Page 73 of The Ring
“Are you doing the walk of shame?” I ask him, and he immediately tenses.
West growls, lifting his head slightly to look at us. “So I wasn’t hallucinating. Please tell me it wasn’t my sister.”
“Of course it was your sister; who else would it be?” Weberly says as she exits the hallway where the bedrooms are and walks towards us. All eyes immediately turn to me. “Oh, bagels! I’m starving,” she adds, grabbing one and sitting down.
Laurie’s eyes narrow, and he glances between Weberly and me. “Seriously, TJ?”
“Nothing happened,” I answer quickly, almost on autopilot, not even considering Weberly is within earshot.
“I’d try not to take it as an insult,” Weberly says nonchalantly. I doubt anyone could ever say something that would actually hurt her.
“Are you sure?” Laurie counters, his tone dripping with scepticism.
“Trust me, if something had happened, he’d remember.” She smirks, glancing briefly towards West, who seems to be muttering something. He finally lifts his head completely from his hands.
“I feel like we’ve teleported to an alternate reality, and I’m not sure I’m liking it,” he says, his expression betraying how much the room must be spinning for him. “I need to lie down horizontally for a bit.” He pushes himself up from his chair and staggers to the bedrooms.
Chapter 42
Cornelia
“Where are we going?” I ask Benedict Glounger.
We’re sitting in the back seat, being chauffeured by my driver.
We’ve been spending a lot of time together lately, but we’ve mostly stayed in or gone to low-key places to avoid the press. We don’t want them spinning stories about us when we don’t even know whatthisis ourselves. Unfortunately for me, it isn’t my specialty to dodge paparazzi, so Benedict has been the one deciding where we go. The only thing I know from what he told me is that it’s casual.
He smiles. “It’s a surprise.”
“I don’t like surprises,” I say pointedly. Never have, never will. “Come on, give me a clue—or you could just tell me where we’re going. I’m fine either way.”
“Hold your horses, we’re almost there, and I bet you’re going to like it,” he tells me, tugging at the collar of his white T-shirt like he’s hot. He’s almost always in one and jeans. His style reminds me of Lucian.
I narrow my eyes at him. “That didn’t sound like a clue.”
Benedict chuckles at that.
I lean forward towards the seats in front, deciding to take a different approach to get my answer. “Joe,” I call out to my driver, and he glances at me. “Where are we going?”
Either Benedict got to him first, or he overheard our conversation and sided with him because he shrugs, not answering me.
How unfair is it that Joe knows and I don’t? Well, he ought to know, given he’s the one driving us, but still…
I throw myself back into the seat and pout.
Benedict looks at me and laughs a little. “You weren’t taught patience as a kid, were you?”
I shake my head and smile. “Not really.”
He leans forward and kisses me. I must say, that’s a pretty damn good tactic to make me stop asking questions.
Benedict was right—I do like it. We’re at Gordon’s Wine Bar, seated in the cave-like space inside. It’s cosy, the lights are dim and relaxed, and I’m happy in any place that has a lot of wine.
We ordered multiple types of wine, each paired with a cheese.
“I think… this one is my favourite,” I say, pointing to one of the last wines we’ve tried, as I’ve already forgotten its name. “But I’m not sure if it’s because of the cheese pairing. The first one was also really good, but I didn’t like the cheese as much.”
Benedict is about to say something when he suddenly tenses, his gaze locking onto something behind me. Curious, I turn to see what has caught his attention, and I spot a person walking straight towards us.
