Page 144 of Unexpected Ever After

The Hunkmate

Room 102 Series | Book 1

Gail Haris

You’ll come again.

Chapter 1

Journi

My cheek is still stinging from the slap. I’m not saying Mrs. Waldell was in the wrong, but damn, she has a hell of a left hook. In my defense, I didn’t know he was married. Mr. Waldell glossed over that little piece of valuable information when we were planning our date.

I call my best friend, Jan, to vent about—yet again—another horrible dating experience. At this point, I’m finished with relationships. All men are the same. All women are the same. Or is it me? I’m starting to wonder if I’m the problem, considering that I am the common factor in all these failed relationships.

Jan doesn’t answer my first attempt at contacting her, so I send her several messages about how I could be hiding from potential abductors, stranded on the side of the road, trapped in the trunk of a car, or on my way to get married…any fabrication of catastrophe just to get her attention and guilt her for ignoring her number one friend. Finally, my phone rings.

“The date went well, I assume.” Damn it, I can hear her snarky smile through the phone.

“Assuming makes an ass out of you and me, ya know,” I deadpan.

“Well, you are an ass…”

“Mmm, so there’s that, I guess,” I respond in a mocking and childish voice. Then I turn serious—more like whiny—and tell her, “Don’t even. I don’t feel like jokes right now.” I collapse onto my bed. “From now on, my only use for men is for their dicks. That’s it.”

“I hate to be the one to break it to you but if that’s what you’re banking on now, you’re still going to have a future of disappointing dates. Why do you think I got married? When I finally found one who knew what to do with it, I didn’t let him get away.”

“You may have found the last unicorn,” I say in mock horror.

“Maybe. Lucky me, especially since his horn is long and thick.”

“Stop bragging.”

“So what happened with this one? Did he have a nubby horn?”

“His horn was fine, more than fine, in fact, but I wasn’t the only one riding it.” Jan already knows that I’m not against sharing, but that’s only when it’s a mutual agreement, or in this case all participants are aware. “This unicorn had already been saddled, and his wife wasn’t looking for a riding buddy. She shows up at the restaurant and screams at me. I didn’t even know who she was until she accused me of being the whore who’s fucking her husband. Then I pieced together that he has wife—a very unhappy one at the moment. Possibly soon-to-be ex.”

“Oh, Journi.”

“She slapped the shit out of me before I could even defend myself. I honestly didn’t know. Then the manager of the restaurant came and asked all of us to leave. She picked up his wine glass and dumped it on top of his head before walking out. That was a nice touch.”

“I’m so sorry, hon.”

“The worst part was I wanted to throw a drink, too, but mine was empty. Instead, I jumped up and hit my knee on the table and then did my walk of shame. Everyone scowled at me, the whore, as I hurried through the restaurant. Luckily, she was already gone and not waiting to attack me in the street.”

“Sorry she had a better dramatic exit.”

“To be fair, she deserved it.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t know so it’s not like you did deserve that.”

“It’s fine. I’m fine. They’re fine. Everything is fine.” That’s what I tell Jan when what I’m actually thinking is this is fucked, I’m fucked, he’s fucked, and everything is fuckity fuck fuck.

“Journi? Are you having your F-bomb internal monologue?”

“Dropping bombs left and right inside this melon on my shoulders. Duck and cover, Jan.”

“I figured,” she sighs.

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