Page 85 of The Love Interest

ME: Chill. Shirt. That was super to say chill.

ME: Fix.

ME: Ducking.

ME: FUCK.

ME: Just delete all of this.

ME: I love you.

“Shit!”

“What?”

“I justtoldedhim I love him.”

“Aww.” After a beat, he laughs. “You just saidtolded.”

“For the first time. In a text.”

“So?”

The panic and adrenaline are sobering me up pretty quickly. “Jed! I can’t tell a grown man that I love him for the first time in a text message!”

“Why not? I do it all the time.”

“Yeah, but you never mean it.”

“So?”

I wave him off because I can’t with him right now. “Now if I don’t hear back from him, I won’t know if it’s because I told him I love him or not. Should I writejust kidding?” Okay, maybe I’m not sobering up.

“No!” He shrugs. “If you don’t hear back from him, then there’s your answer.”

“But what if he’s dead?!”

“Honey, they’re literally never dead.”

I toss the throw pillow at him. This is why I need to talk to a straight woman right now instead of a gay man. Someone needs to tell me that Emmett might not be getting a signal or maybe he lost his phone or perhaps he’s stuck under a heavy piece of furniture.

But deep down, I know this is a Veronica thing.

It’s ashit’s getting realthing.

What we had over winter break really is over.

I have no idea what comes next.

My bedroom door opens, and Keiko walks out. She doesn’t stomp out—she walks. Quietly. Thoughtfully. Her hair is platinum blonde now and she isn’t wearing any makeup, so I barely recognize her.

“Hey, Keik.” Jed holds up the nearly empty wine bottle. “Wine?”

“Hi! Are we being too loud? I love your hair.”Please don’t say anything mean to me.

She comes over to join us in the living room, sits cross-legged on the floor next to Jed, and rests her head on his shoulder but looks at me. “You guys are both wrong.”

“Oh, did you hear us talking?”