Page 72 of Love Harder

He asked to call.

We spoke for hours, and then he stood at my door in less than twenty-four hours.

All my friends knew this was so common for me—living spontaneously, as it was with him. They said this was either the best or worst idea I’ve ever had, which is why I had no expectations.

I never do—I avoid disappointment this way.

Look at the previous men in my life. I got to know them because that’s the “sensible” thing to do. Ensuring that your potential beau won’t cut you up into tiny pieces and dance in front of a mirror wearing your skin as a meat suit.

But I did that, and it still ended horribly.

So after speaking to Mötley, I decided why the hell not? She said do it—he’s been brought to you for a reason. The universe never lies.

What’s the worst that could happen?

Probably not the best thing to think, considering I’ve never met this man and my clusterfuck history with the opposite sex.

But hey, que será, será.

And I was sick of overthinking.

This was the first time things felt right and fell into place.

There was never an uncomfortable pause on the phone, and we spoke for a very long time. It was unheard of because anyone who knows me, knows I would rather liaise via pigeon post than talk on the phone.

But things from the get-go always felt natural with him. He was witty, smart, and incredibly honest. And his voice gave me a tingle of the good kind.

I was skeptical, of course. I mean, what’s the catch?

There’s always a catch.

He was tall, dark hair, light eyes, tattoos…can we see where this is heading?

My “type” had done nothing but leave me wanting to rock in a corner and wishing I could erase every memory made of them.

But this was the last one, I promised myself.

No more.

If this went belly-up, then your narrator was giving up. Defeat is a dirty word, but my heart just couldn’t take it anymore.

With that stance firmly in mind, I look back now and laugh because I was about to be thrown from the heavens with no safety net in sight.

Was I ready for the fall?

Hell to the fuck no.

He sent me a good morning message.

We all love that.

It’s nice to know that someone is thinking of you when they first wake up, as opposed to messaging late at night because we all know how that scenario ends. I was still taken aback at how long we had spoken the night prior. I mean, this wasn’t normal, right? A man asking to call to just…talk.

Shock.

Horror.

I was waiting for the catch; the entire time, I was waiting for The Unicorn to drop some bombshell so I could slap a DNF on him and shelve him with his fellow humankind. But as the day progressed, it seemed The Unicorn was sticking to his word, and after only twelve hours of “meeting,” this date was, in fact, happening.

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