Page 48 of Jagged

"Yes and no. I've made friends all over the world, but we don't talk much. Perhaps a few times a year via text or a call every so often. Here, I've made some work acquaintances and from the salon. Jordan likes to try and connect people."

"She's usually good at that."

"Usually. I tend to keep to myself," she said. "It's easier. What if I become friends with someone at work and we have an argument? Too much overlap and room for bad blood."

"Understood. I guess I make acquaintances easily, but I tend to stick with my small group. My sister makes it challenging sometimes though… She's…a personality."

"Is she? You're not at all alike?"

"Not at all. Frankie is pretty wild."

Clem paused, her brow furrowed. "Frankie from the salon is your sister?"

I nodded. "Know her?"

"I do." Her lips pursed, and she frowned. "She is very rude."

I laughed at that and nodded. "Very rude. A personality."

Her forehead remained wrinkled, and she didn't appear to respond to my laughter at all. She seemed mostly thoughtful though it worried me she'd been a victim of Frankie's shenanigans.

"Have you and Frankie—"

"Absolutely not." She shook her head and gestured with both hands in a cutting motion. "I would never. Unhealthy is not my type."

"Good. Me either." I smirked at that, but also silently celebrated picking up on the opening to ask a question. "What is your type?"

"Not anything particular." Clem rolled with it, leaving behind the agitation belonging to the Frankie conversation. "It's more of a mind or emotional thing for me. If you're interesting to me and if we connect, that matters most." She paused for a moment then glanced at me. "You?"

"Um…" I thought about it for a moment. "I would say the same, I guess. I'm not sure. I agree more about the connecting though."

"Each of my ex-partners were different," she added with a shrug. "But they're exes for a reason, I suppose."

"Were they long relationships?"

"Not really. Two years the longest, but there was physical distance. Traveling a lot does that. But I don't travel as much now, and I've been single since," she said. "Dated a little but not much."

"Same…" I mustered very little response to the difficult topic. "I have a hard time talking to people sometimes or understanding them when it comes to relationships, so I avoid it I think."

"I understand that. You avoided my quiz a little, too." She smiled when she said it and our eyes met for a moment. "I'm glad you saw that QR code."

"It felt like you tricked me, so I got upset at first."

"I thought it would be more of something unexpected," she said. "And if you didn't come across it on my phone, I would've texted it anyway."

"Sneaky…"

"Surprises are nice sometimes."

"Sometimes." I felt myself smile when she validated what Tatiana said. "I'm not a big fan of going to the movie theatre, so that was part of it. I'm too restless…"

"I didn't say go to the movies, I said watch a movie." She snickered and tucked her hands into her pockets. "I figured we could've video chatted and watched a movie together at the same time."

"Oh." My stomach gave a great leap. "Well, I would've done that."

"See?" Her snicker turned into a full laugh. "No harm no foul."

"Yeah." I grinned and shrugged. "What kind of movies do you like?"

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