Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 98485 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98485 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
The best response would be none at all.
The first rule in public relations is if you ignore a problem, nine times out of ten, it eventually goes away.
But I’m not sure how or even if that translates to … this.
My chest constricts as I pick up the pitcher, silently chastising myself for the hold my dickhead childhood crush still has over me.
Not only that, but now he probably thinks I still like him.
When I slide into the booth, the girls are talking about some trashy Netflix reality dating show, which apparently, is all Mad’s life is about these days—when she isn’t hooking up with Joe. I’m so in my own head that I’m not paying attention as I open my phone and type a response. While I should leave him on read, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t the tiniest bit curious about what became of my childhood nemesis.
Shutton07: I wish I didn’t. What do you want?
The moment I hit “send”, Mad reaches over the table and grabs the phone from my hand.
“Um, who’s that?” She gawks at the photo, her jaw slack and her eyes as round as saucers. “You matched with him?”
She passes the phone around so everyone can see, and each reaction is some version of the same thing—oohs, aahs, gaping mouths, glimmers of excitement in their eyes. If Alec were here to see this, his head would swell so big he wouldn’t be able to fit it through the door.
“Okay, Stas. You have to go on a date with him.” Tenley grabs onto my arm and shakes it like her life depends on me completing this mission. She reads from his profile. “Listen to this. File me somewhere between McDreamy and Pepper. He’s funny. You know, humor is a sign of intelligence.”
Mad frowns. “I don’t get it.”
“He’s a doctor.” Tenley’s gushing. “Like Dr. McDreamy and Dr. Pepper. Get it?”
“Don’t you recognize him?” I ask.
She inspects the image on my screen closer. “Did we go to high school with him? He kinda looks familiar.”
“Alec Mansfield,” I blurt out his name in one annoyed breath.
Tenley claps her hand over her mouth, passing the phone to Campbell, who appears equally as stunned.
“That’s Alec? And he’s a doctor now?!” Campbell’s jaw hangs loose. “Never would’ve seen that coming. Looks like his jokes are still lame though.”
Yeah, that stupid McDreamy one-liner sounds like one of the thousands of jokes he and my brothers used to toss around Saturday afternoons while playing video games in our basement rec room. I’m embarrassed to admit how many hours I spent sitting at the top of the steps listening, completely and utterly captivated while they talked about bodily functions, sports, and girls—not always in that order.
“Witty, smart, and good looking?” Mad fans her face. She didn’t grow up with us. She doesn’t know Alec from Adam. “I don’t care who this guy was in high school, you’ve landed the trifecta and you have to act now. Someone like this won’t last long out here. Competition is fierce, and the fact that he swiped right on you means he’s interested. That’s half the battle.”
“I don’t want him to be interested,” I tell them. “And I never would’ve swiped right on him if I realized who he was.”
“Okay, so he was a jerk back in the day. People aren’t allowed to change?” Mad asks. “If everyone judged me on my weird awkward teenage years, I doubt I’d be sitting at this table with you all. No offense. Not that you’re snobby or anything—I just mean, I was a strange kid and people tended to stay away.”
“Alec wasn’t strange,” I say. “He was an asshole. Big difference.”
“Mad has a point,” Campbell says, passing the phone back to me. “People change all the time. And yeah, he was a jerk back in the day, but now he saves lives for a living. Maybe he’s trying to make things right?”
With my phone back, I exhale, stare at his picture once more, and face the fact that karma didn’t do a damn thing these last ten years. If anything, it sidled up to him, probably blinded by his superficial charms, and granted him three wishes like some genie in a bottle.
Zooming in, I focus on his bewitching emeralds, the ones that’ll cut straight through your soul if you let them.
Mad kicks me under the table. “So?”
I grab the pitcher and refill my glass all the way to the top, until it nearly spills over. My hand is shaking. This’ll be my third, and I never do three drinks in a row without at least fitting a water or two in there somewhere, but this calls for an exception.
“Yeah.” Tenley rests her chin on the top of her hand. “Are you going to go out with him or what? Let’s get this show on the road. I’m literally getting secondhand butterflies just thinking about how perfect he is for you.”