Page 16 of Perfect Enough

Me: Did your mom ever put up that dating profile?

Sophia: No! Thank goodness. She called me earlier and wanted to set me up on a blind date with one of her co-workers’ sons. He’s thirty and ready to settle down. WTF?

I smiled and put my phone down when I heard someone walk down the hall. A light knock on my cracked-open door had me calling out for them to come in.

Warren stuck his head in. “Hungry? Donny’s on kitchen duty and has everything to make pizzas.”

My stomach growled. “Yeah, give me five minutes and I’ll be there.”

He looked at me knowingly and nodded. “Don’t be too long. All the pepperoni will be gone.”

“Five minutes.”

Me: Why don’t you simply tell your mom you’re already dating someone? And sorry for the delay.

Sophia: First, let’s add to the rules. No apologizing if you can’t text back. You’re a firefighter, so I’m sure you’ve got to go the second an alarm goes off. Let’s just put that out there right now. And I’ll most likely fall asleep while texting at some point, or have to go to the bathroom, and I’m not at all comfortable texting someone while sitting on the toilet.

I burst out laughing.

Sophia: Second, my mother would immediately want to meet him. That would never work.

The idea popped into my head, and I was typing it out before I could stop myself.

Me: Tell her that we’re dating. I live far enough away and have a job that keeps me busy…two, actually. It would be easy to push her off if she says she wants to meet me. I could even text you while you’re with your mom and say something sweet. Something convincing for her to see.

When she didn’t reply, and it was nearing my five minutes, I stood and headed to the kitchen. On the way there, Sophia texted.

Sophia: You know, Josh, that might work. I think it COULD work. I could just say we met online and started talking, which isn’t actually a lie.

Me: Nope, not a lie at all.

Sophia: And you don’t mind if I say we’re…seeing one another?

Me: You could’ve told her anyway and I wouldn’t have known the difference. If it gives you some peace of mind and breathing space, Soph, then yes. Please use me.

Sophia: Thank you, Josh.

Me: Of course ;-)

It was crazy how good it made me feel that I could help take some of the stress out of Sophia’s life. I didn’t even really know this woman, yet I already cared about her. Slipping my cell into my back pocket as I walked into the kitchen, I slapped my hands together and said, “Let’s make some pizza!”

Chapter Four

SOPHIA

It had been nearly three weeks since I’d first started texting with Josh, and I couldn’t help but notice that during those few weeks, I’d felt…lighter. It was the only word I could use to describe my recent state of mind. I still felt grief over losing my father, but it was slowly turning more toward anger. And my heart still felt a little broken and bruised from Drake’s betrayal…but that was quickly fading into anger as well.

I had successfully avoided my mother since she’d mentioned the blind date. It was easy, since she’d gone on a girls’ trip with her friends. A week-long cruise that had bought me time to decide if I wanted to tell a little white lie, and claim I was dating Josh, or just try to explain to her—again—why I wasn’t ready to dateanyone.

Picking up my phone, I noticed I had a text from Josh. I smiled and opened it up. He’d sent it almost two hours ago, but since I was in class, during which my phone was on silent and in my office, I obviously hadn’t heard it come through. It was nice knowing he didn’t get upset if I didn’t reply immediately. I mean, it wasn’t like we were dating, so neither of us should feel that way, but still.

Josh: This is an important question.

Me: Go for it.

Josh: Do you like dogs?

Frowning in confusion, I quickly typed back my response.

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