Page 86 of The Dating Dare

When she made it out to the parking lot, Tara headed straight for her car. She was hyperventilating and couldn’t get much air in at all. She opened the door and sat leaning out with her head between her legs. The humiliating position was supposed to help with the hyperventilation.

Once she got her breath back, tears were streaming down her face again.Shiiit.She thought she’d pretty much cried herself out for theday. Now she was going to get dehydrated. Yes, hydration was what she was most worried about. She was losing it. This was an emergency. She fumbled for her phone and typed with shaking hands.

TARA:Code Fuck fuckity fuck.

AUBREY:I thought our emergency code was shit shit shit.

TARA:Aubrey!

AUBREY:Right. Sorry.

AUBREY:Where are you?

AUBREY:Do you need to talk ASAP?

AUBREY:Do you want me to come right now?

Before she could respond to her best friend’s faster-than-a-speeding-bullet questions, her phone rang.

Without preamble, Tara said, “Yes.”

“Okay. I’m leaving now.” She heard Aubrey shuffling around on the other end. “Landon, I need to go out. Tara needs me.”

“What’s going on? Is she okay?” Landon’s worried voice murmured.

“No, she’s not okay. She used the emergency code.”

“Oh, shit. Why are you still here? Go.”

“Thanks, honey. You know the drill with Morgan, right?”

“Of course, I do. Iamher dad.”

“I love you,” Aubrey said.

“I love you, too,” Landon echoed in a soft voice.

Tara could almost see their tender kiss before Aubrey rushed out the door, which shut quite loudly behind her.

“I’m on my way,” Aubrey said briskly. “Where are you?”

“I’m in my car at the brewery parking lot,” Tara replied, suddenlylimp with exhaustion. She pulled her legs into the car and shut the door.

“I’ll be right there. Do you want me to stay with you on the phone?”

“No. You should focus on driving. I’ll be fine.”

“Okay. I’ll see you soon. Call me back if you need to. I’m on hands-free mode.”

“Drive safely.” Tara hung up the phone and closed her eyes. She must’ve fallen asleep, because the next thing she remembered was a knock on her car window. She shot up from her seat and almost hit her head on the car ceiling before she got her bearings.

“Tara, are you okay?” Aubrey asked, trying to open the driver’s-side door.

“No,” she waved her friend over to the passenger seat and unlocked the doors. She must’ve locked them at some point.Safety first!The thought struck her as hilarious, and she was cackling like a witch when Aubrey got into the car.

Without a word, her best friend wrapped her up in a warm hug. The hysterical laughter quieted, and her breathing became steady. She hugged Aubrey back, and they sat like that for a few minutes. Tara had missed her while she was away, and now her world seemed normal again. Her life was still fucked up in the normal world, but it was nice to have some stability.

“So I did something while you were gone,” Tara said, sitting back in her seat.

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