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“Maybe I will be.”
“It just won’t be with me,” she says as she plays with her hair, “seeing as you don’t want it to be.”
“You’re right; I don’t,” I lie.
“Well, you have a good afternoon, Brett.”
“You too.”
She slams the door. I watch as she walks into the apartment complex, and I frown. I don’t want to think of her having hot sex with anyone, and I don’t know how I agreed to this bet. It doesn’t seem like a good idea. However, I soon find myself making a call.
“Hey, it’s Brett,” I say into the phone. “I’m going to have to postpone the investigation for a couple of weeks. I’ve got something that just came up.”
I hang up the phone and pull out of the parking lot. I can’t believe I postponed a case that would pay me good money, but maybe I’m doing it because of the bet. I want to win, and I want Rosie to find someone good so she can finally leave me alone.
As I pull onto the highway and drive away, I notice my expression in the rearview mirror. My eyes are alight, and I’m smiling at nothing. This is the first time in a long time I’ve felt alive and awake and excited about something. I don’t like the feeling. I don’t like feeling close to someone.
And then I think about Charlie, and I think about the nights we spent drinking, talking about women and falling in love and how that was his greatest joy and wish and hope. How he wanted to have five boys so that he could play football and baseball with them and how I was going to be their uncle. I remember how I felt when I realized that was never going to happen, and I can feel my heart shutting down again.
Rosie has ignited something in me, but I don’t want to feel that spark. I don’t want to feel that hope. I want to go back to the stasis of my regular life.
I have to make sure I win the bet. I have to make sure I find her a boyfriend so that she stops flirting with me and making me wish I were someone other than myself.
Chapter Five
ROSIE
Lazy mornings are the best mornings. I lie in bed and scroll on my phone, checking out different Instagram stories. I stretch my arms and smile as I think about the bet I made with Brett. I’m totally going to win, and I’ll get to spend time with him, which is what I want. I want to get to know him. I want to figure out what makes him tick. And I’m hoping that in the process of getting to know who he is on the inside, I’ll get rid of my crush—because there’s nothing worse than having a crush on a man who’s so clearly not interested in taking things further with you, even when he’s physically attracted to you.
“You want some coffee?” Izzy calls out from the other side of the door.
“Maybe in a little bit. I’m just being lazy in bed,” I call back, and she laughs.
“Okay, well, I’m putting the coffee on now. If you want it hot, come out within the next thirty minutes.”
“Will do.”
I lean back in the bed and bury my head in the soft pillow when my phone beeps. I look at the screen, and I’m surprised to see a text from Brett. I open it eagerly, wondering if he sent me a selfie, wondering if he’s going to ask me what I’m wearing or what I’m doing.
“That would be so naughty,” I say as I open the text.
Instead, I find a link to an article titled “10 Places to Meet Mr. Right.” I click on it and scroll through the article. The places include the library and the farmers market, and I roll my eyes.
I text him back immediately.
Are you expecting my Mr. Right is going to be Mr. Boring?
He responds immediately, Hey, nice guys go to the library.
I didn’t say I was looking for a nice guy.
Well, I think you need to find one.
I think you need to find yourself a gym bunny, I respond. Not even sure where that came from.
He sends me a string of question marks, and I scroll through my Instagram feed until I find an ad that says: Ready to change your life and get fit? Join our ten-week challenge. I screenshot it and send it to Brett.
I think you can find a hardcore woman you’d be into right here.
