Page 9 of Desserts for Stressed People

Shane:

Damn. Double read?! You’re heartless!

I whimper. I can’t help it—it bursts out of me like the cork off a champagne bottle. Opening the chat, I type without a second thought.

Nevaeh:

I wasn’t planning to leave you on read. I was trying to figure out what to say.

Before I have time to read the message, I’ve sent it.

“Oh my God,” I whisper, staring at my phone. Have I seriously answered? And... is that what I chose to say? What a dork.

Shane:

Oh, so you do have a heart. Any luck?

No, no luck whatsoever. Luck wouldn’t know my address, should she ever choose to visit. Luck would be if Shane didn’t match back with me, and we weren’t having this conversation.Luck would be Alex not cheating on me after a five-year relationship to begin with.

I cross my legs in the center of the bed, staring at my phone, clueless about what to say. My whole body throbs, and I know I need to answer withsomething, but I can’t think of a single thing.Saving me the trouble, he texts again.

Shane:

What are you up to?

I drop my phone, eyes flaring. Is he making conversation? He asked me to meet, and I haven’t accepted. Why hasn’t he lost interest?

Nevaeh:

Going to sleep.

I should ask what he’s doing—it’d be the polite thing to say. But I don’t, because I don’t want to open the door for him to propose to meet again.The three dots jumping up and down on the screen tell me he’s typing.

Shane:

I can never fall asleep before two or three in the morning.

It’s dangerous what this does to me. To have the first piece of the puzzle about this man. I know something about him, and the information reverberates through me. Does he have insomnia? Is he a workaholic? A night owl?

Maybe I can ask.

Nevaeh:

Why?

Shane:

I’m not sure. If you ask my mom, she’ll probably say I fucked up my sleep cycle when I was a teenager. My guess? Stress.

A smile twists my lips. Problem, though. I want to know more. Typing again, my fingers shake with adrenaline. I recognize the tingling in my body, my muscles tensing like I’ll jolt to the other side of the room.

Nevaeh:

What’s stressing you?

Shane:

At the moment, not knowing if and when you’ll leave me on read. But normally, work. My crazy family.

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