Page 56 of Hate You, Maybe
“Clearly,” she says. “But would falling for somebody someday really be so awful?” She hitches her shoulders. “I mean, not Dex. Obviously.”
“Obviously.”
“But if you take him out of the equation, do youhaveto be such a love hater?”
“I’m not a love hater. I simply choose sanity.”
“I don’t know, Say.” She crinkles her nose. “I get that you’re mostly joking, but if you keep yourself locked away in an ivory tower of ‘don’t come near me,’ you might end up a little?—”
“Don’t say it.”
“—lonely.”
I groan. “Itoldyou not to say it.”
“Whoops.” She sends me a small smile. “But someone had to.”
“That’s debatable,” I quip. “And anyway, I’ll never be lonely. I have you.”
“True. But … we don’t make out.”
“Also true.”
“And I’m going to be moving in with Foster next summer after the wedding, remember?”
I frown. “I’m the maid of honor. How could I forget?”
“Right.” She’s quiet for a moment, and something passes behind her eyes.
“What?”
“Can we stop being silly for a minute?”
“Sure,” I say, my voice wary. “If we absolutely have to.”
“It’s just that you work so hard for other people, Say, but then you keep everyone else at arm’s length. You play the hero—the protector, the mentor—because no one did that for you. It’s like you want to be the safety net you never had.”
“Yikes. Did you have that speech prepared already? Like as a model of a persuasive essay for freshman comp?”
“I’m just saying.” She takes a beat. “Maybe it’s time for you to start thinking about finding your own safety net.”
“I don’t need one.” I tilt my head. “I just stay off the high wire.”
“See, but that’s the problem,” she protests. “The walls you’ve built are so high, there are practically clouds around your metaphorical turrets.”
“Metaphorical turrets?” I chuckle. “Man. You’resuchan English teacher.”
“Andyou’rea hotel with a big flashing neon sign that says NO VACANCY.”
“Lovely.” I grimace. “Now you’ve got me thinking about all the trashy motels and motor lodges we used to stay in everytime my mom pulled up stakes and moved us to a new town. I can almost smell the chlorine from the public pool. My hair always turned green. It was the worst.”
Loren frowns. “So think about a classy hotel. You know. With free Wi-Fi, a continental breakfast, and a hot tub.”
“Public hot tubs? No, thank you.” I press out a laugh as the cabin door opens. Then the screen. Then Dex emerges.
“Heading to breakfast,” he says.
“Save some pancakes for me.”
