by Zoe Garcia
Even now, with his hand his mine, my mind found it hard to believe things were going this well with him.
Something was bound to go wrong, right?
Wasn’t this how love worked?
12
“Everything has gone wrong,” I told Ruby three days later.
Ruby poured herself a glass of chardonnay at my dining table. “Why is that?” she asked with a laugh.
Skye was asleep in her room as of an hour ago, and her baby daddy had their son so she’d come over for dinner and some girl talk.
“Well,” I began, sitting down across from her. “Jeremy and I have hardly texted the last few days, ever since we had lunch together. I’m wondering if I said something weird. Maybe it was the boyfriend bomb I dropped on him. It was too soon.” I looked at her. “It was too soon, right?”
Ruby took a sip of her wine, thinking. “From what you told me, he was fine with it. More than fine with it. Although, if we’re getting technical here, it’s not official until it’s Facebook official,” she said, quirking a brow. “Have you guys made it Facebook official?”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s dumb. And no, we’re not Facebook official. I don’t need a million texts and calls from my family and friends asking me if I finally managed to find a keeper or what about Skye.” I could practically see the nosey texts now. “Besides, we’re not even friends on Facebook yet. I just follow him on Instagram, but he doesn’t really post. I don’t think he really does the social media thing.”
Ruby looked like she didn’t quite believe that. Her specialty was sniffing out the bullshit guys threw at us. She was quite good at it, especially after everything she’d gone through with her baby daddy.
She got this evil glint in her eye. “We could look up his profile, do some digging, see what kind of guy we’re dealing with here.”
For a second, I was tempted, but… “No,” I replied. “I don’t want to go there. At least not yet, not without cause.”
“You said he hasn’t texted,” she said, taking another sip of wine.
“Well,” I said. “I have heard from him, but I think he’s just been busy with work.”
Ruby blinked back at me. Was she thinking or was that a nice glaze in her eyes now? “How do you know he’s been busy with work?”
“He said he’s been busy with work. Working double shifts and stuff,” I replied. “I just wonder if we went too fast and now he’s decided it’s too fast and maybe he doesn’t want a girlfriend. Or me,” I finished lamely.
I’d gone through a couple of those before…
Puppy love and perfection until the guy decided he’d changed his mind and slowly but surely he would start flaking, text less. It was horrible.
I went on, thinking out loud. “Maybe he met someone else, someone who doesn’t have a kid, someone who…”
Who was sexier, prettier, smarter…
“Whoa,” Ruby said. “I can’t practically see your brain spinning out. Stop.”
I looked up at her.
She leaned forward. “Let’s say he found someone else or decided he just doesn’t like you after all. That says more about him than you, girl. You’re the motherfuckin’ prize. Don’t ever forget it.”
I walked around and gave her a big hug. She hung onto my arm. “Don’t let him get you freaked out,” she said. “Keep a strong head. You’re gonna be fine either way.”
“Ugh,” I said. “I love that I can always count on you to ground me and my crazy brain.”
“Always,” she replied. “Give it a few more days. See what happens. Don’t freak out. Just stay aware of what you want and who you are. Hardly hearing from him for a few days doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Let’s just see how this plays out.”
Ruby was right. I knew she was right.
But inside, I was already beating myself up for letting my heart get the best of me so damn quickly.
13
The next day, my phone buzzed during lunch at work.
Jeremy: Hey, bella. Sorry I’ve been kinda MIA the past few days. Worked double, slept five hours, then worked another double. I go into work again in a little bit, but I wanted to let you know I’ve been thinking about you ;) Can’t wait to see you this weekend.
Then he sent a kissing emoji.
I practically floated away after reading that message.
“Okay, all is right with the world again,” I told Alexa. We had already finished eating and we’d even gone outside for a walk. It was a beautiful day.
“Why is that?” she asked.
I showed her my phone. “Jeremy just texted me back.”
After not hearing from him yesterday, I’d begun to emotionally prepare for the worst or at least taking a few emotional steps back from my feelings for him.
But after this message?
I was more crazy about him than ever.
And he was gonna see me this weekend? Couldn’t wait.
I still had no idea what the right timeframe was for Skye to meet him. It had only been like three weeks since our first date, but I did know he was important to me, and I wanted her to meet him soon-ish.
Maybe another month if things kept going the way they were going.
She’d never met anyone I’d dated before. Ever.
This was a big deal for me, to even consider this.
And he’d ask about her, ask me how she was doing, listen to me tell all kinds of crazy stories about what she’d done this time. Or the heart-melting things she’d tell me out of nowhere.
It was awesome.
My phone buzzed again.
This time, Jeremy had sent a picture.
He was rocking his police uniform, looking like the first day I’d met him, but a little more tired. A little more happy, though, for sure.
I made a mental note to do something nice for him this weekend. Maybe we could stay in instead of going out.
Maybe I could give him a massage, the kind that had a happy ending…
That could be fun…
Alexa’s voice brought me back to reality. “What are you thinking about?” she asked with a grin.
