Page 34 of It's a Date (Again)

“No, I’m not sick, but ... umm, do you wanna come up for some soup? There’s something I need to tell you.” I press my lips together.

She delivers a warm smile. “Of course, sweetheart. Let me just grab my cardigan.”

After what Maya and Robbie told me about Debbie, I know I owe it to her to tell her what happened. I can’t look her in the eyes again without her knowing. She deserves the truth.

CHAPTER7

I finish telling Debbie everything. She’s seated in the chair next to the couch with her legs crossed at the knee, staring intently at me. She hasn’t taken her eyes off me since I started talking.

“I knew it,” she says.

“You knew I had amnesia?”

“No, not necessarily. But I knew something was off. This morning, you didn’t look at me like you usually do. At first, I thought you were mad at me for something, but then we got to talking and I realized it wasn’t that. Then I thought you were pregnant.”

“What? Why would you think that?”

She shrugs. “Everything else that crossed my mind, I figured you’d just come out and tell me.” Debbie picks up her bowl of soup and spoons a heavy helping into her mouth.

“Amnesia would have been my second guess,” she adds with a snicker.

Maya and I exchange a look.

“Now, which one of these guys brought you this soup?” Debbie asks.

“Nash,” Maya says. “He’s a chef at Gretel.”

“If you don’t pick him, think he’d be into me?” Debbie simpers, spooning another bite into her mouth.

Maya and I laugh.

I pick up my soup from the coffee table and take my first spoonful. “Oh my God. It’s so good!”

“See? That’s what I’m saying,” Debbie says. “But from what I’ve heard, it sounds like your connections are deeper with Shawn and Tyler.”

Maya nods. “Yeah, I agree with that.”

“But one of them is a liar.” Debbie raises an eyebrow over her bowl of soup. She brings it to her mouth and slurps.

“We gotta weed out a liar and weed in a lover,” Maya says, looking down at her notebook. She picks up a Twizzler from the bag resting on the end table and bites off a chunk, then twirls the rest of it.

“This is exactly why you shouldn’t procrastinate, Peyton. If you would have dumped the liar, you’d only have two to pick from.” Debbie nods.

“I’ll remember that for the next time I get amnesia,” I say sarcastically.

“Good,” Debbie says, ignoring my sarcasm. She must be used to it. She stands from her chair and extends her hand. “All done?”

I drink the rest of my broth and hand my bowl to her. “Yeah, thanks.”

“Of course, sweetie.” Debbie leaves the living room. The kitchen faucet turns on and dishes clink together.

“I’m giving Nash a bonus point for the soup,” Maya says.

“What do the points even mean?” I lean over, trying to steal a glance at the sheet of paper. There are three columns with each of their names written at the top and tally marks beneath them. Shawn has seven. Tyler has nine. And Nash just got his sixth for the soup.

“When I think something about them is appealing, I give them a tally mark.” Maya delivers a pleased look.

“But what does each mark mean?”

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