Page 23 of Chasing Lynda

She doesn’t hesitate. “Same. Favorite pizza topping?”

Again, I tell her more than what she asked for. “Sausage and mushrooms. But the first time I try a new pizza place, I always order a plain cheese pizza. Toppings can mask a lot of stuff but on a basic pizza, you can determine if the dough is good, if you like the sauce.”

“She nods. Great answer. Especially because you didn’t say pineapple.”

I chuckle at her eye roll. “Why? What’s wrong with pineapple?” I ask teasingly.

She sounds passionate about it, that’s why I really start liking her. “Come on, Zane! We both know that pineapple on pizza is an abomination.”

I don’t rise to the provocation. “I don’t disagree. I really don’t care for it but I wouldn’t judge you if you liked it.”

She giggles. “Bullshit.”

I give the server my card, without even looking at the check. “My turn.”

Lynda shakes her head. “Nuh-uh. You just asked your question.”

My reaction is immediate. “No, I didn’t. I just answered yours about pizza.”

She disagrees. “You asked me what’s wrong with pineapple.”

I laugh at her attempt to outsmart me. “Good try, Lynda. But that doesn’t count. They have to be personal questions. So it’s my turn.”

She narrows her eyes but doesn’t argue. “Whatever. Ask away.”

“How many men have you slept with?”

***

Lynda

––––––––

AH, THAT QUESTION.

I think about using my bullshit bonus because that is personal. But even if I used the bonus, he’d know that I’m lying.

I settle for a non-committal, “It’s complicated.”

Zane shakes his head, with a grin that says that he thinks I’m trying to play dirty. “That’s a non-answer, Lynda. Is that your bullshit bonus?”

I hold his gaze, thinking that the green of his eyes is so vivid that it could be from colored contacts. I’ve never seen eyes so green. “No, I’m not bullshitting you. It is complicated.”

He argues the point. “How? You either know how many men you’ve been with, or the only way you don’t is if you’ve lost count. Which by the way would be my answer if you asked me the same question.”

I can’t resist the temptation to tease him. There’s something about Zane that makes me feel at ease. “So you’ve slept with so many men that you’ve lost count?” I ask, feigning shock.

He laughs and it’s really contagious. His head is thrown back and the sound is so joyful, that people from neighboring tables turn to look at him. “Ha! That’s really funny. No, smart ass. Women. I slept with quite a few women in the last couple of years and I kinda stopped counting. You know, I was single and college parties at the frat house tended to get out of hand pretty easily.”

I wouldn’t really know; not first hand. But I’ve been around Kelley and his friends long enough that it isn’t hard to picture what he’s talking about.

The server brings back his card on a little silver tray. Zane adds a tip to the check and signs it before turning his attention back on me. “Like I was saying, I’ve had more than my fair share of hookups, so if you got a little wild after breaking up your last relationship, I’m the last person who’d judge you.”

I could let him believe that. It would be so easy.

But don’t ask me why, I’m enjoying getting to know Zane. Even if I know too well, like I did earlier with Carter, that it can never go anywhere.

Maybe that’s the reason why I end up telling the truth. Because I know that eventually, I’ll have to move on. And also let’s face it, would he want to see me again if he knew that I have no place to live? That I’m squatting in someone’s rental cabana?

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