Page 52 of Long Story Short

I roll my eyes. “Googly eyes is a bit dramatic.”

“You getting defensive about it instead of just being quiet tells me everything I need to know. You were absolutely going gaga over him.”

I shake my head at my best friend. She was never this excited about my relationship with Eli, but now that I’ve gone on one maybe-date with Tyson, she’s suddenly interested in what men I’m spending time with. “Stop being so nosy. Tyson took me to breakfast because he found out that I eat little when on a deadline, and he didn’t like that.”

Scarlett’s red lips spread into a sly smile. “And I wonder why he cares if you eat or not.”

“I’m going to start prying into your life more if you’re going to pry into mine.”

She laughs but lifts a shoulder in a shrug. “Go for it. I can’t do anything without the media catching wind of it. Nothing’s a secret anymore when it comes to my life.”

I let out a resigned sigh, her words hitting me hard. I’ve always been a fairly private person; I don’t like people knowing my business. But since Scarlett became famous, her privacy is all but nonexistent. She and I can’t even grab lunch together, whether it’s in LA or Manhattan, without the paparazzi trying to follow her. And the worst part about it all is that most of the time, the things that make the headlines aren’t even true, but she doesn’t even try to deny them anymore. Scarlett would tell me anything I wanted to know about her love life—or anything going on in her life—but I stopped asking because I want to be a safe space for her. She’s used to the entire world prying into her life. She doesn’t need it from me too.

“Scar, you know I didn’t mean it like that. You don’t need to tell me anything.”

She gives me a smile, but I’ve known her long enough to know it’s fake. “It’s fine. Just a joke. I’m so swept up in filming right now that there aren’t many juicy details to give. You, on the other hand…” She stares into the camera with a lifted brow, and something about the sadness in her eyes tells me that she needs this from me. She wants to be there for me to talk through it and I love her for that.

“I’ll tell you what you want to know, but before I get started, please know it’s nothing serious. I don’t want you to make any maid of honor comments or start to name our kids or anything like that. We went out together once this morning—for brunch—so I don’t even know if you can say we’ve had a first date.”

Scarlett lets out a laugh as she looks out the window of the car she’s in for a moment. “Wow, you make me sound so dramatic. Of course, I wouldn’t ask about being the maid of honor in your wedding to Tyson because I already know it’ll be me.”

“It wasn’t even a first date, Scar,” I remind her. I grab my water and walk over to the couch. I know this conversation is going to take a while. I might as well get comfortable.

Plus, now that Scarlett’s brought it up, I kind of want to tell her about my morning with Tyson.

I want to tell her about Tyson in general, just to get her take on everything.

“I want to start this by saying that I’ve known him for days. I have no idea what will happen, nor am I trying to overthink anything. It hasn’t been that long since I got out of my last relationship, and with everything going on, trying to finish this book, I don’t have time to really begin another.”

“Okay, so I’m not planning the bachelorette trip quite yet. Got it.”

I can’t help but laugh at my best friend. “No, you aren’t.”

“Tell me more. How did you end up at the club with him? Is he kind? Do you like him? Tell me everything, Jo.”

My head falls back on the couch as I let out a sigh.

“I don’t know if brunch was a date or not, but it felt like one.” I can’t help but smile as I recall our morning together. He was such a gentleman, but it wasn’t just that. He paid attention when I spoke. He engaged in conversation. It seemed like he was genuinely interested in spending time with me and getting to know me, and that was refreshing. I liked it. I like him. “It really felt like a date,” I whisper, not bothering to hide the giddy smile on my face.

“It was definitely a date,” Scarlett confirms. Her words send a wave of excitement throughout my body, because now that I’m saying it out loud, I’m really hoping it was a date.

“From our first meeting, he flirted and made his attraction obvious, which was refreshing. But I had just gotten here, and I was still spiraling over being told I need to rewrite my book. I didn’t want to get distracted by him.”

“A little distraction will be good for you,” Scarlett mutters, her voice becoming a little muffled as she shifts in her seat.

“Maybe. Spending time with him is giving me…inspiration.”

Scarlett gasps. “Was the sex amazing?” she asks, her voice far too loud.

I place my hand over my head, embarrassed by Scarlett’s question, even though I’m not even in the car with her. I imagine her driver listening in on all of this, my cheeks heating at the realization. Luckily, everyone in her life has to sign an NDA, so I’m not worried about them relaying anything that was said, but it doesn’t make me any less embarrassed that they’re hearing tidbits of what should probably be a private conversation.

“We didn’t have sex, Scar. I just met him.”

Her nose scrunches at the same moment she cocks her head to the side. “So?”

I can’t help but laugh. “So, we haven’t had sex. But we did⁠—”

“You did what?” she interrupts, her voice full of excitement as she stares at me through the screen with a wide smile.