Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 26712 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 134(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26712 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 134(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
“Good one, Mrs. S. You’re seriously the best.”
“Thanks, sweetie. You’re awesome, too.” My mom stroked her hand through the back of Charmaine’s hair before heading back toward the house.
When the sliding patio door shut behind her, Charmaine turned to me. “You do realize that you’ll either need to get a boyfriend or an apartment if you want to stop conversations like that from happening every day, right?”
“Ugh. I’d hoped the whole ordeal was a one-off since my aunt and grandma were over for dinner.” My shoulders slumped as I realized she was right. “Do you think my job search will distract them at all?”
“For a little while, maybe. But there’s really only one solution if you want to keep them quiet longer.”
Not trusting the gleam in her eyes, I braced myself as I asked, “What’s that?”
“Let me set you up on a blind date.” Setting her glass on the ground, she bounced on her chair and clapped her hands. “This guy comes in every four weeks like clockwork to get his hair cut. His next appointment is tomorrow. He’s single, cute, and I’ve overheard him talking about investments on the phone several times while waiting for his appointment, so I’m pretty sure he does something in finance. I bet the two of you would get along great.”
I rolled my eyes with a huff. “That’s a giant leap in logic. I was in class with a ton of guys who were single, cute, and studying the same thing as me, but I never wanted to date any of them.”
“I’m not saying you have to marry the guy, Dakota. Just go out on one blind date, and then you can use him as a shield whenever someone in your family brings up your lack of a boyfriend.”
I pursed my lips as I considered her suggestion. Going on a blind date sounded awful…but could it be any worse than all the pressure I was bound to get if I didn’t have a quick reply the next time someone in my family asked if I would ever get a boyfriend?
“If I do this”—I held up my hand in a gesture to stop when she practically jumped off her seat to tackle hug me—“and that’s a big if, the guy has to be tall.”
She gave me a squeeze before doing a little celebratory dance. “Of course he’s tall. Like I’d suggest a short guy you’d tower over when I know how self-conscious you are about your height.”
Charmaine and I had met when her family moved in next door during first grade, and we became best friends on the first day of school while we waited for the bus with our moms. She had been right by my side for the awkward middle school years when I shot up past all the boys and started getting picked on, so she definitely understood why I was sensitive about my height, especially when it came to guys. “When I say tall, what I mean is that he needs to be taller than me by enough that I can wear heels and still be shorter than him.”
Charmaine squinted at me. “Are we walking six-inch stilettos or a more reasonable three?”
“When have you ever known me to wear six-inch stilettos?” I lifted my foot to show off my flip-flops. “I’d probably break my neck if I tried…although at least then I would get out of the date. Oh, and I could use the pity card with my family so they’d finally shut up about me not having a boyfriend. So maybe I’ll buy a pair just for this blind date.”
She beamed a huge smile at me. “Does that mean you’ll let me set you up?”
“Yeah, I guess it can’t hurt anything, and it might help.”
2
AMES
I loved my job. Playing for the New York Nighthawks as an offensive lineman was my dream. However, it was grueling, so when the season ended, I enjoyed the break. The timing was great because the weather was usually warming up. Spring was one of the best seasons to be in NYC, before the hot and humid summer hit.
New Yorkers are usually in a hurry to get anywhere they’re going. But on nice evenings like this, there was definitely a collective deceleration. Looking forward to the walk, I left my apartment with plenty of time to make it to the restaurant where I would be meeting my best friend and teammate, Dempsey, and his wife, Skye.
He’d called and asked me to join them for dinner because they wanted to celebrate something. They wouldn’t say what, but I had a feeling they’d finally found out the gender of the baby. However, I’d pretend that I had no idea that was what they planned to tell me. Because that’s what friends did…and Dempsey would kick my ass if I disappointed Skye.