Page 104 of Pretend You Love Me

“More or less.”

I’m still staring at her gape-jawed.

“I’m not giving him any credit for it though.”

I laugh. “It’s funny because you tried to set him up and...”

“I know. I know,” she interrupts. “He likes to remind me of this all the time.”

Zadie is a terrible matchmaker, but she loves setting people up.

Her eyes get a new twinkle.

“Oh no,” I say. “No, no, no.”

“I know a guy, Brooklyn. You’d be perfect together.”

I cover my mouth with my hand “Zadie, it never goes well. James, Will...you even tried to set up Eli.”

“He’s really great, Brooklyn. Just one date - you’ll see.”

I sigh. It might be good for me. All I think about is Kip. My chest hurts just thinking about him. I want to hear the sound of his voice. I want to feel his skin against mine. I want to know what he’s doing every damn second of the day.

“You okay?” Zadie’s studying my face. I just shake away the thoughts of Kip.

“You know what - sure. Set me up.”

“Really?” Her whole face lights up.

“Yeah.”

She pulls out her phone. “I’m going to text him right now.”

After a few minutes, I have a date scheduled for Saturday. Ethan walks in with some takeout. As soon as Zadie opens her container, I nearly gag.

“What’s wrong?” She gives me a sideways look.

“Oh, my stomach has been weird all week.” I’m scooting away from her. “Working with kids. I love them, but they are little germ factories.”

She takes a big bite of her food. My stomach churns just watching her.

“Not going to eat anything?” Ethan asks.

“I just don’t have an appetite.”

“I hope you aren’t getting sick. I’d hate for you to have to reschedule with Craig for this weekend.”

“It’s probably just a little bug. I’ll be fine by Saturday.”

When she finishes eating, she pushes her food back. “That was good. I was starving.”

I just smile. She’s so adorable pregnant. I’m going to be sad when she’s not pregnant anymore.

She gives me a smile and then says, “Okay, I brought you here to talk about something important.”

“Oh, I just thought I was helping with the curriculum.”

“Well, that’s part of it.” She taps her fingers on the table for a moment and then says, “I’d like to hire you.”