Page 21 of Something Real with the Sea Monster
This woman has a photo of her in a pretty sundress and another in shorts at the beach.
“Her name is Joanne,” says Jack, as if that settles it.
“So?”
“So that’s my mom’s name. I couldn’t date a Joanne. That would just be weird.”
I roll my eyes. “You’re impossible. It’s like you’re looking for problems. I think you should commit to meeting some of these people in real life. It’s way harder to look for problems with a real person in front of you.”
“I don’t know.”
I hand back the phone and there’s a pause where we both sip our tea. I’m still sitting very close to Jack, but I don’t move. I’m not really sure why. I guess I’ve gotten comfortable around him pretty quickly. He’s easy to feel comfortable around.
“So tell me about this guy from Sydney,” he says. “If you want to. If you’re ready to talk about it.”
He’s probably just looking for a way to take the spotlight off him for a while. I guess that’s fair. Since he’s been vulnerable with me about his love life, it seems only right for me to do that same. I sigh. “He had red flags all over him from the start.”
“Mmm?”
“Well, for one thing, he was my boss.”
Jack lifts a brow but says nothing.
I keep going. “And for another, he’s married. I know that sounds bad, but when we started seeing each other he told me they were separated. He said they were just finalizing the separation and hadn’t fucked in months. I guess now I’m not so sure.”
“You think he lied?”
I shrug. “He might have. I don’t know if it’s better to know or not know. I mean if he lied, technically, I helped him cheat.”
“Not your fault if he lied,” Jack says.
I nod. “I know that on paper. It still sucks though.”
“Mmm.” There’s a pause. Jack takes a sip of tea. Then he asks a question I’m not prepared for. “What did you like about him?”
My throat gets tight, and I have to take a moment to breathe through it. “I dunno. The passion I guess. The way he couldn’t get enough of me. The way he used to say things to me like no one’s ever made him feel that way before. I guess he made me feel special.” It sounds pretty cheap and self-centered saying it out loud like that.
Jack sets down his tea, and for a moment I think he’s going to reach for my hand. “Tegan, you are special. I know I don’t know you really well, but I can see it. If you’re ever with anyone who doesn’t, then he’s not the guy for you.”
I wish I could look away from the warmth in his green eyes. Him looking at me like that makes it fucking hard not to cry. “Yeah.”
“Really.”
I brush away a stupid tear and snatch up his phone again. “Stop trying to distract me! Let’s find you a girlfriend! You’re too sweet to go to waste.”
ELEVEN
Jack
When Tegan goes back to Luke and Mia’s, I close the app gratefully and wonder again if I’m doing the wrong thing not telling her the whole truth about my situation. I just don’t think she’s ready to hear that she’s my fated mate. Not with the way things stand.
Especially when the guy she’s trying to get over was her last boss…
She needs more time to recover and more time to get to know me so she’ll realize I’m not like him. I think, for now, I’m best going along with her offer to help me find a girlfriend. I do feel bad every time I deliberately sabotage her attempts, though.
The next morning, Mrs. Wang, the Rotary Club president, comes past Inlet Views to give me flyers for the show this weekend. “Good morning, Lin. How are you? How are the preparations going?”
She sets the stack of flyers on the counter between us and gives me a red-lipped smile. “This year is even bigger than last year. We had to order more marquees and tables for all the new vendors.”
