Page 15 of The Disasters of Dating (Love Connections #6)

POPPY

The more advice you get from family and friends, the more inclined you will be to ignore it. That’s a good thing, Pisces. You’re intuitive and can trust what your inner voice tells you.

I’m sitting at the desk in my bedroom. I’m supposed to be making a necklace for an order from my Etsy shop (Crystal Clear) but I’m not feeling it today.

My eyes flick over to my phone, wondering if the wrong number guy will text again. Do I want him to? I know I shouldn’t. I know nothing about him. I don’t even know his name—I put ‘Wrong Number Guy’ in my contacts. I should have deleted the conversation, and yet I haven’t. What does that mean?

I shake my head and push my phone farther away from me. He won’t be texting me again. I mean, his last text kind of left the ball in my court.

Should I text him? The thought sends a small thrill up my spine, while at the same time, a knot forms in my stomach.

I think people tend to believe I’m a risk taker.

Maybe it comes from the boho look? I don’t really know.

But the truth is, I’m not. I plan and sometimes even over plan.

I have taken the saying “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail” to heart.

It may also have something to do with my dad’s death.

But I don’t dwell on that one. Planning is good.

It gives me direction. So this texting thing feels way out of my comfort zone.

There’s no way for me to plan it out. And yet, something inside me is pushing me to continue.

I mean, if I’m going to totally rebel against my nature, is this the worst thing I could do?

I grab my phone and decide I need reinforcements. I open my cousins chat. They will give it to me straight—they always do. Sometimes, maybe a little too straight. But I know they do it out of love and maybe misunderstanding? I think they don’t always know how to deal with me.

So I got a wrong number text the other night inviting me to dinner.

Don’t worry, I didn’t go. In fact, I ignored it.

But then he texted me again and said he figured I had to work.

So I texted him back and told him he had the wrong number so that he would quit texting me, thinking he was texting someone else.

He was nice about it and apologized. But then I accidentally texted him about Grandma Alice.

Now we’ve texted a few times. He’s kind of funny and I kind of want to keep texting him.

Is that so weird of me??? Ugh! Yes, I am such a weirdo!

I push my phone aside and force myself to focus on the necklace in front of me.

I always have people give me a brief synopsis of what they are looking for in their crystals and what is going on in their lives so that I can tailor it more to the individual.

Not everyone fills out the small survey.

They want a certain stone because it’s pretty or it matches the outfit they want to wear it with.

But on those rare occasions when someone truthfully fills out the questionnaire?

It’s like the universe is speaking to me and allowing me to be a conduit to help that person using the right crystals—like they help me when I need it most.

I grab a rose quartz stone out of my box of crystals and wrap a thin wire tightly around it.

Pressing the wire into the dips and curves of the stone, I try to make the two almost become one.

It keeps the stone safe from falling out of the wire.

But it is also symbolic of the universe and the soul becoming one.

I frown when I think of the mockery I’d get from some of my cousins.

Especially my cousin, Kaden. He’s never been very kind about my crystals.

He kind of sucks. Sucks the joy out of life.

Finally, my phone vibrates next to me. For a split second, I hope it’s Wrong Number Guy. But then I push that thought aside, realizing it’s more likely one of my cousins.

Lucy is the first to answer.

Berries

As long as you don’t agree to meet him in a private location…I think it’s fun!

I smile. That sounds like Lucy. I think she could find a romance even in jail. Maybe she is the creative mind behind those Love Behind Bars commercials I keep seeing. I’ll have to ask her.

But then Avery chimes in.

Avery

Okay, but what do you actually know about this person? He could be a sixty-year-old ex-con who just got out of jail and just discovered texting! Please be careful, Pops!

I raise a brow. I hate that I can see her point and have actually had a similar thought. I don’t like looking at the dark side of things.

Then my sister’s message pops up.

Shadie

I’ve heard of weirder things than texting a stranger, but I’m with everyone else. PLEASE be careful. You don’t know this random person, and I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.

I release a sigh. I’m not sure why I even texted them. I knew what they would say before I even unlocked my phone. I think sometimes I hope that they will surprise me and say something completely out of character.

Maybe that’s why I want to keep texting Wrong Number Guy?

Because I want the unexpected? But my horoscope is right.

