“I met this girl last night.”

I roll my eyes.

He thumps my arm.

“What?” I laugh, putting my hands up. “You met a girl every night this week.”

He grunts. “This one is different.”

I raise my brows and cross my arms. “Uh huh. You said that about the last one.”

He thumps me again.

I giggle.

He grins.

“Seriously,” he continues. “She didn’t take any of my shit.”

I feign a gasp. “No way. She didn’t take your shit? What’s wrong with her?”

He flips me the bird. “I know. There must be something wrong with her though, right?”

I nod enthusiastically. “Yeah, she probably has balls.”

We both burst out laughing.

“Probably. No other girls would ever give it to me the way she did when I tried to hit on her.”

Good for her. I love girls like that. The ones that take no shit from people. Jack needs that kind of girl, because he never has to work for what he wants. It would do him good to have to put in a little bit of effort. Nothing like a good challenge to get the heart racing.

“And you’re curious now, aren’t you?” I say, raising my brows.

He nods. “Fuckin’ curious. She rejected me. I don’t get rejected.”

“It’s always the ones that play hard to get.” I wink. “You’re in for a win. Keep chasing.”

“I don’t chase,” he mutters.

I slide off the bar and grin up at him. “’Bout time you learned.”

He grins.

God.

What would I do without them?

~*~*~*~

I’m walking back to my car when my phone beeps with a message. I dig it out of my purse and glance down at the screen, wondering if it’s finally Michael messaging me. My heart sinks a little when I see it isn’t, but instantly lightens when I read the message on the screen from Roman.

R – What’s doing, my child?

I laugh at his words and respond.

M – Not much. Just brushing up on all my stalking skills. What about you?

R – Haha! Just gathered all my ex’s stuff and posted it back to her.

My heart breaks for him, and I wonder what happened between the two of them. I wonder if she ended it, or he ended it? By the pained look in his eyes, I’m guessing it was her, because usually the person struggling that much is the one who has been left behind. I should know.

M – Oh I’m sorry. That would have sucked.

R – Yeah. Cost me fifty bucks to send it back, too. I threw a heap of it away, it was therapeutic. I think.

M – Yuck! That’s the worst but I agree, therapeutic for sure!

R – Yep. How are you?

M – I’m okay. Getting there.

R – Tell Bestie all about it.

I giggle and climb into my car. How is is possible that someone can be a stranger one day and your best friend the very next? He could be a serial killer, for all I know. This could be his game. I snort to myself. No. There is something about him, something so incredibly real and true. I trust my gut instincts with everyone I meet, and my gut tells me that Roman is a good person.

M – I’ll give you a call when I get home?

R – Our friendship is going to the next level – phone calls. I’m a bit excited.

I snort and shake my head, starting my car and heading down the road to my house. Once I’ve gotten inside, I get myself a beer and go and sit on my little patio. I stare down at my phone and my fingers tremble. Can I do this? Can I ring a stranger, someone who I don’t even know, and talk to him about my life?

My phone rings before I can press the call button, and it’s a private number. I instantly reject it and go back to contemplating my phone call to Roman when a message comes through.

R – I just tried to ring you.

Oh! Oh, no. I rejected him.

M – Ha ha. I didn’t know that was you. I figured it could have been a serial killer, didn’t want to take the risk.

R – Ha! Call me.

My fingers shake again as I pick up the phone and dial his number before I can think too much about it. He answers on the second ring.

“Hey, Bestie.”

A smile breaks out, and I can feel my grin, big and wide. I probably look stupid, but I can’t help it. It’s an automatic reaction when I talk to him. He has that kind of personality. It’s addictive.

“Hey yourself,” I say nervously. “How are you?”

“Good. You?”

“Yeah, good. This is weird, right?”

He laughs, and it’s a sexy sound. Smooth. Deep. Masculine. I flop down onto my couch and try to relax. Don’t be a weirdo, Molly. Just chill!

“What? You stalking me until I became your best friend?”

I can just picture him sitting there grinning over that statement.

I laugh. “Oh, my god. I did not stalk you.”

“I saw you outside my window earlier. Let’s not get too excited about this friendship. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s nice but I don’t need a crazy person chasing me down the street when I’m doing my shopping. You feel me?”

My laughter gets louder and I shake my head. “You’re crazy.”

He chuckles, sexy and low. “Yeah. I tried to warn you. It’s too late, you’re stuck with me now.”

“God help me,” I mumble.

He snorts. “So, tell me about this man that broke your heart.”

“Ugh,” I say, huffing. “Total dickface.”

He bursts into deep laughter. “Dickface. That’s fucking hilarious.”

“Yep. When you’ve outdone yourself as a dick, you get upgraded to a dickface.”

“Nice.” He laughs. “Tell me about dickface then.”

I sigh. “A total jerk. We were really good friends, I fell in love with him, he broke my heart, you know the story. He hasn’t spoken to me much since, I think that’s the worst part, you know?”

“Yeah,” he mumbles. “It’s fucked.”

I sigh. “Yeah. He just decided it was over and that was that. It’s probably good, no contact, but it still hurts, you know?”

“I hear you.”

“What about you?” I ask, rolling to my side and putting my phone on speaker so I can lay it on the couch beside me. “What happened with your ex?”