Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 88317 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88317 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
“C-plus before she said Lorraine could drop off the chicken. B-minus after. You?”
“I would say about a B-minus, too. We should definitely look at the other place in town. Although, I guess if they’re both acceptable, it will come down to which one has the first opening.”
After we returned home, Lorraine went back to her place. Scottie seemed pretty calm; that might not have been the case if he’d known what Josh and I had been up to today.
For the rest of the day, the tension that had started with Lauren asking Josh out only seemed to escalate—because of me.
Josh ran out to the store to buy a few things we needed, and I couldn’t seem to hide my bitchy mood when he texted me a simple question.
Josh: They’re all out of your gluten-free muff. Do you want regular?
Carly: Muffins, you mean?
Josh: Yeah, of course. You usually get my sense of humor.
Carly: It’s no wonder you have muff on the mind today.
Josh: What’s that supposed to mean?
Carly: You should probably buy condoms, too, muffmaster.
Josh: Someone is a little miffed at the prospect of my getting muff?
Carly: Why would I be miffed?
Josh: I don’t know. You tell me. You’ve been weird all afternoon, ever since that thing with Lauren.
Carly: I’m not miffed at your muff. Get over yourself. My mood has nothing to do with that.
Josh: Okay. Whatever. But you didn’t answer my muffin question.
Carly: What was it?
Josh: Whether you wanted me to get the regular kind since they don’t have gluten free.
Carly: Oh. No. Don’t bother.
Josh: No muff for you. Got it.
Throwing my phone aside, I stewed for a while before I had to start getting ready to meet Lisa.
As I changed and did my hair and makeup, I continued to find myself incredibly annoyed that Lauren had asked Josh out, and even more annoyed at myself for being unable to hide that it upset me. Nothing like good old jealousy to bring inappropriate feelings to the surface. There was only one solution, and that was to get a freaking life outside of this house, which was exactly what I planned to do tonight.
CHAPTER 12
* * *
CARLY
THE BAR WAS a pretty happening spot, with live music, plenty of greasy-food options on the menu, and rustic wood décor. The windows provided a view of the traffic on nearby Highway 106. It was loud and packed when we arrived. Fortunately, we found a table.
Lisa spoke over the ambient noise. “This is actually much more crowded than the last time I was here.”
I played with my straw. “Oh, I didn’t realize you’d been before.”
“Only once, but yeah.”
Lisa told me she’d just recently relocated to Woodsboro from Minneapolis to be closer to her sister, who’d moved here with her fiancé a few years earlier. While initially Lisa had looked at the move as an adventure, she was finding life here quite boring thus far. It definitely wasn’t the best place to be if you were single.
She was nice enough, and I should have been thrilled to have an evening out, but my mind wandered throughout our conversation. I’d love to be able to tell you I was mulling over legitimate concerns, like where Scottie would end up or how far I’d be able to stretch my limited income and still have a social life. But no. I was still stewing over the fact that Lauren had asked Josh out and he was considering going. I kept trying to tell myself it bothered me because she was Scottie’s therapist, but I knew better. That uncomfortable ache in my chest was jealousy. I hadn’t experienced that since I was a teenager. Why now? Why was I jealous over a man I could never be with?
“He’s kind of cute…” Lisa interrupted my thoughts.
“Who?”
She angled her head toward the bar. “That guy over there.”
I turned around to find a dark-haired man sitting alone on one of the stools. He wore jeans, a plaid shirt with rolled-up sleeves, and clunky construction boots.
“I guess.”
A few minutes later, I turned around to look over again and found that another dark-haired guy had joined him. They looked to be in their late twenties or early thirties.
“I think I just saw them looking over here,” Lisa whispered, her eyes sparkling.
I chose to ignore that, since I wasn’t in the mood for anything more than a casual night out with a friend. But her expectations seemed a bit different.
Luckily, our food arrived as a distraction, and Lisa and I chatted while we shared a plate of nachos with our drinks.
But before we’d finished, the two men from the bar walked over.
“Are these seats taken?” one of them asked.
“Not at all.” Lisa grinned flirtatiously.
They then helped themselves to the other two seats at our table.
“How are you ladies doing tonight?” one of them asked.
“Not bad, you?” I answered.