Page 88 of We Met Like This
“I mean,” he said with a shy smile, “you were holding my underwear when we met. How can I not ask?”
“Oh,” I said. He was right, that was a pretty epic meet-cute. But I found I didn’t care. There was only one person I wanted to see right now, be with, tell my query news to. I wanted Oliver, and not just because he made me feel like I was full of molten lava every time we were together. But because he was funny and thoughtful and sweet. “No, I’m sorry. You’re cute but I have a… a someone.”
“Good luck to you and your someone,” he said.
I made it back to my apartment in record time, then pulled out my phone, ready to call Oliver and profess my like to him. But when I tapped the screen, my email box was still open, my very first query waiting there. I’d almost forgotten.
I looked around the living room. Where did I want to be when I read it? This was the moment I’d picture for years. By my bookshelves? No, my room was a mess right now. On the balcony with the slight breeze blowing through my hair?Not everything has to be a scene out of a book—the voice in my head was Audrey’s.
I sat on the couch and pulled up the email.
Dear Ms. Hart, it started. I smiled at those words.
I saw your website and knew you would be perfect for my adult romance.
“Thank you, shirtless Oliver,” I whispered.
Imagine a world where there is only one man.
“Oof. I don’t know if I want to.”
He is only good for one thing. We all know what that is.
“His sperm?” I guessed.
But he falls in love and can’t bring himself to be with anyone but her. He would give up the entire future population for his one true love.
“Are there are no sperm banks in this world? Or cups? Or turkey basters?”
How will humanity survive? Is love worth everything?
There were a couple more lines about how long the book was and what genre it fell into best and then a little about the author. I sighed and closed my email. It wasn’t the worst query I’d ever read. That counted for something. And it was the first one ever specifically addressed to me.Thatwas a milestone. My eyes fell on the mug I’d left on the coffee table that morning still half-full, crusty coffee around the rim. I should’ve read the email on the balcony.
I checked the time on my phone. Ten thirtyA.M.Oliver’sgym time. That was the one good thing about having such a regimented schedule: I knew where to find him. I’d gotten my first query solely based off the website that wouldn’t have existed without him. I owed the man a coffee. Was I fabricating an excuse to see him? Absolutely.
CHAPTER 26
“Membership number?” the woman behind the counter at the entrance said.
I held the coffee up. “Just here for a delivery.” Maybe I should’ve waited in my car. That was my intention as I drove over here: to catch Oliver as he was leaving. But the motivation to surprise him had come over me as I parked the car.
“Someone ordered a coffee delivery to the gym?”
“Yep.”
“Just leave it here and I’ll call them up front. Who’s it for?”
“I have to hand deliver it. That’s what is in the instructions.” I said all this while walking past her. I was surprised when she just shrugged and went back to flipping through papers on the desk.
The gym smelled like rubber and sweat and lemon-scented cleaning products as I wound my way through the cardio section, full of stair-steppers and treadmills and stationary bikes. It wasn’t until I was almost to the free weights section that it occurred to me that Oliver might not want to see me. Whatif he had come to the opposite conclusion I had in the past few days—that hedidn’tlike me? I stutter-stepped past a man at the squat rack, hesitating. But then I saw Oliver toward the back. He wore a T-shirt, shorts, and a black pair of running shoes. I was hoping for more exposed skin, like the man standing next to him at the squat rack in a sleeveless shirt and short shorts, but that wasn’t Oliver, I was learning. My heart expanded in my chest and I finished my walk.
“I’m here to settle a debt,” I said.
Oliver, a dumbbell in each hand, met my eyes in the mirror he stood in front of. A smile that filled me with hope lit up his face. “And you thought this was the perfect time for settling debts?” He took in my outfit: a pair of ripped jeans, a tank top, some flip-flops.
“I was hoping for more skin, but yes,” I said.
“I’m showing my calves.” He extended one out for me to get a better look.
