“Real heroes are few and far between these days,” Rosie shot back. “If you ever tried those dating apps, you’d agree with me.”
“Have you ever tried them?” I questioned.
Rosie stiffened. “Well, no, but from what I’ve heard, I’m better off steering clear.”
At this, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw I had a new message from Annabelle. Remember the new crush I mentioned? Well, Annabelle was the lady I was currently pining after. Sadly, the entire situation had become far more complicated than I’d ever intended. Let’s just say my decision-making skills had been lacking when it came to Annabelle.
I was thinking about you a lot today.
I couldn’t help it. Her message piqued my curiosity. I typed a quick reply.
Oh?
It’s probably because I had a dream about you last night.
Now my curiosity was at optimum pique-age.
What was the dream about?
We were camping and there was only one sleeping bag…
I swallowed tightly. My cheeks heated against my will.
Did we share it?
We did.
I hope I kept you warm. x
Grandma cleared her throat as she placed my dinner down in front of me, and I quickly shoved my phone in my pocket. It was rude to text at the dinner table, even if the conversation was as interesting as the one Annabelle had started. Man, I really needed to come clean to her.
I just had to figure out how to do it without completely destroying our relationship and rendering myself unemployed.
2.
Afric
Okay, so … one thing you should know about me: if I’m rude or argumentative with you, it probably means that somewhere deep down in my psyche, I actually like you.
I’m not saying it’s a good thing. It just is what it is. Most people don’t understand that teasing is my special brand of affection, and you know what, that’s my fault. How can I expect virtual strangers to interpret the deep-seated issues in my head and translate Fuck off as Let’s be friends?
Being the second youngest of eight siblings meant I grew up fast. Winning arguments while also making my brothers and sisters laugh was big currency. And making them laugh often meant insulting one of them.
Maybe the fact that I’d spent most of my life not taking insults personally meant I was ill-equipped to understand people who did.
Neil Durant was one such person.
Yes, after our first meeting, I discovered his surname easily enough by surreptitiously quizzing Michaela. I then proceeded to look him up online. What? There was just something about him that rubbed me the wrong way enough to want to torture myself. For some reason, I needed to know what he was about. It was an itch that I couldn’t resist scratching, and I didn’t know how to explain it.
Sadly, though, when it came to social media, Neil went bare-bones, which only made me more curious.
Neil was my opposite; neatly dressed, professional, and reserved. And yet, behind all that, he had a look in his eyes that spoke to me. It drew me in. It was the look of a person who’d lost in life enough times to know that things didn’t always go your way. There was nothing I disliked more than people who always got what they wanted, having no idea that it wasn’t normal. I hated trying to explain a bad experience to someone who’d never had it happen to them. I felt like they were judging me, thinking that whatever happened, I’d somehow brought it upon myself and that it wasn’t the way of the world to lose far more often than you won.
So, yeah, going by first impressions, Neil and I didn’t get along, but despite that, I was intrigued. I sensed a lot more going on behind the conservative facade, and I wanted to get to the bottom of it.
Don’t get me wrong; my interest wasn’t romantic. I’d learned my lesson the hard way not to go searching for love after being abandoned by one too many boyfriends. You might as well walk outside with your chest cavity wide open, waiting for the nearest careless fuckboy to tear your heart out.
No, thank you. Not for me. Not anymore.
If I wanted companionship, I made a friend. I endeavoured to be interested in people on an intellectual level only, a little like my gargoyle in Greenforest. Except, unlike him, I did enjoy sex from time to time. And if I wanted sex, I found someone to do it with then went on my merry way. Simple as.