Letting out a sigh, Kacey asked, “Then what in the hell are you doing?”
“Running.”
“Ahh . . . guy trouble.”
Making a face, I pulled my head back and laughed. “What? Because I’m running you automatically think I’m having guy trouble?”
“Yep. That was what you did in college. Anytime you had a bad date, or you got stood up, or you fought with Robert . . . you ran.”
Shaking my head, I said, “I never got stood up.”
“Yeah you did. Remember the guy who was on the UT football team? Blake something or other. He stood you up.”
Letting out a very dramatic sigh, I said, “I hate you and your damn memory.”
Kacey laughed. “So, have you been on any dates?”
My mind drifted back to two nights ago when Dodge’s lips were pressed to mine. “Ugh. No. I’m giving up on all men.”
“Oh come on, Sierra. You don’t mean that.”
Laughing, I watched as a mom ran by pushing her little girl in a jogger stroller. My heart sunk. Looking away, I fought to hold back the ache in my chest. “I do. I feel like maybe I should just go out with Tom.”
“Tom?”
Letting out a sigh, I said, “Yeah. He works at Nordstrom’s, in the shoe department. At least I’d get discounts off my shoes.”
Kacey was silent.
“Kacey, are you still there?”
“Um . . . yeah . . . I’m just trying to figure out how your mind works. One minute you say you’re giving up on men and the next you’re talking about some guy named Tom and getting discounts at Nordstrom’s.”
Smiling, I went to say something but was blinded by the perfect set of abs running my way. “Shit.”
“What?”
“Nothing, Dodge, my lawyer slash friend slash lawyer, is running right toward me. Ugh, had I known he ran down here at Town Lake I’d never have come down here.”
“You said lawyer twice.”
“Only because the dickhead keeps stressing it. He’s the last person I wanted to see today.”
“Oh stop it. Hey, I’ve got to run, but let’s do lunch tomorrow or something. You need a puppy, Sierra! That would make you happy.”
“What the fuck? I had a dog and he turned on me too!”
Laughing, Kacey made kissing sounds into the phone. “Bye, babe! Think about the puppy! I only have one left.”
“Yep, later, love.”
Hitting End, my mouth dropped open while I watched Dodge leaning over and getting a drink from one of the fountains along the trail. I watched as a trail of water rolled down his chin.
Damn, how I’d like to be that water. Or his sweat. Or his sheets, his towels, his boxers. I pictured Dodge as the type of guy who wore boxers.
Rolling his neck, Dodge began walking.
Right. Toward. Me.
Get up, Sierra. Run in the opposite direction. Look away at least, you stupid shit!
Looking down at nothing, I prayed hard Dodge would just walk by without noticing me.
“Sierra?”
Shit. I should have known the asshole would check out a girl sitting on the bench.
Lifting my head, I tried like hell to seem normal. I hated myself for the way I acted after our kiss. The way I begged him to make me his. Yuck. I could punch myself.
“Hey, Dodge.”
Smiling, he stopped right in front of me. Forcing me to look up at him. If I looked straight, I’d be looking right at his junk. Junk hidden behind a pair of boxers. Or maybe he wore tighty whities? My stomach flipped at my next thought.
What if he went commando? Licking my lips, I glanced down and looked right at the bulge in his pants.
“Um . . . so I wanted to apologize for the other night.”
Oh no, he is not. Like I wasn’t humiliated enough already. “Don’t worry about it, Dodge. Can we please just forget about it and move on?”
Dodge gave me a weak smile as his phone began ringing. Glancing at it, he said, “I have to take this.”
Taking a couple of steps away, I strained to hear his call. “Hey, nope you’re not bothering me at all!”
“Yes, we are still on for dinner tonight.”
My heart dropped.
What did he say? He was on for dinner tonight? Standing up, I acted like I was stretching as I moved closer to him.
“No, I’m positive I don’t have any other plans. There is no one else I’d rather spend my birthday with than you.”
And there it went. My heart officially was shattered. I hate all men. Every single one of them. Turning away from Dodge, I started running again as fast as I could. When my right calf started cramping, I began cursing. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”
Glancing over my shoulder, I didn’t see Dodge. I wasn’t surprised. He wasn’t the type of guy to chase after a girl, especially one he didn’t like. By the time I made it back to my car, I had moved on from brokenhearted to pissed off.
Dropping my head back onto my headrest, I let out frustrated moan. “I’m never going to have sex again with a real penis!”
Snapping my head forward, I got an idea thanks to Kacey. Smiling, I started my car and knew exactly where I was going.
Walking to my car with a smile plastered on face, I glanced at the time. Dodge should be receiving his birthday present any second now. My walk almost turned into a skip as I thought about what his face would look like when he opened the door. I’d pay big bucks to see it. Damn. I should have told Kacey to record it! Damn it.
Pulling my phone out of my purse, I sent Kacey a text message.
Me: Did you deliver his gift?
Kacey: I’m about to. You’re
going to hell. You do know that right?
Giggling, I hugged myself and actually started skipping to my car.
Me: Hey, I paid top dollar for that bitch.
Kacey: You’re heart is pure evil. How are you a nurse?
Me: That’s why I work with babies and women who like to scream at their husbands. It fulfills me in more ways than I care to say.
Starting my car, I headed to the restaurant. Rolling the windows down, I began singing along to Gloriana’s “Trouble” as the wind wiped my blonde ponytail around. My phone beeped and my car read my text from Kacey.
Kacey : It’s done.
Throwing my head back, I laughed my ass off and began counting.
It took less than two minutes before my phone was ringing.
Rolling the windows up and turning down my jam, I answered with a chipper voice.
“Hello!”
“What the fuck, Sierra!”
Holding my laugh in, I said, “Hey there, Dodge. How’s your birthday going? Getting ready for your hot date tonight?”
“What? Never mind all of that. A puppy? Why the fuck did some girl named Kacey just drop off a puppy?”
Covering my mouth with my hand, I held in my laughter. “You don’t like her, Dodge? Who doesn’t like puppies?”
I heard something slam and Dodge began cursing words I’d never heard before.
“Me! Single guys who work eighty-hour weeks! Guys who are never home and live in a house that just got all new wood floors!”
Covering my mouth again, I started laughing.
“I mean she’s cute and all . . . Sierra, what were you thinking? No wait, I take that back. You weren’t thinking at all, like you always do.”
“Excuse me?” I said as I pulled my car into the parking lot and put it in park. “I don’t think? I. Don’t. Think? I think all the time, dickhead. My mind is spinning because I think all the time. I’m like the queen of thinking. I think everything through before I do it. Like for instance, the lingerie I just bought. I thought long and hard before deciding I needed it. Even though I have no one to wear it for . . . I bought it anyway. You never know when I might meet a hot guy at a bar and bring him home to my house for a good . . . hard . . . fucking.”
Silence.