Page 80 of All Your Reasons Why

“Rowan started it.” Tasha shrugs and takes a sip of boba tea. “Aww, hottie’s got a girlfriend,” she adds, moving her phone again so we can see hottie greeting a tan surfer chick with white-blond hair.

“Yes, I know how hard it is for you to meet men,” I say dryly.

“I know, I know, it’s just that imaginary relationships are so much more satisfying. No drama, no morning breath.”

“No flatulence,” Shelby chimes in.

“No cheating,” I agree, remembering my last boyfriend. “No having to fake an orgasm so they’ll just finish already.”

“I never do that,” Shelby declares. “If he’s lousy in bed, I’ll end things and finish it off myself.”

“Yeah, really,” Tasha agrees. “Life’s too short for bad sex, and lousy lays should not be rewarded with thinking that they’ve completed the job. How will they get better if they don’t know they’re not satisfying you?”

“You speak the wisdoms.” I take a sip of my pumpkin spice latte.

“Are you drinking one of those 99 percent sugar drinks?” Shelby asks me.

“Pumpkin spice lattes are life. Do not drink shame me.” I take another sip and lick whipped cream off my upper lip. A gust of chill wind blows a newspaper down the street, and dry leaves rattle on the sidewalk. I breathe in that unique big-city scent of exhaust fumes and fermenting garbage from the nearby garbage can, and smile. It’s ridiculous, I know, but I just love being in Manhattan so much.

My cell phone pings with a message, and I swipe to read it. It’s from Mason. “You left your panties here last night. I’m keeping them.”

The heck he is. Those are La Perla. And they definitely wouldn’t fit him.

I tap out a quick reply.We will discuss the next time I see you.

So, tonight?he shoots back quickly.

I don’t know. I’m trying not to spend too much time with him because I don’t want to get used to it. I ignore the text and swipe the screen up to make the message disappear. Shelby and Tasha reappear on the group chat screen.

“You have a goofy smile on your face, and that’s been happening a lot lately,” Shelby observes. “Why is this?”

“She’s right,” Tasha says. She squints at me. “You are weirdly happy.”

“I’m always happy,” I protest.

“Is she, though?” Tasha asks Shelby. “I tend to pick up more of a stressed vibe.”

“Yeah, usually it’s more like an intense, focused, girl-needs-to-get-laid vibe that you’re putting down. Wait. That’s it. She’s getting laid.” Shelby crows in triumph. “Who is he?”

I look around to make sure nobody’s listening. Fortunately, the guy at the table near mine is wearing headphones and completely focused on his laptop.

“Nobody,” I protest.

“Oh, you’re going to play it that way?” Shelby snickers. “Now we’ll have to play detective. Let’s Nancy Drew this situation, shall we, Tasha?”

“We’ll Hercule Poirot the hell out of it until we get to the bottom of things,” Tasha snickers. “Bottom.”

“I swear I can’t believe anybody let you graduate kindergarten. What are you drinking there, Tasha? Boba tea? Let’s make fun of Tasha for drinking trendy drinks,” I say to Shelby.

“I see what you’re trying to do there, and it’s not going to work. Okay, my first guess is the hot guy who works at the bagel shop next to our building. My goodness. The Hole Story suddenly takes on a whole new meaning.” Shelby giggles at her witticism.

A mother is pushing her double stroller up to the table next to mine. I glare at the phone. Now I have to move, so her precious toddlers don’t overhear my pervy friends speculating on my sex life.

I grab my phone and my pumpkin spice latte and move to the other end of the little outdoor area, which is hemmed in by a waist-high iron fence.

I sit down at the table and set my phone up again. Then I scowl at the screen. “Stop perving up my favorite bagel shop, and if you are talking about Manuel, he is married with six kids. His wife works at the shop. She slices up the bagels. If I were the type to go after married men, which I am not, I would avoid picking a guy whose wife knows where I live and is very handy with a knife,” I scoff.

“So, she admits she’s getting laid frequently, and now we just need to figure out who the lucky guy is,” Tasha says.

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