Page 61 of The Secret
“I have children,” she shot back. “It’s important that I stay relevant.”
“Right.”
“But it wasn’t that,” she continued. “So I started to wonder. I mean, you’re gay. He’s hot. He’syoung.”
I made a gagging noise. “You make it sound so…”
“Normal? I mean, there’s nothing wrong with finding someone attractive. But that’s not what it is, is it? Or not just that. It’s more than a crush. And it’s all complicated by the whole mortal-enemies, Romeo-and-Romeo vibe you’ve got going on.”
Uh huh. And there it was. The biggest problem with this evening, laid out flat.
“Lauren, if I weren’t running late, I would really love to have a heart-to-heart right now. We could braid each other’s hair and paint each other’s nails—”
“Ha. You would hate that. Now, if Chris and I were having a problem, you literallywouldcome here and braid my hair if I asked you to. I know that. But talking about yourself? Asking formyhelp? No.”
“Bullshit.”
“Bullshit rightback. Only reason you let me and Leandra help at the markets is because weforcedyou to by threatening to both show upwithour childrenevery week.”
I said nothing because I had a vague recollection of that being true.
“So prove me wrong,” she said. “Let me help. Go ahead and tell me what’s going on with you and the Ross kid.”
“Can we stop calling him a kid?” I grumbled. “His name is Constantine, and he’s twenty-four.”
“Holy shit. That’s even younger than I thought!”
“Thank you. Hanging up now.”
“No! Stop! Sorry. Sorry, it’s just that you caught me off-guard!” She opened and closed her mouth for a minute, then finally admitted, “I’m still off-guard. Twenty-four?”
I ran a hand over the lower half of my face. “Still not helping.”
“And do you like him? Does he like you? Are you hooking up? How long has this been going on?”
“Yes. I think so. It’s complicated. Since June, I guess.”
“June?”
“I don’t know.” I blew out a breath. “I can’t remember when I stopped noticing him because he was a pain in my ass and started noticing him because I…” I shook my head and bit my tongue.
“Uh huh. The way Leandra tells it, you’ve been extra hard on the ki—Constantinefor a while.” She arched one eyebrow and blinked at the screen.
“Maybe I was. We got to know each other over the last few weeks because he was helping me out at the store—“
“He what?” she demanded.
“It’s a long story.”
“And I have nothing but time.”
“Well, Idon’t.” I dragged a hand through my hair. “I have to meet him in half an hour, and I haven’t picked a shirt because I realized about ten minutes ago that I don’t evenlikeany of my shirts. My white button down is too tight. The green one makes it look like I’m trying too hard. The striped one looks like I’m a mid-nineties Garth Brooks groupie, which is a reference I don’t even think Con willgetbecause, as you so helpfully pointed out, he spent the mid-ninetiesbeing born. And I have no idea what I’m doing here, except that I really like this guy. Ilikehim, Lauren. I genuinely enjoy spending time with him and hearing his opinions on things. And I like the way he challenges my ideas and makes me laugh at myself. And I feel incredibly protective of him, not just because he’s hot or because I think he’s a kid but because he’sspecialand he’s been bruised a lot, but he’s still trying to figure shit out and not make excuses, and I don’t feel like I need to be so fucking perfect when he—” I caught myself, heaved a giant breath, and finished lamely, “when he’s around.”
Lauren stared at me through the phone and I tried to summon a smile.
“This is metalking,” I told her. “Aren’t you glad you asked?”
“Yes,” she said solemnly. “Yes, I am. And, Micah? If Constantine Ross is the one who made this happen, I will love him forever.”
