Page 58 of Just the Tipsy
I scratch Sadie between her front legs. She’s been a nice little warm weight on my lap — just what I need since I’m on my period. Who needs a hot water bottle when you have a little dog who loves napping on you?
Plus, my nails look amazing even after a week, which makes typing feel fancy. Hanging out with Jada gave me a little burst of energy too. I forgot how much I like hanging out with people I actually like.
But reality came back in not long after. Will we still stay friends when I move to New York and “break up” with Waylon? I doubt Waylon would talk badly about me after, but it would still be a little bit awkward for her, wouldn’t it? And it’s not like I could come back to visit Jepsen without much of a reason.
I’ll figure that out once I get to that point, but thinking about it now isn’t helping me at all.
My phone lights up with a text from Waylon, saying he’s outside if I’m still free to have him help me with the house. I’d gotten so wrapped up in my studying that I forgot he was coming today. We’ve been texting off and on, mostly jokes and dog pictures, but the one thing that’s actually important slipped my mind.
I scoop up Sadie and head to the door, trying to find some chill within me. I forgot how awkward crushes are — I’m aware of everything about myself and don’t know how to look like a regular person. It’s like my arms and legs just decided to do their own thing and not communicate with each other. My period doesn’t help me feel my best either. I’m puffy and bloated. I didn’t even bother to cover my hair or use a satin pillowcase last night so my curls are all over the place.
“Hey,” I say, checking him out as subtly as I can. He’s just in what he usually wears when he comes to work on the house — old jeans and a t-shirt, but he still looks so good.
“Hey.” He smiles, holding up his tool bag. “I figured I could do some stuff outside today.”
“Yeah, sure.” I can’t keep the disappointment that he won’t be near me out of my voice, but he doesn’t seem to pick up on it. “Just let me know if you need anything or want some water or a snack. I’ll just be in the breakfast nook.”
“Sounds good.” He hesitates for a second. “I was also thinking of installing a few security cameras and a security lightfor you since it’s so dark at night. It’s fine if you don’t want them — I just figured it’d be a good idea.”
At least he leaves off the obvious part — that Kyler’s being a dickhead and a creep. But if he went through the trouble and already bought the cameras, why not?
“I’d like that.” I’m so glad my skin tone is deep enough to hide blushes, or at least make them much less obvious. “Thank you.”
“No problem.” He puts out a finger for Sadie to sniff and I hold her out so he can pet her. “I’ll start in the back, if you hear a bunch of banging around back there.”
He heads to the back and I go back to the breakfast nook. My laptop went to sleep and I don’t want to wake it up quite yet. But I told myself I’d make it through a few chapters of this book.
I sigh and call Kaitlyn just to take a break. She answers in a few rings.
“Hey, doll,” Kaitlyn says. “What’s up? Everything okay down there?”
“Yeah, it’s good.” I put Sadie on one of the other chairs and get up so I can pace around. “I was just doing some reading on business operations and needed a break.”
“That’s good. Any news on the house?” Kaitlyn asks. “You think you’ll be able to put it on the market soon?”
“It’s still a work in progress.” I wander over to the window. Waylon is down the side of the house, fixing the outside of a window. “But Waylon’s working on it.”
“Speaking of Dr. Hottie, Animal Savior…” I can hear the smirk in Kaitlyn’s voice. “How’s the bucket list stuff going? Let me live through you vicariously to escape my routine existence.”
“Yeah.” I walk back over to the pantry. “It’s…going.”
“Oh?” Kaitlyn pauses. “Is it bad?”
“No, it’s just really, really good. Like absurdly good.” I resist the urge to peek at Waylon through the window again. His asslooks way too good in his jeans. “A little too good. And he’s a little too sweet and likable.”
“Bianca…”
“I know.” I grab a bag of popcorn from the pantry. “But it’s just a dumb crush. I’ve never been in a situation where I’m banging a guy I have a crush on.”
“That wasn’t part of your plan, was it?” Kaitlyn asks.
“Of course not. But it doesn’t really matter.” I push down the ache in my chest and dump some popcorn into a bowl so I don’t slam the whole bag in one go. I don’t want to go back to the store. “I’m moving to New York and he has some baggage with his ex. He’s not interested in any relationships, ever again.”
“What’s the deal with that?”
“I’m still not completely sure, but I know enough to piece things together. His ex is super shitty and it clearly ended very badly. I don’t want to press him about it.” I hate the way the light in his eyes goes out any time his ex is even vaguely mentioned. “So everything kind of works out. I have to leave and he doesn’t even want a relationship. It’s just sex and friendship.”
“Okay. As long as you can keep that shit compartmentalized.” Kaitlyn doesn’t even try to hide her skepticism. “Speaking of relationships, some of our mutual friends told me Kyler keeps being all mopey over you, apparently.”
