Sugar

20

How did my life get here again?

"I love that," he grinned, waiting for me to decide where I was going to drop my piece without messing up my winning streak that I was oh so proud of. "I was really intrigued by your name when I found that it was in fact not Mary Thompson." He joked, referring to the fake name I'd used on Sugar.

"Yeah," I chuckled, shaking my head and finally dropping my piece. "Sorry about that, I just didn't want any creepy guys figuring out who I was and murdering me, you know? Just couldn't take the chance over a silly app."

He chuckled, nodding along with me but not making any move to calculate his next placement.

"Are you still on there?" He asked nonchalantly as he finally began surveying the game between the two of us, figuring out the best place to drop his game piece.

I glanced up to him, finding his gaze adverted and I mulled over the question he'd decided to hit me with.

"No, I deleted it the night after you gave me your number, actually," I admitted truthfully, thinking back to the events that had taken place the day after we'd met on Sugar.

Rico was convinced it was fate, and even though I'm not completely sold on the whole idea of fate, I can't say the fact that millionaire Vincent De Bellis and Brandon Smith found their way into Glenn's the day after I met Vincent online wasn't odd to me.

"I can't say I'm not pleased with that," he admitted in return, finally looking up at me through his lashes, causing something to flutter in my stomach. He leaned in, over the game between us once more like he had earlier.

I found my breath hitching in my throat as he inched his lips close to mine, my heart thudding erratically in my chest as I breathed in the minty air that he breathed out.

"Connect four," he whispered.

• • •

"Sexual tension galore!" Rico exclaimed at my retelling of my night that I'd had with the infamous Vincent De Bellis.

I told him everything from how buttery the mashed potatoes were to the job he'd offered me. Rico was over the moon at every single detail, squealing like a teenage girl who received a car for her birthday.

"No," I groaned aloud, leaning back from him as he gave me a pointed look. "No, there's no sexual tension because we both have the mutual agreement of a platonic relationship that is simply beneficial for the both of us. Mostly me, but that's aside the point."

Rico rolled his eyes dramatically as he continued flipping through the channels of my TV, looking for something interesting.

"Yeah, and there's absolutely no way you would ever be able to fall in love with ridiculously sexy, obviously smart, super kind, and stupidly rich Vincent De Bellis," he scoffed, rolling his eyes playfully as he finally settled on an old rerun of Friends.

I groaned aloud, leaning back into my couch and tilting myself more towards the TV on the other side of the room.

"It's not that I don't think it's possible, it's that I won't allow for it to even be a possibility because we're just too different. I understand difference is key in a healthy relationship but we're on two totally different ends of life. I'm in college and he's the boss of his own goddamn business! I want to be an art teacher and he's a businessman. We couldn't possibly be any different," I sighed, pulling my blanket further up onto my lap as I loosely paid attention to the show on the TV.

Rico shook his head, something I saw out of the corner of my eye.

"Okay, but just remember on your wedding that that I'm the one who gets to say I told ya so!"

"How was your night, Rico?" I asked, urging the topic of our talk to shift elsewhere than the riveting relationship between Vincent and Florence.

"It was good, I went and got some di—,"

"No, no, no, no!" I yelled, swiftly covering my ears as I knew exactly what he was about to say. "I'm happy for you but nope."

Rico laughed a loud, boisterous, hearty laugh.

• • •

q: favorite band?