you like? Paint Tucker.” She shook her head at me. “And that guy? You should climb him like a tree. Or at the very least shake his branches. See what kind of nuts fall out.”
I laughed. Then I bit my lip. “Okay. You’re right. I will try.”
“You need to get laid. Find a guy who’ll fuck you like he just got out of prison. Oh! Let’s get you a Brazilian wax!” she said suddenly. “Let’s vagazzle you! We’ll make your vagina shiny and new!”
I recoiled in horror and her eyes danced mischievously.
“Oh my God, no.”
“Yes. My treat. I want the cobwebs yanked off that thing.”
My eyelid twinged. “You are awful.”
“I pushed a small human out of this body. My vagina is destroyed. I have to live vicariously through your vagina.”
We both giggled.
“If I agree, will you stop saying ‘vagina’?”
* * *
Kristen stayed until almost 11:00 p.m. I’d sent Jason a quick text asking him if I’d made his zombie survival team. He’d said I had. That was the last of our back-and-forth for the day.
The next morning, Tucker woke me up at 7:30. That was another good thing about Tucker, he got me out of bed. He always wanted to be let out before 8:00 and he made sure I knew it. After I took him out, I couldn’t ever get back to sleep, so I stayed up and started my day. I used to sleep until noon, sometimes later. I liked the earlier routine. It gave me more sunlight hours, and the sun perked me up.
To my surprise my phone vibrated at exactly 9:00 a.m. It was Jason.
I wondered if he’d waited until 9:00 on purpose, so he wouldn’t text me too early. It made me smile to think he’d sat there watching the time, waiting for the exact moment it would be acceptable to text.
Jason: You up?
Sloan: I am. Your dog doesn’t sleep in. What time is it there?
Jason: 2:00 a.m., Thursday. Just got back to the hotel. Wednesday there, right?
Sloan: Yup. Late night for you.
Jason: Rehearsing. So who came over?
He was fishing. I smiled.
Sloan: My best friend, Kristen.
Jason: Did you talk about me?
I blanched. Then I panicked. How was I supposed to respond to that? Yes, we talked about you? My best friend advised me to climb you like a tree in search of your nuts? And then we talked about my vagina? Of course I was going to lie. But I was too guilty to think up a believable one on the fly. I was weighing my responses when another text came through.
Jason: You totally talked about me.
My thumbs jumped into action.
Sloan: I did not.
Jason: Liar. If you didn’t talk about me, what did you talk about?
Sloan: I may have mentioned you in a casual, very platonic way. Briefly.
Jason: Did you tell her about our date?
Sloan: It’s not a date.
It wasn’t. Right?
Jason: What would you call it?
I put my palm up in exasperation.
Sloan: An appointment.
Jason: Huh. How do I get it switched to a date?
Sloan: You don’t.
I chewed on my thumbnail. The dots jumped, and I waited to see what he had to say in response to my rebuff.
Jason: When I tell my friends about it, I’m calling it a date. You can’t stop me. There’s literally nothing you can do about it.
I laughed. This guy. He did not lack confidence, that was for sure.
I decided, in the spirit of keeping my promise to Kristen, to give him something small.
Sloan: I’m 26.
Jason: Another freebie! I’m 29. What high school did you graduate from?
I smirked. He was sneaky.
Sloan: Nice try. Then you’ll Google my yearbook and figure out my last name.
Jason: I’ll tell you my last name if you tell me yours.
Sloan: Nope.
Jason: It’s a really great last name.
Sloan: I’m sure it is. Not gonna happen, though.
Jason: Truth or dare?
Sloan: No.
Jason: Spin the bottle?
Sloan: No!
I was giggling now.
Jason: Monopoly???
Sloan: Yes, I will play Monopoly with you someday.
Jason: Now things are getting exciting.
He wasn’t wrong.
Chapter 7
Jason
♪ Talk Too Much | COIN
The massive time difference between Melbourne and California was fucking with me. I wish I could say I was jet-lagged, but the real issue was that I had to put off texting Sloan so I didn’t wake her up in the middle of the night. Poking her had become my new favorite pastime.
We’d chatted and texted on and off all day Thursday, my time, but I got slammed the whole day Friday with rehearsals and sound checks. She’d sent me a picture of Tucker and I’d shot her