Page 29 of Perfect on Paper

“You mean, read my emails?”

He shrugged, waiting.

It wasn’t what I was expecting, and I almost said no. But then, it was nice to have someone to share this with. No one but Ainsley had ever seen me do this. “Um, sure. But let me find one that’s vague, okay? No names or anything.”

“Fair.”

I flicked through the last few emails and brought up onethat was sufficiently anonymous. Brougham took over my seat and got comfortable, flicking a stray piece of hair out of his face to read through squinting eyes. He didn’t have his reading glasses with him today.

“What’s the basis behind this one?” he asked, waving the cursor over the screen.

It was a message I’d sent the day before. “I based it on the no-contact rule.”

“Which is?”

Even though he asked it innocently, I sensed he was gearing up to tear it apart. The first outsider to see my stuff, and instead of praise I got critique. Fucking excellent. “Basically what it sounds like. After a breakup, you don’t contact them for a while. Usually about thirty days. About how long you gave Winona, incidentally. And if you can’t avoid talking, because you’re working on a project together or something, you keep it professional and distant.”

Brougham nodded slowly. “And you use it when you want to get someone back?”

“You can. Or, like I said in the email, you can use it to get over someone as well. It’s a win-win.”

“And girls use this?”

“Anyone can use it. It’s not gender-specific.”

“Right, right,” he said at the screen, before looking up at me. “I have a question, though.”

“Of course you do,” I muttered.

“You told me the other dayHe’s Just Not That Into Youreckons if a guy doesn’t chase you, it’s because he doesn’t want you.”

“True.”

“And that, if that happens, you should move on.”

“Ideally, yeah.”

“But what if he’s not ignoring you because he’s not into you? What if he’s just following the no-contact rule?”

He looked triumphant as he swiveled around in the chair, crossing one leg over the other. But I was nonplussed. “Well, if he’s doing that, what does he want from you?”

“For you to want him back.”

“And why doesHe’s Just Not That Into Youexist?”

“To scam money from desperate, lonely people who think following a one-size-fits-all rule will help them land a complex individual as a partner?”

“The reason it’s able tomakemoney is because people need to betoldthat if they’re ignored, they should give up. And that’sbecauselots of people like the chase. Which is exactly why the no-contact rule works so often.”

“Sure, but what if both partners are following different rule books?”

I blinked. “Sorry?”

“Well, what if I’m following the no-contact rule, hoping that it makes my ex fall for me, but she’s readingHe’s Just Not That Into Youand deciding that my thirty days of silence mean she needs to meet someone else?”

“Well, she—”

“Or what if I know about the no-contact rule, and can’t move on when they go silent, because I’m low-key hoping they’re using it on me because they wantmeback? When actually Ishould’vebeen listening toHe’s Just Not That Into You? They can’t both be true all the time.”

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