working at a diner, he tries to make me feel better. “There’s nothing wrong with working at Rita’s, Selene.”
I expel a shaky sigh that rattles my chest, my hold on my emotions threatening to crumble. “I guess part of me feels like a failure. Back in Pasadena, I had my own store. Something that was mine, and now, I’ll be bussing tables at a diner I frequented as a child. When I thought about where I’d be in life, I didn’t think it’d be here. I thought I’d be doing amazing things by now.”
“Just because you don’t own your own store anymore doesn’t mean you aren’t doing amazing things. You’re raising a daughter on your own. That in itself is amazing.”
Slowly, I drag my gaze up, meeting his stare. My heart aches dully against my sternum. He doesn’t even know, doesn’t have a single clue, and it’s all my fault. I force a smile on my face that doesn’t quite reach my eyes. It’s meant to appease him—anything to steer away from this heavy subject.
“Thank you, End. I needed that.”
He nods, and for a second, I think he’s going to say more on the subject, but he decides not to. For that, I’m all too thankful. As much as I appreciate him trying to make me feel better, I still feel like a horrible human being. Not to mention, a failure of an adult. This train of thought is better left for the moon and me when no one else is around.
Silence descends between us as we stare out at the creek, each of us thinking about something different, I’m sure. Endymion shifts, and when he glances down at the bags sitting between us, near our legs. I feel my entire face go up in flames. Oh, hell. He pushes himself upright, reaching for the bag. Dread settles in my gut, and I silently curse Julia for making me go there tonight.
“Did you do some shopping?” he asks, picking up one of the smaller bags with all the favors inside.
“Wait, don’t!” It’s too late. I can see the second understanding dawns on his face because his eyes widen and jerk to me. “Oh, God.” I groan, dropping my head into my hands, trying to hide from him.
“Well…I wasn’t expecting that.”
A mortified laugh bursts past my lips, and I pull my hands away from my face, using it to shove at his arm. That’s a mistake, though, because in doing so, I can feel all the hard muscles beneath my palm. I have to fight the urge to curl my hand around his bicep and squeeze the muscle there.
“I can explain that. All of it. I swear it’s not mine.”
He raises a brow, amusement crinkling the corners of his eyes. There’s a crooked grin on his face that’s doing strange things to my core. He has a slight dimple in his right cheek that is so adorable that I have a hard time looking away. “Oh, it’s not?”
I come up short. “Well, it is. But technically, it’s not. My best friend’s sister was having some…sex toy party with dildos hanging from the ceiling. It was…it was hell on earth.”
Endymion tosses his head back and laughs. It’s a no-holds-barred kind of laugh. I watch his Adam’s apple bob as he works to accommodate his hysterics. “Ah, that certainly makes more sense.” He pulls out a six-inch dick-shaped gummy, and we share a look, then we both suddenly collapse into a fit of laughter. I fall into his side, resting my head on his shoulder as we chortle until tears threaten to fall from how hard I’m cackling.
“Let’s see what’s in this one,” he says, once his laughter is partly under control. He starts reaching for the bigger bag, and I toss myself back on the grass, anything to avoid having to look at him as he opens that one. When he does, I hear him choke back his amusement.
“Christ…this is…” He trails off, and I peek one eye open, raising up on my elbows to see what he’s referring to. And sure enough, the toy I won just had to be this monstrosity of a curved cock, fully equipped with beads inside that light up and roll around once it’s turned on and there’s even a clit massager. “Interesting,” he murmurs, eyeing the toy as though he’s offended such a thing exists for women. I stare at him, taking him in, the way the silver light shines on him like a spotlight.