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“A married one,” she says.
“Friends?”
“Married ones.”
“Are there no single men left?” I ask dramatically.I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille.
“You’re on a show full of them,” she says. “You just need towrap your head around what you’re doing and give the process a shot.”
I exhale my pent-up breath. “Yeah.” Then remembering I forgot to tell her the worst part, I announce, “Tim and Cami were with us.”
“What? Why?”
“The show messed up and double-booked us, so they put us on a double date.”
“How did tonight go for Tim?”
“He and Cami will probably be planning their wedding by the end of filming.”
“Really?” It’s nice to know someone else is as surprised by Tim’s attitude change regarding dating as I am.
I say, “I know you thought he wasn’t ready to date—heck, I thought that, too, especially when he copped to only going on the show to make Eva jealous. But he suddenly seems all-in with Cami.”
Missy says, “Good for him. You should take a page out of his book.”
I don’t want to take a page out of his book as much as I’d like to pick up his book and hit him over the head with it. If I had known he was serious about something more than revenge, I would have made a play for him myself.
“Paige, are you still there?”
“Yep. Still here, just thinking.”
Before either of us can say anything else, another call comes in. Looking at the screen, I tell Missy, “It’s Tim.”
“Go talk to him and call me back. I want the tea on what’s going on with him and Cami.”
“If you don’t hear from me tonight, I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” I tell her.
Then, instead of taking Tim’s call, I turn my phone off and drive home. I don’t want to know how well things are going for him. I don’t want to talk about Fielden. All I want to do right nowis crawl into bed and sleep for a week.Where’s an anesthesiologist when you need one?
By the time I walk into my house, I’m dragging like it’s three o’clock in the morning, but it’s only eight p.m. I climb the stairs with such effort you’d think I was ascending Mount Everest carrying a mule instead of the mule carrying me. As soon as I get to my room, I take off my dress and crawl into bed.
Being a grown-up is hard. And while parents always warn their kids about trying to grow up too quickly, it’s too bad none of them listen. The first big milestone is thirteen—yay, you’re a teenager! Then sixteen when you learn to drive. Eighteen makes you an adult—and in my case it means you finally get to take your back brace off. Then twenty-one rolls around and you’re finally allowed to drink alcohol. After twenty-one it’s all about graduating from college and getting your first real job—no more “fry captain” for you.
In your twenties you traverse the crazy world of adult dating. The expectation is that it will lead to love, marriage, and a family of your own. But the hard truth is that the longer it takes you to find your person, the more likely it is you never will. Enter thirty-two and still single …
Being single didn’t feel so horrible before Missy and Jamie got together. Missy and I had each other to eat out with, watch movies with, complain about how pathetic our love lives were, and dream about the futures we hoped to have someday.
Burrowing under the covers, I realize that single life has not been one wild, carefree adventure like those old episodes ofSex and the Cityled me to believe it would be.But I’m no glamorous city lady who lets anyone and everyone into her bed. I’m a small-town math teacher. I love pizza with extra cheese, not sushi. I’d rather go to bed early than stay out clubbing all night. I like wearing comfortable clothes and have thrown out every pair of Spanx I was stupid enough to buy.
Fluffing my pillow under my head, I release a ragged breath. Ican only imagine the kind of guys who would respond if that were my online dating profile.
I console myself that I only have three weeks before filming ends. Surely, I can get through six more mixers and three more individual dates. Heck, I don’t even have to go on solo dates if I don’t want to.
Feeling slightly better, I roll over and go to sleep. If I keep my head down and don’t cause any trouble, maybe nothing bad will happen.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
TIM
