Betsy: He wasn’t going down on me.
Stella: It’s kinda hot, in a porno type of way.
Jules: It was not hot.
Betsy: I’m so embarrassed.
Stella: Betsy, look up. The mayor just said your name.
Betsy: Oops. Thanks.
I quickly slipped my phone back into my purse and looked up at the mayor. “Sorry, can you repeat that, please?”
Beside me, Jules tried to stifle a guilty giggle. She was totally going to give away the fact that we’d all been sitting here in the meeting texting each other. I felt like a naughty school kid and only hoped that no one would ask to see our phones.
“Betsy, I said that as you’re aware, Nick Campbell has donated ten thousand dollars on your behalf so that you don’t have to have to run the kissing booth if you don’t want to.”
“Oh, but I want to.” I blushed and looked at the girls next to me. “Did you know?” I asked Jules, whose face was slightly pink as she nodded. “If Jeff can run one for the Bachelor Auction, I’m definitely running one for the Bachelorette Auction.”
“But Nick Campbell insisted on donating the money.”
“Just use that money as his bid for a date with Betsy, then,” Jules suggested. “That way he actually gets something for his donation.”
“Good idea, Julia.” The mayor nodded and scribbled something down. “Now, onto the logistics. The event will be held next weekend at the Canyon Beach Recreation Center. Malcolm has assured me that he and Julia will publish all vital information in a couple of days, and he’s coordinating with the other newspapers in the state to get the pertinent information out.” The mayor continued droning on and I pulled out my phone again.
Betsy: What the hell? Why is Nick bidding $10,000 on me? This is getting ridiculous.
Jules: Give him a chance. You know he’s always liked you.
Betsy: What are you talking about?
Jules: Nanna told me.
Abby: Ooh??
Stella: Guys, the mayor is totally staring at us right now. I feel like I’m going to laugh.
Jules: Don’t laugh. Just lean back and casually nod as if in agreement with what he’s saying.
Betsy: What did Nanna tell you?
Jules: Well, first it was Old Man Campbell who was telling Nanna, and I just happened to be there.
Betsy: Oh?
Jules: Yeah. Remember I told you Old Man Campbell mentioned that Nick was asking about your situation?
Betsy: Uh-huh.
Jules: Well, it turns out Nick had a crush on you back in the day, and he was going to ask you out.
Betsy: No way.
Stella: OMG! Wow.
Abby: True Love!! <3
Jules: Yup, but he was warned to back off.
Stella: Oh, shit!
Abby: Wow, Nolan is crazy.
Jules: He was told that if he even looked at you, he would lose his ball sack.
Betsy: What?? I don’t believe you.
Stella: Damn, go Nolan! He’s a bit overprotective, though!
Jules: It wasn’t Nolan who threatened him.
Betsy: Who was it then? Not Nanna?
Stella: Oh, shit!
Abby: OMG! Tell us who.
Jules: It was that dickwad, Jeff.
Stella: OMG! OMG!
Abby: What the fuck?
Betsy: You’re lying.
Jules: Nope. It was Jeff. Turns out that he warned off more than one guy.
Betsy: What? How do you know?
Jules: I asked Nolan. Don’t worry, I didn’t say anything about you and Jeff. He thought it was funny. He was like, bet she never knew she had two protective older brothers, and he started going on about how much Jeff looked at you like a sister. I wanted to say I don’t know many brothers that fuck their sisters, but obviously I kept my mouth shut.
Stella: Whoa.
Betsy: But why did he do that? Ugh. He’s so infuriating.
Abby: Honestly, I don’t get him or any men.
Jules: Nolan thinks that he never has long relationships because he’s scared about commitment because his mom is a manic depressive or something.
Betsy: You never told me that.
Jules: He only told me a couple of days ago. I forgot because I’ve been too busy hating Jeff to care about his home life.
Betsy: He did mention something about his mom and dad to me, but I never really thought it was anything real. More like an excuse to not want to be in a relationship.
Jules: Hmm, who knows?
Abby: I vote for Nick. Give him a shot.
Stella: Ugh, this is hard. I love me some Jeff, but I’m thinking Nick as well.
Betsy: I love Jeff, though.
Jules: Oh man! I was so worried this would happen.
Betsy: I know you hate him, but the heart wants what the heart wants, and just because you haven’t seen all his good sides doesn’t mean he doesn’t have them.
Jules: If you say so.
Betsy: But maybe I should go on a date with Nick to try to get over Jeff.
Stella: I support this plan.
Abby: Me too. You got to get under a new man to forget the old one.
Betsy: Abby!
Abby: What? It’s true. I bet Nick will end up being better in bed than Jeff ever was.
Betsy: I can’t lie, Jeff will be hard to beat. He was huge.
Jules: TMI. BTW guys, the meeting just ended and almost everyone has left the room already.
I looked up from my phone and the girls I and laughed guiltily as we stood up and put our phones away.
“Wanna go for a drink?” Stella asked, but Jules and I shook our heads.
“I have to meet Nolan for something,” she muttered, and I wondered why she sounded so annoyed.
“No, I want to just go home and sleep.” I sighed. “I haven’t been sleeping well.” Instead of sleeping, I’d spent the last week staring at the screen on my phone hoping for Jeff to call or text me. Of course, he hadn’t, and I’d spent each day hating him just a little bit more.
“I’ll join you.” Abby smiled. “I need a stiff drink to forget my asshole boss.”
“Aw, you really need to quit,” Stella said, and Abby just made a face.
“Soon,” she replied. “Soon.”
“I’ll see you guys later.” I gave all the girls a quick hug then made my way out of the hall and hurried home. I was passing the Canyon Beach Ice Cream Shop when I saw
