I scoop up my shoes and socks and purposefully plop down on my side of the bed. It rocks the mattress enough to stir any normal person, but Robbie still lies there like a log. I smile. So much of him has changed, but not that?
I bounce once. Still nothing.
I slide my socks on. I drop my feet to the floor with two loud thumps. I accidentally knock a shoe off the bed.
Robbie doesn’t move.
Is he dead?
Did my vagina kill him?
As I tie off my laces, I clear my throat. I let out a little cough. Then a louder one.
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
“Robbie?” I say.
“What?” he answers, his eyes still closed.
I scoff. “How long have you been awake?”
“How’s Nora?”
I grunt with frustration as his smile curls. “She’s fine. I’m heading to her office for lunch.”
Finally, he opens his eyes and looks me up and down.
“So, you’re leaving,” he says.
“I’ve got some words to write by Monday, so...” I shrug. “Time to get back to reality.”
He folds his arms beneath his head. “I guess that’s that,” he says.
“Yeah.” My eyes drift down his abs and my gut clenches. “That’s that.”
Robbie’s smirk curls a little deeper. He says nothing. Not out loud, anyway. His eyes speak volumes, though.
You’ll be back.
Bud. Nip.
Now.
“Look, Robbie, before I leave, I just want the two of us to... you know, walk away from this on the same page. You know what I mean?”
“Completely,” he says.
I stand up. “Okay, then... we’re cool?”
He nods. “Very cool.”
“Cool.” I take a step toward the door, but pause. “And that book is...?”
“What book?” he asks.
“The book we’re on the same page of.”
He props himself up onto his elbows. “Um...”
“Because I think that book should be something more along the lines of My Friend Flicka and not... the Kama Sutra, if you know what I mean.”
Robbie chuckles. “Flicka?”
“Not that the Kama Sutra isn’t great or anything. It came in handy last night.”
“Yes, it did.”
“But I think now would be a good chance for us to agree on a new book going forward.”
He thinks for a moment. “Blood Meridian?”
I sigh. “Thank you so much for taking this seriously.”
“Well, I don’t own a horse, so I’m not sure Flicka is the best path forward for us.”
“But you feel a 19th century gang—” I shut my mouth, throwing up my hands. “You know what? Never mind. Not worth it.”
“This is fun.” Robbie grins. “Isn’t this fun?”
I exhale hard. “Rob.”
“Melanie, I get it,” he says, sitting up. “I do.”
“You do?”
“You want to go back to business as usual, and I agree.”
“You do?”
“Sure. Why not? I had fun. You had fun. You had fun, right?”
“I had fun.”
“We had fun,” he says. “If that’s all it was, then that’s all it’ll be.”
“Okay.” I nod repeatedly. “Good. Great. This is... thanks for being so understanding. I appreciate it.”
“Any time.”
I step backward. “So, tonight at my parents’ party, you’re going to be cool. Right?”
“I am the definition of cool,” he says.
“Good.” I nod. “Okay, well, I’m going to leave now. Go meet Nora.”
“Say hi for me,” he says.
I nod again, though I definitely will not be doing that. She’ll only ask questions. “Thanks again. I had a nice weekend.”
“Me, too.”
I take a swift stride toward the door to get the hell out of here before—
“However...” he begins.
— that.
I bite down as I slowly turn back around.
Robbie stands up off the bed, still naked from head-to-toe. “You realize that no one wants to read a book about two people having bed-breaking sex... and then stopping?”
“Oh, please. That’s not true,” I say. “There are loads of books like that.”
“Name one.”
I open my mouth to answer, but nothing comes out. “I don’t know, but I’m sure I’ll think of tons of them once I get some coffee.”
“Please keep me updated,” he says. “While you’re doing that, I’ll make a list of all the books that prove you wrong.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m leaving now.”
“Soulmates in Sixty Seconds,” he lists. “On His Knees. Oh, Three Nights in Rome! Can’t forget that one.”
I spin around to face him. “Oh, those don’t count! I wrote those.”
“Then, you know as well as anyone that you’ll—”
“No,” I say.
“— be—”
“Don’t you say it.”
“— back.”
I release a grunt and throw open the door. “Bye, Robbie.”
“Bye, Melanie. See you next time!”
I slam the door behind me, the sound more than a little satisfying. Damn, even our post-sex banter has gotten better, but I’ve got to stick to my guns here.
We had a fun weekend. Now it’s over.
It has to be over.
I head downstairs. The snow, which coated every inch of the world just a few hours ago, is now melting beneath the sun’s heat. So should my lust for everything Robbie, right? It shouldn’t be too difficult to go back to the way things were before.
This is my last Chicago winter.
And that was my last night with Robbie Wheeler.
Eighteen
Melanie
The lone security officer gives me a wave as I pass by his desk. Nora usually gives him notice when I’m planning on swinging by, but he’s seen me plenty of times before so he doesn’t bother stopping me. I smile, offering him a quick salute before heading toward the elevator.
I ride the car up to the fifteenth floor. While I’ve re-entered reality, it hasn’t quite entered me yet. My brain is still wrapped in a dense fog made of warm bedsheets and rough kisses…
I shake it off.
The elevator opens. The large, back-lit Little Black Book sign shines on the wall behind the empty receptionist desk. Nora treats her employees well, so I imagine she’s allowing them to work remotely through the storm if they’re needed, but she’s more of an in-office all-the-time kind of gal. The only lights on the floor come from her office. I spot her through the doorway, her blonde hair tied up in a messy ponytail as she pores
