Five First Dates (Sassy in the City 2)

I had nothing to wear to an engagement party, but I could sort that out. I wanted to go with her. I wanted to meet Yates Caldwell and have a little talk with him about how to treat women. I wanted to help Savannah feel confident and sexy. I rooted around in the drawer, my own confidence growing. I refused to stay in the friend zone. Or if I was in the friend zone, it was going to be a friend who had all the benefits of being able to touch her body.

Victory. She did have a pizza cutter. I cut her a slice and put it on a plate with a paper napkin. I brought it out and set it on the coffee table. I sat back down on the couch and waited for her to end her call.

“Ida can watch Sully.” She lifted him up and pulled her shirt down. She put him over her shoulder and gently burped him. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Sure, why not? It will be fun.” I played it casual. Then I reached out. “Now give me the kid and eat your cardboard covered in cheese.”

“Hater.” She passed Sully to me. “Did you eat something besides that sandwich?”

“I have to admit, I had a burrito delivered. The sandwich wasn’t enough. But eating a burrito was stupid, because I haven’t been working out as much as I’d like because of the show. I think I need to get up earlier and go to the gym before going to the shop.” I slapped my gut. I swear, it felt like it was softening. “I don’t want to get doughy.”

She rolled her eyes. “I don’t think that is going to happen in a few weeks. You’re a rock. A complete rock. Granite.”

That didn’t suck to hear. “I want it to stay that way.”

“How is the show going?” she asked, lifting her plate up to her chest.

I settled Sully into my lap. He wiggled his legs. I had to admit, I was falling for the little guy. He was one of the best babies I’d ever been around. Chill. Master of the spit bubble. Squealer enthusiast. He was becoming my little buddy.

“You know, it’s kind of entertaining. I thought I would hate the scene setups and all that, but it’s not bad. I’ve managed to stay out of the drama too.”

“What drama is there?”

“Jana and Stella hate each other. It’s like some weird random hate the second they laid eyes on each other. And Stella is hooking up with Samuel, which is not going to end well. He’s just this guy having fun, charming as hell, and he thinks she’s on the same page as him. But I’m convinced Jana was right in that Stella is not necessarily upfront with people. I think Stella will turn out to be more than Samuel bargained for.” I didn’t want to leap to any conclusions and assume she had stalker-girl potential, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it went there. “And I cannot believe all of that just came out of my mouth. I may be spending too much time with Jana, Jesus. I sounded like a teenage girl.”

Savannah laughed. “That was a little gossipy. Hooking up at work is always a bad idea. Both Samuel and Stella need to be careful. You and Jana seem close, by the way.” She bit her pizza kind of viciously.

It seemed like I heard some jealousy there. She didn’t know Jana’s sexual orientation because it hadn’t been relevant to any conversation I’d been having about her. Mostly I’d been talking about tattooing, not anyone at the shop’s personal life. This was the first time I’d really dwelled into who was doing what. Let Savannah think what she wanted. Maybe it would be a good thing if she thought I had another woman interested in me. “Yeah, she’s cool. We get along really well.”

“Hmm,” she said, not looking at me.

She swallowed. “You’ve been spending a lot of time together.”

We had. Jana and I had gone out for drinks a couple of times when Savannah didn’t need me to watch Sully. Jana’s upbeat attitude made her easy to be around. Plus, she loved to plot ridiculous scenarios of how I was going to win over Savannah and live happily ever after. In that respect, she and Savannah were actually similar in personalities. It was no wonder I liked being around her. I dug that sweet, generous, optimism.

“Yep.”

My generic answers were driving Savannah crazy, I could tell.

“Maddy!” she said, sounding exasperated.

She only used my old nickname when she was annoyed with me or being super sentimental. It was obvious why she was using it now. She was totally jealous. I had to hide my grin. “What?”

“Are you and Jana, you know? Is she going to be upset if you go to this party with me next Friday?”

“Why would she be upset?” I asked, messing with her.

She threw her crust down on her plate. “You’re being obtuse on purpose.”

I laughed. I couldn’t keep up the pretense. “She’s not going to be upset. We’re not, you know, as you so clearly put it. We’re friends. Like you and me.” It was a purposeful poke.

Her mouth opened, like she was going to say something. Then she clamped her lips together quickly.

When she continued to stay silent, I said, “Do you want me to be with Jana?”

She crumpled her napkin and tossed it in the direction of her plate. It rolled off and ended up on the floor. She ignored it. “If you want to be with Jana, be with Jana, obviously. She seems sweet.”

“Do you think she’s my type?”