Page 21 of Escape Girl
I clutched his elbow and slowed my stride even more, delaying the end of the date. “I’m interested.”
He grinned. “A few years ago, in Russia, they held a sort of speed-dating event in Gorky Park. But instead of chatting with all the contenders, everyone wiped their armpit perspiration on a cotton pad. Then, all the contenders smelled the pads and voted for the ones they liked. If you matched with someone, you got introduced.”
“Did you make that up?” I asked suspiciously. It sounded too gross to be true.
“Nope!” He waved his phone at me. “I’ll send you the link to the article. It’s fascinating.”
The tiny walk couldn’t last forever, and when we reached the front door, I bit my lip. My entire body was thrumming and ordering me to invite him in, but I would never feel comfortable kissing him the way I wanted to in my father’s house. I cringed at just the thought of my dad walking in on us.
It probably wouldn’t hurt for my brain to do some catching up to my body anyway. What the hell had just happened? I’d never felt like this in my life.
“Thank you for today,” Bobby said, pulling me to him for a hug. I turned my face to his neck to inhale, and he literally quivered in my arms. My brain might be askingwhat the hell, but at least this wasn’t one-sided. Bobby seemed just as affected as I was.
I unlocked my door, and he walked backward along the path toward his car. “I’m sad it’s the end,” I admitted.
Bobby raised one eyebrow. “Are you kidding? This is the beginning.”
*
Now
Oh my.Irefocused on the last image of the escape room. It was a view of Bobby’s green Jeep from my father’s sidewalk. My traitorous body was throbbing, just as it had the entire night after our first kiss.
Was Bobby trying to remind me of our crazy attraction? Why? That had never been the problem. In fact, when I realized I needed to leave him, our attraction was one of the main reasons I’d gone so physically far away. Or was he trying to remind me of all those first conversations? Right away we’d been real with one another. Right away we wanted to know one another, to connect.
It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter.Whatever Bobby was trying to do, it was too late. Nothing had changed. Time, in fact, does not heal all wounds.
A text box appeared on the screen:What is the phrase to escape this room?
Too many possible options for this one. Something about kissing? Or my neighbor? Or first dates? I squinted at the screen and typed inpheromones.
Immediately, the screen filled with celebration images, raining tacos and books.
Congratulations, Em! You win!
I snorted. Really, Bobby? You picked the exact same word from that day? We’d often been in sync, but I didn’t believe this for one second.
New text appeared.
In case you’re wondering, I would also have accepted the following answers:
First kiss
Florence
Inferiority complex
Science of attraction
Any phrase with the word “armpit”
I burst out laughing. The sound was raucous, loud, and completely unprecedented in my studio apartment.
Damn you, Bobby.
Chapter Six
Cal, my divorceattorney, called the next morning. I let him go to voice mail. After accepting Bobby’s invitations to the two virtual escape rooms, I felt too sheepish to talk to him. What if Cal asked if I’d had any contact with Bobby? It was true that I hadn’t seen or spoken to him, but there had been contact.
