“Wow. That’s so sad. Sounds like she needs a therapist.”
“I hope that’s not what they mean by a muse,” I say. “My form of therapy would be to tell her to get over whatever she thinks is so awful. Must be real rough living in a mansion. Never having to worry about money. Spending every day reading books and shopping for art. Touch some grass, lady. There are people who have real problems, and your husband hired you a muse. Fucking ridiculous.”
“Okay, then. Tell me how you really feel,” June says.
“Do you disagree?”
“I don’t know them, so I can’t judge them based on their wealth,” she says.
“You can. It will stay between us.”
“So if you were wealthy, would it be fair for people to judge you because of it?” she asks.
“Absolutely, because I’d probably be an entitled dick.”
She giggles. “As opposed to …”
“Hey, you don’t even know me,yet.”
“True.”
“Where are you? We should hang out,” I say.
“It’s late, Flynn.”
“Damn. Is twenty-six the new forty? Late? It’s a little after eight.”
“I’m trying to be polite.”
“Polite? Because you don’t want to hang out with me? Then why did you call—text. Why did you text?”
“I thought I’d give you a chance to sweep me off my feet.”
“Are you suggesting I’ve failed at doing that?”
“Well, how would you rate yourself?”
“You haven’t ended the call, so I’d say I’m killing it.”
“I should go, Flynn.”
A surge of panic hits me like it did when she walked out of the gallery and I froze. “You’re beautiful.”
She doesn’t reply right away. Why did I say that? I’m sure she knows she’s beautiful. How could she not? I close my eyes and press the heel of my hand to my forehead.
“I’m listening,” she says.
I open my eyes and mentally scramble for something else. What’s the follow-up to telling her she’s beautiful?
“I’m listening too. You should saythank youor compliment me back.” Words fly out of my mouth before getting proper permission from my brain. If she doesn’t appreciate sarcasm, I’m fucked.
“You’re tall,” she says.
“Thank you. I try my best.”
June chuckles, and I sit uptall.
“You have a great smile,” I say.
