Page 4 of Reaching Gavin

“Oh, he was super nice. I liked him! I don’t even really remember you two breaking up,” Jess said. She was a big fan of nice guys. She’d always dated them. She’d nearly wound up getting engaged to her own yawn-inducing boyfriend because of it.

Jillian for her part giggled. “He was boring.”

“But nice,” Jess appended as if offended on his behalf.

“He was nice,” I agreed, before tacking on, “and boring. He remembered how I took my coffee.”

Both my best friends visibly cringed, their discomfort growing as I recounted the rest of that spontaneous reunion.

“Wow,” was all Jillian said when I finished. If she only knew.

“Just wait. It gets better,” I muttered. “Guess who the other intern is?”

Jess’s mouth dropped open mirroring the expression of horror on Jillian’s face. My girls knew me too well. Or maybe they’d always seen Trevor for the scum bucket he was and had expected something like this to happen.

“No!” Jillian vocalized her disbelief.

“Señor Douchebag,” I confirmed, satisfied by their reaction even if I was still pissed at his behavior.

“I can’t believe he did that,” Jess said after a few moments of silence. “Who does that?”

“I mean, he knew you applied for that position!” Now Jillian was getting riled up.

It was as though they’d lived through the waking nightmare of this morning, too. In a way, they had. They’d been present for every poor choice and resulting heartbreak I’d made over the years. They’d met all of these guys. It wouldn’t be hard for them to sympathize with my plight.

“All these boys stacking up. It’s like a none-too-subtle reminder of every bad choice I ever made dating,” I admitted in a low voice.

“Think of it like a path,” Jess said. “They’re just a reminder of how far you’ve come.”

“And where you’re headed,” Jillian added.

I wasn’t sure when my best friends had gotten so wise, but I suspected it was when they had found their own forevers. I wanted to believe them.

“I think maybe I took a wrong turn or two,” I said dryly. I was done looking for love in all the wrong places and falling in love with all the wrong faces. Dating, men—they were bad habits that I had kicked thanks to heartbreak, romance novels, and my trusty vibrator.

“Nah.” Jillian shook her head. “You’re just not there yet.

“Where?” I asked, my eyebrow curving up.

“You’ll know when you reach it,” she said simply.

“Seriously, when did you two turn into freaking gurus?” I couldn’t help having a little fun at their expense.

“How was the rest of your day?” Jess asked, bypassing the good-natured taunt altogether.

“I broke the copy machine, except I didn’t. I just pressed the wrong button, so I looked like a jerk when I told my new boss I did.”

“The same boss that overheard you threatening Trevor?” Jillian asked.

“Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome himself.” I sighed at the memory. “Then he got on me for not being at my desk when I was out making the rounds and meeting people.”

Jess’s eyes narrowed. “I hate him already.”

“We hate him,” Jillian chimed in.

“Meanwhile, Trevor practically glued his lips to this guy’s ass. You’ve never seen such a sycophant.”

“Were you jealous?” Jess asked.