Page 51 of Falling into Place
Oh boy. “Okay.”
Her eyes darted to the sidewalk. “I wasn’t the one messaging you, exactly.”
They were blocking the crowd flow, so he moved closer to the building, gently tapping her elbow to encourage her to follow. “Sorry?”
“My, um, sister? She was the one talking to you. I saw you on thatSip & See OKCmorning show, and I wanted to meet you so bad. You’re, like, so cute and seemed like such a nice guy. You wouldn’t believe the assholes out there.”
His cheeks heated both at the compliment and the fact she’d just admitted to duping him. He wouldn’t turn it around and tell her she was kind of an asshole for lying to him, even if it sort of felt true.
“But I don’t know, I guess I wasn’t sure you’d like me, so I asked my sister to help me.”
“So you didn’t think we’d be compatible, but instead of moving on you asked your sister to lie and pretend to be you so I’d want to ask you out?”
“I thought maybe we just needed to meet. I know I’m supposed to, like, be good at texting and messages and stuff. But I’m so much better in person. I love to dance and know all the best clubs in town. I figured since you were the brother of the girl who runs such a fun magazine you were probably a lot like her, but maybe you just didn’t put that on your dating profile.”
He kept his voice neutral, more resigned than angry. “Nope. I’m just as boring as I seemed.”
“Oh.”
“I see you’re not going to refute the boring part,” he muttered. “Listen, I’m sorry you’ve had some bad experiences. Men can be jerks. But I thought I was meeting a woman who likes the same kind of music and loves my favorite sports team. I want to spend time with someone I can talk to and who shares the same interests as me, like a low-key Friday night where we walk around to look at art and drink coffee and craft beer. Doing shots and dancing at a club isn’t really my style, so I’m just not sure how much fun we’d have together, you know?”
She nodded, scrunching her nose. “I’m sorry.” She fiddled with her purse strap for a few seconds. “So, I think I’m gonna go.”
“I’ll walk you back to your car.”
They remained silent as they went, and he was thankful she’d parked nearby.
He thought about telling her it was nice to meet her, but instead he scratched at his jaw. He really had wanted to meet the woman he’d messaged with. “So, this sister ...?”
“She’s gay.”
Well, damn. He couldn’t catch a break.
It was only eight o’clock when he got in his car. Despite usually being such a homebody, he didn’t feel like going home just yet. It was as ifhis mind had committed itself to being social most of the night and he didn’t know how to turn it off.
He could go to Macy’s to see his nephews, but he wasn’t really dressed for wrestling, and Carly would kill him if he ripped these pants. Then he remembered she’d texted him earlier that afternoon about finding a perfect royal-blue shirt for him (Carly-approved for Thunder games!!she’d said) while out shopping with another client. He turned on the car to get the air going and grabbed his phone from where he’d tossed it on the passenger seat.
Brooks:perfect? i’ll be the judge of that. but thanks.
Carly:You’ll love it. Feel free to come by and grab it whenever.
Brooks:you seem awfully confident I won’t want you to return it, but okay
Brooks:i’m out and about now, are you busy?
As soon as he pressed send, he cringed. It was Friday night; surely she had plans.
Carly:Nope, you can come now.
Carly:Wait, didn’t you have a date tonight?
Brooks:yeah, it was Not GoodTM
Carly:Oh no, what happened?
Brooks:don’t ask
He’d never been to Carly’s place and asked for her address. She lived in an apartment just ten minutes away, and soon he stood outside her door. He crossed his arms, then dropped them to his sides. And reached up to smooth his hair. What was that tug behind his belly button, and why hadn’t he felt it two hours ago before meeting his date?
