That made me smile. “Right back at you.”
8
EIGHT
Iwoke up early and wrote.
Three thousand words.
I was so surprised when I saw my word count that I immediately read them, assuming they were crap. They weren’t, though. They were good words. It felt like a weight had lifted off my shoulders. I immediately went in and wrote another two thousand words. By the time I met Nathan at the 109th Hole, one of the many golf-themed eateries at the Landings, I was feeling pretty good about myself.
“What’s with that smile?” Nathan asked as I slid in across from him. “Wait, let me guess.”
He held up his hand. He was far too excitable. I knew exactly what he was going to say, and I didn’t want to hear it.
“You got laid last night,” he said.
I rolled my eyes and looked at the menu.
“What’s her name?” Nathan persisted. “Wait… was it one of the readers? Please tell me it was that little blonde who followed you from one end of the bar to the other. She was hot.”
“I didn’t get laid.” I frowned. “I don’t like that saying either.”
“What should I have said? Did you make love last night?”
“Geez.” I couldn’t even look at him. “You’re so weird.”
“And you’re glowing.” Nathan was the sort of guy who wouldn’t let something go no matter what. Once he convinced himself of something, that was it. He was like a dog with a frisbee. “What’s her name?”
“I wasn’t with anybody last night.” Briefly, my mind wandered to Bree. Seeing her with the guy—Joey whatever his name was—had rattled me, but only because she was so clearly shaken. To me, he was just a guy. She’d obviously seen something I hadn’t.
“See, right there!” Nathan snapped his fingers. “You were thinking about whoever you were with last night. I want details. I was starting to believe you were asexual.” He seemed to realize that what he’d said could be construed as an insult. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
There were times I wanted to shake him. Unfortunately, he was loyal to a fault and a good friend. Plus, he was more outgoing than I was. At author events, most of the time, I could get away with just hanging out in his vicinity. He’d gotten me a pass on the social stuff more times than I could count.
“I was not with anybody last night,” I said. “I did, however, write five thousand words this morning.”
That obviously wasn’t what Nathan had been expecting. “Seriously?”
I nodded, breaking into a wide grin. “They were good words too.”
“That’s why you’re smiling?” Nathan seemed disappointed.
“Since I’ve been struggling with writer’s block for years, at this point, that is definitely why I’m happy.”
“But… I thought you had sex.” He said it loudly enough that the server heading toward our table stopped in her tracks.
I sent her an apologetic smile even as I felt my cheeks burning. “Ignore him. He’s just looking for attention.”
Clearly still uncertain, the server closed the distance to the table. “Do you know what you want?” she asked in a nervous chirp.
“Yes.” I bobbed my head. “I want the double smash burger with fries.”
She wrote it down on her pad and glanced over at Nathan. Eagerness to get away from our table without hearing him say something weird was etched all over her face.
“I’ll have the patty melt with fries,” he said.
She turned to leave.
