“What?” he asked when he noticed me staring.

“That’s fucking nasty, bro. That’s what.”

“Have you ever tried it?” He tilted the bag of chips and jar of peanut butter toward me.

“Hell no.”

“It’s like ugly girls, man. Don’t knock it ‘til you try it. The ugly girls try harder.” He laughed.

One of the girls sucked her teeth at him and threw a couch pillow at his face.

“That’s not very nice.” She chuckled. “Are you trying to say an ugly girl would be better in bed than me?” She ran her hands down her body to make a statement.

“Who’s to say you’re not one of the ugly girls I’m referring to?” He lifted a brow and stuck another chip in his mouth.

The rest of the room laughed, including her friend, but she was pissed.

I’d had enough of the whole scene, and I wanted to check on Patience. I went back to my room, but the lights were off and she was cuddled up in my bed, sleeping. Instead of waking her and trying to get her to talk, I stuffed a burger down my throat, jumped in the shower, and went to bed. We slept on opposite sides like an old married couple. It sucked.

The next morning, after a shitty night of sleep, I was up before her. She’d rolled over toward me during the night and had her arm and leg thrown across me. I ran my fingers through her hair and lay there until the sun was full in the sky.

Her breathing changed when she woke up, and I waited for her to pull herself away from me. I didn’t want to let her go. Instead, she looked up at me and smiled.

“Good morning,” she said in a sleepy voice as she leaned down and softly kissed me.

I kissed her back and captured her face in my hands. I wasn’t sure what the hell happened the night before, but I no longer cared. As long as she was okay, I was okay. Everyone was allowed to have a moment, especially Patience, considering what she’d been through. I assumed I’d walked in on her having a moment and she was embarrassed.

She looked sick more than anything the night before, but everyone gets upset differently.

“So can we sight see today?”

She got up on her knees and straddled me. She looked beautiful in the morning sun with a sleepy smile and her hair falling around her face. Being with her would never get old. I’d never want another woman for the rest of my life.

I hadn’t realized it when I got in bed the night before, but I could see now that she was wearing my T-shirt and a pair of my boxers. She never needed to wear her clothes again if she didn’t want to. She looked amazing in my clothes and something about it felt personal. I liked it.

“I’ll show you some sights,” I said as I leaned up and kissed her again.

She laughed against my lips and pushed me back.

“No. No keeping me trapped in this room. As much as I adore the feel of you between my legs, I’ve never been to California and there’s so much I want to see. I’ll only be here two more days.”

“I’m sorry. All I heard was you liked the way I feel between your legs,” I said as I flipped her over onto her back and climbed on top of her.

I loved it when she laughed. Real laughter, not the fake shit she used to do when I first met her. It made me feel good to be able to make her face light up.

I kissed her harder and she whined against my mouth, making my cock swell and throb. I broke the kiss and looked down at her again. She wrapped her arms around my neck and played with the hair on the back on my neck.

“Please, Zeke, show me California,” she begged sweetly.

“I’ll show you the world if that’s what you want.”

Anything she wanted.

*

After seeing the Hollywood sign and walking the entire Hollywood Walk of Fame, we ate lunch at a cute sidewalk café, and then I took her to the coast so she could dip her toes in the Pacific. She looked like a beach goddess running into the water just deep enough to cover her ankles. Her sandy hair blew in the breeze and every now and again she’d look over at me and smile.

She wrote our names in the sand and took a picture of it with her phone, and then I carried her piggyback style back to my car.

“Today was perfect,” she said as I opened her car door for her.

“You’re perfect.” I kissed the tip of her nose and waited until she was seated to close the door.

I didn’t know who I was anymore, but whoever this new person was, I liked him, and Patience seemed to like him, too. I was the happiest I’d ever been, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to swoop in and destroy it all.