Page 99 of Flirtasaurus
“This is disgustingly delicious.”
“Agreed.”
“So,” he says.
“So,” I respond. I know what’s coming.
“At what point are we going to discuss what happened tonight?”
“Which part?” I ask. “The part when you outed me as a dino porn writer? Or when I acted like a spoiled brat and told all my family members they are living pointless lives, and I am essentially ashamed to be associated with them?”
“Would you call it dino porn, though?” he asks with a smile.
“I wouldn’t, but some would. Some certainly have. Tracy Triassic has a thick skin, though. She doesn’t mind a snarky review. You gave her a google, huh?”
“I did more than that. I read the entirety ofStyracosaurus’ Secret.”
“What?! OhmyGod.” I slap him on the shoulder. “Were you ever going to tell me?”
“Eventually. But I was enjoying myself, seeing that other side of you.”
“Which side is that?”
“The one that believes in happily ever afters, and having fun, and generally letting go of being so serious all the time. Calliope, your writing is friggin’ delightful.”
“Yeah?” I can’t believe how much his feedback means to me at this moment.
“Yeah. I just got my pre-order forTryst with a Triceratops.”
“Are you serious?! Oh my gosh, you’re killing me with this right now.” I laugh.
My face feels warm all of a sudden and not just because of the questionable coffee.
“Subject change okay?” he asks.
“Sure, yeah.”
“Cool. You’re, uh… you’re a little…”
“Go on, you can say it.”
“…tough on your family. Particularly on your mom.”
“Virtually no one in the world does what they say they’re going to do. Have you ever noticed that?”
“How do you mean?”
“Think about it. Who, besides you and me and Dr. Knowles, do you personally know who has accomplished exactly what they set out to do? Who had a dream placed in them as a kid and then took step by step by step to live into that dream? To walk the exact path on the planet that was meant exactly for them? We have those impulses for a reason, don’t you think? And people just… they give up on themselves all the time, and it makes me sad.
“And the kicker is they almost always do it for love. They meet someone and fall in love, then give up everything else they said they wanted. That’s not love; that’s a cop-out. It’s an excuse not to do the hard work to make something of yourself. And I absolutely refuse to let that happen to me. I don’t know if I want kids, but if I ever do? They’re going to get a far better example from me than the one I got. They’re going to see that they can have the exact life they want.”
“And what if the life they want involves love? Comfort? Simplicity? What’s wrong with that?”
“I mean… nothing, I guess, but—”
“Because from my perspective? Those people around that table tonight seemed like genuinely happy, content people. Didn’t seem to me that there was anything missing from their lives. And I’ll tell you something else. Every one of them lit up when they saw you.”
I have no clue what to say to that.
