Page 26 of I Can't Even

Just as I crested the ramp, I saw it.

My heart started to beat fast, and the familiarity of the sexy little body filling out that dress had anticipation starting to course through me.

The last person I expected to see was her.

Yet there she was.

Don’t push me away and wonder where I went.

—Ellodie’s secret thoughts

ELLODIE

“Didn’t you just break up with what’s his name?” Dad asked, sounding amused.

“I did,” I confirmed. “But you know the deal.”

“The deal where you say yes to every single person who asks you on a date until you find the one?”

I could hear the eye roll from here.

“Yeah,” I grumbled. “I can see it might’ve been a mistake to decide to do that, though.”

“You think?” Dad laughed. “Hey, Flower had her baby last night.”

“She did?” I squealed excitedly. “Mare or colt?”

Flower was my favorite horse on the farm. She wasn’t rideable because she was half feral—my dad did rescue mustangs on top of everything else—but she was still a great friend as long as you didn’t try to ride her.

“Colt. All black,” he said. “He’s feisty, too. And Flower’s actually taking care of this one.”

I smiled as I thought back to the other baby she’d refused to feed, and we’d ended up bottle feeding.

“That’s good.” I smiled. “Dad, I gotta go. I think my date just pulled up.”

“Did he get out and come to your door?” he asked.

I scoffed. “I didn’t tell him which one was mine. I also didn’t tell him which apartment building was mine. I’m waiting outside so he doesn’t see where I come out.”

“Smart,” he said. “Let us know when you make it home, so I don’t worry.”

After promising I would, I headed to my date. Darron.

He was forty something, worked at the hospital as a cosmetic surgeon, and liked golf.

I didn’t like golf, but I figured I could handle a couple of hours at Top Golf with him if I had to.

I was wrong.

It was the worst.

It all started when I met him on the sidewalk three buildings down from my actual apartment building.

“Hi.” I smiled at him.

His face fit the photo he’d used on his dating profile.

He was around five-foot-eleven, had graying black hair that was sexy on most men, but only made him look a bit older than the claimed picture looked. He had a face that looked like he did cosmetic work to it on the regular, though. And his hand was smooth as a baby’s butt when he offered it to me.

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