Page 71 of The Mistakes I've Made
“Are you kidding?”
She made a sort of noncommittal noise. “I just figured I’d ask. Maybe you were out, celebrating your success?”
“I wish.”
“Okay.” She was obviously sensing my distress. Her best-friend vibes were strong. “Well, let’s start with the basics, shall we? How is the project going?”
I slumped down on the bed in my suite, and I stared up at the ceiling. I’d managed to change out of my wet clothes from the beach and shower after I got home, rinsing all the sand and ocean water from my body.
But the memory of that moment in the water…
“It’s behind,” I answered, clearing my throat. “I’m seriously behind.”
“Why?” she asked. “Are you having problems with the locals like you anticipated?”
I snorted. “You could say that.”
A silence passed between us before she spoke again, “You know, this kind of skeptic nonsense might work with others but not with me. So, why don’t you cut the bullshit and tell me what’s really going on?”
“God, I miss you.” I laughed.
“My feelings for you right now are a little muddled, so spill.”
“I think I’m falling for someone.”
Well, that one shut her right up.
So much so, that, after a while, I actually had to respond with, “Hello?”
“I’m sorry. Did you just say you were falling for someone?”
“Yes,”
“And by someone, you do mean, an actual person? Like flesh and blood? Not a TV character onGame of Thrones?”
I rolled my eyes. “No, this time, it’s notJohn Snow. Promise.”
She waited, still expecting further clarification.
“Or anyone else of a fictional nature.”
“Sorry,” she said. “I just had to make sure. You haven’t had an actual crush on someone in…well, eons.”
My mouth gaped open. “I have, too!”
“Have not,” she countered. “Name one.”
Sitting up on the bed, I fired back, “The IT guy from work.”
She made another sound that made it clear that she was not impressed. “Gary? Oh, please. You were not at all interested in Gary from IT!”
“I dated him! I’d call that interested.”
If someone were to give out an award for the biggest eye roll, it would be awarded to Piper because, even with her being in Hawaii, I felt the effects of her peepers twirling around in her head from that statement.
“There is a difference between going out with someone because you’re too polite to say no and being so over the moon for someone that you can hardly breathe. Now, tell me,” she said, “which one describes your relationship with Gary?”
I thought back to our less than stellar date to the aquarium where he’d tried to impress me with the name of every fish in the place.
