AllFreeNovel
Share Us
C.Grizwold: That’s lit. Isn’t that what all the kids are saying these days?
Now I’m literally laughing out loud. Tears are streaming down my cheeks, streaking my makeup as I drag my shirtsleeve across my face. It feels amazing to laugh like this, deep and hearty, taking in long breaths and not bothering to try to control it.
Me: You have me absolutely dying with laughter. How old are you?
C.Grizwold: 34 How old are you?
Me: 23
There’s a sudden long lag between him messaging me back and I really hope he isn’t one of those guys who has now decided I’m too young and probably too immature, or even worse, I don’t want him thinking I’m looking for some sugar daddy. Now don’t get me wrong, it would be a pretty sweet gig to have some rich guy paying for everything, but I don’t like enough people to tolerate someone for their money. And I’m far too independent, which is probably the reason I jump from loser to loser. Relationships shouldn’t be work and when they are, I tend to jump ship. I choose the losers because I know it won’t work and they’re easier to get rid of.
Me: Don’t tell me you’re hung up on the age thing.
C.Grizwold: I’d be lying if I said it didn’t catch me off guard.
Me: I’m not going to tell you I’m super mature or try to convince you to stick around. I’m immature as hell. I love to laugh and have a good time. I drink too much on occasion and I have a job that most people would say is temporary, but I don’t give a fuck. If you can’t handle that, then that’s okay. I’m not for everyone. Sometimes I’m not even my own flavor.
C.Grizwold: I thought we were playing truth or dare and you went off the rails.
Me: We are, but I thought you were being weird.
C.Grizwold: Ask me the question, then. And I’m not being weird. You’re being weird. ;)
Me: Truth or dare?
C.Grizwold: Dare
I’m smirking far too wide for my own good. We’ve spent the better part of the evening not taking the risk, skimming the surface and keeping things simple with all these truth questions. Now here it is, the first one, and what I have running through my head can go one of two ways. Here goes nothing.
Me: Ask me out on a real date. One where we actually meet in person.
There is no delay in him responding. The bubbles pop up immediately and his response is exactly what I hoped for. If the age thing didn’t scare him off, then this is really happening.
C.Grizwold: Wine Queen, would you like to have dinner with me?
Me: Yes
We finish out the conversation with the details and my heart slamming around in my chest. His first suggestion was to meet at Nona’s Italian Palace and I nearly spit the wine I was drinking out like a TV sitcom character. Without giving away too much information, because let’s be real, I don’t want him knowing where I live just yet. That whole Catfish thing is running through my head still.
“I tried to tell her he wasn’t thirty-four, but probably more like eighty-four,” Lauren would be saying into the camera with her signature eye roll.
“How’d you miss all the signs?” Nev would mock, sick of the stupidity of people.
There aren’t any signs, because trust me I’ve looked, long and hard. I get that it’s the Internet and people can be sketchy as fuck, so I’m keeping a few things to myself still, where I live being one of them.
Also, if the date goes awry, I’ll be sneaking out the bathroom window like any self-respecting woman and telling the guy I live above Nona’s would be a huge mistake. Although it would be nice to be that close to home. Damn it! I should’ve told him we could meet at Nona’s and then I wouldn’t be hoofing it home in heels if I have to run.
We ended up settling on a steakhouse with a beautiful outdoor patio after talking about how much we both love the outdoors and would prefer it over sitting inside a stuffy, loud restaurant.
I climb into bed with my phone already opened to the calendar app and I add the date and time.
Two days from now.
The next day I head into work, counting down the days with a nervous excitement. It’s all finally going to happen and it was all started based on a comment from Jack, a silly, almost joke of a comment.
I’m checking on the bees when Tommy walks up, stopping a few feet short almost like he’s surprised to see me here. I never responded to his text and now I feel a little bad about it, but it still didn’t really explain why his behavior was so different the next day.
He admitted to not regretting sleeping with me, but he never went beyond that and that’s all I need to know that he’s not interested in anything more. And that’s totally fine, because I’m labeling myself as off the market until my date with C. Grizwold.
