Bainbridge Bride

Chapter 17

"I think it's time for another adventure, Paige." Kent says, popping a grape into his mouth. I shoot daggers at him.

"I think that I have work tomorrow." I tell him, changing the channel.

"Come on, Paige. My parents are here for another week and then you're free from the Bainbridge family." Kent pleads. Every time I wanna do something, I have to run it by Kent or make sure that he doesn't have anything planned for us. Is this what a real relationship is like? If so, commitment totally isn't my thing.

"No means no. Can't you pick another day?" I whine.

"What if we take you to a music festival and then have dinner on the roof of DiMaggio?" Kent compromises my two favorite things. I bury my head in my hands, unsure of how to decline. There's never an easy way to tell Kent no.

"It's tomorrow, right?" I ask, biting my finger nervously. Kent nods. At this point it would be best for me to quit my job, but I only have one more week left of this fake relationship.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow morning okay?" Kent pats my back affectionately. I currently have forty-one vacation days stocked up since I've been working at the same book store since my freshman year of high school. My mother isn't home and I don't want to call her and ask what she's doing tomorrow.

My father however, is still in the hospital after undergoing another emergency surgery. Visiting him made it harder to take days off, so I kept my vow to visit once every three days.

Hospitals make me sick.
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"Do you want something to eat, Paige?" Kent asks as we walk through the grass with his parents. Olivia narrows her eyes at Kent.

"Kenton, you will not feed your girlfriend truck food." Olivia demands. I almost laugh since she doesn't know that I love truck food. Arthur nods in agreement.

"Your mother is right, she'll wait into we get to DiMaggio later." Arthur wolfs. I roll my eyes at him, letting him know that I'll eat what I want.

"Actually, let's go get a funnel cake Kent." I tell Kent and drag him over to a funnel cake car.

"Do you wanna share? I won't eat it all." I tell Kent who looks very apprehensive and nervous at the moment. He takes his bottom lip between his teeth.

"Yeah, I guess." he says. He pays for the funnel cake and we sit on a bench next to his parents. Kent takes in a mouthful of the funnel cake.

"Why haven't I ever had this before?" Kent asks with powdered sugar all over his mouth.

"Because it's unhealthy and disgusting." Arthur mutters under his breath. I scowl at him but immediately decide to change my attitude with an alternative.

"It's very good actually, would you like to try some?" I ask, throwing the plate onto Arthur's lap. The powdered sugar spills on his black pants. He dusts it off roughly.

"No, thank you Paige. I don't like sweet things." Arthur spits. Of course he didn't like sweet things.

"Especially sweet personalities." Olivia laughs. I throw away the plate and we wander further into the festival, listening to bands that I've never heard of. The smell of a bonfire drifts in the wind and the rocky pathway crumbles beneath my feet.

"Henna tattoo?" a woman asks in a heavy accent. I look over at Kent for approval which is given with a nod.

"I think I'll have one too. Remember our trip to India, Arthur?" Olivia beams. She links our arms and we go into the shady tent.

I watch as the woman creates a floral pattern over my lightly tanned skin. She draws a crescent moon on the space between my thumb and index finger. She washes off the paste, leaving a red tinted pattern.

"The moon," she traces a finger over my skin. "Is a symbol that tells us something very important. Things do not always go as planned, they often change in our favor. A moon also symbolizes supremacy; one will follow your command and bow down to you." the woman releases my hand, leaving me dumbfounded.

"Apparently you're a queen, Paige." Arthur says, inspecting Olivia's carefully crafted henna. Kent's breathing quickens substantially.

"I think we should go." Kent suggests. Olivia nods vigorously in agreement.

"No no, it's whatever the princess wants isn't it?" Arthur says devilishly.

hello my fabulous readers,
I'm really sorry for not updating in so long, I've been really busy. but as soon as the weekend comes I promise I'll try to give longer & better quality chapters in the future. maybe when life slows down I'll even write another book?!
-mckelvie