“No, she didn’t pressure me into the date.”
And it was true. Zia may be persistent, but after my talk with Missy and Ji and my great awakening in the parking lot with Jordan, I know what I need to do. I need to start dating for real—take my cat’s advice and stop stalling. If not, I’m at serious risk of spending the rest of my life in the friend zone, pining after what I can’t have. So I’m going to be a brave girl and go on this date with Ian.
“Oh, good,” Ian says. “It’s bad enough we’ll be on a first date while we double with a couple who actually knows each other.” He laughs a little. “I haven’t been on a blind double date before, but I can imagine it’s a little bit like being watched through a fish tank.”
I can’t help but smile. “I was thinking the same thing.”
“So, what if we just got all the awkward first-date questions out of the way? Then we can walk into our date not completely blind. Maybe like a twenty-seventy kind of blind.”
I chuckle. “Okay.”
“Favorite ice cream flavor?” Ian asks, jumping right in.
“Mint chocolate chip,” I say.
“Definitely a good pick.”
It’s my turn now, and my eyes scan my room frantically for inspiration, but all I can see is the orangish hue of the sunset seeping through the blinds, illuminating my bedroom. The day has been hot, and I wonder if tomorrow will be slightly cooler. “What do you like more, hot or cold weather?”
“Ooo, Paige. Weather questions already? I don’t know if I’m ready for this kind of commitment.”
I grin. “First thing you should know about me is that I'm terrible at making things up on the spot.”
He chuckles. “No, weather questions are my favorite.”
“Liar.”
“Really. I thought about being a meteorologist once.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“I realized that for all the tech they have, meteorologists know less about the weather than the wind chimes on my balcony.”
“You have wind chimes?” As common as they seem, I’ve never known anyone who had them.
“Yeah, they were my grandma’s. She had some on her porch when I was a kid, and I liked them so much she gave them to me a couple of years ago,” he explains. “Okay, but back to the original question. I don’t mind the summer heat as long as I’m by an ocean, but since I’m not, I’d go with the cold. I like to snowboard. Okay, my turn now. Do you like cats or dogs?”
I shift on my pillow and switch my phone to the other hand, adjusting to a more comfortable position. “Dogs. But I have a cat.”
“How did that happen?”
I glance down at Cabby Cat, who’s drifted off to sleep on my stomach, and brush my fingers through her fur. “A couple months ago, I saw someone selling kittens out of a cardboard box by the grocery store, and when I went to peek inside, there was just one little kitten curled up in the center. It was the very last one of the whole litter.”
I pause, remembering. “I went grocery shopping, but all I could think of was that kitten, and when I came out of the store, the kitten was still there.” My voice breaks awkwardly as I think of the way Jordan picked up the tiny cat from the cardboard box and held it in the palm of his hands before giving her to me. Somehow, he’d known I couldn’t leave that kitten.An early birthday present,he said before paying the lady for the precious new life he just handed me. “Oh my gosh, I’m tearing up. This is so pathetic.” I swipe at the rogue tear trailing down my cheek.
“Paige,I’mtearing up. Tell me this story has a good ending. I can’t stop picturing those little stuffed-animal cats.”
“The ones with the huge glittery eyes?”
“Yes. I have to avoid looking at them at the store or else I’d be coming home to a couch full of them.”
I laugh at the image. When I got on this phone call, I didn’t expect to cry, let alone laugh as much as I have.
“So you got the cat,” he says, a smile in his voice.
“I got the cat.”
“And what’s its name?”
