Page 22 of Accidentally Amy

“Is it weird that I’m impressed by your recollection of the makes and models of the vehicles involved?” I asked, laughing against my will.

“Not at all—I am incredibly impressive.”

“Not what I said,” I countered.

“I know it’s what you meant,” she replied. “Okay, now you.”

“No, thank you.”

“Then I’ll ask you five.”

“Do I have a choice here?” I asked, knowing I needed to end the conversation and get off the phone. But—damn it—there was just something about her that made me want to linger.

“Okay, number one. Where did you grow up, and where did you go to college?”

“I grew up in Omaha,” I said, “and went to college in Minnesota.”

“Were you in a frat?” she asked.

“I played basketball.”

“Shut up—so did I!”

“Really?” She hadn’t struck me as looking particularly athletic, but maybe that was because I’d been obsessed with her legs in those high heels and had been a little blind to pretty much everything else. “Where?”

“La Vista Middle School.”

I was smiling again, damn it. “Tell me everything.”

She told me about how she only went out for basketball in ninth grade because her friend Lindy wanted to, and how she scored a whopping two points over the course of the season. She rambled about running hundreds of laps because of missed freethrows, and finished the story with “Yes, the coaches hated me, but I feel like I might’ve taught them a little something, too.”

“I think they probably just hated you.”

“Can it, Chest.” I thought I heard theLittle Housetheme song in the background just before she said, “Okay, number two. Were you mad when I spilled coffee on you a couple weeks ago? Honest answers only.”

Honestanswer. I reached for my beer and said, “The honest answer—and I’m only copping to this because we willnotbe talking after tonight and this conversation is unrelated to the two people who work at the same company—is that you spilling coffee on me was a fucking lovely surprise.”

Her voice was quiet when she said, “It was?”

“Sure. It’s not often that a funny, charming, beautiful girl appears out of nowhere and starts rubbing your chest in the middle of a coffee shop.”

Her breathless laugh made me wish I could see her face, especially when she said, “I felt the same way, to be honest.”

“Iama charming girl, thank you for noticing,” I said. “And I didnotrub your chest, for the record.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Yeah,” I agreed.

“Okay, um, number three,” she said. “What is your—”

“Number three—when you stepped into the elevator at Incite, I had an instant daydream about hitting the stop button and seeing what transpired. So when you actually did it…hell, it felt like a Big Fate kind of moment.”

She didn’t laugh, didn’t say anything, and I let my head fallbackward so I could stare at the ceiling and regret actually saying those fucking words out loud.

After a moment, I said, “You there?”

I heard her clear her throat. “So is there any way to go back—”

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