Page 10 of Operation Annulment
I look to Dakota for help, but she and Zane appear to be locked in a rather heated discussion.
“Let me take you to dinner,” Nate adds, pulling me back tothe conversation. We can start over—pretend that this morning was a fluke.”
I glance back at Dakota. “I don’t know. My sister?—”
“Is old enough to fend for herself for a night,” he finishes with a smirk that should be illegal.
As much as I want to blow him off—because, hello? Waiting for the universe to send the man I requested—I can’t fight the grin tugging at my lips.
“You’ve got this all figured out, don’t you?”
“Just need your number, babe. Then, I’ll be golden.”
I rattle it off before I can talk myself out of it.
“Got it,” he says, entering it into his phone before checking the time. “Crap, I’m late, but I’ll call you later tonight?”
“Sure. Have a day—a good day, that is. I hope you have a good day at work, I mean.”
Smooth, Mary Katherine. Real smooth.
So much for playing it cool, as if giving a man my number is something I do often. I focus on a patch of concrete, kicking a stray pebble with the toe of my running shoe.
“Have a day,” he echoes with another grin before slinging his gym bag over his shoulder. “Alright then. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Yep. Talk later. On the phone, that is. Not in person, obviously. Not that I don’t want to see you again—I do. Why am I still talking?” A flush spreads up my throat and into my cheeks. Instead of fumbling my way through yet another awkward attempt at conversation, I turn and bolt across the parking lot toward my sister, with the sound of his laughter ringing in my ears.
I reward my three box jumps with French toast and bacon. It was one of the strangest workouts I’ve ever done, not counting when I signed up for a Bikram yoga class. Once the room heated up to the point Icould smell the alcohol that the guy in front of me drank the night before, I was out.
My phone buzzes against my thigh, and I discreetly look down to see a text from an unknown number.
Katy girl, it’s Nate. You’ve run away from me twice now. I’d take offense, but I’m starting to think you might be as socially awkward as your sister is clumsy—yeah, I was there for the ‘treadmill incident.’ When can I see you again?
My heart beats just a little faster, and my palms grow clammy. While Dakota rambles on about something our cousin said, I tap out a quick reply.
Kate: Maybe I’m just not into you…
He immediately starts typing a reply, but I ignore it and focus on Dakota. She’s going on about unicorns, and I try to feign interest, but as my phone vibrates again, I can’t help myself.
Nate: Your eyes told quite a different story at the gym. I think you’re into me, and it scares you.
I swallow past the lump that’s formed in my throat. I want to tell him that he’s quite the egomaniac, but he hit the nail on the head. I just don’t know how to process what I’m feeling.
I channel my inner therapist. This is nothing more than a sure sign of sexual repression. I’ve been in a dry spell, so it makes sense that I would be attracted to a man who is the complete opposite of what I find ideal. Lust is clouding my judgment at the moment.
What if I didn’t fight it?
Maybe I should take him up on his dinner offer, have a one-night stand, and then return to my regularly scheduled programming. Then,I’ll be ready for whomever the universe wants to send my way. I just need to get rid of these repressed feelings.
It’s entirely out of character, but I’m twenty-six years old. I need to do something out of character or risk spending my life alone. If I were in a Jane Austen novel, I would have been written off as an old spinster by now.
With that in mind, I reply to his text.
Kate: Maybe you’re right…or maybe you’re just a narcissist. I’m free tomorrow night if you want to find out which.
“What the heck is going on with you?” Dakota asks, narrowing her eyes at me over her forkful of biscuits of gravy.
My grip falters on my phone, and I narrowly avoid dropping it on the black and white tiled floor of the café. I’ve been conversing with her for several minutes, but I’ve been so caught up in Nate’s texts that I couldn’t tell you what we’ve been discussing.
