Chapter Eight – Cullen
CHAPTER EIGHT
CULLEN
I toss my suit jacket and tie onto the couch, dropping my leather backpack to the floor. A deep sigh leaves my lungs, with the weight of a thousand pounds.
What a long fucking day.
Between setting everything up for the move, the issues with my lawyer, and getting ghosted by Clifton Bank, it is a headache in the making.
I’d known this would be the case, that the second I decided to move back to the city, the peace from the last couple of years would come to an end. There are benefits to returning home—but I know the risks involved too.
What I hadn’t foreseen was Verity.
Something about that woman is different. She is like a refreshing breeze during a heatwave, blasting into the hectic hell of my life with a sunshiny dose of serotonin. I am already craving the next time I see her, counting down the days to our next date.
I haven’t wanted someone like this in years.
Fuck , I’d honestly started to worry that I would never get this desperate urge for another person ever again.
A dark part of my soul had been convinced that life had given me my one shot at romance only for it to blow up like a nuclear bomb and leave me scarred for eternity—the radiation warding off any potential love.
I fill a glass tumbler with a few fingers of whiskey and weave through the piles of boxes in my apartment to the balcony door. The spring breeze in Miami is a lot warmer than in the city, and the ocean view from my apartment is one I am going to miss.
At least I sold it for a nice chunk of cash. I’d considered renting it out, but I have two other rental properties I am managing right now, and I’m not exactly in the mood to deal with more people. I have enough crap on my plate as it is.
I take a sip of the spicy amber liquid, letting it coat my throat with a mild but welcome burn.
I’m enjoying the salty ocean air when my phone buzzes in rapid succession in my pocket.
I swear, if this is—
VERITY: Hey!!!
VERITY: Whatre you up to
VERITY: ????
VERITY: busy??
I smile at her barrage of texts.
ME: hey, not much. Just got back from work
VERITY: oooof so late?
VERITY: I’m sorry that sucks
ME: it’s fine - i’ve got a cute girl texting me instead
VERITY: i really hope u mean me…
ME: yes, you
ME: what’re you up to?
VERITY: just out with a friend
VERITY: grabbing a drink after work
VERITY: or a couple :P
ME: a friend?
VERITY: this girl I work with
ME: ah I see
VERITY: yeah my boss was in a MOOD today
VERITY: hence the happy hour margaritas
ME: didn’t happy hour end hours ago?
VERITY: technicallyy
VERITY: im about to head home
ME: let me guess – the subway?
VERITY: omg stoppp
VERITY: the subway is FINE
ME: says the girl who had...how many margaritas?
VERITY: does the number rlly matter
ME: where did u go?
VERITY: casa de verano
VERITY: have u been?
VERITY: Cullen?
VERITY: :(
ME: a black 2025 Acura Integra license plate N10 SYE will be there in 3 min
VERITY: …
VERITY: wdym?
ME: I got u a car home
ME: No subways for drunk verity
VERITY: CULLEN?! U CANNOT KEEP ORDERING ME CARS
ME: you cant stop me
ME: he’s out front
ME: don’t make him wait. I dont want to decrease my 5 star rating
The texts disappear, quickly filled with an image of my own face as she tries to video call me. I swipe to answer, immediately greeted by an awkward angle of her shoulder as she gets inside what I assume is the Acura.
“Hey.”
There’s some loud shuffling before she rights the phone and stares at me with the cutest pout known to man. The car is dark, but the city lights shine with enough brightness to illuminate her features as she leans back against the leather seats.
“I can’t believe you called me a car. You’re not even here. How’d you even do that?” Her words are a little thick, confirming that she is most definitely tipsy.
“That’s the magic of technology.”
She pouts again, and I try to hide my smile as I take another sip of whiskey.
“Are you outside?”
“I’m on my balcony.”
“You have a balcony!” She presses her face close to the screen. “What’s the view?”
“The ocean.”
Her jaw drops dramatically. “Seriously?”
“Here.”
