“There’s no way he knows,” said Chastity.
“Then what does he want to talk about?”
“He said you guysneed to talk.” She just stared at me.
I felt denser than Tanner as I stared back.
“Ash…the talk. He’s definitely gonna dump you. Which is perfect, because you were going to screw the whole thing up by telling him about blowing Tanner. This’ll save you the trouble.”
I thought about it for a second. She was absolutely right. I wasn’t sure if I was sad or relieved. He was a great guy. But even a great guy wouldn’t want to hear my confession of what I did last night. It would be better if he just broke things off without ever knowing that I‘d cheated on him.
I texted him back and asked to meet at my favorite café right after work. The rest of the day I was super unproductive because I was nervous about Tanner and now nervous about my dinner date too. Well, not date. Breakup meeting.
But eventually I was sitting across from Dr. Lyons wolfing down the most delicious platter of garlicky deviled eggs. I’d been craving these things ever since I ordered that garlic feast for Tanner, but I’d been too worried about bad breath to order it. Today though, bad breath was not a concern since we’d be breaking up rather than making out.
“So what’s up?” I asked.
“Not much.” Dr. Lyons looked everywhere except for my eyes. “Can you believe how hot it is today?”
“It’s supposed to get even hotter tomorrow. But there’s a rainstorm coming that should cool things down a few degrees before the weekend. Saturday is only gonna have a high of 79.”
He gave me a funny look. “I didn’t realize you were such a weather enthusiast.”
I shrugged. “Always have been. When I was a kid I’d look at the weather on Sunday night and plan out my outfits for the whole week.” Also, that way I always had an umbrella when I needed it. Because when I got wet I looked like a drowned mole-rat. In high school, I didn’t have the same confidence I did now. So looking like a drowned mole rat back then was not acceptable. Fine, it was never acceptable. That was why I knew what the weather was for this Saturday. “Anyway, what did we need to talk about so urgently?”
He took a bite of his sandwich, clearly stalling for time.
“You’re acting weird,” I said. “Just get it over with.”Dump my cheating ass.
“Well…I…” He wiped the sweat off his brow. “Dating you is messing with my head. I’m so out of practice that I have no idea how I’m supposed to act. I never know if it’s okay to call you. Or to…”
“Well it’s never okay to call anyone unless you’re dying.”
Dr. Lyons laughed. “Thanks for clearing that up. But seriously…it’s all such a mystery to me. How often are we supposed to see each other? Greg says that I’ll look desperate if we go out more than once a week. But then Nora tells me that you’ll think I don’tcare if we don’t see each other at least twice a week. And should I even be talking to Nora?”
Who the hell is Nora?!“In general I’d say listen to the female for dating advice. Unless you want to have sex with her. In that case, don’t listen to her. Or talk to her at all.” Fucking Nora. I hated that chick. No, I didn’t know her. But I hated her with a fiery passion.
Dr. Lyons laughed again, but it was more of a nervous laugh. Even though we were about to break up, I suddenly wanted to find Nora and murder her in her sleep. I pictured her exactly like Sierra.
After a long pause, Dr. Lyons said, “I don’t know how to say this but, uh…”
Here it comes.I grabbed a few napkins and started to pack up my lunch in the to-go container I’d requested with my order. Even though I knew I was about to be dumped and that I fully deserved it, I was worried I’d still get emotional. Getting dumped sucked. And honestly sometimes my eyes liked to cry even though I specifically told them not to. Stupid eyes.
He cleared his throat. “I did something. Last night. I went out with some new friends. And there was this girl there. She was very forward. And one thing led to another…”
I stopped putting deviled eggs in my to-go container. “You kissed someone?”Asshole!
“Worse. But it didn’t mean anything.”
Worse? Than kissing?There were only a few things worse than kissing! I tried to swallow down my disdain like I’d swallowed down Tanner’s… Yeah, I was the jerk, not Dr. Lyons. But I was still mad. “Who was it? Was it that slut Nora?”
He shook his head. “Ew, no. No.”
“Then who was it?”
He mumbled something.
I held my hand to my ear. “What was that?”
