Page 165 of One Big Little Secret

“What for? Have you got an event?” She pauses. “Oh my God, is it a date?”

“Nothing important,” I lie. “How was Hawaii?”

It’s the only thing that’s kept her away all this time—a long trip island hopping around the Pacific to distract her from the fact that Patton Rory hasn’t asked about her once.

“Amazing!” she gushes. “Did you see the photos I put on Insta? It was beautiful. So warm and relaxing. The surf was amazing and the turtles were cool. We even did a turtle tour with this lady who had like a cheetah cat. Can you believe that? She barked at me to put down my camera a few times and not to get too close, but still. It slapped.”

I roll my eyes and scrunch my hair, encouraging my curls to stay curled. Maybe I need more hairspray.

“Turtles, huh? Aren’t they a protected species?”

“Ugh, yeah. I wouldn’t have even hurt him with a little pat on the head. But they got all up my ass about how it’s a law there and shit. Crazy, right? They wouldn’t even let people surf by their little roped off beach area.”

My eyes roll right out of my head.

“I thought you didn’t surf?”

“No, but the guys do, andthatwas fun.”

Guys, plural. Okay. Hopefully that means Patton is already old news in her squirrel brain.

“And how did they hold up?”

“Oh, one guy was definitely a nine, and you know I never say that lightly. He’s Japanese and his dad owns a robot company back in Yokohama. He was so formal. Dude showed up for dinner withflowers.” She giggles.

Thank God. Maybe she’s finally moving on after all.

“Did you guys hook up?”

“Duh.” She snorts. “But he’s not as amazing in bed as you’d think. Some guys think dick and money is all it takes. They’ve got no game. I fell asleep every time he talked about his AI crap and crypto money.”

Well, damn. How disappointing.

“So you’re not seeing him again?”

“Why would I? I told you, he’s from Japan. Talk about long distance.” She uses the same tone she would scolding a child. “Besides, he’s no Patton Rory. I’m saving myself for the best, thank you very much.”

“Kay… you literally just hooked up with another guy.”

“Three guys. You didn’t think I’d spend a month in Hawaii flying solo, did you?”

Yikes.

“What if Patton found out?”

“What if? Okay, look, I know you’re not familiar with this sort of stuff, that’s cool, but guys like Patton, they get who they want, when they want. Like on demand. I bet he hooks up with girls all the time.”

Not true.

I know it isn’t, but the thought that he could makes my skin crawl. I roll my shoulders to shake off that imminent spider feeling.

Patton may have been like that once—we’ve barely spoken about his body count or old habits and at this point I don’t want to—but he’s not like that now.

“If that’s the case, what makes you think he’ll be interested in you?”

“Um, hello? Because I’m on his level. Come on, Lemmy, keep up. I’m the caviar and the rest are all bread girls.” She sighs. “Anyway, what are you doing with makeup? Are you seeing someone?”

Help me.

---