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I blushed with embarrassment. “Oops… That was you.”
“Were you expecting someone else?”
“An axe murderer,” I joked.
“What?”
“Never mind,” I said quickly. “Sorry, let me just hang up and let you in.”
I hung up and rushed to the door. Alani was standing at the threshold with a slightly amused expression on her face. “You sure you’re okay?”
“I was watching a horror movie,” I admitted. “And… I started over thinking.”
She laughed and walked in. “Why on earth would you do that to yourself?”
“I honestly don’t know,” I said, holding the door open to allow her through. “But ever since I was old enough to watch horror films, I just kept at it, despite the fact that they terrify the life out of me.”
“Urgh,” she said, shuddering. “I hate the genre.”
I laughed. “I think it’s just sentimental to me.”
“Sentimental?”
“Whenever Tristan and Jason came home for a visit, we’d inevitably end up watching a horror movie,” I explained. “It was sort of a bonding thing between them and I just sort of…became a part of it, too.”
Alani nodded knowingly. “Any excuse to be near Tristan, huh?”
“I suppose it was,” I admitted. “As thrilled as I am to see you, I can’t help but think there’s a reason for your visit.”
“There is,” she nodded. “I’ve found you your next date.”
I groaned and fell back onto my cushy off-white couch.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s not working,” I sighed. “Tristan couldn’t care less, and to be honest, sitting there night after night trying to manufacture chemistry with men I have nothing in common with… It’s starting to feel like work.”
“Hang in there.”
“To what end?” I asked. “It’s kind of pointless don’t you th
ink?”
“I don’t,” she said confidently. “I think the plan’s working beautifully.”
“Seriously?”
“Tristan is subtle about revealing how he feels, but I think he gives himself away each night he sees you with another man.”
“Oh?” I said. “What am I missing?”
“The amount of alcohol he drinks,” Alani said, as if that were concrete evidence. “And, he gets brusquer with the staff. Which is certainly out of the ordinary. Tristan has always been really great with the staff.”
“You might be misreading his mood.”
“Possibly,” she conceded. “But I don’t think so.”
“Who’s this new guy?” I asked curiously.
