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“Well—Josh and everyone else.” I leaned forward and put my feet on the floor. “And I actually wanted to meet someone. I want to date.” I glanced up at her. “It’s not like I’m using him.”
“Of course not,” she quickly agreed.
“I want a relationship.” I thought back to all the relationships I’d had since that life-altering kiss with Josh five years ago. It was a short list. Only three. Not one of them lasting more than six months. “I want to love and be loved. This could be it. Do you want to know the first thing I thought when I saw this guy?”
“What?”
“I thought, ‘soulmate.’ Seriously. The word popped into my head, and it just…it just felt exactly right.”
“Wow.” Isla’s voice was a reverent hush. “You don’t even believe in soulmates.”
I took a deep breath, and my belly tickled with excitement just thinking about Tanner and the sheer possibility. “I know. I didn’t think I did. But I guess I do.”
She shook her head in awe. “And all based on staring at his completely frozen body and a two-minute conversation.”
“And a wink!” My voice rose in key, but I knew my protest was weak.
“And a wink,” she amended generously. “This guy has got to be seriously hot.”
“Oh,yeahhh.” I drew the word out, enjoying it. “Inarguably.”
She chuckled. “What’s his name?”
“Tanner.”
“Tanner what? I want to google him.”
“Oh. I don’t know.” I bit my nail, suddenly insecure. I didn’t even know his last name.WasI trying to use this guy?
“Well, that’s okay. You’ll find out,” she said.
“I’ll have to. I can’t very well call him Mr. Tanner You-Hot-Thing.”
“Maybe you can. I like the sound of it.”
I laughed. “Me too.”
She smiled and swatted my leg. “Well, I’ll have to meet him sometime. Hopefully before Lindsay’s wedding. Though I hope going to lunch with him tomorrow doesn’t make you hate him.”
“What do you mean?”
She chuckled softly and looked at me with a superior expression like she knew me better than I knew me. “Oh, you know. It’s easy to fall in love with someone’s physical appearance. But to keep up a conversation over a meal takes actually enjoying their company.” She shot me a look. “You don’t like people who can’t keep up their end of the conversation, my friend, and you can never hide what you’re feeling. If this guy catches on to how bored you are with him, he’s going to be out of there before you can even tell him you have a sister.”
“Why do you assume I’ll be bored?”
She clasped her hands together with Zen-like composure. “Male models aren’t hired for their brains, and brains are very important to you.”
I leaned my head back against the chair. “You’re making me sound like a zombie.”
“No. Just a nerd.”
I started to protest, but at my impending spark of outrage, she said, “A very lovable nerd, of course. You know it’s one of my favorite things about you.”
I tilted my chin up and stared at the Frida Kahlo poster over her bed. “Maybe he’s really smart. Maybe he’ll surprise me.”
She nodded but didn’t look convinced. “I hope so.”
“Oh, I know so,” I said, with the firm belief of Tanner’s “soulmate” status sitting solid in my core. “He’s going to surprise us all.”
