Page 40 of How to Deal

“What’s the harm in one date with him?” Zane asks, leaning into my desk. He’s dressed and smells better than me this morning. Pressed black slacks, crisp gray dress shirt, and tie, clean shaven. . . what is it about men that they can do very little and look amazing?

Women. . . we have to use the right kind of face cream, concealers to hide the bags under our eyes. . . and don’t get me started on the eye makeup. It’s all so much work, which is why I do the bare minimum. Mascara. That’s it. If I wear foundation and all that junk, I feel like my skin is suffocating.

Sorry, I got sidetracked. Back to the dilemma. Me dating Tathan on a bribe. “I’ll tell you what’s wrong with that one date,” I say after shoving a donut in my mouth. It’s a good fucking thing I still swim five days a week, or I’d be huge by now after the sugar I’ve consumed the last two weeks. Remember the cake pops? All. Gone. Every single one of the delicious bastards. “If I go on one date, he’s going to want more.”

“That’s why you made the rule,” Zane points out, staring at his cell phone in his hand.

Clipping a stack of building permits together, I shrug. “I’m going to tell him I can’t do it.”

That’s the last thing Casey wants to hear. “The fuck you are!”

Yeah, she’s at my desk too. They’re hovering and bothering me. It’s no wonder I can’t get my job done efficiently these days.

Tathan and I made the deal last night. Thankfully, and sadly, Tuesday morning he’s not in the office, so I find myself giving Zane and Casey all the details as they huddle around my cubicle.

“Amalie.” Casey shakes her head in disapproval, her hands on my shoulders. “What’s the harm with going on a simple date with him? You haven’t been out on an actual date since Colton. Think of what you’re doing to your vagina. She has needs too.” Leave it to Casey to bring my vagina into the conversation.

“That’s not true. I was with a guy on Halloween and one awkward date after that with a guy who does the maintenance on my apartment.”

Casey points her index finger in my face. “Halloween doesn’t count if you can’t remember what the guy looked like and Maintenance Mark was a tool.”

She has a very good point. He used his tool and then I haven’t heard from him since. Bastard.

Zane looks up from his phone. “Girl, you haven’t been out on a date in how long?”

“You shut up, penis boy!” Picking up my stapler, I roll my eyes, annoyed we’re even having this conversation. “My vagina is none of your concern.”

Casey lets out a breath and takes my stapler from my hand. Probably so I won’t hit Zane with it. “Amalie,seriously, he wants to go out with you.Go out with him.”

“No, he doesn’t. He just wants to add me to his bucket.” I know I’m being difficult. I do, but it’s still not easy to accept that someone would want to date me. When you’ve been burned before, it’s hard to put your hand on the stove again.

“No, he does not.” Casey’s starting to get frustrated. “He wants you for you! Why can’t you see that?”

“What bucket?” Zane asks, wide, excited eyes at the mention of a bucket, and I do not want to know what he’s thinking.

“I’m not special or anything, and Iwill notjoin the harem of women he has. He only wants a date because you want him to take pictures at your wedding. So really, it’s your fault, Casey.”

“It’s not my fault!” Before I can even comprehend what’s happening, Casey slaps my coffee out of my hand as I take a drink, splashing it all over Zane and the floor. There go his pretty clothes. “Your motherfucking ass is going on a date with him for me. Ineedhim. If he’s dealing, you’re going to make a damn deal with him!”

“Casey!” we both yell at her, appalled she basically threw my coffee on poor Zane.

She sighs, sitting back in her chair, a sly smile tugging at her full lips. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do that to you,” she says. “Sorry, Zane, you were in the line of fire,” she adds.

Grabbing a handful of napkins from my desk drawer, Zane shrugs like nothing happened. This may also be because some guy walked past and caught his attention.

As I get up to walk away, Casey grabs my hand. I look back at her. “Tathan likes you, okay. Just think about it before you take back the offer. And I’m dying to have him take my pictures. I want perfection for this day. Something to last me a lifetime.Hecan do that.”

Goddamn you, Casey.Way to make me feel like a complete asshole for not wanting to go on a date with him.

As I’m cleaning coffee splatters off my shirt in the bathroom, I think about what she said. I know she’s right. I can’t trust men, especially after Colton. I can’t. I want to trust Tathan because I see that sensitivity in his eyes, I really do, but he has a reputation, or one I’m labeling him with. I refuse to be another one of his conquests.

When I return to my desk, Casey and Zane are, of course, still discussing my personal life in detail.

“I think she needs to give him a chance. He’s sweet.”

“I agree, but who am I kidding? I would date him if he was interested,” Zane says, and I’m not surprised by this. Zane has always had a thing for Tathan. “If they get married, her name would be Amalie Madsen! How cute is that?”

And then they laugh, like the thought is hysterical to them. They know I’m sitting here, but they continue to talk as if I’m not even present.

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