Page 9 of Electric Blue Love
Tasha flipped it open to the bookmarked page. “Number one, there is no such thing as the friend zone.” She peeked up at me with a smirk, but continued, “Number two, men just want to have fun.”
I pointed at my planner. “See that’s where I went wrong last night, I was so focused on him I forgot to have fun.”
“What’s been your excuse the last four years?”
“Hardy har,” I said. “It’s an area I need improvement on, I know, but you know how hard I’ve had to work to be here. Plus, I get sort of goal focused, even with men.” I gave her a small smile that she returned with a laugh.
“I get it. All I’m saying is I agree with mister mentor on number two.” She settled back into the couch, planner and business card still laid out in her lap. “Tell me more aboutthisguy,” she said motioning her head to Court’s business card.
“I don’t know much. He said he was thirty-four. He lives in New York and is here for business. He talked a little about his job, but we mostly talked about Todd and me.”
“Is he good looking?”
I bit my lip. Was he good looking? It was like asking if New York was the greatest city in the world. He had been devastatingly handsome in his business suit and even better looking last night when I’d woken him shirtless and disheveled.
“He’s nice looking for an older guy.” I don’t know why I threw the last part in. Court wasn’t just good looking for an older guy, he was good lookingbecauseof his age. He had that mature look men got when they settled into their height and build and started taking care of themselves instead of downing beers and fast food. Court put every man on campus to shame in the looks department, and the men here were not your typical pimply faced, freshmen fifteen, college kids.
Tasha shot me a look of impatience to continue. “He’s tall – I’d guess over six feet, dark, thick hair – the kind that sticks up but looks like it was styled to do so, and hazel eyes.”
The smile on Tasha’s face was wide and knowing.
“What, I’m trying to paint a picture.” I tossed a throw pillow at her, which she dodged easily.
“Oh, I’m getting the picture. It sounds like you met a total hottie.”
I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t going down this rabbit hole. If Tasha thought I was harboring some secret crush on Court she would be unrelenting in her peer pressure to call him.
“I guess so, but I’m telling you it wasn’t like that,” I said in the most convincing voice I could muster.
Tasha gave a half shrug and shut the planner with Court’s card tucked inside. She handed it back, but watched me carefully as she said, “If you say so.”
Hugging it to my chest, I let myself imagine a world where someone like Court was interested in someone like me. But the idea was so ludicrous I couldn’t even fathom it. No, Court wasn’t into me, but just maybe, he could help me secure a future with Todd.
Iresisted theurge to press snooze. Three hours of sleep was all I’d gotten thanks to Bianca’s late-night call. I wasn’t exactly sorry, even though it was gonna be a long ass day. Talking to her made me feel like a hell of a lot better man than I actually was. I wanted to soak up all her sweet innocence.
Listening to her talk about how great Todd was – yeah, I knew his name – made me hate him even more. Todd was the kind of guy that breezed through life getting everything handed to him. He walked the yellow, brick fucking road to Oz while the rest of us clawed our way for every scrap of success. I sensed that Bianca and I had that in common. What she wanted with a tool like Todd was beyond me.
After I’d dressed in gym shorts and a long-sleeved t-shirt and pulled on my socks and sneakers, I decided to hit the pavement instead of the hotel gym. Cold air burned my lungs as I breathed in the crisp, early morning Connecticut air, shocking my tired limbs awake.
As it always did, my brain turned off and my body took over. Exercising, running in particular, was an outlet. While my muscles did the work, my brain relaxed. I was at peace here.
It’s not to say I didn’t think at all, but instead of the usual clutter – the memories, the to-do list that stayed front and center reminding me what had to be done, and the sense of urgency to stay one step ahead of whatever ghosts lurked – it all became white noise.
When I ran, my brain functioned in snapshots – fleeting images that even when not pleasant, were gone before they could cause any real damage.
Fleeting images.
The report I’d finished for Mr. Sterling.
A picture-perfect family smiling from the front of their beach house.
The steak and vegetables I’d had for dinner last night.
Bianca in her ugly flower dress hunched over a magazine.
Bianca’s fiery expression as she’d stood in that lacy, black bra.
Bianca pulling her bottom lip behind her teeth as I told her my thoughts on Todd.
