Page 17 of Catching Mr. Right

Chapter Seven

SAM

I’m waiting in line at Cream where a pimply faced youth in a white shirt and one of those old timey caps is scooping balls of ice cream and shoving it into cones. I just want a damn milkshake.

The electronic doorbell goes off as more people join the line. It’s hot for this late in the evening. The sun’s all but melted from the sky like a Salvador Dali painting, and I’m pretty certain on my way over I heard someone complaining about the bottom of their shoes sticking to the sun baked blacktop. All I want is to get my giant cup of liquid ice cream and return to the restaurant so I can make a call to my boss. Then I’m going back to my hotel and stripping out of these sticky clothes.

Five minutes later, I’m standing in front of the kid who is busy making my milkshake. I thumb through my wallet and pull out a couple notes when he hands over my drink. Depositing them in his hand, I scoop up the tall cup and head for the door. I’m almost all the way out of the store before I see her. And that guy from the first night I arrived in town is with her. Casper Morgan. He was the one who thought she and I were together, and now he has his arm draped loosely around her waist. “Mandy?”

She cuts off mid-conversation to look at me. “Sam, what are you doing here?”

“Milkshake.” I hold the cup up. “You?”

“Thought we’d grab some ice cream before we head back to my place.” She darts a glance at her new friend. “Cas and I had dinner together.”

“Oh, right.” What am I supposed to say? The girl is gorgeous. Of course she’s going to have guys clambering for her. If I was ten years younger I’d have taken her to bed the minute she told me she wanted me to. It would have been awkward since it would have been Summer’s bed, but Mandy Pearce is enough to make a younger version of me crazy. And quite possibly the older version of me too, if the way I’ve masturbated over her is any indication. But there’s a difference between forgetting myself in my imagination and doing it in real life. This guy isn’t any younger than I am either, but he clearly has no morals. “Well, I’ve got to make a call.”

“Have a nice night,” she tells me, tucking herself in closer to Cas, who takes the opportunity to ogle her tits.

Sleaze. My phone chirps in my pocket, and I pull it out.

“It’s Summer. I have to take this. I’ll see you around.” I stalk away from them, phone already to my ear. When I get out the door and turn onto the pavement, Mandy raises her hand halfway and wiggles her fingers.

I almost wave back, but my hands are full, and she’s drawn back in by whatever that pervert is saying. And really, it isn’t any of my business. “I just saw Mandy with that Casper Moron she’s working with.”

“It’s Morgan, and you don’t need to snap at me.”

I flinch at the way her voice bursts through the speaker. “Sorry. It’s too damn hot.”

“Sure. Blame the weather for your mood.”

Well, fuck. What else am I going to blame it on? Certainly not Mandy, or that creep who has his hand casually slung over her shoulder in an effort to cop a feel. What she does and who she does it with are none of my business. “It’s been a long day, and now I’m late for a conference call because I got stuck talking to your friend. And her date. Did you know she was out to dinner with him tonight?”

“That’s what I was trying to tell you,” Summer interrupts me. “I think they might be dating now.”

“Dating?” I suck hard on the end of the wide straw poking out the lid of the cup. “As in more than one dinner?”

“I’m not sure. It’s all happened pretty quickly. One minute we were talking about you, the next she’s kissed that guy and going to dinner with him. Maybe he’s her new dream man. Or at least wants to be, because those were his words.”

“Christ.” I pinch the bridge of my nose as I’m attacked by a bout of brain freeze. What is it they say about getting rid of the awful pain? I slam my tongue to the roof of my mouth and massage the spot between my brows. Doesn’t fucking help.

“Are you not happy about that?” my sister questions. “I thought that was what you wanted. For her to leave you alone.”

“Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be happy that she’s found someone else to harass? Ugh, I gave myself an ice cream headache over this crap.”

“Over Mandy?”

“No.” I glower at the cup in my hand. “Over this dumb vanilla milkshake. It tastes worse than one of Sasha’s diet mixes.”

“Sure.” I can practically hear my sister rolling her gaze at the phone. “Anyway, you probably don’t need to worry about Mandy trying to seduce you anymore.”

“That’s good.” I guess. I scuff the toe of my boot against the asphalt. Why don’t I feel more relief over that? Because she’s hanging out with a guy who is taking advantage of her, and since she’s my sister’s friend I should probably go in and defend her. Or maybe I should move away from the front of the ice cream shop before Mandy and her new beau come out the door. Turning in the direction of the restaurant, I start moving. “Aren’t her friends at all worried about her dating a guy so much older than her?”

“Sam, she told me you called her too young and immature. Is that true? Because you know she and I are almost the same age, and Gabe and you are, so—”

Just once I wish I could tell her why I worry about her dating guys that are older than her. And it’s not even that she’s dating two of them at the same time that gives me the most anxiety. It’s that love just isn’t enough to bridge the social gaps. But I don’t tell her that I know this first hand, because then I’d have to explain how I know it, and that’s not a discussion I will ever have with my sister.

“I love you, Sum. And I told you I’ll accept whatever you choose for your life, but I still think those guys are too old for you. And Mandy fucking Pearce is way too young for me to even think of as a woman.”

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