I flip the camera around to show her what I’m looking at. It’s a little hard to make out the beach because of how dark it is, but you can see the reflection of the moonlight glazing over the waves.
“Oh wow, that’s so pretty.”
“Yeah, I’m going to miss it.”
“But you’ll be closer to me.”
I flip the camera back around. “That is true. And you are a much prettier view.”
“That’s so cheesy, but I don’t hate it.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I never know what you’re going to say. One moment you’re super sweet, the next you have me blushing like a tomato.”
“Like when I tell you that your boobs look amazing in that blouse?”
“Stop! The driver can hear you.”
“So?”
“No NSFW talk in the car.”
“Fine, fine. What do you want to talk about?”
“Hm, I don’t know.” She purses her lips and stares out the window for a second, the bright lights flashing over her face in a kaleidoscope of colors. I wasn’t kidding when I said she was a prettier view. I could stare at her all day. “I’ve never been to Miami before.”
“Really?”
“Nope. I actually haven’t traveled much, period.”
“Any particular reason?”
“Money.”
“That makes sense.”
“Yeah. At one point, I was hoping to save up for traveling, but student loans and stuff got in the way.”
I swirl the last inch of whiskey in my glass, the ice clinking around absently. “If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?”
“Probably Paris, London, or Moscow,” she answers immediately as though she’s thought about this a hundred times before.
“Why those three places?”
“They have the best ballet theaters.”
“You like ballet?”
“Love it, actually. I practiced it when I was a kid, for years.”
“Why’d you stop?”
“Money, again. My parents couldn’t really afford the lessons as I got older, and it became clear I wouldn’t become some prima ballerina anyway.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not exactly the right build.” She’s silent for a beat.
“But I still love going to watch it. Although, it’s been a few years.
I think the last ballet I saw was my freshman year of college.
The department put on the Nutcracker for the winter semester, and they had discounted tickets for students.
It was phenomenal. I think one of the girls even ended up getting scouted by the American Ballet Theatre.
What about you? Have you ever seen the ballet before? ”
She’s doing that adorable rambling thing again.
“I haven’t. But I wouldn’t be opposed if I were going with you.”
“Really?”
“Verity, there are very few things I wouldn’t do when it comes to you.”
“That’s a lot of power you’re giving me.”
“I don’t mind.”
She laughs. “What did you want to be when you were a kid?”
“What did I want to be?”
“Yeah. Like, I wanted to be a ballerina since I was five. That or a vet for a very, very brief stint in middle school until I realized that it wasn’t just looking after cute animals but also dealing with them dying, which is extremely depressing to think about.
I can’t even watch movies where an animal dies, imagine having to tell a pet owner that their—ugh, I can’t even say it.
Nope. Back to my question. What did you want to be? I kind of get astronaut-kid vibes.”
I chuckle. “Astronaut-kid vibes?”
“That’s not a bad thing! It’s a compliment. You seem like the sort of person who’s always reaching for the stars, always wanting to be more than what the world offers.”
That is strangely flattering and also oddly accurate. I’m not sure how she’d managed to notice that about me.
“Okay, I believe you. Thank you for the compliment.”
“You haven’t answered my question.”
“All right, all right. A kid, huh?” I try to think back. “Probably a firefighter.”
“Really?” She says it like it’s the most out of pocket thing she’s ever heard.
“What? You can’t see me as a firefighter?”
“Well, I guess I could see you on one of those hunky calendars. Just wearing the pants and suspenders, body slick with sweat and soot.”
“I knew it. You do think I’m hot.”
“I—Oh, look at that. It’s my apartment. Well, gotta go. Great talking to you. Byeeee.”
“Verity—”
She hangs up on me. She actually hangs up on me.
That’s the second time she’s avoided that statement.
I laugh to myself, draining the last of my whiskey and heading back inside.
One simple conversation with her and that headache from earlier has completely gone away. The stress that weighed on my shoulders all day, that I carried with me all the way home, had drifted off as she had me hanging on her every word.
I am more determined than ever to keep that girl in my life.