Page 36 of Truly, Madly, Deeply

There, direct and to the point.

“I asked who they were.”

Lulu scoffed. “They could lie.”

Now who was being ridiculous?

Her phone buzzed with a reply.

Unknown number (10:16 p.m.): Colin.

Unknown number (10:16 p.m.): McCrory. In case you happen to know another Colin.

Unknown number (10:16 p.m.): Plausible, considering it was in the top 200 names from 1982 to 2016.

Truly smiled.

Colin freaking McCrory.

Truly (10:17 p.m.): Did you Google that?

Colin (10:18 p.m.): Would you judge me more if I said yes, or no, that I just had that fact in my back pocket?

Truly (10:18 p.m.): Don’t worry. I’m going to judge you either way.

“What has you grinning like that?”

She dropped her phone, caught red-handed. “Um, nothing?”

Lulu glared. “Bullshit. Fess up. Did your mystery texter send you a dick pic? Is it good? Share with the class.”

“No! It’s nothing like that.” Fessing up to this felt worse. “It’s, um. It’s just Colin.”

Lulu grinned. “Just Colin. Speak of the devil, huh?” She froze. “Holy shit. He’s reading your books? Truly.”

“Kind of weird, right?”

He didn’t need insight into the inner machinations of her mind, and that’s exactly what her books would give him.

“Kind of hot, I think you mean,” Lulu said.

Her phone buzzed and damn it if her heart didn’t lurch. “Hold on.”

Colin (10:19 p.m.): Rude.

Her face went instantly hot.

Truly (10:20 p.m.): I thought you liked me rude. Or was that just sweet talk?

Her phone buzzed almost immediately.

Colin (10:20 p.m.): You think I’m sweet?

She took a greedy gulp of room-temp lager. Nothing she’d tried so far had gotten rid of the butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Might as well try drowning them.

“How’d he get your number, anyway? Did you give it to him? Truly, have you been holding out on me?”

“No, you nosy freak. I don’t know how he got my number.”

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