Page 53 of My So-Called Perfect Life

“Nothing.”

He narrows his eyes before his face falls. “Please tell me you are not trying to get chlamydia girl to go out with you.”

“Okay,” I say. “I’m not trying to get Danielle to go on a date with me.”

He groans. “I can’t believe I just offered my ticket to the game for her.”

I laugh some more. “Too late to take it back now.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” He throws his hands up. “You dodged a major bullet with that chick. You wrapped everything up and got out without any permanent damage. I get that you like to do crazy shit, but this is fucking extreme. The woman is unstable.”

“You’ve never even met her.” I point out.

“I don’t have to meet her to know this is a bad idea. There’s no talking you out of this, is there?”

"Nope.”

“I hope this doesn’t blow up in your face, man.” He sighs defeatedly. “But when it does, I’ll have my popcorn in hand, watching the explosion.”

I roll my eyes. “Thanks for always having my back, Ev.”

Chapter Nineteen

Danielle

Ican’t believe I’m doingthis. The last time I went on a first date was six years ago. Six! And even then, I didn’t go on a ton of first dates. I sort of found Scott, and we stuck. Now, I’m going out with this guy and I have no idea what to expect. What do people talk about on first dates? Especially, people who have shared chlamydia?

I guess I could ask him if he took a probiotic after the azithromycin. I didn’t at first, but I’m so glad I did. A strong antibiotic like that can really mess with gut –

Shut up, Danielle! You will not ask him if he got constipated!

I take a deep breath and try to pull it together. As I take one last look in the mirror, my phone goes off again. Mom, Mercy and Amelia have been pinging me non-stop. I get that they’re excited for me, but this is not helping me manage my anxiety. I function best when everything is planned out and I’m not hit with anything unexpected. Everything about Ryan is unexpected and it scares the crap out of me.

But not enough to make me walk away.

Ryan’s waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs as I make my way outside.

He smiles at me. “Don’t you look appropriately festive for the occasion?”

Suddenly, self-conscious, I look down at my outfit. Mercy and Amelia insisted on planning my outfit—denim shorts and a blue-and-white jersey tied into a knot in the front, plus a matching hat. Baseball isn’t my thing, so I really had no idea what to wear. It was easy to let them drive that bus. “I think I look cute,” I reply.

“You don’t look cute, Danielle,” he says. “You look hot as hell.”

As I walk down the steps, I panic.What if I lean in for a hug and kiss on the cheek and he just wants to shake my hand? What if he reaches for the hug and kiss and I stupidly offered my hand? What if all these what-ifs bubble up inside me and I throw up on him again?

My stomach is doing cartwheels by the time I reach the bottom of the stairs. I never thought he’d continue trying to get me to go out with him, and convince me, after I was an outright bitch to him.

Shit! Shit! Shit! What do I do? Hug? Shake? Vomit? All three? Make a decision, Dani! Do something!

His lips touch mine, and all my worries blow up in a cloud of smoke, blending in with the rest of the city’s smog. I feel sparks in my chest. All the banter from the last week, chatting through jokes and messages, has built up and exploded into this kiss that totally has my foot popping like Anne Hathaway’s inThe Princess Diaries.

“Ready?” he asks, pulling his mouth from mine.

I nod enthusiastically. “I am. I’ve never been to a baseball game before.”

“Really?”

“Nope.”