Page 83 of The Singles Club

My feelings for Justin were… complicated and not something I was ready to talk about.

“What are you trying to say?”

“I think you’re in love with him, and you’re too scared to admit it.”

“I’m not in love with him.” As the words left my lips, it felt forced, like I was trying to convince myself more than Crystal.

“Really? Then why haven’t you secured an apartment yet?”

Margot hadn’t called me back.

“Because I’m going to be living there. I don’t want just any place.”

“I know you. You’re stalling.”

My shoulders went rigid, and my jaw tensed. I picked up my phone and called Margot on the spot. This time, she answered. And this time, she had the “perfect” place. My heart thumped in my chest. I swallowed before telling her to fax over the contract and that I was in.

I hung up the phone and smiled over at Crystal. “Are you satisfied now?”

She narrowed her eyes, then held up her hands in surrender. “You win, you’re not in love with Justin.”

“Thank you, now can we drop this?”

She grinned a grin that had trouble written all over it. “No problem. I’ll let you catch a recovery nap. Want me to close your door?”

“Please.”

After about five minutes of shut-eye and “Night and Day” banging around in my head, my computer dinged with an email notification from Becky. I opened it.

Hey Viv,

Some good news! I talked to Penny when she had her fitting this morning. The reason you didn’t hear back from Leonard is because he’s been away on a long weekend trip with his friends. I guess they make it a thing to unplug, but he’s coming back tomorrow.

Oh, and I contacted the reunion committee. They think what we’re doing is fantastic and love the feature idea.

-Beck

My sore muscles felt a little bit better after reading that. This was excellent news. Hopefully, Leonard was still in. I reached for my phone to text Justin about it, but before I could open my messages, a text from Isabella popped up.

I: Hey Viv, you know that I think your whole theory that love doesn’t exist is complete bullshit. However, I will admit that you are on to something with the whole dating and attraction thing.

I sat up. Isabella was conceding. Now, this was interesting.

V: If you’re trying to sweet-talk me into giving you back the Hermès bag, the answer is no.

I: LOL. No, it’s nothing like that. I have a friend, and she has that whole “I have a crush on a guy that barely knows I exist” kind of problem, and since you helped Pam with that UPS guy, I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind lending your expertise in this case?

V: About that. Turns out, Pam’s UPS guy was married.

I: OMG

V: Yeah, so tell your friend if she wants to do this to make sure he’s single.

I: Will do, so does that mean you’re in?

V: Sure. Bring her to our Singles Club meetup on Friday.

I: Unfortunately, she can’t meet on Friday, but she’s available tonight or tomorrow. When was the last time we had a couple drinks on a school night? ;)