Page 8 of Right Number

There was a long pause and I could see from the bubbles on my phone he was typing something, deleting it, then retyping. “Actually, I think she may have given me the right number.”

I felt my cheeks start to flush. Mason was a bit of a flirt and I seriously liked it. “Well, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I have it on good authority Susan is a real twat.”

“Really? I wish I would’ve known that last night before I picked up her bar tab.”

“You. Did. Not!!!!” OK, so maybe he was a totally gullible flirt.

“I did.”

“You’re such a sucker.”

There was another pause and I started to worry again that maybe I’d come across as bitchy when I didn’t mean to. I was relieved when I saw Mason’s message pop up. “I’d say the conversations I’ve had today with Not Susan are well worth the price of Susan’s bar tab.”

I could feel my heart rate speed up. How could a stranger do that? I felt giddy and excited. I wanted to take another leap. “Hey, Mason. I don’t think I want to be Not Susan anymore.”

“Why’s that?”

“I told you. Susan’s a twat. I don’t want to be associated with her anymore.”

“So, what should I call you?”

I thought my heart was going to hammer out my chest. “Anna.”

Mason’s response was immediate. “I like that way more than Susan or Not Susan.”

“Good.” I could feel myself grinning like a fool. It had been a really long time since I’d had any kind of flirty fun with a guy. I tended to not be a real “people person” which, weirdly enough, makes it hard to meet and get to know new people. That’s probably in part why I’d only had one real boyfriend before and he…well, he turned out to be a real asshole.

“Anna, can I contact you again?”

I didn’t think it was possible for my smile to get any bigger, but it did. “Yes. I’d like that.”

“Good night, Anna. Sweet dreams.”

“Good night, Mason.”

I put my phone down on the nightstand and snuggled into my blankets. If I ever found out who Susan really was, I’d have to thank her for giving Mason the wrong number. Her snotty move turned out to be a huge win for me.

Chapter 3

The Morning After

I WOKE UP THE next morning with a pounding head, a dry mouth, and absolutely no will to get out of bed. Shit. I should’ve known better than to use Tuesday night to get my two-for-one margarita on. Luckily, I didn’t have class until one o’clock in the afternoon.

I squinted my eyes against the bright light shining through my bedroom curtains as I reached for my phone. I had no idea what time it was other than sometime after the sun was up. My blurry eyes took a moment to adjust to the screen: 11:08 a.m. Perfect. Just enough time to catch a few more minutes of sleep before I had to get up and get ready for class.

I’d just snuggled back down in my blankets when I heard my phone buzz with a new message. I reached my hand out, felt around for my phone, and pulled it back under the blankets with me. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the message was from Mason. I quickly swiped it open. It was another meme. Only this time it was of three little, white, furry puppies standing in a line together and it said, “Good Morning, Sunshine! Have a Wooftastic Day!!!” I had to give the guy credit for his sense of humor…which was rapidly growing on me.

I quickly typed a response back. “What is it with you and the horrible puppy and kitty memes?”

“You don’t like puppies and kitties?”

“This may just be the hangover talking, but right now, no.”

“Note to self: more puppy and kitty memes. Got it.” Despite the pounding in my head, I chuckled at his message. I liked that Mason seemed to understand my sarcastic sense of humor. Not many people did.

“Shouldn’t you be engineering some software or something?” I typed back, still hunkered down under my blankets.

“Shouldn’t you be in class?”

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