I sat up. “I know that. I don’t feel bad for helping her. It just felt shitty receiving a very quick confirmation that none of it was real.”
“You don’t know that,” Nial countered. “If it was her first time, the crash must have hit her hard.”
“C’mon. You know how our meeting in the coffee shop went. I’m not delusional.”
“I remember. She said you’re a liar who hasn’t changed. I think you just showed her she was wrong.”
Was last night enough to redeem myself in Ivy’s eyes? I wasn’t sure, but maybe it was a start.
I ran my hand through my hair. “I doubt I’ll see her again. But after last night I realized how much I miss feeling that…connection to people.”
Nial hummed his agreement. “Go for it. I’ve been telling you this celibacy-as-punishment thing is counterproductive.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “I think it’s time.”
We hung up, and I went to shower. By the time I remembered I still needed to strip the sheets in the guest room, it was early afternoon. Grabbing the laundry basket, I made my way to the guest bedroom. I needed to clean this room, remove the small traces left of Ivy and forget last night ever happened. The dancing had meant nothing, she made that clear enough this morning. I just needed to start putting myself out there again. Then maybe I would stop thinking about a woman who never was and never would be meant for me.
I carried the full basket through the kitchen toward the laundry room, stopping when my phone lit up on the island. Balancing the basket on one hip, I reached for the device.
There was a text message.
It was from Ivy.
Sheets slid to the floor in a messy puddle as the basket fell out of my hand.
IVY
When I got home around nine am, Zoey was already up and pouring herself a cup of coffee. “How was your ni—” Her eyes widened as she registered my appearance. “What the hell happened to you?”
I knew what she was seeing. Puffy eyes, dry lips, the sorry state of my hair. Before I left Jamie’s, I saw myself in the mirror and decided it was best not to look for long.
“I’m going to preface this by saying I’m an idiot, I know I’m an idiot, and I’m never going to be an idiot again.” I dropped my purse on the kitchen island and leaned on it with both hands. “Please let me get through the entire story before you crucify me, okay?”
Her brows pulled together. “I hate every word that just left your mouth, but fine. Hit me.”
I braced myself and dived into the sad tale of my latest attempt at pushing myself out of my comfort zone.
I recounted everything from the moment I met up with Mimi. Zoey listened, gasping in horror at the particularly awful bits.
“I told you that girl is bad news,” she exclaimed when I got to the part where our neighbor ditched me.
When I was finished, she shook her head in silence for a good five seconds. “What a hot mess. I honestly don’t even know where to start.”
“Jamie. We need to start with Jamie.”
His actions had thoroughly stunned me.
I couldn’t make heads or tails of what had gone down in the past twelve hours with me and him, or begin to reconcile the awful liar I thought he was with the thoughtful and levelheaded man who’d come to my rescue.
Placing her empty mug down, Zoey stuffed her hands into the pockets of her shorts. “Okay, but after we cover him, I’m going to need a good fifteen minutes to bitch you out for some seriously poor decision-making.”
“Fair.” I walked to the sofa and sat down, tucking my legs under me. “Zoey, why the hell did he come for me?”
“He told you why. Because he wanted to help you.”
“After I told him to shove his apology up his ass?” I asked. “Is he some kind of a saint?”
Zoey sat down on the carpet across from me. “Honestly? Based on what you told me, he sounds like a really decent guy.”
