parents always wanted that, but they’re wrong. We both know that.”
“I thought they were. Now, it looks like they were right all along.”
That makes me look at him. “Can you shut the hell up already? This is getting icky, Drake. We were through before we even began. There’s no going around it, no matter how we rehash things. You left me. You asked me to move on. And I did. I did as you asked me to. Now, you want to press rewind? I’m afraid I can’t do that. Not even for you.”
“If you want me to give up, it won’t happen. Even if you wish it hard enough to happen, Lil, because I haven’t been this sure of anything in my life—and I want you in it. In you, with you, day in and day out. That’s all I know and if you ask me to see reason, I am seeing it. You are my reason. It took me eight years to see it, but now that I have. I am taking action.” He halts and makes sure I stare at him, understanding him with full certainty, before he speaks again. “Run if you must, Lily. I will catch you, either way. Do not doubt that.”
I will resist you. I won’t give in until I have no strength in me left.