Page 25 of Only With Me

“What? I caught a guy today!” Delilah exclaims, flinging her spoon around as she continues. “He bought two identical pieces, except one was red and one was black. However, they were noticeably different sizes—one was an extra small and the other an extra large—so I mentioned that to him. I even offered to grab the right one because I figured he didn’t realize they were different. Instead, he threw his credit card at me and said, ‘No, those are the sizes I need,’ so I rang him up, looked him up on social media, and then sent his wife a littlehey girlmessage.”

“Oh my God!” My jaw drops, and I quickly cover my mouth when my mom glares at me for dropping the Lord’s name in vain. “I’ll never understand why men don’t just get divorced if they’re unhappy.”

Truthfully, I don’t understand a lot about men, but that especially.

“Because they’re cowards,” Delilah explains. “They’d rather sleep around than go to therapy.”

“Some like the thrill of sneakin’ around and the possibility of gettin’ caught,” Mom adds.

Delilah shakes her head. “Men are dirtbags.”

“This a bad time to ask if you’re datin’ anyone?” Dad smirks before eating a spoonful of his chili.

Delilah snorts. “There are zero decent or single men in this town. Heck, maybe the state.”

“You ain’t gettin’ any younger,” Mom reminds her. “Especially if you wanna have children.”

Delilah’s deadpan expression causes me to laugh because the last thing on her mind is getting married or pregnant.

“If you’re holdin’ your breath for grandchildren, you’re better off waitin’ on Harlow.”

“Me?” I gasp. “I’ve never had a boyfriend, remember? I’m the last person to depend on givin’ y’all grandchildren.”

“Yeah, but you’re not even twenty-one. You have plenty of time,” Delilah says. “I’m basically an old maid.”

I scoff. “You’re thirty, so I don’t think so.”

“There’s no rush,” Dad interrupts. “When you findthe one, then you’ll know it’s time. Until then, focus on your own dreams and goals. Marriage and babies can wait.”

I appreciate his words because at this rate, I’ll be single for a long time. Not that I’m overly eager to find a boyfriend, but it’d be nice to have someone special to spend time with. However, I’m not a go-out-and-party type of person, and even when I’m legal to go to bars, I’m not sure how often I’ll want to. I can’t imagine meeting a guy at a bar and it working out.

But maybe the universe will prove me wrong and my Mr. Right will walk into my life when I least expect him to.

“Oh, hello, McDreamy…” Natalie singsongs as soon as Dr. Shepherd appears on the screen.

I chuckle around a handful of popcorn, nearly choking at her words.

“He ain’t that good-lookin’,” I say.

“What? You better get your eyes checked.”

I roll them instead.

Natalie’s crushed on him since we saw the very first episode ofGrey’s Anatomy.

We started watching the series together when we were only thirteen years old and roommates in the hospital. It’s been seven years and we’re still trying to catch up.

Our parents met first since we were brought into the emergency room a day apart. There had been a huge pileup on the highway with several traumas and to make space for them, they put us in the same room.

Natalie had been hit while riding her bike and needed several surgeries on her abdomen, pelvis, and legs. It took her two years of physical therapy to walk again.

I’d been put on life support while they waited for the swelling in my brain to go down and then had to prioritize which part of my body needed surgery first.

When we were both lucid and could finally talk, we became recovery buddies. I spent weeks at a time there with her andwhen one of us had to go back as an inpatient, we’d often visit each other and start up the show where we ended it.

Since we live two hours apart, we video chat at least once a week to watch a few episodes together.

“I’m still bitter about McSteamy.” I frown.