Page 80 of My Undead Heart
Matt: Something came up. Raincheck? TTY.
That’s the text Matt sent me over an hour ago. The one that propelled me to invite my friends for an impromptu late afternoon brunch and endless mimosas. It’s also the stupid message I can’t stop thinking about. He owes me nothing. We’re not even dating. Not really. But it still came as a surprise that he’d cancel our date last minute. Especially after our naked party last weekend and mostly naked training session this week.
“Mia? Earth to Mia!” Jared laughs.
“I think we broke her. I always knew this day would come.” Rae pats Jared’s shoulder.
“Sorry.” I shake my head and lay my cell phone back on the table. I don’t know why it bothers me that Matt canceled our plans today. We’re just having fun. This is only some stupid bet.Because you were actually looking forward to spending time with him. I shake that thought right out of my head.
“Seriously, Mia. What the hell? You gonna let us in on what’s running through that pretty little head of yours?” Jared’s words flip my attention back to the present.
“Is it normal for a guy to cancel a date last minute?” I blurt my question because these two have a vast knowledge to reference on the protocol of typical male behavior.
“Uh, I guess so? It’s not really the best sign. Why?” Rae tilts her head and takes another sip from her drink.
I nod because I’m being silly letting Matt’s text mess with me. He’s a busy man. I’ve got my own career. It’s difficult enough to find time to train together, so I’m sure something simply came up. I can’t fault him when I’ve done the exact same. But still. I’m curious what Rae and Jared think. “What about after getting naked together?”
She flips her hair over one shoulder and leans back into her chair with a wicked grin. “Like you did the dirty and now he won’t call? That’s a totally bad sign. Unless the sex was bad!” Rae giggles, holds up her hand, and Jared reaches over to smack her palm in a high five.
“Oh.” I guess I knew all of that but it still stings. Why the hell does it sting? Maybe it’s heartburn. Those huevos rancheros were a touch on the spicy side. I push my plate to the center of the table.
“Wait ...” Rae leans forward and folds her hands on the edge of the table. “We’re not discussing a real life dilemma, are we? Because you don’t usually have those.”
I shrug and drink from my water glass to clear my throat. “Yeah, well, Matt was supposed to meet me for lunch today but he canceled.”
“We’re your pity replacements?” Jared’s mouth falls open and he scoffs. “Mia!”
“Oh, that’s totally shady.” Rae rolls her eyes and ignores Jared’s tantrum. “Last minute cancel. After last weekend. What a dick move.”
“I’m still not over we weren’t her first choice for brunch. These mimosas taste like bitter broken friendship.”
“Jared, shut up.” Rae rolls her eyes and points at me from across the table. “Mia, you need to watch out for that man.”
“I’m not sure I need to watch out. That seems a little severe. Here. You look. What does this even mean?” I bring up my text thread with Matt and shove it in Rae’s waiting hand. I’ve never tried to analyze a text message before. I’ve never really cared. That alone concerns me more than whatever Matt ditched our lunch for.
She reads the words and winces but Jared swipes it from her. He starts to scroll like a madman but I’m too distraught to care. Besides, he’s so damn nosy it’s easier to let him have at it. I have nothing to hide.
Rae leans over the table and refills both our glasses. “Don’t you see? You hooked up last weekend. And it was good. Then you had that unbelievably sexy game of cat and mouse in his gym. But now you’re not dishing out the goods, so he suddenly has other plans. He’s putting a mind fuck on you, Mia.”
I glance at Jared, who seems to agree with his sister’s analysis by the frequent nodding of his head. He glances up from my phone and hands it back. “You should also up your sexting game if you want to hook that meathead. There’s nothing about your messages that would turn me on.”
“I don’t want to hook anyone.” I must be slow because I don’t really understand how that has anything to do with Matt’s change of plans. “And I’m not trying to turn Matt on.”
“Be careful, Mia. This is a setup.” Rae raises her brows, and her stare is so serious I don’t dare laugh.
But setup? Really? It’s not as if Matt’s planning a heist. “I’m sorry. How, exactly?”
They both gawk, jaws dropped until I bug my eyes.
“He wants the goods. The best way to get into the locked drawer is to pretend he doesn’t care about the key.” Jared says.
Rae nods. “Or find another treasure chest.”
Okay, this is ridiculous. I really do laugh now, shaking my head. “So, he canceled our lunch date so I’ll want him in my drawers because I’ll think he’s in someone else’s?”
“Pretty much.” Rae snaps the words and takes a long sip from her glass.
“This is exactly why I don’t date.” I laugh again.
