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“And then around the fifth or sixth date, they ghost you? Why do you think that is?”
I should have guessed Len knew as much about my dating life as Millie did, which, through the filter of Thea, was a lot.
“Because I come on too strong.”
“Because you want to be three years into a relationship with them. You don’t want to fall in love, you want to be in love.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Honestly, man, it’s intense.”
“Is that what your podcast said?”
He grinned. “And maybe Millie mentioned it.”
“Millie thinks I’m intense?”
He shook his head. He didn’t need to say a name. I could fill that part in. Thea. She’d said as much to me before too, but she’d been kinder. Len wasn’t nearly as good at buffering the criticism.
He shrugged. “You do your thing, but Thea has a right to be wary.”
“I’m her best friend,” I argued.
“And you won’t stop yourself from turning her into your girlfriend of twenty-seven years if given the chance.”
I flinched at his brusque assessment.
“Sorry,” he said, raising a hand. “What I meant to say is, given the chance, I think Thea will hook up with someone new just to keep your relationship from changing. So you need to go on this speed dating thing, be super charming, and keep her away from anyone interesting.”
I sat back in my seat, appetite gone, though Len seemed to have no problem making a dent in the giant dish of dip. “I had no idea you were such a relationship expert. Although, I can’t really tell if you’re rooting for Thea and I or not.”
He shook his head. “I’m rooting for you, man. Thea, well, if that’s who you choose, I’m going to help. Although, if you end up dating her, we probably need to tell her about our game nights.”
“You think Millie hasn’t told her?”
“I swore Millie to secrecy, and she’s learned a thing or two about staying quiet since we’ve been dating.” Len pushed aside the chips. “Okay, I’m done caring about your personal life. Let’s exterminate these rats so you can meet a vet in the morning.”
CHAPTER17
Thea
I checkedmy watch and sighed. Five P.M. and, for possibly the first time in my life, I was ready early and Ben was nowhere to be found.
My phone buzzed in my purse. I pulled it out.
BEN
I’m running fifteen minutes late. Sorry. Be there ASAP.
Perfect. I kicked off my red heels and hung my coat on the hall tree.I reapplied my lipstick, cursing my very annoying habit of nervously biting my lips. And I was definitely nervous.
Not about speed dating. At least, I didn’t think I was nervous about speed dating. Sure, I’d never done it before, but considering the event was in Pierce, I probably knew most of the attendees. The event would probably be a rehash of my failed dating history.
No, for the first time in forever, my nervousness was entirely because of Ben.
We hadn’t seen each other since lunch earlier that week. A lifetime for us to go without seeing each other, but Ben had some super secret meeting every Thursday night and I’d been at a concert on Friday.
I’d floated the idea of him coming over earlier in the day, but he said he had plans. Any other time, I would have grilled him about his plans, asked him every question under the sun. But despite his reassurances that nothing would change between us, I felt a rift I had never felt before.
