Page 36 of The Off-Limits Rule: Extended Edition

Lucy:Nothing. Been super bored.

Her face is so disapproving. She thinks my response is garbage. “Oh great. Now he knows you’re pathetic and desperate.”

I gasp. “Hey! I’m not pathetic and desperate.” But I totally am, and now I’m itching to correct myself. Jessie sees the look in my eyes and turns her head to the side so she can shoot me an effective side glare.

“Don’t text anything else—”

She doesn’t get to finish before I’ve shot off another gem.

Lucy:But not like super bored. I mean I’ve been doing stuff.

Not just sitting around thinking about you.

The second after I hit Send, I feel in my bones that it was a mistake. Yep, so bad. I groan. “What have I done! I’m a disgrace to single women everywhere! I have to fix this.”

“No! Lucy, don’t you dare text one more thing. Hand over the phone.” Now she’s looking at me like I’m holding my thumb over the trigger of a bomb detonator. She’s inching forward, and I’m inching away, fingers poised to fly across the keyboard at record speed. “Luuuuuucy,” she says in warning.

I hold her gaze and whisper, “I’m sorry, Jessie. I have to.” And then I bolt across the salon, pregnant Jessie hot on my heels. My thumbs mash the screen in ungraceful movements as I zigzag around furniture, trying to outsmart Jessie by doing a spin move when she corners me. “HA! PREGNANT SUCKER!” I yell while pressing Send on the best text I’ve ever concocted.

Jessie slumps over into a chair, trying to catch her breath. “You’re beyond help. If Cooper doesn’t ghost you after whatever terrible thing you sent him, marry that man.”

I look down and reread what I wrote. The moment the tagunder the text moves fromdeliveredtoread,I want to enter the witness protection program.

Lucy:What I’m trying to say is, I have done the appropriate amount of things since we last saw each other. Not too much, not too little. And I have thought about you. But also an appropriate amount. Some might even say a friendly amount.

Cooper surprises me and doesn’t ghost me. He doesn’t even make me wait for a response.

Cooper:That’s too bad. I liked it better when I thought you were pining forme.

“Wow, those are some top-notch flirting skills,” Jessie says, appearing over my shoulder like the blond genie in that old TV show.

Seeing his name on my screen has done something to me, further ignited the same flame I usually feel in his presence, but intensified it. For some reason, I’m willing to risk my dignity for this man, because I miss him. And I can’t remember ever caring about a man enough to miss him this much when he’s not around.

I take a deep breath and type out a message. Jessie doesn’t fight me this time.

Lucy:Hey, so, Drew left two weeks ago for his medical trip, and I was planning on taking Levi to the park in the morning to fly his kite. Drew usually goes with us, but since he’s not around, I was wondering if you’d want to come? I know it probably doesn’t sound very exciting, but if you’re free, we’d love to have some company. I mean…if you don’thave any hot dates to go on. If you do, no worries, I totally understand.

I try to swallow my heart back down from my throat while I wait for a response. I also decide that if Cooper says no to this, I’ll be done. I will find a way to force this crush out of my heart because it would be nothing but a waste of time to pursue a man who doesn’t want to fly a kite with me and Levi. My son and I are a package deal, and I willalwayschoose Levi over a man.

Levi is the reason I picked up my pride and carried it back home with me to live with Drew after I failed to pave my own way in Georgia. He’s why I’ve sat through unbearable meals with Brent and every single one of his girlfriends over the years so I can get to know the women who will be a presence in my son’s life. He’s why my favorite jeans will never fit me again but I still refuse to throw them away.

So, if he doesn’t want meandLevi, I’ll let any hopes I have of Cooper falling for someone like mego.

But…maybe I won’t haveto.

Cooper:Pick you guys up at 9?

Chapter 15

Lucy

Okay, don’t panic, Lucy.Don’t panic.

Ding dong.

I’m panicking! I’m panicking so hard. Red-flashing-lights, alarms-sounding, someone-give-this-woman-a-sedative panicking!

Cooper is here to take Levi and me to the park, and not only do I suddenly not know how to walk normally anymore, but my mouth is all dried up and devoid of the moisture necessary to speak. I’ve never introduced my son to a boyfriend before—not that Cooper is a boyfriend, or anything even resembling one. But I think we can comfortably state that he’s a crush…a crush like I haven’t had since high school when I cut out too many pictures of Orlando Bloom and pasted them to my wall. Yeah, that’s right, glued—not taped. I was serious.

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