Page 26 of Stay With Me

“Sure it does! What else?”

“Hmm, well I told him about my ten date stipulation and he didn’t immediately bolt for the door.”

“See? Not just trying to sleep with you. Doesn’t sound much like another Eddie nightmare if you ask me.”

“Yeah,” Samantha agreed. “Oh and then…”

She paused to giggle and then lowered her voice. “I got a little tipsy and was totally planning to, you know, and he said let’s wait ’til the tenth date.”

Jenna’s mouth gaped slightly and then morphed into a wide grin. “See? He’s decent.”

“He was totally decent. Even though I—” She abruptly stopped and threw a hand over her face. “Oh no.”

“What?”

“I said something so stupid!”

“What!”

“I said, you’d better watch out or I might fall in love with you.”

Jenna laughed. “Oh. That’s not so bad.”

“Yes, it is! You can’t say that on the first date!”

“Nah. You just let him know you’re serious. That you’re interested in seeing him again. Did he say anything about another date?”

Samantha hesitated as she pondered. “Well, not explicitly. But he said he’d like to take me camping sometime.”

Jenna’s eyes lit up. “Ooooohhh!”

“What?”

“Hello? Camping is just an outdoor sleepover with lots of cuddling. So he basically invited you to cuddle with him.”

The two women exploded into a fit of chortling.

“Well, that would be fun,” Samantha said.

“Of course it would,” Jenna insisted, then patted Samantha’s back. “Has he called you or texted you yet?”

Samantha’s mouth shifted slightly. “No.”

“Well, don’t worry about that,” Jenna replied hastily. “It’s Sunday. I’m sure his restaurant does a fancy brunch or something on the weekends. He’s probably busy right now. I’m sure he’ll call later.”

“I sure hope so.”

As if on cue, Samantha’s phone buzzed from inside her back pocket. She pulled it out, glanced at the screen, and gasped at her sister.

“It’s him!”

Jenna squealed as she pushed Samantha out of the kitchen and into the front dining area. “Told you! Go talk to him!”

Samantha giggled to herself as she scurried out of the room to answer.

“Hello?”

“Hey there, you pretty little thing,” Nick greeted her with a smile in his voice.