Page 110 of The Bad Girl List

“What?”

“I’ve always been a little jealous of you. You’re so smart and talented. You don’t even have to try and everyone sees it, just like Tim did. He was right to hire you.”

I frown at her. “You’re smart and talented.”

“Not the way you are. I’m more of a survivor, like an alley cat. I get by with my wits. You’re naturally gifted.”

I don’t like hearing Annika talk like this. “You have lots of talent. Just because school wasn’t your thing doesn’t mean you don’t have your own gifts.”

Annika waves the comment away. “I’m not complaining. I like my life, but every once in a while I wish I was a bit more like my favorite cousin.” When she smiles at me, I feel myself relax.

“How am I going to face them?” I ask.

“Well, for now you’re going to stay in here. Everyone needs a cooling-off period.” She settles back on the bed. “I tried to cover for you. I really did. But your mom insisted on making you some tea, and when I tried to deliver it for her, she insisted on bringing it to you herself.” Annika wrinkles her nose. “I think she was suspicious from the get-go. The tea was just an excuse to come and check to see if you were really in bed. I think she’s been suspicious since she saw you and Trevor together at the dinner. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to freak you out, but your chemistry was pretty obvious.”

Thinking of Trevor makes me deflate even more.

“What are you not telling me?” Annika asks.

I tell her about Tim Moretti, the job offer, and how he dumped me out in the vineyard with Trevor. I tell her all the things Trevor and I talked about.

When I’m finished, she flops onto her bed and says, “That is the saddest story I’ve ever heard. He’s really into you. Don’t get me wrong, I think you did the right thing. You deserve to have a guy who’s going to put you first.”

Her words should bolster me, but instead, they make me feel even more deflated. It’s like someone confirming you really do look fat in that dress, or that the meal you slaved over tastes as bad as you suspect it does.

I grab my purse and dig out the Bad Girl List to cross off number four, sneaking out.

“Today definitely counts for this,” I say, holding up the list for Annika to see.

“Hell yeah, it counts,” Annika replies, grinning. “You couldn’t have planned it better if you’d tried.”

Someone knocks on the door. “Dom, will you please come out here so I can speak to you?”

I almost get out of bed to answer the door. The response is automatic, like I really am still a little kid living under her roof.

But I’m not a little kid. I am twenty-five years old.

“No,” I say. “I don’t want to talk right now, Mom.”

Annika’s eyes bug.

“Dom–” Mom says.

“Not right now, Mom. I need to be alone.”

I wait for her to argue. I wait for her to insist. But she doesn’t.

She turns around and leaves.

I cross number nine off the list: Just say no.

“I think the list is working,” Annika says. “You stood up to the family twice in the same day! You even stood up to Trevor.”

Maybe it is. Maybe I am learning how to speak up for myself. Maybe the Bad Girl list, as silly and horrifying as it seemed at first, is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.

“Only two more things on the list,” I say. “Buy something not on sale, and a vacation fling.”

“Dom, you don’t have to do number ten if you don’t want to,” Annika says. “I know you’re not a casual person. I just put that on the list to see if I could really push you out of your comfort zone. Hell, I wasn’t even sure you would get a tattoo. You surprised the shit out of me when you went through with that.”

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