Page 21 of Getting Over You

“I am full of dark parts,” I say. “And I don’t mind talking about them.” Or showing them to a girl when she’s in my bed. But that’s not a place I’ll find Gigi.

“So, tell me why you’re running, then.”

“You first,” I say.

She chews on her lip. “Fine. But only because talking to you is like talking to the most friend-zoned of all friend-zoned guys. I’m telling you my dark parts because you’ll never see me naked. I have no interest in you.”

“Fair.” I nod.She’s a bad liar.

She nods. “This guy I was… seeing? Hooking up with? Well, he decided he didn’t want to hook up anymore. He wanted a dating relationship.”

“That’s good though,” I reply. “Right? Girls want that.”

“He just didn’t want to date me.” Gigi’s face pinches at the memory.

“Oh.” I frown. “That’s shitty.”

“Yeah, well. Is that the thing now? We just have flings? No one wants commitment?”

“Typically.” I nod. “At least for me. I don’t want anything long term.”

“You and most of the male population.” Gigi sighs. “Except for Marcus. He wants Cass.”

“Nickname?” I guess.

She nods.

My chest pinches. “Oh, Gigi. That sucks.”

“See what I mean!” she exclaims, throwing her arms up.

A waitress comes by, dropping off our deep-dish pizza.

“Awesome! Hey, thank yousomuch. This looks awesome,” I tell her, flashing a smile.

“No problem at all. You just let me know if you two need anything else, okay?”

When she wanders off—clearly red-faced—Gigi is looking right at me, eyes narrowed.

“You flirted again.”

“I smiled and thanked her for our food,” I say. “What’s wrong with that?”

“It’s like you aren’t even aware that you ooze sex,” Gigi mutters. “Unbelievable. Truly unbelievable.”

Amusement bubbles in my chest. “You think I ooze sex, do you, princess?”

“Cade,” Gigi warns. “Stop talking.”

I smile at her as she gets herself a slice of pizza. We spend the time eating, making small talk, and I’m relieved she’s done asking me questions. I don’t think now is the time to tell her I escaped to South Carolina to run from yet another girl to chase my soulmate: a tattoo shop.

And I know the moment I tell her the truth, Gigi will not hesitate to tell me I’m an asshole.

“I don’t find you unattractive,” Gigi admits, not meeting my eyes. “And I appreciate you buying me lunch or whatever. Dealing with Belinda today threw me off.”

“I appreciate that,” I say with a chuckle. “It totally wasn’t obvious to me that you were a liar.” Admittedly, her saying it is doing something to me. Like butterflies are loose in my brainstem.

“Cade!” she squeals.

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