Free Someday Maybe by Ophelia London

okay. Yeah, see you later.”
    After she hung up, I flopped down on her bed. “That was Mr. Totally Awesome, I presume?”
    “Yep. Can’t believe he called about my sweater. That almost never works.” She chewed her thumbnail, a wistful smile on her mouth.
    I perched my head on an elbow. “Meghan, you should be more careful. What if by some unforeseen and tragic occurrence, I couldn’t find you when he called and we talked for hours and fell in love like Sleepless in Seattle ?”
    “You’re thinking of the wrong movie.”
    I bit my lip. “ Pretty Woman ?”
    “Errr…no.” She grimaced then laughed. “I would kill you, by the way. Rad is mine. Good thing he isn’t your type or I wouldn’t let you or your perfect little face near him.”
    “Perfect face,” I repeated with a snort.
    “You act all supportive, Rach, but you might be a man-stealer in disguise. If you pilfer Rad…” She pointed her index finger at me then ran it across her throat.
    “Oy. Duly noted.” I slid to the floor with a magazine. “So, why isn’t this guy my type?”
    “He just isn’t. I don’t know, maybe you don’t have a type.” She frowned, looking thoughtful. “Or maybe you do but I forget because I haven’t seen you on an actual date in a hundred years.”
    “We double-dated all the time in high school,” I said, not quite meeting her eyes.
    “That doesn’t count. You hardly dated in college. All you did was study and work on that damn ten-year plan. Unless…” She cackled and twirled some hair around a finger. “Unless you had a secret boy toy you met every night behind the stacks—like freshman year.”
    While she went on chortling, I fixed my expression into a breezy smile. Shit.
    “What were you laughing at?” Giovanna asked, poking her head into the room.
    “Remember how Rach was always hiding out freshman year?” Meghan said, jerking her thumb in my direction. “She had an undercover lover.”
    “When did I admit to that?”
    “Scandalous.” Gio sat on the bed and bounced. “‘Cause we never actually saw her date, right?”
    I stood and walked to Meghan’s bookshelf, annoyed at the direction the conversation had turned. Not my favorite subject. Plus, I might start blushing and be forced to tell them both everything about Oliver right here and now.
    “Whatever happened to that Jason guy in Dallas?” Meghan asked me. “I thought things were going well with him last year.”
    “He just wasn’t”—I paused to shrug—“the guy.”
    Meghan shook her head. “You’re too hard on men. You need to rein in your intimidating chi.”
    “Sure, Megs.” I snorted. “I’m as intimidating as a lost puppy in the rain.”
    “Nice try, babe.” She circled me slowly, tapping her chin. “You’re tall, you walk fast, and you always act like your mind is made up. Like no one can persuade you into anything, or out of it.”
    “Is that why Roger can still talk me into doing his laundry and how Krikit manages to make me feel guilty for not living in the house next door to her? Intimidating ,” I muttered. “Damn straight, I am.”
    “I’m telling you, if you’d be a little more forgiving of human frailties, you’ll have better luck with guys. I’ve set you up on three lunch dates since you’ve been back and you blew all three off.”
    “I did not. We went to lunch, but I didn’t connect with any of them. It just wasn’t…they weren’t…”
    “See.” Gio pointed at me. “You’re not investing. You’re not even trying.”
    Before I could open my mouth to argue, I bit my tongue. Maybe they were right. Maybe I wasn’t doing everything I could to invest in someone new. The thing was, I didn’t think I wanted to. My heart was still broken from a million years ago.
    Meghan leaned a hip against her dresser. “You’re a tricky one, Rachel. I can’t imagine you with any kind of guy in the long run.”
    “Great.” I moaned, toying with a piece of pizza crust. “I hope you’re not using