Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 147545 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 590(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147545 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 590(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
I crack a smile, letting him hold my hand. “I don’t like fake nails, anyway. Mine are pretty fucked, though, now that you mention it,” I say, glancing at their uneven lengths. “I could probably use a manicure.”
“I’ll book it. My mom has regular appointments. You can go to her salon.”
“This isn’t a setup, is it?” I ask, narrowing my eyes.
“No. She won’t be there. I just thought it would be something nice for you and your friend. My treat.”
“That’s so generous of you.” I lean over and give him a quick kiss. Not too long because I don’t have a toothbrush here and I’m sure I have morning breath. “Thank you for thinking of it.”
“Of course.” He eases back, then reaches into his nightstand. At present, I think of it as the condom keeper, so I’m a little surprised when he brings out a stack of cash and starts pulling off bills. “You think four hundred’s enough?”
My eyes widen. “Four hundred dollars? For lunch and nail polish? Yeah, I think that’s enough.”
He puts the cash on the bed beside us. “If it’s not, shoot me a text. I’ll call and take care of it. I’d give you my credit card to make it all simpler, but people don’t know we’re together yet, and I don’t want anyone hassling you about using a card with my name on it.”
I nod, glancing at the cash. “That makes sense.” I look over at him. “What do you have going on today?”
“Family stuff,” he says vaguely, so I know it’s probably about Tim and don’t push any further.
___
“What color should I get?”
“Hmm.” Standing beside Shaley, I look at all the different shades of nail polish lined up on the clear acrylic shelves. “I don’t know. Too many options.” I don’t even want to decide myself, and I kind of want to include Tor since he’s the one paying for it, so I pull out my phone and take a quick picture.
“Getting a second opinion?” she asks.
I nod, attaching the picture and texting Tor, “What color should I get?”
“My boyfriend wouldn’t care at all. I doubt he’ll even notice I got my nails done,” she says, grabbing a lilac bottle off the shelf and looking at her nails against it. “Think this one would be pretty?”
“That one’s really pretty,” I say, nodding. “But your boyfriend sounds lame.”
Shaley cracks a smile. “To be fair, yesterday I thought Tor Walters was lame, and now he’s paying to have my nails done, so…”
I don’t tell her we were very close to being on the same page about him yesterday, as that would be really hard to explain, given he’s my boyfriend today. Then again, with the remarks she’s made about her own boyfriend, maybe she would understand.
“His brother was the asshole. Tor just… he’s a family loyalty guy, you know? He didn’t make waves because he didn’t have a dog in the race, but now he does, so he’s moved to the right side of things. It’s not great, but… better late than never.”
“That must be so weird. They look so much alike.”
I shrug. “I don’t think so. I mean, they do, technically… have the same face. But fortunately, it’s a good face, so…”
Shaley laughs, surprised. “I guess that’s true.”
My phone vibrates, so I swipe it open to read Tor’s message. He sent back the same picture, but cropped to just a pinkish nude bottle of nail polish. “This one.”
I smile at my phone. “Got it. Thank you.” I add a blushy smiling emoji because why not?
“Well, weird or not, I’m glad you’re happy. You seem lighter today.”
“I feel lighter today,” I tell her. “We had a very… productive night.”
Her blue eyes twinkle with amusement. “Oh, did you?”
“We did have sex, but that’s not what I meant,” I say, realizing how it sounded. “I mean, maybe that’s part of it, but we also talked about stuff that we’ve avoided before for obvious reasons, and it just feels good to finally have it all out there, you know?”
She shrugs a bit apologetically. “It sounds nice. I can’t really relate. We don’t have any major relationship drama, and even if we did…”
“Let me guess. The boyfriend’s not much of a communicator, either?”
“If talking into his video game headset instead of to me when I’m over at his place counts, he’s an excellent communicator.”
I shake my head. “We’ve gotta get you a new boyfriend.”
She smiles. “We should probably pick a nail polish first.”
“I think that’s the one,” I say, nodding toward the purple she liked.
“Should I do my toes, too?”
I nod. “Yeah, he booked us mani-pedis. The waterless ones, though. I’m not dipping my feet into a communal tub of foot fungus.”
Shaley grimaces. “Ew. Yeah, no, I’m good with skipping that, too.”
___
Even with a nice tip, our manicures and pedicures only cost half of my money, and I know lunch won’t cost $200, so we decide to stop and do a little shopping on the way to the restaurant.