Page 23 of The Disasters of Dating
She tips her head to the side. “Does that sound like someone phishing? Are there any links to click?”
I shake my head. Maybe she’s right? I think back to my horoscope this morning. Didn’t it say I shouldn’t dismiss something just because it seems suspicious? It said to use my intuition. What is my intuition telling me right now?
This is a wrong number.
“Okay, I’ll reply so no friendships are irrevocably damaged.” I open the message.
Hey, I should have messaged you earlier, but in today’s world, you can’t be too careful. I think you have the wrong number, which is why your friend no-showed you. Sorry! Hope you had a fun night, anyway.
I look at Paisleigh. “There. Are you happy now?”
She smiles and nods. “Now, let’s get our Sweeny fix!”
CHAPTER 8
KEATON
You are enterprising—take advantage of it.
Learn Chinese: ? — Jia — Home
Lucky Numbers: 18, 3, 52, 84
I stare downat my phone. Wrong number? Why would Poppy say I have the wrong number? I lean back in my office chair as I look at the top and see her contact name there. I know I have the right number. Is this her way of saying she never wants to see me again?
I scroll up to find the text that she originally sent me. Hadn’t she noticed it? But why would she need to? Hadn’t she put my name in her phone?
I don’t have far to scroll to get to the top. But mine from earlier in the day is the first one listed. How can that be? What happened to her text at the airport?
I frown, then take a closer look at my phone. I slap my hand to my forehead. Oh, man. “No, I didn’t.” I push that phone aside and pull out my personal one. The one with the New Hampshire number. Yes, I have two phones. Evan thought it would be best if I had a local number for my contacts at the Utah office. Sometimes it’s a little confusing. Especially now. It looks like her info. must have saved to the cloud, which populated her contact onto each phone. But the texts only stay with the phone they were sent from. It seems the weight isn’t the only downside to having two phones. I’ve heard that there are a few brands that allow for two SIM cards in one phone. I should look into that.
Anyway, I open the screen and pull up my text messages. There’sPoppy’s name right at the top. I open the text, and there is the missing one from the airport. Well, crap. It seems I gave her my personal phone when I had her put her info in. But why? I had my work phone with me. I shake my head. I mean, I had just avoided arrest, so maybe that had something to do with it.
It was no wonder she thought I was a wrong number.
I pick up my work phone—the one with the Utah number—and start typing.
Hey Poppy, this is actually Keaton…from the airport? You remember the one with the gum?
I stare at the words. They aren’t the most engaging, but they are literate…barely. My thumb hovers over the blue send arrow. But I don’t press it.
She thought I was a wrong number.
I tap the fingers of my other hand on the desktop and bite the side of my lip. Maybe this could work to my advantage. Was it possible to keep texting her as a wrong number and get to know her? She could get to know me. And then, when the time is right, we could meet up. And then she would realize I’m not a complete…idiot? Loser? I’m not sure what she thinks of me. But maybe wrong number me could discover that.
Off the top of my head, I can think of a whole handful of ways that this could go very wrong. But I can think of as many ways that it could go very right. Is it worth the risk?
I delete the text and put my phone away. This isn’t a decision to make rashly. It needs thought and consideration. And if I decide to go through with this plan, some things need to be planned, or it will all blow up in my face. I suck in a breath and close my laptop. The best thing to do right now is to sleep on it. I work half a day tomorrow before I head to the airport. I can think about things and make my decision in the next few days. That text isn’t going anywhere.
I grab my bags out of the back of the Uber and move into the Salt Lake City Airport. I rub my eyes. This travel is getting pretty brutal. I just start to adjust to a time zone, and then I fly to a different one. I’d talk to Evan about it, but I don’t want him to regret hiring me for thisposition. I know I’m his brother, but that isn’t always to my advantage. Yes, it gives me a bit of a leg up, but the expectations are way higher. Also, Evan doesn’t know every stupid thing that Dan or Jasmine did when they were teenagers. Brenden and Claire’s high school years are not thrown in their faces every time they make the wrong decision. Sometimes, I wish I were a stranger to Evan and had gotten the job based on my degree from one of the top schools in the country and an impressive resume. But no, I went the nepotism route because I was insecure, and now I have to pay my dues.
I sigh and rub a hand over my face as I place my belt, phones, and money clip in a bin. I move through the X-ray machine, lifting my arms above my head.
I’m careful not to look at any of the screeners. I did that once because I thought she was talking to me. Turns out she wasn’t. So I got the wand and a pat down instead of the non-evasive X-ray. If I were a conceited person, I would have accused her of wanting to feel my calf muscles and biceps. But I decided not to go for a cavity search, so I kept my mouth shut. I thought it was a wise move.
The guy on the other side of the machine waves me forward. Looks like I passed this time. I’m more relieved than I let on. I hate the pat downs—which I’m sure says more about me than anyone else. But whatever.
I slip on my shoes and grab everything else so I can get dressed away from the chaos of security. Moving to the back wall where there is a line of benches, I put my stuff down while I feed my belt through the loops on my pants. Now that I’m not concerned about a wardrobe malfunction, I hitch my backpack higher on my shoulder and roll my suitcase behind me.
