Page 87 of Finding My Charming

“Then I have to talk to Dallin.”

She perked back up and looked at me with a wide smile. “What are you going to tell him?”

What does one say to the person she believes is her soul mate, even though they’ve only known each other for a few weeks?

I formed a mental list of possibilities.

“Hi, I think you’re the one.”

“You’re it!”

“You’re my soul mate!”

Yeah, none of those were going to come out of my mouth.

At least, I hope not. Words did have the tendency to flow out without permission when I was nervous or uncomfortable.

“You just have to tell him that you want to be with him, get to know him better, or spend more time together. I don’t know how young people court anymore.” Sherrie shook her head.

“Neither do I!”

A cough behind me caught my attention, and I turned to see Frank, staring at me, trying to hide his laughter. He opened his mouth then shook his head and openly chortled.

I crossed my arms and waited for him to compose himself. After almost a minute, he waved his hand in front of his face and repeated ‘Okay’ several times.

“You all right?” Sherrie sounded as annoyed as I felt.

“Yes. Sorry, ladies. I just thought this conversation was a joke.”

He took in my serious expression and cleared his throat. “Obviously, I was wrong. Elise. If you are interested in a guy, all you have to say is that you like him or are interested. He’ll figure out the rest. I’m sure hearing those words are all he’s waiting for.”

Without another word, he turned and walked through the front door.

“Well.” Sherrie seemed as stunned as I was.

“Who would have thought?”

“That Frank had a brain or that it could be that easy?”

“Either.”

She giggled. “I don’t know, Elle, but I think he might be right.” She spun my chair, so I was looking at her. “Now, you promise me you won’t ever tell anyone I said that! I don’t want Frank getting a big head or anything.”

A smile spread across her face to match mine, and I nodded. When he put it into the perspective of a guy, it sounded so easy. How could I possibly mess it up? The only possible outcomes were him returning my feelings or running away screaming. I hoped I had better than a fifty-fifty chance especially after his response last night and our kiss.

i sat in my car in silence while staring at my phone. I couldn’t avoid what had to be done, but that didn’t make it any easier. Vincent was a great guy, just not the right one for me. Plus, I’d never broken up with anyone. That would mean I would have had to actually date someone, and well, that had never happened before.

After counting down from three, I pressed his name and held the phone to my ear. On the first ring, I almost chickened out and hung up, but I knew I had to be a grownup.

“Hi, Elle.”

Ugh. He sounded so happy. Why did I have to be the one to do this? Why couldn’t he have figured it out first and dumped me?

“Hey, Vincent. Can you talk right now?” I held my breath, waiting for his answer. On one hand, he could be busy and delay this whole thing, which might actually make it worse because it would prolong my anxiety, but on the other hand, he could tell me to come over right now to crush his soul. All right, that was extreme. I doubted he cared that much.

“Actually, I have practice. Did you need anything?”

Yes? No? How am I supposed to respond? “Um… kind of?”