True Bliss (Bliss #2)(18)
Author: B.J. Harvey

Mac: Superheroine!!!! Get it right. I’m thinking pizza from that parlor around the corner, our normal place.

Kate: Awesome. Looking forward to it.

“Girls’ night with Mac?” Nathan asks around a mouthful of his sandwich.

“Yep. Usually she’s at Daniel’s place, or they’re at ours. We haven’t had a girls’ night in a long time.”

“Are handsome g*y men with a love of rom coms and chocolate allowed at girls’ nights?”

“Maybe, depends what the handsome g*y man is willing to bring to the table,” I say with a cheeky grin.

“Normally it would be two out of the three important c’s, cronuts and chardonnay, but lucky for you, it promises to be a very lucky night for me. I have a date with a six-foot tall, hard as rock body, Puerto Rican man who has expressed an interest in all things Nate. So it looks as if I might get a C of my own tonight.”

I clap my hands in glee like a barking seal at Sea World. “Nate, that’s great. That’s definitely a better offer than drinking with me while I gossip with my pregnant bestie.”

Nate is a man whore who seeks out fellow man whores. We bonded instantly over a love of hair and cronuts. Cronuts are the genius combination of a donut and a croissant, filled with vanilla cream. Seriously, he introduced me to the glorious pastry and my ass has been cursing him ever since. Of course, Nate says my ass has never looked so good, so I keep him around as my personal ass motivation coach. Every girl needs one of those.

“Yes, well one can only live in hope that the promise of him is just as good as the reality. You’d know all about that, wouldn’t you?”

“Unfortunately yes, but in my experience, the promises are always full of crap,” I say despondently.

Nate leans over and wraps his arm around my shoulder, pulling me into his side. “He’s out there, Kate. Your paths just haven’t crossed at the right time. Just you wait, I bet he’ll sweep you off your feet, and you won’t even realize it’s happening until you’re head over heels.”

I sigh loudly. “If only.”

Zander

It’s been three days of radio silence. Well, internet silence. Three days. She hasn’t logged in or replied to my messages or anything.

Shit, when did I turn into a pu**y? It’s only been three days.

The thing is, when she logged off suddenly on Saturday night, our conversation was just starting to get interesting. I was already worried after I had to reject her when she suggested we meet up, but it’s too soon. I need to build our connection a bit more, get to know each other more before we meet up and she realizes that it’s me.

By Tuesday morning, I’ve had enough. So I decide to take action, even if it means outing myself as Kate’s new internet admirer.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Mac, it’s Zander.”

“Ah yep, kinda got that from my caller ID,” she replies with a giggle.

“Yeah, good point. So um, I wanted to ask you something.”

“Dude, you know I’m pregnant with a super baby right?”

I chuckle. I’ve definitely missed Mac’s sass. “Yes, I’m very aware of that. No way I’m going up against a superhero. I’m actually calling about Kate.”

The line goes deathly quiet. If I thought I had radio silence before, that was nothing compared to the sudden hush in my ear.

“Okay, Zan, you’ve got about two minutes to tell me everything before I decide whether to kick your ass or not. Was it you that she went out with on Saturday?”

“What? No!” Then it hit me that Kate had mentioned that she’d had a horrific night. “Wait, what happened Saturday night?”

“I don’t know, that’s the point. She had a date with someone called Spencer. It was a last minute thing, and she kind of jumped into it head first without doing the normal chatting and finding out about him. It was as if she were feeling bad, so she took the first date offered. He asked her out after a few messages, and she agreed straight away, but then came home Saturday night, got drunk, and acted like everything was fine on Sunday when we met Dan’s parents.”

“Wait up. You met Daniel’s parents? Wow, Mac, that’s awesome! How did it go? “

“Well there were no major freak-outs if that’s what you’re asking. It was great, his parents are lovely.”

“So next comes marriage…”

“What? Hell no! Take it back!” I can’t hold back my laughter now. It’s good to see that Mac hasn’t totally changed. Then she corners me. “But hang on. Why are you suddenly so worried about Kate?”

I stutter for a bit before answering. “Ah, yeah, well, we’ve kind of been talking on Chicago Singles-“

“Oh my god! That’s why you asked me about her internet dating? That’s so cool! So why have you only been chatting? It’s not as if you’re strangers. You guys could be dating already, and then we could go on double dates. Holy shit, this is awesome.”

Like I expected, Mac is blowing this way out of proportion.

“Mac, babe, she doesn’t know it’s me.”

“What do you mean she doesn’t know it’s you?”

“She knows me as nightdancer23”

She suddenly starts laughing-insane, crazy woman laughing. “Oh. My. God. You call yourself nightdancer23?”

“Yes. What the hell, Mac?” I’m getting a little annoyed now. The internet dating part of the story is not important right now.

“How has she not figured it out? It’s so obvious! Night dancer, stripper?”

“I don’t know. But that’s not the point, Mac,” I reply tersely.

“No, not really,” she says with a sigh. “So why haven’t you told her?”

“I’ve been wanting to tell her, but I wanted to get to know her first, give her a chance to get to know me without the baggage that is you and me,” I explain.

“Zan, I get it, I really do. And because it’s Kate, it is actually a good play. But dude, she’s my best friend. You’ve got to come clean with her, or else it’s going to backfire on you and it won’t be pretty. She’s big on honesty and trust. Like HUGE. They’re deal breakers for her.”

Fuck, I feel like an idiot now. Maybe I’ve screwed this whole thing up before getting a chance to be with Kate; without showing her the kind of man she deserves to be with.

“So am I, Mac. I just didn’t think she’d give me a chance if she knew who I was.”

“You should also know that she wants her happily ever after. If you’re looking for a quick lay, then you’re going after the wrong girl.”

“I’m not looking for a quick lay,” I growl down the phone. “And I wouldn’t use Kate for that. She’s worth way more than a one night stand.”

“Eeeek. You like her!” she states, rather emphatically down the phone.