I have good intuition. And it’s not sounding massive alarm bells.

Or it wasn’t until my cousins chimed in.

Now, it’s making the kind of beeps that tell you to change the batteries in your smoke alarms .

My fingers twitch over my phone screen. Would it be a big deal if I texted him back? I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?

My phone lights up and I see a notification that Chloe has responded. Ugh. Do I even want to read it?

Chloe-Bear

I say keep texting him. There’s no harm in that. (Someone had to be the devil’s advocate here!)

Wow, I asked the universe, and I received! That was totally unexpected. I would have thought Chloe would be the most adamant. I’m going to put this as a Holt reaction.

I shut the cousins chat and stare at my text list. I don’t know why I’m hesitating. I pull up Paisleigh’s number.

Hey, Pais. So you remember that wrong number guy who texted me the other night while I was at your apartment?

Well, he texted me back again. Common sense says I should ignore and delete it.

But my head? Or maybe my heart? (Now I sound like my cousin, Lucy.) Anyway, some part of me is saying not to dismiss it.

But I need your opinion. You were the one who convinced me to text him back in the first place.

As I wait to hear back from Pais, I attach the fitting for the chain onto the rose quartz.

I string the silver chain through it and hold it up.

I can’t help the grin. It turned out pretty.

It reminds me of the bracelet I made for Avery.

Since her breakup with Eric, she hasn’t been the same.

She needs a little rose quartz in her life.

Now, I need to actually be in the same place as her so that I can give it to her.

She has definitely thrown herself into her work over the last few months.

My phone bounces on the desktop beside me.

I wind the necklace around my fingers and tuck it into a small, white organza bag. Okay. One order down. Three more to go. But first, I want to see what Paisleigh has to say.

Paisleigh

I think as long as you’re careful, there’s no harm in texting him. But may I ask why you want to?

I stare at her message, thinking about the best way to phrase it. But it’s hard because I can’t say why I want to.

He’s kind of funny. And my horoscope says to trust my inner voice—which is telling me to do it.

Paisleigh

Then I say go for it. Just be smart…which you already are. So you should be golden.

I smile at my phone.

Thanks, Pais. I’ll really miss you when you’re gone.

Paisleigh

Where am I going???

Ugh, to a faraway island when you are cast on Beyond Limits.

Paisleigh

(GIF of Cher from Clueless saying, ‘Ugh, as if.’)

That isn’t going to happen. I think I have, like, a one in a bajillion chance of being cast. So you can stop missing me.

Bawahaha! But seriously, did you see your horoscope today? It says to brace yourself because change is coming your way.

Paisleigh

It’s probably just talking about a new pair of pants or something, Pops. I’m just saying, I’m not getting my plane tickets yet.

You’re no fun.

Paisleigh

Then go text your Wrong Number Guy. I’m sure he’ll be loads of it.

I send her a GIF of the kid with half-closed lids and a grim set mouth.

I move out of my Ikea desk chair—it’s all wood, very hard, and not comfortable at all.

But it was cheap. I flop into my giant BigOne LoveSac beanbag.

It nearly swallows me whole as I shimmy deeper into it.

Now that I’m settled, I pull up my text list. It looks like there have been some additions to the Cheaper Than Therapy chat.

I pull it up and see that Dani and Sadie have added more of their ‘thoughts.’

Dani

You could ask for a picture! Though then you’d need him to hold up a newspaper or something to prove it’s actually him. Do newspapers still exist?

I laugh at the wild scenario. What would he even say?

Uh, yeah. Remember that Michelle Hayes Ashcombe still has the paper delivered every morning? I think she is the only person in the world who does. So maybe I’ll get to see the guy IRL when he has to ask my mom to borrow her newspaper.

Shadie

But that still doesn’t prove it’s him. He could ask his friend to hold up a newspaper. This is 100% a scam, and to protect my baby sister, I say stay away.

I drop my phone to my chest and look up at my ceiling. Of course she does. It seems Max hasn’t changed everything about my sister…just her outlook on love.

The thing is, it doesn’t feel like a scam. Most of the scammy emails scream, ‘I’m going to rip you off!’ But this one doesn’t. It feels like someone who accidentally put the wrong number in their phone. Didn’t I accidentally text him?