Sex with Benji was incredible. Maybe if I hadn’t loved him as much as I had, I could forget the last year and throw caution to the floor of his bedroom, along with his jeans, and remember exactly how good it was.
But sex will only make the hole in my heart worse.
“Yourdate,” I correct. “I hope you’re ready to embarrass yourself.”
“Baby, I’ll take anything you want to give me.”
* * *
Skye appears by my side as he’s out the door. “Okay, but we have to make him suffer, agreed?”
My heart is still racing. “Obviously. But how?”
“You should pick his outfit as part of it.” The door chimes, and we both wave hello to the customers, who are happy to ignore us. “What about signing them up for an open mic night?”
I shake my head. That would border on cruel. “The punishment is for him, not her.”
“Karaoke?”
I recoil. “For a firstdate?”
Skye shrugs. “If the goal is to completely put her off him?—”
“It’s not.”
“It isn’t? You want them getting along perfectly and falling in love?”
Hell no. I’d rather poke my own eyes out.
“Bowling?” I suggest an hour later, after I’ve given in and searched online.
It turns out, bad date ideas are hard to come by. Every result is about planning the perfect date, but that’s easy. My perfect date is an afternoon at the Color Wheel. It’s an interactive art exhibit downtown that focuses on exploring your senses. I’ve always wanted to go, but Skye would rather watch paint dry, and the idea of going by myself makes my skin itch.
Skye pops her head out of the studio. “Not niche enough.”
“An escape room.”
Her eyes light up. “Now, that’s an idea. But … do you really want them locked in a small room together?”
Shit. “Okay, no escape rooms.” I slump against the register. “Skye, what am I going to do? I can’t find anything bad enough.”
The problem is that anything can be fun with the right person, and a five-course meal would be torture with the wrong one. Not that I’d like that for a first date. I prefer an evening with far less pressure.
“What about the old theatre downtown?” Skye asks. “That wouldbe fitting.”
More like torturous. The last thing I can stomach is going back to where Benji and I had our first date, let alone setting him up there with anyone else.
“Or,” she adds, and I can already tell I’m not going to like where this is going, “maybe it’s too hard to think of something because you don’t want him going out with anyone who isn’t you.”
I don’t answer her, but she doesn’t need an answer. We both know she’s right.
Chapter Six
PAIGE
BEFORE
“I’m jealous,” I say from my perch on Benji’s workbench. It’s tall enough that I’ll need to jump to get down. “I didn’t realize there was so much money in frames that you could close by lunch.”
