Page 19 of The Best Book Boyfriend
A silence falls between the three of us and I look up from my plate to see the two of them making weird eyes at each other. They look like they’re either failing miserably at a staring contest or trying to seduce each other, but something tells me it’s neither.
I swallow a forkful of sticky rice and look back and forth between their faces. “What are you two doing?”
“Um...” says Hattie, turning to face me. “We have a confession to make.” These two are terrible at keeping secrets, so whatever they’ve been trying their darndest to communicate telepathically, it won’t be good. I tip my head backwards and let out a long, slow sigh.
“What have you done?”
“You can’t be mad at us,” she says and I narrow my glare, willing her to spill the beans, but she’s a shrewd opponent and looks around the room, anywhere but at me. Megan is no match, though. She’d make a terrible hostage. I genuinely don’t think her brain contains the parts that make you capable of lying.
“We went to see him,” she blurts out, clamping her hands over her mouth with a squeak.
Oh, for God’s sake. These beautiful, precious, infuriating meddlers. “What do you mean, you went to see him?”
“We went to Sunshine today so we could check him out,” Megan answers like she’s been called to the headteacher’s office for a bollocking.
“When?”
“This morning,” she says in her most apologetic voice. “We just wanted to see what he looked like and make sure he wasn’t a psychopath serial killer.”
“Of course he’s not a psychopath serial killer.”
“Babes, he is hot,” Hattie chimes in, refilling my wine. “You downplayed the scenario. He isFuck. Ing. Hot.At least, we assume it was him. He was the only guy working there. You should shag him.”
“Hattie, if you think he’s so hot, you shag him,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“I could never shag him. He seems like a nice man. I would ruin his life.” She raises her glass in a toast to herself and I burst out laughing. Hattie has never dated seriously and shown no desire to. In our early twenties, Adam tried to set her up with a couple of his mates and it always ended with them crying and moaning to him about how much they wanted to be with her, but she’d never commit. We started calling her The Life Ruiner, and the reputation stuck.
“Do you want to shag him, Kara?” Even the word shag sounds so improper from Megan’s pure mouth, and from across the table I can see her face flush.
“I don’t even really know him,” I shrug. “How can I possibly answer that question?”
“Well, do you at least want to see him again?” says Hattie.
“I saw him today, actually.” They both perk up like meerkats.Shit. Why did I let that one spill?
“What, in the street?” Megan asks.
“No, I saw him at the coffee shop. I popped in after work and we had a chat.”
“Like a date?”
“No, not like a date. Like two people having a cuppa and a chat. I’m surprised I didn’t catch you both there peering through the window like a pair of sneaky pervs.”
“Are you going to ask him out?” Hattie presses.
I can feel myself blushing now. “No, absolutely not.”
“Kara,pleaseask him on a date. You need this.“ Megan is in a begging position too now.
“Weneed this. You know we need our romance fix through you. I only shag emotionally unavailable men and Megan, well...“ Hattie screws up her face. “What is your situation at the moment right now, Megs?”
“Dormant,” she says, and Hattie and I snort laughing. “Don’t be mean. I’m just taking some time to figure things out.”
After getting semi-serious with someone for a couple of years after uni, Megan had a string of short-term boyfriends before dating an older man called Max. It ended when Max moved back to Australia and it’s left her unsure of what to do next. He keeps hinting he’ll be back in the UK, but I’ll believe it when I see it.
“We love you.” I lean over the coffee table and press a kiss to her hand. “We’re here for your dormantness. Dormancy? Dormanting?”
“Anyway, stop changing the subject.” She gives me a gentle slap on the cheek. “Please, can you ask Luke out and just go on one teeny tiny date with him.”
