Page 56 of We Met Like This
He chuckled again. “So I’ve heard.”
“Ugh. I don’t want to know.” I swiped up the jar and placed it on the coffee table. Then I gestured toward the table in the kitchen. “Are you hungry? My mom ordered me too much food.”
“Yes, actually.”
We settled in at the table, him on the end by the window and me to his right. I passed him a burger and the smirk that had been on his face since he’d arrived slipped off as he opened it. “I wasn’t judging you, Margot. I promise my reaction had nothing to do with you and everything to do with my history.My face sometimes has a mind of its own and it was obviously giving off dick vibes.”
“What?”
“Yesterday. Your boss. I was surprised and shouldn’t have asked.”
“Spill. Did I call you last night or something? How do you know that I thought you were judging me for Rob? You didn’t talk to Sloane, did you?”
“Your roommate? No. You left me a message.”
I put my face in my hands. “I didn’t.”
He laughed. “It was amazing and I will save it forever. You don’t remember?”
“Not even a little bit.”
He took a bite of his burger while simultaneously pulling his phone out. I let it happen. I let him pull up his voicemails and push play while I slowly ate my burger, hoping that the aspirin or the grease would take away the pounding in my head and the twisting in my stomach because I knew the sound of my voice ringing out over his speakers wouldn’t.
“You probably didn’t think it was a booty call,” was how the message started.
He paused it. “You sent me a text before this message asking if I was awake, followed very shortly by a text that said ‘that was not a booty call.’”
“Thank you for the context,” I said, a spotty memory coming back to me with his explanation.
He smiled and pushed play again, and my voice continued: “But I just got a booty call text from someone. So that’s on my mind. From someone on the apps, I mean, not from someone in my life. I said no, of course. I could’ve said yes if I wanted to. I’m a single woman who actually likes sex.”
My real-time self groaned in embarrassment.
“And, by the way,” my very drunk voice continued, “my boss was single when I slept with him. I know he’s older and he’s my boss, but it’s not like I slept with him the first second I saw him. I knew him. We have lots of things in common. Unlike us. You really shouldn’t judge people. My boss is dreamy. You saw him. Maybe not as dreamy as you but not everyone can have amazing hair and a killer smile. Also, you have nice arms. And you smell like soap and wood and cinnamon. Why do you smell like cinnamon? I didn’t think I liked the smell of cinnamon. Well, I mean, everyone likes the smell of cinnamon, but in hot chocolate or on cookies or whatever. I didn’t think I liked it on a person. You make it work. Like, really make it work.”
I met Oliver’s eyes then and he raised one side of his mouth in a half smile.
I narrowed mine as I continued to listen to myself drone on: “Also, is Seattle code for something? Do I need to add it to my first-date questions? I should sleep. Not with you. Not that I wouldn’t. I mean, I would. I totally would. We should. You want to, right? Let’s just do it and get it out of our system. We should’ve three years ago and then we wouldn’t be here now pining, thinking about how hot it was. You were hot in that car. You really had no right to be when your dinner conversation was so terribly one-sided. You hardly knew me.Andyou were rude to our waitress. Why aren’t you responding to my texts? It’s late, I guess. Oh shit, it’s twoA.M.Shhh, I’m sorry. Go to sleep. But come over tomorrow so I know you’re not a judgy jerk with a stick up his ass. Sorry, I don’t think you have a stick up your ass. I’m drunk. Really drunk. But come over. My address is…”
He pressed stop halfway through me relaying my address.
“Wow,” I said. “I’m never drinking again.”
“I am here to prove I’m not a judgy jerk with a stick up his ass.” He didn’t comment on all the sex talk.
Neither did I. “Drunk Margot is ridiculous. I’m sorry. The stuff about my boss, it was my shame talking. I have all sorts of…” I blew out some air because my throat tightened with emotion. “I’m not proud of sleeping with him.”
“I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad at all. And besides, it’s really not my business. I shouldn’t have asked.I’msorry. Also, was I rude to our waitress that first night?”
I covered my face with my hands. “No, I mean, sort of, but it’s fine.”
“What did I do?”
“You just ignored her when she tried to take our order. Didn’t stop talking.”
“Wow. I’m sorry. Like I said, I’d just broken up with my fiancée and I really had no business being there.”
“And your reaction at lunch yesterday, you said that had to do with your history too?”