I gave her a wicked smile. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” I held up my phone. “Check this out.”
She leaned forward to get a good look. “Holy smokes!” Her jaw fell open.
I inspected the picture again. “Right? Hm, I love a man in a uniform, don’t you?”
“Especially with biceps like that. And I bet the package downstairs—“ she began. Then our boss walked by right at that moment.
Alexa quickly pretended to type away at her computer, her face turning a shade of beet red.
I picked up some papers myself and pretended to glance over them like I was actually doing something, but it was too late.
Mr. McCallister gave us his usual annoyed look and continued toward his office.
Alexa turned back to me.
I shrugged. “One of these days he’s gonna get that stick out of his—“
Alexa popped her eyes out at me. “Camila!”
I huffed but went on. “—you know where long enough to find a woman who is willing to sleep with him. Maybe then he’ll finally relax!” I whisper shouted.
It was a shame too.
The first day I started this job, I remembered seeing our boss and raising a brow at how good he looked in a suit. And not only that, he was extremely good-looking.
Like he could easily pass for a model in a men’s fashion magazine. Tall, perfectly shaved, thick black hair, and the most beautiful blue eyes. Not to mention a chiseled jaw.
Alexa and I liked to joke that he looked like the prince from the Little Mermaid, if Mr. McCallister happened to have an identical twin who happened to be NICE.
(While Jeremy was more like Thor from the Avengers. Much different but still incredibly yummy.)
I had no idea what had happened to him to make him so bitter and serious, but it was so bad that it made him completely unattractive despite his looks. And that was saying a lot.
>
Not one woman in the office or out of it had successfully made him even crack a smile.
But that day had to be coming or one of these days…
Alexa glanced around and turned to me. In a quiet voice, she said, “I dare you to send him back a sexy picture of your own.”
My wicked smile was back. Making sure no one was around or paying attention, I unbuttoned a couple of buttons on my blouse and messed with my hair until I had sexy bedhead.
Making sure my dark red lipstick was on point, I opened the camera on my phone and grabbed my pen. I held it up to my lips and let my mouth fall open a little while I stared directly at the camera.
I snapped a couple of pictures and showed Alexa, quickly buttoning my blouse back up.
Angela walked by and I caught the roll of her eyes, but I couldn’t care less.
If I had a dollar for every time I had walked by her desk while she was snapping selfies or texting back one of her boyfriends…
“Hot mama!” Alexa said, clearly approving.
I sent one to Jeremy and waited for his response.
Sure enough, a couple of minutes later, my phone buzzed.
Jeremy: I can’t wait to see you. I don’t even know how I’m gonna focus today ;) I’ll be too busy thinking of you and what I want to do to you.
Mission accomplished.
I got back to work, pretty pleased with myself, and I pushed away every doubt I’d had about him.
He was one of the good ones.
14
That night, Alexa and I headed over to Oaklynn’s house after dinner.
With wine, chocolate in hand, we rang the doorbell of her apartment.
Her boyfriend of three months had dumped her, and to top it off, her baby daddy had been a complete jerk to her earlier when he’d picked up their two year old.
The girl was in serious need of comfort food and moral support.
She’d been on and off with her baby daddy for years, only break up with him once and for all and find out she was pregnant.
More on and off relationship trouble until she’d finally decided to move past him once and for all.
And then she’d finally met this new guy.
She led us to the couch and grabbed her box of tissues. “I just really thought he was the one, you know?” she cried. “He’s amazing. We connected like I never had with anyone before. It was like the universe gave me this incredible guy and then decided to snatch him away.”
I hugged her where we sat and Alexa patted her shoulder.
We knew this kind of pain well. Our only job was to listen and comfort.
“I just don’t understand,” Oaklynn went on. “Everything was going so well, and then out of nowhere… he said he didn’t want to do this, that he thought he wanted a relationship but realized he didn’t after all.”
She cried some more. “He says it’s not my fault, but I know it is. Why else would he decide he didn’t want to be in a relationship?”
Alexa leaned her head against Oaklynn’s. “This isn’t your fault, okay? He doesn’t deserve an amazing gal like you.”
That asshole had probably met some chick he wanted to bang. Simple as that. More than one guy had pulled the same thing with me.
Only to see for myself why they didn’t want to be in a relationship.
But I wasn’t about to say that right now.
Oaklynn just needed to process and vent and ugly cry for a while.
She’d be okay.
We’d all gone through our fair share of bad break-ups, but we could always count on each other.
A while later, once the bottle of wine and most of the chocolate was gone along with Oaklynn’s tears, she asked me how things with Jeremy were going.
“Good,” I replied. “It’s new, and he works a lot, but I really like him.”
She dabbed at her eyes. “I’m so happy for you, Cami. If anyone deserves a happily ever after, it’s you.”
I gave her a hug. “We all do. And thank you.”
Alexa sat up. “You should totally show her the picture he sent you earlier. Maybe some eye candy would help Oaklynn feel better,” she said with a wink.
