“Netflix.”
“Doesn’t count. Give me something more tangible.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and jumped off the bridge. “Your kiss.”
The line went silent, even my heart stopped for a few seconds—waiting.
“My kiss?”
We weren’t on the same continent. How could I be so embarrassed? My hand covered my face. Why? Because that was my level of complete craziness.
“Well … sort of … yeah.”
“Hmm, I really like?—”
“Monaghan, let’s go!” a man’s voice echoed.
“Yeah, yeah, give me thirty seconds.”
“Twenty,” the man replied.
The interruption left me panting, on the verge of an all-out drool. He really liked what? The kiss? Me? Pizza? Dogs? Three-legged cats?
“I’ve gotta run. I have an interview.”
“No.” I shook my head. I needed to practice not sounding so desperate. “I mean, okay. I’ll be here, maybe indefinitely since I said what I did.”
“Oh, Lake…” He chuckled. “I’ll call you later.”
“Bye.” I pressedEndand hammered my head into the pillow. “You’re not this girl, Lake. Stop being so gaga stupid like a fifteen-year-old at a Justin Bieber concert.”
CHAPTER TEN
IMPULSIVITY
The blue depthsof the Olympic pool haunted me, along with the bystanders snapping photos of the girl with a fin leg swimming laps. I had to remind myself that the near drowning incident the previous year, when Thad saved me, was a weak moment. I wasn’t that girl anymore.
In the afternoon we were at the climbing facility.
Fit the leg.
Climb the wall.
Make adjustments.
Climb the wall again.
Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
Three days passed with no word, no “later” call from Cage. I said too much. My mouth and brain functioned independently. Jerry and Thad tap danced on my last nerve. They bickered like a married couple after fifty years of marriage.
“We’re going to dinner, love. You coming?” Thad asked, like he and Jerry hadn’t just been on the verge of killing each other over a sensory setting on the new leg.
“I think I need a break from…” I smiled “…people.”
“You mean us.” Jerry didn’t have to look up from his computer. The guy was perceptive. Heterosexual and perceptive.
Thad narrowed his eyes in a say-it-ain’t-so way.
