Page 46 of Ten Rules for Faking It
Everly refocused on her conversation. “I wish I were. In the end, he didn’t finish his meal. He boxed it up for Scooter.” Might as well tell her everything. “Then he ordered a chocolate-free dessert for the dog to make it up to him.”
The line was suspiciously quiet.
“Are you laughing?” She grinned and leaned against her headboard.
Stacey cleared her throat. “Of course not. So, what were you thinking for hashtags?”
Everly smiled. “How abouthashtag no matching outfits?”
Her friend didn’t hold back this time as she snort-laughed and tried to speak around it. “That’s good. What abouthashtag love me, love my dog?”
“Hashtag man’s best friend and more.” Everly ignored the text coming in.
“What abouthashtag TMI about my dog?” Stacey got her laughter under control. “Why does he even need a date when he has Scooter?”
“Not all restaurants allow animals, you know. The man likes his food.”
“I’m sorry, Ev,” Stacey said, her tone evening out.
“No reason to be. I’ll figure out a way to write it up nicely, but I bet you can guess who wins this week’s round.”
This was good. She could laugh about it and the evening had taken such strange twists and turns, she wasn’t even obsessing about anything she said that might have come across as wrong or dumb or embarrassing.
“Owen sweeps the week,” Stacey cheered.
“Paws down,” Everly agreed, both of them breaking into laughter again.
When she hung up with Stacey, Everly saw that Chris had texted.
CHRIS:Night go okay?
EVERLY:Don’t you want to wait to read about it on Facebook?
CHRIS:I’d always rather hear it from you.
Now, why did that sentence do something funny to her belly? She really needed to pull herself together. Between turning thirty, worrying about her job, breaking up with Simon, and starring in a one-person dating drama, her thoughts were jumbled.
EVERLY:He loves his dog. A lot.
CHRIS:That’s… good?
EVERLY:Took him home dessert to apologize for being out.
A gif came through of Ryan Reynolds face-palming, and Everly laughed. She loved a good gif.
EVERLY:Exactly. Owen wins this week.
CHRIS:Clearly. Night, Everly.
EVERLY:Night.
She lay awake, staring at the ceiling, the breeze wafting into her room from the open window. Taking stock of how she felt, she realized that despite the date tonight, she feltgood.She was going to sleep smiling rather than cataloging the things that went wrong tonight. Maybe there was a chance for her to find her happy through all of this. If nothing else, it could be a chance for her to nail down what she didn’t want out of life while, maybe, giving her the courage to go after what shedidwant.You just need to figure out what that is.
[16]
Rule four: Try something new each month. Rule six: Be bold, even if it gives you hives.It didn’t seem to matter which of her rules she recited in her head, Everly couldn’t make herself get out of the car. She hated going to the gym. Okay, she’d never gone to a gym, but the idea of sweating near strangers or listening to big, bulging men grunt through weight lifts just weirded her out. In her head, all gyms were sort of like a bad eighties flashback—teased hair, spandex, and Jane Fonda bodysuits.If you go in, it’s a twofer: two rules, one activity.
She gripped the steering wheel, wondering what she’d been thinking.You were thinking of doing something for yourself.A couple of listeners had come into the station to pick up their free passes to a local fitness center and raved about the place. Everly entertained the idea of checking it out, telling herself it would be a great way to meet people and get outside her Boring Comfort Zone, which Stacey referred to as herBCZ.To be fair to herself, she’d already pushed the boundaries of her comfort several times lately. She’d gone for sushi—which wasn’t her favorite—on the latest date with her first like on the app, Brad. Total boundary pushing.So what’s one more?
