Page 110 of Always Knew It Was You

Are you going to join in?I text.Don’t feel pressured to.

Absolutely not. Not joining in that. No way.

That’s good. Remain firm. Just know that they might feel offended if you don’t.

Well, then they’re going to have to feel offended because ain’t no way I’m showing them my nude form. That’s for your eyes only.

I smile again.

Another thirty minutes later, Micah sends me another photo of him having stripped down to his briefs with a dry look on his face.They got me.

I snort.Looks like you’re halfway down the tourist-to-nudist pipeline.

Never. How is studying going?

Okay. I’m going to mute you now so I can finish.

No! Don’t let the nudists have me!

I almost crack up again but manage to just smile. I put the phone on mute focusing on the test.

Despite Micah’s distractions, I manage to retain most of the information I learn and the test goes well. I walk out of there smiling despite a dull headache on the side of my temple.

As I wait for Micah to pick me up, I decide to head to the pharmacy across the street for some Advil and while there, I browse the aisles for anything else I might need.

It’s while I’m standing in front of the feminine hygiene section that it hits me.

Oh boy does it hit me.

It slams into me then, a horrible sinking realization as I stare at the box of tampons in front of me.

My period is two weeks late.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

MICAH

After spending my day with the nudists, I head back to my hotel room to get ready for Carly’s return.

She texted me after she was done with her tests and said she thought she’d passed, which was cause for celebration in my book. She seemed like the kind of person who would like a nice home-cooked meal after something like that. Except I’ve never made a meal in my life before, but I’m determined to try anyway.

After all, how hard can it be?

Following a quick shower, I go to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients (still no organic kumquats despite my strongly worded email to the branch manager) and head home. And then I spend the next thirty minutes to an hour, squinting at a video on my iPad screen, while trying to slice a variety of vegetables in perfect shapes, while also manning a boiling cauldron of water and somehow missing the fact that I had to put the marinate and simmer throughout this whole process.

So, safe to say that the home-cooking thing is pretty much a botch.

So instead, I order Carly’s favorite food from the restaurant in Bayview and pray that it gets here before she does. I pay a small fortune for rush delivery and tidy up the space, laying the table in the center of the room nicely. And then I realize that I missed something. A card.

Shit.

I have someone from the hotel run to the pharmacy to get me two. And then once they arrive, I use my fountain pen to write on the first one:Congratulations on passing your test!

And on the second one:Sorry that test sucked. You’ll get the next one.

Just in case.

And then I wait.

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