Page 15 of Hooked
“I know.” She sniffed. “And you’re going to be amazing. And I know you miss the city. We’ll just miss you here. I’d gotten so used to you being here, I just assumed you wanted to stay, and I guess I shouldn’t have.”
“Will you stop? I haven’t decided anything yet.”
“Have you told Jeremy?” Daisy asked.
“Why do you keep asking about Jeremy? I just toldyou,” Tayla said. “Why do you think I would have told him yet?”
Daisy and Emmie exchanged a look.
“What is that look?”
“Just…” Emmie shrugged. “You two are close.”
“No, we’re not. We’re friends.” Tayla took a sip of iced tea, trying to rid herself of the lump in her throat. “Just like you and Daisy and I are friends. We’re friends. That’s all.”
“You’re so full of shit,” Daisy said.
“Yeah,” Emmie said. “I’m trying to think of the last time we exchanged sexual innuendos the way you and Jeremy do, and I’m coming up blank.”
“You’re imagining things. Just because you all are happily married and…” She looked at Emmie. “…whatever you and Ox are, doesn’t mean I want a boyfriend. I don’t do boyfriends.”
“You and Jeremy are perfect for each other,” Daisy said. “And it’s obvious the chemistry is there. Why wouldn’t you—?”
“’Cause we’re not perfect for each other, okay? And I don’t want a boyfriend.” Tayla’s cheeks flushed. “Some people aren’t made for monogamy. Some of us don’t want to be tied down. Don’t want to come home to the same person every day and every night. Don’t want to get bored always knowing exactly how the day is going to go and what the other person is going to do and what the other person is going to say and…” She looked up at Daisy and Emmie. “No offense. Relationships are nice. For other people.”
Daisy leaned her chin on her hand. “No offense taken. I just think it’s amusing that you think being married to Spider is either boring or predictable.”
“I wasn’t thinking of Spider.”
Emmie was smiling. “She was thinking of Ox. She thinks Ox is boring.”
“I’m not thinking of either of your partners, okay?”
“Who were you thinking about?”
“I don’t know.”
Daisy said, “She’s imagining a fictional person she’d never fall in love with in the first place. She’s imagining being married to an accountant or something.”
“Hey! I’m an accountant.”
“See? Most people think accountants are boring, and aren’t they wrong?”
“Yeah?” Tayla said. “Most people in relationships start complaining about them after about three years. And then they get married, and it’s one long stream of complaints for the next twenty-five or thirty years. They’re miserable, but they do nothing to change it. Why on earth would I want that?”
Emmie looked at Daisy. “This is about her parents.”
“Will you shut up?” Tayla said. “I’m going to miss you so much when I move back to the city. Sarcasm font.”
Emmie narrowed her eyes. “You know, you don’t have to say ‘sarcasm font’ when you’re actually speaking. We get it.”
Daisy reached for her hand. “We love you, and we don’t want you to leave us. Who on earth is going to know all the French history answers for trivia if you leave? Spider will never forgive you if you abandon the team and we have to start paying for beer on trivia night.”
Tayla groaned. “You guyssssss. Why are you making me feel guilty for a job I don’t even have? A job that you both said I’d be perfect for?”
“Because we love you, you pain in the ass. And Metlin would suck without you.” Emmie stood. “I have to get back to the shop. I’ll talk to you later.”
“I thought we were having lunch,” Tayla said.
