Page 12 of Love's a Glitch
Mom patted her thigh, the same way she used to in order to gain Pearl’s attention. “Time for dinner,” she called. Like our Golden Doodle, George ran toward her. She noticed I was on the phone and mouthed, “Is it work? Is everything okay?”
The temptation to claim it was rose up, but she’d probably see through it anyway. I shook my head and took a step away under the guise of privacy. If my mom caught wind of me talking to a woman, no matter the whys behind it, she’d push to meet her and start thinking I’d stay and eventually provide her with more grandchildren.
“Sounds like you’ve gotta go.”
“Yeah. I just realized I might’ve interrupted your date. I could’ve waited to tell you I was failing at babysitting.”
“Oh, you don’t know failing until you hear about my date. Note the early hour and that it’s already over, and you can probably guess how it went. I was worried I should’ve set the time to meet up with my friends for later, but now I’m worried I’ll be wasted before they even get here.”
I grinned and then scolded myself for the amount of happiness that rose in me over the news her date hadn’t gone so well. The entertainment value of her tales was priceless, yes, but I’d also experienced something akin to jealousy over the idea of her out with other dudes. I started toward the door, my steps slowing as another thought hit me. “How long will your friends be? I don’t like the idea of you being alone at the bar, where douchebags will be hitting on you and trying to take advantage. If you need me to come down there…”
What the hell was I doing? Offering to go meet her? A phone call and a meetup in one night seemed way too fast, and like sending the wrong signals. Yet I’d be there in a flash if she told me that she needed me there.
Due to the silence on the other side of the line, the possibility I’d offended her hit me. I was sure she could take care of herself, but I would give—and had given—my little sister the same speech on safe practices when out alone.
“I appreciate the concern,” Ellie said, “but I’m at my usual dive, and I was joking about being wasted. I’ve only had one drink, and my girls will be here in about fifteen or twenty. I’m always careful. Promise.”
The tightness in my chest loosened. “Good. I’ll give you a call tomorrow, and then I want to hear all about the guy who refuses to open his eyes.”
6
Ellie
Good thing I was alone in my apartment, save Dottie, because if my friends witnessed how fast I’d sprinted for my ringing phone, they’d never let me live it down. I lunged over the armchair of my couch and snatched my cell off the side table.
A whorl corkscrewed through my tummy as I saw Luke’s name on my screen—I’d be seriously irked if I’d sprinted for a telemarketer. He was calling, as promised. A small thing, really, but after dating too many jerks, my expectations were lower than ever.
“Hey!”
Whoa, play it a little cool, Ellie.Then again, it was perfectly natural to be eager to talk to a friend.Yep. Just a friend with a deep sexy voice that I replayed through my head last night before bed.
“Hey,” Luke said, and I could hear the smile in his voice, which totally justified all the internal organ acrobatics.
“Sounds like you survived your adventures in babysitting.”
He chuckled. “Survived, yes. I crashedhardlast night. I haven’t been that tried, or fallen asleep that fast, since the week I spent hiking in the Alps.”
“I like how you just casually mention hiking in the Alps. Who even are you?”
“A lucky guy who’s gotten to travel a lot. And yet, somehow, I was bested by two kids.”
I laughed and sank into the couch cushions, settling in for what I hoped would be a long conversation. “How’d you get started on traveling and risking your life crossing rickety bridges?”
“My parents tend to think it’s a lack of common sense,” Luke said, and I laughed again. Already my cheeks were sore from all the smiling, and I was determined to up their endurance. “The truth is, I always felt a bit restless. Then, because I grew up privileged and went to a private school with amazing opportunities, I was able to go on a school sponsored trip to Madagascar. We studied the education, ecology, culture, their economy, and spent a few days at the lemur reserve.”
“Lemurs.” A squeak came out with the word. “Dude, lemurs are so freaking cute! I also respect their female-dominant society.”
“Why am I not surprised?” Luke teased. We discussed how they contributed to maintaining forest diversity, and I asked him questions regarding articles I’d read about the country. My nerd side was totally geeking out. “Anyway, from there on, I was hooked. On traveling, on learning more about cultures and being able to immerse myself in them. Then I picked up a camera and learned another version of the world from behind the lens. As soon as I graduated, I set out to discover more of the world and never looked back.”
As someone who’d always yearned to travel, I couldn’t help being a tad jealous. But mostly I was excited to have access to a person who’d experienced so much of the world firsthand.
“Enough about me,” Luke said, and I had a fleeting thought I’d never think I’d heard enough about him. “Let’s hear about the date with the closed-eye talker.”
I slapped a hand over my face, residual heat rising to my cheeks. Was I truly going to confess the humiliating details? A completely rhetorical question. Something about Luke made it so easy to spill my guts. “It started out okay. As long as I kept my menu lifted while we made polite conversation and caught up, I wasn’t even distracted by the fact that his eyes were closed nearly the entire time he talked.”
“But then…?”
See? He pulled information out of me so easily, as though we’d known each other forever instead of only a week. While I adored Penny and Cat, I could tell they thought some of my reasons for writing off guys were ridiculous, and at times they even sounded silly and weak to me when I spoke them aloud. With Luke, there’d be no judgment, and if, after my rant, I did decide to put in more time with a guy, waiting for sparks to fly, I also wouldn’t have to hear “I told you so.”
