Page 67 of Jingle Bell Jilt
“You look terrible,”Maggie says as she leans on the edge of her desk.
I smirk at her. “Thanks for the self-esteem boost.” I run a finger under my mascara and eyeliner-smudged eyes. I should have cleaned myself up a little better before I dropped by her school. But it’s all I could do to leave my apartment.
“Is this still about the hot landlord?”
I tip my head. “His name is Evan.” I sigh. “I just miss him.”
“Then why did you leave?”
“He lied to me, Mags. I can’t have a relationship with a person I don’t trust.”
“It’s a relationship now? I thought he was just a rebound.”
I glare at her. “That was your term. Not mine.” At least I’d never called it that to her. Just to Evan.
“So he didn’t tell you he was friends with Nathan. In the scheme of things, I don’t think that’s really that bad. Or even really a lie. At least, not technically. Come on, Shay, do you blame him for not wanting to admit he’s friends with Nathan? I mean, if you’re going to hold something against him, it should really be his choice in friends.”
“You’re not completely wrong there. Can you believe Nathan tracked my phone? It’s so stalker-ish.”
“Uh, yeah.” She nods. “But back to Evan. If you miss him so much, why don’t you just go back to Orlando and talk to him? You can’t really blame him for not telling you.”
My brow crinkles. “How can you say that?”
“You were a hot mess when you got on that plane. I can only imagine the travel accentuated it.” She folds her arms. “Let me ask you this. How would you have reacted if he had said he was Nathan’s friend right when you got there?”
I shrug. This is not a line of questioning I am anxious to pursue. “I don’t know. I probably wouldn’t have liked him.”
“Exactly—”
“But he told Nathan not to marry me.”
“And you’re complaining about this…why? You have already admitted that you and Nathan should not be married. The way I see it, you should be thanking Evan for saving you from the biggest mistake of your life. Plus, you needed to see him, not as Evan, Nathan’s friend, but as a really great guy. A guy who helped you have a very memorable Christmas.” She sighs.
“But why didn’t he tell me after that, once we were friends?”
“Face it, you wouldn’t have liked him once he told you,untilyou were good friends and knew he was nothing like Nathan. Which is exactly when you found out.”
I sigh. I hate it when she uses logic against me. “How do I know he isn’t just a rebound? Or that this isn’t some fake Instalove thing. It’s not real, you know.”
She scoffs. “Oh? I knew before my first date with Dean was over that he was it. He was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Are you saying what we have isn’t real?”
I blink. She’s never told me that. And I know when she’s lying because she’s a terrible liar.
“How long does it take to know it’s right? Two years didn’t make any difference with Nathan. I think when you know, you know.”
I scratch my nose because I don’t have a reply.
She smiles. “All I’m saying is if you don’t snatch him up,” she gives me her teacher look, “someone else will. And then how will you feel?”
I cover my face with my hands. “But I’ve only known him a week.”
She hops off her desk. “I’m not saying you should fly out there and ask him to marry you. But why not try dating him and see where it goes? You’ve lost your apartment, so what other signs do you need?”
Yeah, I’m trying not to think about losing my apartment. It’s some of the collateral damage from not actually having a wedding and moving in with a husband.
I peek through my fingers. “Oh, Mags. I called him a mistake and ‘just a rebound’. I was so mean to him. He probably never wants to see me again.”
Maggie opens her laptop and starts typing.
