I rarely said this about people, but I’d be happy if our paths never crossed again.
“You look like a brewing storm,” Grandma commented when I entered the kitchen. She stood by the cooker, removing a dish from the oven.
I sighed and took a seat by the table, rubbing the tension lines on my forehead.
“Is everything all right?” Rosie asked. She was already at the table, a worn paperback in front of her. My sister was never without a book. She’d graduated from university last year and managed to snag her dream job as a trainee librarian.
“Everything’s fine. I just met a particularly unpleasant person today, but with a bit of luck, I’ll never see her again, so every cloud and all that.”
“Oh?” Rosie said curiously as she pushed her glasses up her nose. Neither of us had managed to escape the short-sighted gene that seemed to run in our family. “Who was she?”
“Just a friend of Michaela’s,” I answered, hoping to change the subject. “Anyway, how was your day?”
Rosie smiled. “I convinced someone to give Neverwhere a try, so that’s another literary good deed completed.”
“She never gets tired of recommending books to people,” Grandma said fondly, her perceptive gaze coming to me. “Are you sure you’re okay? How are things with Leanne?”
I frowned at the mention of my boss/ex-crush. It had been over a year since I’d confessed my feelings for her, and aside from my current predicament managing Callum’s social media, I was completely over her. Unfortunately, Grandma still liked to check-in with me about the whole thing since I hadn’t had a girlfriend in the interim. She thought I was still pining, but I wasn’t. I’d moved on to an entirely new crush, but that was something I’d yet to discuss with my grandmother for various reasons.
“Things are fine with Leanne,” I replied. “I told you, it’s all in the past now. We’ve moved on from it.”
“Hmm, well, if you ask me, you’re a much better catch than that Callum. All those tattoos won’t age well. You mark my words.”
“I’m not sure the vast majority of the female British public would agree with you, Grandma, but I appreciate the sentiment.”
If you looked up “sexy, tattooed bad boy” in the dictionary, you’d find a picture of Cal.
“The vast majority must be blind if they can’t see what a fine gentleman you are. You’ll make some young lady very happy one day.”
I shifted, uncomfortable by all the fine gentleman talk. If my grandma knew the thoughts I’d had about Leanne, she might want to reconsider her words. Rosie grinned at me, enjoying my embarrassment, so I decided to turn the tables on her.
“What about Rosie? Do you think she’ll make some man very happy one day, too?”
“Oh, yes,” Grandma exclaimed. “Rosie is a smart, beautiful woman.” A pause as she studied my sister. “She could have men knocking down her door if she’d only put herself out there.”
“Grandma!” Rosie exclaimed, cheeks reddening.
“What?” Grandma retorted with a twinkle in her eye. “You know I’m right. You’d rather stick your head in a book on a Friday night than go out dancing. You might encounter some dashing heroes in the pages of a fantasy novel, but you’ll never meet a real one.”
“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.