Page 40 of Love's a Glitch
“It is a pretty awesome way to meet a guy—you upgraded your phone, and the guy on the other line upgraded too.”
“Yeah, can we rewind and start by saying that we’re obviously happy for you, and that we hope things continue to go well? Also, if you ever need us, you know we’ll be there for you.”
“I do.” The opportunity to explain Luke and I weren’t exactly dating seemed to have come and gone, and I just didn’t have it in me to dredge up the complications. “Right now, we’re just getting to know each other. But it’s been a long time since I felt such a strong spark, and I want to bask in it for a while. Even if we decide we’re better as friends.”
“I say bask away.” Penny scooted her chair toward mine. “Now, why don’t you show us the pictures again. I think we both needed processing time.”
“Fair warning, we might need extra napkins. Too much processing of Luke’s photos leads to drooling.” I bumped my shoulder into Penny’s. “Not that I’d know from personal experience or anything.”
As my friends admired the photos, and I shared details about our adventures together, a sense of urgency rose. Crossing lines without a thought to where the relationship was going hadn’t appealed to me since the year I graduated college. I had a pregnancy scare that left me afraid I’d relive the part of my life where she was only married to a man because he knocked her up, and he often reminded her of that. My earliest—and only memories of him—involved him shaking his head or sighing and muttering he’d never wanted kids.
Fortunately, my mom found someone better a couple of years after the divorce.
But the incident inspired me to be more cautious and conscientious about dating men who not only treated me better, but also wanted the same things I did.
But guys like Luke didn’t come around every day—I’d know. I’d been searching for one that checked all the boxes for a very long time.
He was funny and understood me; he showed up; he listened and provided thoughtful insight; he lit up my body like a sparkler that’d gladly burn hot and fast, no regard to the moment when it’d fizzle out, because it would’ve been worth it.
So what if one tiny box went without a checkmark?
Unfortunately, rehashing my past mistakes also left me confused, my emotions clouding my logical brain and leaving me afraid to rely solely on my heart.
19
Luke
Me:Ineed your help. Something’s wrong with my memory card & I’m afraid I just lost months of photos. I’m hoping you can work some magic with your tech skills, because what little ones I have are rusty as hell. Is there any way you can come see if you’re able to save any of the files???
Ellie:I’ll be right there. Or do you need to meet me at my place?
As soon asI heard the doorbell, I sprinted for the front door. For all my talk of going with the flow and not wanting to take pictures in the name of profit, I’d sure come unraveled at the idea of the wasted pictures on my memory card.
My laptop refused to read them, and when I’d put the card back into the camera, I got a message that it couldn’t read it because it wasn’t compatible with the new formatting. Even though I’d never changed the formatting.
I pulled Ellie into a hug. “Thank God you’re here.” I’d obviously surprised her, as it took a moment for her to loosen her posture and hug me back. Once she did, though, she threw herself all in, a contented sigh that made me feel ten feet tall coming out.
The knot in my chest eased enough for me to breathe, and I snagged hold of the chance to inhale Ellie’s familiar scent and bask in the warmth she ignited within me. “I haven’t gotten this nice of greeting in…ever.”
I’d love to capture her mouth with mine and make it that much better, but I wouldn’t push her boundaries, no matter how badly I wanted to. I’d drawn my line in the sand, and she was still deciding where to draw hers, and I would respect that.
Even if I also wanted to use my lips and tongue to convince her to move it over to my side. I slid my hand down her arm, interlaced our fingers, and tugged her in the direction of my bedroom.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the amount of awe in her features as she took in the ornately decorated living room. “This is your house?”
“My parents’ house.”
“Right—you did say you were staying with them. It’s just so huge. Beautiful, too. Honestly, I thought only movie stars lived in mansions like this.”
Or people who sold mansions to movie stars, as well as a lot of CEOs who didn’t pay their employees enough. But now didn’t seem like a good time to launch into that. “I’ll give you a tour later. Right now, all I can think about is my files.”
“Totally understandable.”
I ushered Ellie into my bedroom and gestured at the evil laptop that’d stolen my files and formatted my memory card without my permission. She sat at the desk and began clicking away on the mouse and tapping icons and files like she was a spy or hacker in one of those movies.
Anyway, that was what it looked like to me, the person who clearly needed to brush up on his tech skills.
I refilled my glass of bourbon from the decanter and gestured to the second glass in the set. “Do you want a drink? I figured it was a better option than throwing my laptop out the window.”
