If We Were Perfect - Ana Huang Page 0,31

for a reason.”

His words cooled her ardor faster than a bucket of ice water dumped over her head.

Olivia forced a smile, her skin feeling too tight for her body. “True. It’s a bad idea to get involved with exes again.”

“Exactly.” Sammy played with his chopsticks while keeping his gaze locked on Olivia. “How are things with you and Stripper Boy? Have another fun date on the town planned?”

Stripper—oh. Wesley.

She hadn’t heard from him since she’d ditched him at Ishikawa, thank God.

“He’s not my type.” Olivia shrugged. “But I have other dates planned.”

The only upcoming date she had was with her trusty vibrator, but he didn’t need to know that. Pride prevented her from telling the truth: that her string of mediocre dates over the past few years was more unsatisfying than not dating at all. Dating in New York had sucked—gorgeous, successful people abounded, but they were all too busy, too flakey, and/or too self-absorbed to commit to a real relationship—and while single men outnumbered single women in San Francisco, quality counted more than quantity.

Something dark flickered in Sammy’s eyes. “I’m sure you do. Let me guess—all Ivy League-educated, upwardly mobile finance types you can bring home to mom?”

Olivia suppressed a flinch. “You know my type,” she said with forced lightness.

His smile was devoid of humor. “That I do.”

They ate the rest of their meal in silence.

Olivia poked at her food, trying to relish what was objectively a great dinner, but it was too late. She’d lost her appetite.

Chapter Nine

Olivia redoubled her dating efforts over the next few days. Her conversation with Sammy reminded her of her self-imposed timeline for finding a boyfriend, and she could use the distraction. It didn’t help that Sammy hadn’t eaten dinner at home since her apology meal. It was stupid, but she couldn’t help but wonder whether he was on a date during the nights he was out. Maybe he’d caved and was going out with the ex his mom had set him up with. Or maybe he was going out with someone else. Hell, he could be dating a different girl every day for all she knew.

Or maybe he was just hooking up, not dating. Sammy was a successful, good-looking bachelor; a hyperactive sex life wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.

The thought made her stomach cramp.

“I just think he overreacted,” Olivia said, sweeping blush over her cheeks. “I did nothing wrong. I bought him dinner, for Chrissakes.” She enhanced the blush with a dusting of highlighter. “I mean, fine, I did it as an apology, but still.”

Farrah’s laugh pealed out of the phone. Olivia had her on speakerphone while she got ready for her date, so it was almost like the old days when they pumped each other up before a night out.

Olivia frowned. “What’s so funny?”

“Do know you’ve been talking about Sammy for the past forty-five minutes?”

“I have not.” Olivia finished her makeup and sat on the bed so she could put on her shoes.

“Yes, you have.” Farrah’s amusement came through loud and clear. “Do you think maybe you still have feelings for him?”

“I have feelings alright,” Olivia muttered. “Homicidal ones.”

The more she thought about it, the more pissed she was about how Sammy had acted in the last half of dinner the other night. What right did he have to give her the silent treatment? She’d tried her best to be civil!

Farrah snickered. “Fine. Maybe he was upset because he’s jealous you’re dating other guys.”

“Please. He’s not jealous. He’s probably out with a girl right now, acting all charming and gentlemanly like he isn’t a...a...” Olivia couldn’t think of the right word, so she settled for a frustrated, “Ugh!”

“Liv.” Farrah sounded like she was suppressing wild laughter. “Are you jealous?”

“No!” Olivia stared at her phone, horrified. “Why would you think that?”

“Because you sound jealous.”

“Clearly, the distance has warped your brain and you don’t know me as well as you used to,” Olivia declared. “I have to go. I’m meeting Malcolm in half an hour, and who knows what the traffic will be like?”

“Wait. Your date’s name is Malcolm? Like Malcolm in the Middle?”

Olivia scowled, ruing her decision to call her so-called best friend for a pre-date pep talk. “Goodbye.”

Farrah was laughing too hard to respond, so Olivia hung up and swept out of her room in a huff. Her steps faltered when she saw Sammy in the living room, watching an old Bruce Willis movie on low volume. She’d been so distracted by her date prep and call with Farrah