Page 15 of The Last Love Story
Not much. Not the home I’ve been craving.
“Two bedrooms?” I ask.
Frannie nods. “Yep.”
“Can I turn one into a recording studio?”
Mark shrugs. “Fine by me.”
I take another swig of my beer.
Fuck it.
“Sign me up.”
Frannie claps her hands. “I’m so excited! You really will love it. No rush to move in, just let us know when you’re ready.”
“I’ll start packing as soon as I’m home and plan for the move after I get back from Las Vegas.”
“Sounds good. We’ll have it ready for you,” Mark says.
I give him a nod in thanks.
It’s crazy, but life’s too short not to take risks. Even if I don’t love it, I doubt it’ll be any worse than where I am now. And at least I’ll have a friend nearby.
Who knows, maybe I’ll get lucky and live out my own small-town romance.
But when I think that, my eyes drift down to my phone, and I think of Jade. Of the picture of her looking gorgeous surrounded by books. It would be delusional to believe that there’ll be anything between us. But if life as a romance lover has taught me anything, it’s that you can’t predict how and when love will find you, and you can’t stop the free fall into its hold once it does.
CHAPTER FIVE
JADE
Three cute dresses.Check.
One fancier dress. Check.
I really only need a dress for the signing and a dress for the mixer the night before, since I travel looking dumpster-chic at best, but I like to have options. Plus… I want to have something cute to meet Justin in. Even if it’s just two online friends meeting up, I can still look cute.
Speaking of Justin, my phone dings again.
We’ve moved past messaging on social media, and we exchanged phone numbers a couple of daysago. Now we text.
Justin: Question… do you have anyone assisting you at the signing? I’m signing at the narrator event in the morning, but I’m free for the rest of the day. If you’re comfortable with it, and don’t have anyone to help, I’d be happy to step in. Plus, you know I can fangirl about your books. Unless you’re tired of listening to me do that.
Me: I’m never tired of hearing you talk about my books. That’s always fun for me. Especially when I tease you with what might come next.
Justin: So you’re saying you like edging me?
I blink at my phone several times. Talking with him tends to have a flirtatious side, but that’s a little more overt than we’ve been. Not that I necessarily mind.
Unfortunately, though, that’s mostly because my parasocial crush morphed into a real crush, and it grows the more I talk to Justin. Especially as we sprinkle more details about ourselves in. He seems like a good guy.
Obviously, I’m not going to believe that until I meet him in person and check the vibes. Men are excellent pretenders, and there can be predatory ones in the romance community. I refuse to fall victim to that.
Justin: Sorry. That was too far.
Again, I stare at my phone, unsure how to respond. I don’t mind having fun. But boundaries are still necessary until we know each other better.
