Page 72 of All Jacked Up

“Thanks. You’re gonna make Zeke swallow his tongue when he sees you,” I told her.

She wagged her eyebrows and did a twirl for me. “You think?”

“I know.”

“Good. It’s time for the man to put a ring on it. I decided to give him a little incentive.”

I scrunched my nose. “You want to get married?”

The idea of Jellie married was so strange. She was a wild force of nature. I couldn’t see her in a minivan with two kids, going to soccer games.

She sighed. “Yes. I want to get married. I love Zeke, and we will make beautiful babies.”

My phone dinged again, and I glanced down at it.

Ransom: Make sure it smells bad.

I smirked, but didn’t respond. Not with Jellie watching me.

“Who is that? Not a man, right? I mean, you said you weren’t seeing anyone.”

I shook my head. “I’m not. This is definitely not a man. This is a friend talking about smelly robes.”

She frowned. “Uh, do I need to come to Manhattan and help you make some normal friends? Scratch that. You just need me. I’d be jealous if there was another me in your life. Now, the men will be here at any minute. You ready?”

What?

“Men? As in plural?” I’d been told Zeke was picking us up.

She gave me a smug grin that alerted me she was up to something I was not going to like.

“Zeke and his best friend from college. Thurston Coburg—tall, played lacrosse, blond, sea-green eyes, and single. I know I’ve mentioned him.”

I shook my head. “No, you haven’t.”

Dread began to pool in my stomach. She was setting me up. I hated being set up on dates. She had done this a few times in college, and as much as I loved her, she was terrible at picking men for me. Besides, I was emotionally unavailable.

She waved a hand. “I could have sworn I did. Anyway, I have now. And he’s moving back home from London. He’s been there for two years, working at one of his father’s marketing firms.”

I sighed. “Good for him. I’m sure Zeke will be happy to have him around again.”

My phone dinged again, and I silenced it. I didn’t want Jellie reading my texts or getting curious. She’d have an opinion that I did not want to hear.

“Oh, well, he will be glad he’s back in the States and a train ride away, yes, but Thurston’s home isn’t in Boston …” She trailed off, grinning like she had the most exciting secret in the world.

I glanced up from the text, not reading it. “Oh,” I replied, not caring where he lived.

“He’s from Manhattan. He has a flat there, just around the corner from you actually.”

Dammit.

That was why she was grinning.

Not only was this a setup, but it was with a man who lived in my neighborhood. Fantastic. I wanted to groan.

“Jellie, you know I don’t like blind dates.”

“It’s not!” she exclaimed, walking over to me. “We are going out as friends. You need to meet someone outside the writing world. I’m not fixing you up. He’s just a nice guy—who has money, and is successful, and lives close to you—who might be nice to go get drinks with sometime.”

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