Page 7 of Right Number

I was enjoying myself way more than I should’ve been. For some reason talking to Mason was just easy and felt comfortable. I looked down and saw he’d already sent another message. “My turn. Why did you text me tonight?”

Good question, Mason. “Truth?” I sent him, trying to stall for a moment while I contemplated my answer.

“Truth,” Mason texted back almost immediately.

“My drunk self won out over my more rational self.” That was the most honest answer I could come up with. Truth was, I didn’t know exactly why I’d wanted to text him. All I knew was that I did…and I was glad I had.

“I take it you had a good time tonight?” I wasn’t sure if Mason had been expecting more of a response than what I gave him, but I was grateful he went with it and didn’t try to push further.

“It’s hard not to have a good time with a two-for-one drink special.”

“I’m impressed with your drunk texting. I don’t think there have been any typos.”

“I’ve got skillz.” All right, I was a little too proud of myself for working that back into the conversation. I was laughing hysterically at my own cleverness when Mason’s response came through.

“Nice call back, Not Susan.”

I snuggled back further into my pillows. I was really tired and the buzz was starting to wear off, but I didn’t want to be done texting with Mason. “My turn,” I typed out. “What did you do today…other than find out Susan was just not that into you?”

“Ouch. That stings a little.” I pulled my bottom lip back between my teeth as I read Mason’s response. I’d intended for it to be funny, but after rereading the message, I realized it did sound a little bitchy. That was the problem with only texting…it was way too easy to give the wrong impression or misread something. I was trying to think of a way to explain what I’d intended when another message from Mason came through. “Oh, and today I went to work.”

Mason was clearly doing the same vague detail thing I was. I decided to push him on it. “Which is…”

“That’s two questions, Not Susan. If you must know, I’m a dancer for an all-male review.”

I snorted. “You’re a turd,” I typed back.

“Today’s been terrible on my self-esteem. I found out Susan gave me a fake number and Not Susan just called me a turd.”

“Sounds like the problem is you.” Dammit! I’d done it again. I’d intended for the answer to be lighthearted and funny, but it didn’t come off that way. Maybe the problem was really me.

“Drunk Not Susan is kind of mean,” Mason texted back. Yep. Shit. Totally didn’t intend to do that. Twice.

“Maybe you’re right. Should I send you a cat meme apology?”

“Meow!!! Claws are out! (See what I did there?)”

“I’d be lion if I said no.” Again, way too proud of myself for my response.

“Points for the bad pun.” I smiled at Mason’s message. He was starting to grow on me. I decided it was time to take a leap.

“It is getting late. I should get to bed.” OK, that wasn’t a leap, but I needed to work up a little courage.

“Yeah, me too.”

“I’ll hit you with a truth bomb before I sign off. Ready?” The first baby step towards my leap.

“Launch it to me.”

I sighed and reviewed what I typed out before I sent it. “I’m twenty-one, a student, and I live on the East Coast of the United States.”

I nervously stared at the screen on my phone as I waited for his reply. It was only a brief moment before his message came through. “I’ll bomb you back. I’m twenty-five, work at a software development company, and live on the West Coast of the United States.”

I smiled and felt a bit more relaxed. “That’s all surprisingly normal sounding. Do you have six eyes or an extra arm or something?”

“You into that kind of thing?”

“OK, that made me LOL. I’m trying to figure out why Susan gave you a wrong number.”

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