Easy Virtue by Asher Mia

Author:Asher, Mia [Asher, Mia]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Mia Asher
Published: 2014-12-01T16:00:00+00:00

We bask in the after-sex glow, Ronan’s arms wrapped around me. I trace the outline of the tiger tattooed on his left pectoral. A French quote runs along the back of the animal.

“What does this mean?”

“‘What is essential is invisible to the eye.’ It’s a quote from The Little Prince. It was my mom’s favorite book.”

“Oh, I love that. I haven’t read that book yet. I should check it out.”

“You definitely should.”

“So I guess this is the part where we’re supposed to bond by sharing earth-shattering truths about ourselves.”

“Yeah?” He tightens his hold on me and nuzzles my neck. “I thought we bonded all right.”

I flick him on his side, making him chuckle. “Not that type of bonding, you pervert. I’ll start. I love the smell of wet grass and old books. I’m a die-hard Janeite and I love dogs.” I chuckle, remembering Jalina. “When I was a little girl, my mom found a mutt puppy abandoned in a cardboard box in the empty lot behind our house. She was going to take it to a shelter, but my dad told her to give the puppy to me instead. Anyway, I named her Jalina. My nanny told me that I would dress her in my mom’s clothes and put makeup on her, and the poor dog wouldn’t even bat an eyelash. God, I loved her so much. She was my best friend.”

He kisses my bare shoulder before he grabs a strand of black hair and twirls it in his fingers. “What happened to Jalina, and what’s a Janeite?”

“Old age,” I say, feeling the familiar pang in my chest whenever I think of her. It’s been nine years since she passed away and not a day goes by when I don’t miss her. “And a Janeite is basically someone who’s obsessed with anything about and related to Jane Austen. Okay, your turn.”

“Let’s see … the details are muddled because it’s been so long, but one of my favorite memories is of my mom holding her camera and taking pictures of my father while he painted Jackie’s bedroom a light pink. I remember thinking she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. I think that’s when my love for photography was born.”

“How old were you when your …” I hesitate.

He finishes the question for me. “When my parents passed away? I was seven. They dropped me off at school because it was snowing and they didn’t want me to take the bus since the roads were covered in ice. They never made it back.”

My heart breaks for the little boy that he was. “I’m so sorry, Ronan.”

“It’s okay, it’s been a very long time. I just hate the fact that I have to look at their pictures to remember their faces. It’s not fair, you know? They were so full of life, so fucking beautiful, and now all that’s left of them are frozen and lifeless images on paper. By staring at those pictures, you would never know that my mom had the sweetest laugh and always smelled like cookies.

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