Oaklynn smiled for the first time that evening. “Oh, I could totally go for some eye candy right now.”
I pulled up the picture. I’d been tempted to set as my phone background, but one, that would be a little creepy at this point, and two, I didn’t want Skye knowing about Jeremy just yet. I showed her the picture.
She took my phone. “Oh. My. Goodness.” She looked at me. “I didn’t realize he was this hot! Go you.”
I grinned. “And I’m not even gonna lie. He’s amazing in bed,” I said all dreamily.
Alexa and Oaklynn looked a little scandalous at that but mostly impressed.
Oaklynn looked at the picture again. “Okay, I think I’m officially over Jordan. Sign me up for one of these.”
Alexa laughed. “One sexy cop is all it took.”
Oaklynn leaned on my shoulder. “Show me more pictures. Strictly for moral support, of course.”
“Of course,” I said with a grin. “But this is the only picture I have.”
Alexa set down her wine glass on the coffee table. “He’s on Facebook, isn’t he? Or Insta?”
I perked up. “He is on Insta.”
After I pulled up his account, I realized he only had a few pictures on there, most of them not recent.
I showed them to my friends.
Oaklynn analyzed them. “Why do guys suck at taking pictures of themselves? I don’t understand. Yeah, we need to find more pictures of your hottie.”
Glad she was in a fun mood now, I went with it. “We could look him up.”
I’d refrained from stalking Jeremy, but this could be interesting. I wanted to see what he looked like before becoming a cop. And if he had more pictures of him in his uniform, so be it.
Oaklynn pulled up my Facebook app. “What’s his last name?”
“Thickett,” I replied.
She gave me this look like…you don’t say.
I winked. “Let’s just say he lives up to his last name.”
Alexa cackled like a witch at that. “You are too much!”
Then she promptly leaned over to help us Facebook stalk Jeremy.
“Found him,” Oaklynn said, pleased with herself. She tapped on his profile, and immediately, she went to his photos. “Ooohh,” she added with approval. “So he’s always looked good.”
Alexa replied, “Yeah, clearly he started working out a couple of years ago, but even when he was leaner, he looked good. And that smile.”
I completely agreed. Jeremy looked good.
The more we looked at the pictures of him when he was several years younger, though, the more I couldn’t help but notice that he looked like someone I used to know back in high school.
It was eerie.
I hardly remembered the Jeremy I knew from school. He hadn’t been a guy I knew very well, but his face…
Oaklynn went back to Jeremy’s profile. “Oh, and look, you didn’t tell me he went to your high school.”
Huh?
I took a closer look. “What do you mean?”
Oaklynn turned to me. “Didn’t you say you went to Brookside?”
“Yeah,” I said.
She was right.
It was right there.
Lincoln High School.
Same school I’d gone to.
“But he said he went to Brookside,” I thought out loud.
That didn’t make sense.
I looked up at Oaklynn and Alexa.
Their expressions confirmed what I already knew.
Jeremy had lied.
But why?
I took my phone back. Looked his oldest pictures, back when he had been in high school.
Zoomed in on his face.
This was him.
The same Jeremy.
I hadn’t remembered his last name from back then. He was just a senior that had given me a hard tim
e once. At the time, I’d been a sophomore.
But this was him.
The same asshole who had humiliated me in front of everyone.
And he’d lied on purpose because he knew.
Jeremy had lied.
He was not who I thought he was.
15
I wiped an angry tear from my face the next day.
Ever since last night’s humiliation in front of Alexa and Oaklynn, I could hardly stop thinking about the whole ordeal.
I’d hardly talked to Alexa at work, and I could tell she felt sorry for me.
It had been clear last night that they both felt sorry for me.
After I’d explained why this was such a big deal, my friends had hardly been able to look me in the eyes.
Jeremy had ended up being another toad, one of so many we’d had to deal with.
When was it gonna end?
Maybe it was time to give up dating again for good.
I thought I already had, but then I’d met him…
My phone buzzed with a text.
Jeremy was on his way to my house.
He and I were supposed to be going out to dinner tonight, but I’d told him I needed to talk him about something first.
Thankfully, Skye wasn’t home. I did not want her to see me like this.
After a couple of cryfests in the bathroom at work, I’d texted my mom and asked her if she could pick up Skye for me from daycare, letitng her know I wasn’t feeling great.
So Skye was with her now.
I’d come home and immediately changed into sweatpants and taken off my bra.
But since Jeremy was on his way, I had changed into my favorite pair of jeans and put the bra back on. He was not gonna get to see me as a complete mess.
No way.
More like 85% there.
But not 100%!
I looked at myself in the mirror, noticing how I kind of drooped like a flower that had gone too long without water.
I had bags under my eyes, my hair was frizzy because I hadn’t bothered to do much with it this morning, but most of all, I was mad.
Mad at him.
Mad at me.
If he had lied about such an important thing, what else had that asshole lied about?
