Page 96 of Eat. Prey. Love.
Rufus smirks, the corners of his lips twitching upwards as he leans back, arms outstretched as if embracing the memories. “The Kavarit triplets are a handful, but you know me—never one to shy away from a challenge.” He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, and I can’t help but laugh. His innuendo about his three Sphinx men doesn’t just border on scandalous—it gleefully leaps over the line.
“Triple the fun, huh?” I tease, joining in on the playful banter. “I bet they kept all of your… attentions busy.”
His laughter fills the room, a rich sound that always makes me smile. “Oh, Dollypop, you’re getting better at this! But the break wasn’t just playtime, unfortunately. I got some epic B roll for the documentary. The scenery was almost as breathtaking as the company.”
“Almost?” I arch a brow, earning another chuckle from him. “I highly doubt that.”
Cori remains unusually tight-lipped, her gaze fixed on her brightly colored nails. It’s unlike her to be this quiet, especially when there’s gossip to share. “And what about you, Coco? Your silence is louder than Rufus’ crowing about his sex-capades.”
She shrugs noncommittally, a flicker of something crossing her face before she schools it back into neutrality. “Just sorting things out for the uniforms and getting all this damn work done,” she says. Her nose wrinkles and she waves her hand. “Since we were all dumped into the frying pan with the end of year projects, I feel like that’s all we can do outside of a few social things. You know?”
“You didn’t have any fun?” I press as my radar goes off when she tries to wiggle out of specifics again.
What’s going on with her? Is she still mourning Giselle?
“It's a lot, D,” she says with a sigh. “I’ve been finalizing the uniforms for the entire Pred Games team, and there’s a lot oflogistics involved in making sure they’re up to quality standards when I can’t just make them all myself. I have to make sure they don’t damage the brand I’m building.”
“Isn’t Zhenga helping?,” I ask with a frown. “If not, I’ll talk to her. She’s supposed to make this easy for you since you’re doing her a massive favor with the rebranding of the team.”
Her eyes widen and she shakes her pastel, rainbow curls. “No, no! She is helping, but you know how I am. And I have to make sure I can compete with my family in the public eye. It’s daunting.”
“Okay, now that you’ve Spanish Inquisitioned Coco, spill it. Your turn to share more spring break shenanigans,” Rufus prods, his eyebrows wiggling with mischief. “That will lighten up this party because you havefivehunks of man meat.”
I grin, leaning back into the plush cushions of my suite’s main room. “Well, I had some luxurious times and some blah times, just like you, Ru-Ru. It was pretty amazing, especially since no F-A-E tried to ruin our vacay. I’d even say… transformative.”
“Transformative? That’s a big word for ‘I got some tail, Dollykins,“ Cori teases, her eyes sparkling with amusement.
This switch flipping with her is really weird and I have to get Rufus alone to talk about it. She’s worrying me.
“Ha,” I snort, intentionally ignoring her pun. “Fitz brought me something to balance out the scales—literally. Someone will be regretting their bullshit when they hobble across campus missing one of their piggies.”
Rufus howls with laughter, “I’m picturing that chick trying to sashay her way around the green with a bandaged foot and it’sdelicious.”
“After that, his brother took his turn—and notthatway, pervs,” I say quickly. “Felix had me training hard for the next scrimmage every morning. He’s relentless when it comes to making me faster and able to last longer if I need to run.”
“Well, you do have to work off all the yummy stuff your cheetah makes. Speaking of Chess, what did he do besides try to make us all roll to the bed later with this food?” Cori grins a little and I feel that pit in my stomach knot more. She’s definitely hiding something.
“Chessie joined Fitz and me for yoga sessions that twisted me into knots I didn’t know existed. Plus, he cooked up a storm—his paremesan garlic fries are to die for.”
“Sounds tasty and hot at the same time,” Rufus says as he reaches for the cheesy delights on the table. “I’d love to watch those boys wrestling into yoga poses with their muscles?—”
“Rufus! It wasn’t a hot oil wrestling match. Just realxing, mediatative yoga,” I say, chuckling. “Since I have so much work, we tried to keep most of the time very low-key and low effort. We were all knitting together at one point. You should have seen the guys struggling with their needles.
“Knitting?” Rufus gasps, feigning shock before letting out a deep, rumbling laugh. “Oh, to be a fly on that wall.”
“Hey, they’re not half bad. Aubrey and Chessie are really good at it,” I defend, a smile tugging at my lips. “And of course, they were lifesavers when it came to researching papers and studying for tests—even Fitzy.”
“Speaking of life-changing experiences,” Rufus leans in, his eyes squinting at me as if he’s been waiting to ask. “Tell me about that date with the emo gargoyle.”
“It was… enchanting,” I say dreamily, then snap out of it as I catch Rufus’ expectant look. “He took me to Paris for a lovely dinner and then to aPhantomball! We danced until my feet hurt.. but the real magic happened once we got home.” I glance around conspiratorially before pulling down my shirt just enough to reveal an impressive bite mark above my breast, still tinged with purple and blue.
“Damn, girl!” Cori exclaims, while Rufus simply whistles low. “Two down, three to go.”
“Don’t be weird about it.” I smack her playfully on the arm, but I can’t help the blush creeping up my cheeks. “This is normal with mates. Everyone says so.”
Rufus arches a brow. “I suppose if you’re lucky enough tohavefated mates, it is. Not all of us are so fortunate, even if wehavefound the people we might stick with.”
Cori nods, looking less confident than before. “Not that some non-fated mates don’t… you know. Bite for marking purposes. Because they do… I’m told.”