I have to lock in to dating people that aren’t Noah Davidson. However, it takes one look at my lock screen for my blood to go cold and my shoulders to seize back into place. Noah clocks the change in my demeanour instantly, stopping his walk to properly take me in from head to toe.
‘What’s wrong?’ he asks.
I gulp, shuddering. ‘Aldo’s finally replied. The only day he can do a second date is tomorrow.’
. . .a busy schedule
‘So, here’s the plan,’ I say.
‘10 a.m. Mattia. 2 p.m. Aldo and 6.30 p.m. Nigel.’ Noah parrots this back to me, a hint of boredom in his voice.
Noah and I got in last night, threwThe Lizzie McGuire Movieon in the background and then created a detailed plan for today, stretching from the moment I got up to the moment I meet Nigel. I initially didn’t want to get him too involved, given how weird he was around Nigel. But he delighted in the whole thing, attacking it like a fun, high-stakes game, and everything felt right with the world again. We were up half the night mapping out routes, planning public transport and figuring out the best way to give each guy a good time without sacrificing another. The solution itself is quite worrying... I’ve painstakingly had to go against everything I stand for and organise the details of each date.
Nigel already picked his restaurant, so I worked backwards from him and sent each man a time and location, all within a three-mile radius. The tricky part was ensuring that they were all close enough for me to easily travel between, but far enough away from each other that they didn’t risk finding me with one of the others.
‘Thoughts on the outfit?’ I ask.
I emerge from the bathroom with a twirl as my dress floats around my ankles. I went with a wide-strapped, satin maxi-dress that is figure-hugging enough to make sense in the evening, with a floral pattern that’s casual enough to work during the day.
‘Perfect,’ Noah says. ‘Although I don’t understand why you bothered changing in the bathroom considering we’ve now...’
‘You saw me in a dark train cabin. It is hardly the same thing as a hotel room in broad daylight.’
I turn away from him towards my make-up bag and hope that it’s enough to hide my newly flustered features. It certainly isn’t. His smile shines out of the corner of my compact mirror, smug and taunting and dangerously attractive.
‘So, I’ve set your phone with alarms that go off at twelve-thirty and five. That should give you plenty of time to close your dates off, head to your next location and have a moment to collect your thoughts.’
He hands my phone back to me. I twirl the device in my hand and take a deep breath. He’s just a friend. He’s helping me.
‘You are scarily good at this,’ I say.
‘Hey, anything to help.’ He gathers my bag from the corner. ‘Keep me updated. I’ll be on hand if anything goes wrong. Just text the safe word “Ungermeyer”.’
‘As in—’
‘The most iconic character fromThe Lizzie McGuire Movie? Yes,’ he says proudly.
I can’t help but laugh. ‘I shouldn’t need to. We’ve planned this to a T.’
‘Of course, but remember it just in case,’ he says. ‘And if you and Nigel want to come back here for a nightcap after, feel free. I’ve made some plans so should be gone pretty late.’
‘Oh, really?’ I ask.
I look over to him but he drops his eyes, turning to fiddle with his own bag.
‘Yeah. I’ve been chatting to the barista at the café I work from. We’re going out tonight,’ he says briskly.
I freeze.
‘You didn’t tell me.’
‘I’m telling you now,’ he says, shrugging.
I try my best to bite back my sudden hurt, but it’s no use. Here I’ve been going on about my three dates, and Noah’s kept his own love life under lock and keyagain. That’s not the point of this. I thought we were done hiding things after we laid everything bare.
He turns to face me, bag fully packed, but pauses as he notes my sullen expression. His eyes scan over each feature as he takes a deep, sorry breath.
‘It’s no big deal. I just didn’t tell you because you’ve been so busy. You inspired me actually. After seeing your success, I thought I may as well do something too,’ he says dryly.
