“Shocker. Your data is telling me something you wanted it to.”
“You know that’s not the case so quit being hard headed.” I’m a proponent that you need different kinds of friends in your life. Ones who will hold your hand while you cry. Ones that will commit a felony with you. Ones that will tell you when the jeans make your butt look fat. Luckily for me, Shelby is all of those wrapped into one. “In all seriousness, I think you should give the guy a chance. Sure, the age thing might be a little weird, but only if you make it that way. Is there anything that he’s done that’s like ‘whoa. You’re too young. I can’t fuck you again?’”
“Besides his hair cut?” I say, though my voice is light when I do. “I don’t. He’s… he’s a good guy Shelby. He makes me smile. He supports the bakery. He makes me laugh. He brought me Coke Zero the other day because I was out. He has this ridiculous notebook of Best Friend Activity outings for us to do because he knows I’m not ready to date. He’s…”
There’s the sigh. I heard it that time.
“If you already didn’t know the answer before, I think you do now.”
She’s right. I know she is.
“But am I ready for something? You’re right, at the end of the day, I do like him. It’s just… it’s fucking scary Shelby.”
“Of course it is,” she says. “No one is saying it’s not. Any relationship is scary. You’d be scared if he was three years older than you.”
“That’s true.”
“Also, you know you don’t have to marry every relationship you’re in, right?”
I laugh. “In theory I do.”
“In fact, I recommend you don’t. Date. Have fun. Have some orgasms. It doesn’t have to be serious.”
“Says the woman who doesn’t know what a serious relationship looks like.”
“You got me on that one.”
Shelby has never been one to settle down. In fact, I don’t know if she’s ever seriously dated anyone. If she has, she hasn’t told me.
“I’m not sure what Maddox wants, or even what I want,” I say, choosing my next words carefully. “But you’re right. I do like him. I do want to try. And maybe… we take it slow.”
Yes. Maybe. Okay. That sounds good. Would I love to be brave like the woman I was in Vegas? Sure. She was fueled by champagne, spite, and a sequin dress. I’m sure she’s still in me somewhere, but for now, we’re going to channel a little of her courage and start things slow.
And for the first time in weeks, I feel a little lighter. A little happier.
“I think that’s an amazing idea,” Shelby says. “But maybe not slow on everything. Definitely sleep with him on the first date.”
“I thought you weren’t supposed to do that?”
“You don’t count because you’ve already slept with him.”
“I’m doing this all backward, aren’t I?”
“Nah. Everyone does things different,” she says. “Just make sure you tell Hannah before the date. Otherwise she’ll cry that she didn’t know.”
“Sounds good,” I say with a smile, and that’s not because traffic is finally going the normal speed limit. “Okay, enough about me and my love life and my deliveries. What did I do to deserve a coveted phone call from Shelby LeBlanc?”
Shelby is more of a texting friend. The only reason she’s good with our weekly phone calls is because Hannah guilted her into it. She might come off as hardened and standoff-ish—the word bitch is also often thrown around, then again, I’m pretty sure she told people to call her that—but at the end of the day, Shelby is the friend you want in your corner. She’s fierce. Loyal. If sheloves you, she does it with her entire chest. So yeah, some might call her a bad name or two, but I call her my soul sister.
“I was seeing what your schedule was next week?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary. Why?”
“I’m coming to Nashville.”
Out of all the things I expected out of her mouth, that was the last one. “You? Coming to Nashville? On purpose?”
I’ve lived in Nashville since I was eighteen and Shelby has come here a total of three times. I don’t know what she has against the city, but she’s made it an active point to avoid it.
