Page 72 of The Disasters of Dating
“Yeah, I get that idea. I thought the ‘everything’ would only concern you guys. Not me.”
She looks at me like I’m being silly. “I’m happy you met a girl, Keat. You’ve been focused on school and work for so long. I was worried you might have forgotten how to date.”
I raise a brow. “It’s like riding a bike.” It really isn’t. But Shay doesn’t need to know my struggles. She shouldn’t even know aboutPoppy. Shay isn’t my fiancée, and I’m under no obligation to share ‘everything’ with her.
“So tell me about her.” She sits back and crosses one knee over another, her purse tucked in her lap.
“There isn’t much to tell yet. We’ve only known each other a few weeks.”
Shay’s eyes widen, and her lips flatten out. “Come on, Keat, throw me a bone here. Just give me a little information. Like—” She looks up at the ceiling, before piercing me with her gaze. “What’s her name?”
I give her a slow blink. So there were some things Evan kept to himself. “Fine.” If giving Poppy’s name to Shay gets her to leave my office, I can surrender that info. “Her name is Poppy, and she works at the airport.” I’m not sure why I felt inclined to add that last bit. But maybe it will be enough to get Shay off my case.
A huge smile slides across Shay’s face, and I get a sense of unease. “No. Way.” She says each word like it’s its own sentence. Grabbing her phone from her purse, she starts texting.
Okay, that’s kind of rude. I can see why my dad gets irritated when one of us kids do it.
“I’m sorry my story is so boring, Shay.” But maybe that means she’ll leave and let me work. “But you’re the one who asked.”
She glances up at me. “No, it’s not that. I just need to ask my sister a quick question. Hold on.”
Evan appears in the doorway and leans against the door frame.
“Did you find the key fob?” I ask.
Evan holds it up before stuffing it in his pocket.
I fold my arms and lean back in my chair. “Thanks for breaking your promise, dude.”
He looks confused. “What promise did I break?”
I let out a huff. As if he doesn’t know. I thought his Stanford education was better than that. “Keeping my dating life to yourself?”Ring a bell? I add silently.
He frowns. “I haven’t mentioned a word of it.”
I tip my head to the side. “Then why is Shay in here grilling me about the girl I met?”
Evan folds his arms. “I told her that last week. After that text with all the exclamations came through while we were talking.”
My face heats. Then this is more my fault than his. Crap.
“What’s she doing, anyway?” Evan nods toward his fiancée.
I lift a shoulder. “Texting her sister a question.”
Shay lets out a giggle. Yes, a giggle. It’s a noise she seems way tooold to be making. “So…” She looks at me with far too knowing eyes. My stomach twists uncomfortably. “Does Poppy work at The Wandering Reader?”
A cold bead of sweat forms on my temple. How in the crap does she know that? “Yyyeeeessss,” I say slowly, making the word seem like it has three syllables.
Shay bounces in her seat. “This is literally the best thing ever!”
“What is?” Both Evan and I ask at the same time.
Evan takes the chair next to Shay. He’s staring at her like she has lost her mind. And I don’t think he’s far off base.
“It’s Poppy Ashcombe, right? Oh, my heck. You guys must look adorable together!”
My mouth drops open. I kind of wish I’d majored in statistics, because the chance that I would meet someone that Shay knows in the whole state of Utah feels astronomical. Like lottery winning kind of odds.
