Free Sweet Sunshine by Jessica Prince Page B

“What—” I wheezed. “What just—” I sucked in a breath, getting nowhere near enough oxygen in my collapsed lungs, “happened?”
    “You just got your ass handed to you by a girl!” Noah hooted before collapsing in a fit of uncontrollable laughter. “Oh God! You should have…” he stopped to wipe a tear from his eye, “…you should have seen your face! Classic! That was classic! Chloe, do it again so I can record it this time.”
    As I lay on the kitchen floor, dying, I cursed Noah Murphy. I had no friends.

 
    Chloe
     
    “ THIS IS A bad idea. This is a stupid, stupid, stupid idea,” I said to my reflection in the mirror as I swiped my hands over my stomach, brushing out any wrinkles in my dress while trying to soothe my frayed nerves at the same time.
    “It’s not a stupid idea!” Harlow called from my bedroom where she was sprawled out on the bed, scrolling through Pinterest on her phone. “It’s a brilliant idea. Time to get on one horse to get your mind off another.”
    “That’s not even a saying!” I argued back, walking out of the bathroom to find her laying on her back, her legs stretched out. “And get your nasty feet off my pillows!”
    “They aren’t nasty! See?” she shoved her foot in my face when I got close enough to yank my pillows out from under her bare feet.
    “Gross! Stop,” I laughed, batting her foot away. “God, Harlow,” I harrumphed, collapsing onto the bed next to her. “What the hell am I doing? I don’t even know this guy? We’ve only been talking on-line for a couple of days, he could be a total creeper.”
    “Or,” she paused long enough to roll to her side and prop her head in her hand. “He could be totally great. You’ll never know unless you try. Besides, it’s just dinner. And you said you thought he sounded nice when you guys talked. You’ll be in a public place so you won’t have to worry about him knocking you out to harvest your kidney, and you get a free meal out of it. That’s a win-win in my book.”
    I let out a sigh as I stared up at my ceiling. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I mean, we agreed to meet at the restaurant so it’s not like I’m stranded if he turns out of be a psychopath or something.”
    “Exactly! And hopefully he’s taking you somewhere fancy.”
    I stood from the bed and grabbed my phone from the nightstand. “I don’t know, I’ve never heard of it.” I scrolled through the text messages between me and Austin, the man I met on one of the gazillion dating websites Harlow set me up on. “It’s some place called The Peak?”
    Harlow shrugged and shook her head. “Never heard of it.”
    “I hope it’s good. I haven’t eaten all day. I’m starving.”
    “Why haven’t you eaten?” Harlow asked in a stern, motherly voice.
    “Because I’ve been nervous!” I threw my hands up at my sides. “I can’t remember the last time I went on a date. I’ve been crushing on Derrick for what feels like forever. I haven’t even thought about dating.”
    Harlow grunted with exertion as she scooted across the mattress and tried to get her big, pregnant self out of the bed. “Listen,” she spoke once on her feet, placing her hands on my shoulders, “if worst comes to worst and the food sucks, you can stop at a drive-thru on the way home. And if you’re feeling generous, pick up a couple extra cheeseburgers for me while you’re at it.” I remained silent, waiting for her to say more. She didn’t.
    “That’s it? That’s your pep-talk?”
    Her forehead wrinkled in confusion. “Who said anything about a pep-talk? I just want cheeseburgers.”
    “You made it seem like you were going for a big, motivational speech! You got off the bed and held my shoulders and everything. What the hell? I’m freaking out here and all you can think about is cheeseburgers?”
    “Stop. Freaking. Out.” She punctuated each word with a shake, making my teeth clack together painfully. “Your hair looks fabulous, your makeup is